18 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice abstract this paper examines the concept of human dignity and its relation to justice in the society. it argues that in order to ensure that human dignity is protected and given due recognition, human beings should be treated with respect that is intrinsic to their existence and not simply as a means to an end. the paper establishes the relationship between human dignity and justice. it asserts that dignity and justice are closely linked. the paper then argues that protecting human dignity and according a person his/her dignity are ways of guaranteeing justice. that respect for human dignity brings about the realization of justice for members of the society. keywords: human dignity, justice, person, respect, autonomy. introduction the way in which human beings are treated determines any society. there has been much attention given to the concept of human dignity in recent decades for a number of reasons. one major reason for this relatively recent phenomenon would certainly be the horrors of the 20th century that have occurred on such grand scales. such thinkers as john paul ii, avery, dulles, vaclav havel, immanuel kant, and other have tried to elevate the problem of human dignity (or lack thereof) to the consciousness of the general public. this paper argues that the answer to the problem of human dignity is in exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 19 treating all people and the world with the respect that is intrinsic to their existence and not simply as a means to an end. much of the history of ethics is marked with literature on various teleological, deontological, and consequential ethical systems and their superiority or inferiority. the thinkers that are most concerned with the concept of human dignity are attacking ethical systems that dominate modern society. there is a calling back to concepts that have seemingly been lost, forgotten or simply discarded. pope john paul ii is certainly one who has called all christian and non-christians alike to recognize basic truths about the human person that are absolute in every age and culture. such absolute truths about each human person would be that all have a right to life, the right to be free, and the right to be treated back to fundamental truths by the pope resonates to the depths of our being and somehow have come to influence what we experience in the world on a daily basis. the idea of human dignity, he says, is impossible to divorce from this truth.1 in this paper, we shall be discussing the notion of human dignity as a moral concept whereby showing that human dignity should not be used as a means to an end, but an end in itself. we shall start by giving conceptual analysis of what we mean by the human person and the bases of human dignity where human choices play an important role. this will then lead us to the relationship between human dignity and justice. the next ethical theory to be considered in this work is utilitarianism that has reduced the human person to a means and not an end in itself. many philosophers criticized this theory but immanuel kant will be our point of reference. after this, we move on to show why the human dignity is not a means to an end, but an end in itself, and this will serve as our critique. after which we shall have an evaluation and then the conclusion. conceptualizing the human person and dignity: the human person what, then, is the human ego? whatever in man is bodily and mental, physical and psychical, material and spiritual, is referred by the ego to itself: the physical and the psychical represent the whole 20 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 man. the ego therefore is the whole man. body and soul are integrated into one thing, the whole man, the ego. the ego, therefore, “is not the body, not the soul, not the intellect, not the will, not consciousness, not life. all these things “belong” to the ego as constituting ‘the whole man”.2 the ego is a substance. a “substance” “is an individual being whose nature it is to exist in itself and not in another as in a subject. a being whose nature it is to exist, not in itself, but in another as in a subject, is called, in philosophical terminology, an accidents”.3 shapes, color, motion, thought, feelings, etc. are modifications of some ultimate reality; they do not exist in and for themselves, but exist in the substance, which they modify. man, considered as a totality, is a self-contained being with a naturally independent existence of its own; man, therefore, is a ‘substance’ and since the ego is the whole man, the ultimate reality, which possesses everything, pertaining to man’s being. it is evident that the ego is substantial and not merely accidental. the individual has an innate tendency or drive to fulfill its potential. this is termed the actualizing tendency. the actualizing tendency is “holistic in its mechanism, constant in its state and directional in its process”.4 it is a tendency towards autonomy and at the same time is vulnerable to environmental circumstances. the ego (man) is a person. boethius has given us the following definition of a ‘person’ naturae rationalis individual substantia -an individual substance of a rational nature. a ‘person’ is, therefore an individual, complete, subsistent, rational (intellectual) substance. a moment’s consideration will reveal the fact that the human ego, or whole man, is indeed a substance, which is individual and complete and subsistent and rational. consequently, the human ego, or man in his totality is a ‘person’.5 to give a final analysis of the human person we can say that, man synthesizes the sense data, imagines, remembers and performs instinctive actions. man strives for sensuous good, avoids sensuous evil, and experiences various emotions. man forms ideas, judgments, and processes of reasoning. man exercises free will and desires spiritual values. man is conceived, lives and dies. the exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 21 immediate principles of functions are powers or faculties, but the ultimate agent is man, the person, the ego.6 any human society, if it is to be well-ordered and productive, must lay down as a foundation this principle, namely, that every human being is a person, that is, his nature is endowed with intelligence and free will to make choices. indeed, precisely because he is a person he has rights and obligations flowing directly and simultaneously from his very nature. basis of human dignity the word dignity is used in different contexts and with different issues. what is human dignity? can it be defined? is dignity an arbitrary cultural construction conditioned by the times and pragmatically tied to preferences for this or that agenda? certainly not, for dignity touches on something more profound. there really is such a thing as human dignity. from a christian perspective, dignity is defined because of god. we are all created in the image of god and that fundamentally is the source of our dignity. for secular societies that presupposition is not accepted. so where do we go in this debate? two major senses in which the term is mostly employed are, firstly, as moral status, in particular, the inalienable right to be treated with basic level of respect and autonomy. secondly, is defined as the “state of being worthy of honour and respect.” it can also be “quality of being worthy or honourable”.7 but the important question of why to respect people, of what to respect about them, remains open. what is to be referred to here is their dignity. insofar as there is a philosophical conventional wisdom on dignity at all, however, it seems badly in error in tracing an individual’s dignity to his capacity for choice. for example, pico della mirandola in his oration on dignity of man set the ball rolling when portraying god as boasting to adam: i have given you, adam, neither a predetermined place nor a particular aspect nor any special prerogatives in order that you may take and possess these through your own decision and choice. i have made you neither heavenly nor earthly, neither mortal nor immortal, 22 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 so that like a free and sovereign artificer you might mold and fashion yourself into that form you yourself have chosen..8 kant, buttressing this ancient link between dignity and autonomy, holds that “a man leads a dignified existence worthy of moral respect because he is self-legislating, overcoming natural necessity and willing his own actions”.9 this analysis largely dominates contemporary discussions of human dignity and the respect for persons it requires. taking a critical look at the phrase ‘respect for person’, benn for example gives capacity for choice a central role: to conceive someone as a person is to see him as actually or potentially a chooser, as one attempting to steer his own course through the world… to respect someone as a person is to concede that one ought to make account of the way in which his enterprise might be affected by one’s own decisions.10 kant’s intention as they may, it has now become commonplace to substitute “capacity for choice” for “dignity”. this makes the injunction to “respect the dignity of people” very close to the injunction to “respect the choices of people”. the point of the former principle was just the opposite, that we should respect people rather than their choices. if the capacity to choose is what we respect about people, the two principles become virtually equivalent. we can all agree with skinner that people without freedom of choice deserve no blame or credit for their performances. to say one is dignified for his freely chosen actions is not how the word is being used. the man who saves drowning children may be ‘heroic’ or ‘virtuous’ but is not necessarily dignified or noble. dignity refers to “what one is rather than what one does”.11 this is to say that we respect people’s choices because we respect people, not the other way round. according thomas hill; a person must, at an absolute minimum, have a right to ‘respect as a person’, which he cannot alienate or waive. he also has a further unqualified claim (a right, if you will) to those social and economic advantages, which are somehow central to his leading a dignified existence.12 exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 23 autonomy on the other hand is not an important element of dignity. what is important is indicated by kantian aphorism: “the fact that man can have the idea of an ‘i’ elevates him immeasurably above all other living beings on this earth. this is what makes him a person…”13 man is, at least potentially, a self-conscious being capable of possessing a self-image and self-respect. the fact that man can respect himself provides a reason for us to respect him in turn. what is important here is self-respect and this can be achieved with the aid of others. this is to say that human dignity should be respected at all time. according to spiegelberg, “human dignity is the kind of intrinsic worth which attaches to a human being in his capacity of being a responsible person”. 14 if spiegelberg is referring to one’s capacity for being a morally responsible person, he is offering a very kantian-sounding basis for human dignity. but “respect human dignity is different because the thing to be respected is created by the act of respecting it”.15 the notion of human dignity has not fared well in contemporary moral philosophy. but philosophers on their daily lives can synthesize with migrant workers who complain that: they cannot live with dignity in the squalid, overcrowded shacks provide by their employers. they can admire and respect the dignity of those american indians who refuse to leave their reservations because they do not want to become assimilated into the society that has treated them so shamefully. they can understand why blacks feel it is so important for their children to develop black pride. they can feel indignation at oppression, exploitation, degradation, and injustice in any of their forms. in short, there is a striking lack of parallel between their philosophical and their practical concern for human dignity.16 it is not entirely clear why this is so. for some, the notion of human dignity may seem too unempirical to withstand philosophical analysis. for others it may conjure up theological specters or the rigorism of kant. but before we move on with the connection between human dignity and justice, we need to know what justice is or the sense it is being used. what pritchard has in mind resembled john rawl’s ideas of ‘the sense of justice’ . rawls paraphrased rousseau saying: “: the 24 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 sense of justice is no mere moral conception formed by the understanding alone, but a true sentiment of the heart enlightened by reason.”17 . rawl’s point is that a reasonably well-developed sense of justice involves more than an ability to discuss matters of justice intelligently. there must also be a genuine concern to do what is just and fair. to have a sense of dignity includes concern to achieve and maintain various forms of integrity, as well as attitude of selfrespect, self-esteem, pride, shame, resentment and indignation. therefore, whoever tries to formulate substantial principle of justice should reserve a prominent place for human dignity. if this is not done, the moral aspect of dignity will be absent; and the claims of justice will be best legalistic and at worst arbitrary. the connection of justice and dignity it should be clear to us that one has dignity merely by virtue of being a person that is by virtue of having self-consciousness. at this point the notion of justice and dignity can be brought into relationship with each other. there are some people with broken spirit and consequently have been unable to maintain their sense of dignity. for example, a slave sees himself as inferior to his master. it can be seen that such feeling of inferiority has a serious effect on one’s sense of justice. this inferiority complex will not let the slave feel the injustices done to him. what we are saying in effect here is that the lower a person’s regard for his worth, or dignity, is the less sensitive he will be to injustices done to him. to imagine someone wholly lacking a sense of his own dignity is to imagine someone who regards nothing as an injustice to him. apart from slavery, there are various forms of oppression that can impoverish one’s selfesteem and his sense of justice. we have things like “housing and employment discrimination; being born in poverty; being a black child in a white man’s world of television heroes and advertising”.18 aside from the injustices done to an individual, the notion of dignity also enters into the concern that one not being an agent of injustice. there are ways those with a sense of justice can show regard for the dignity of others. one’s genuine conviction that others are entitled to fair treatment in itself sows that he regards others as exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 25 having dignity, as being worthy of respect. taking positive steps to promote justice for others (and prevent injustice) can indicate respect for their dignity. at this point a parallel can be drawn about one’s sense of justice and the regard he has for his own dignity. the lower one’s regard is for dignity of another; the less sensitive one will be to injustices done to him. if one has no regard or whatsoever for the dignity of another, regarding him as at best an instrument or means to some end, he will not regard anything as an injustice to him. considering the familiar and seemingly unchallengeable maxim of justice, “treat equals equally” can further illuminate the connection between justice and dignity. this maxim applied only to persons and not things. but what is so special about persons that such a maxim applies to them? here, some people try to compare persons to machines, but they are different. for example, when persons talk about fair wages, machines cannot say the same thing. also, a person has the right to complain if he is underpaid, and to talk of the injustice being done to him. but what is the reason for this acknowledgement? is it that persons, unlike machines, have certain basic trights? this may be true, but what makes it true? as long as an employer regards his employee only as rather complicated means to ends, it will seem perfectly arbitrary to insist that persons, but not machines, have such rights. if people think of themselves as having only instrumental values, they will not know when their dignity is being infringed upon. thus, “it is one’s sense of his intrinsic worth, or dignity, that is the basis of his moral demand for just treatment”.19 even if it is conceded that having a sense of justice involves having a sense of dignity, one might still wish to know that relevance, if any having a sense of justice has to actually having dignity. john rawls makes a very strong claim in this regard: one may hold that the sense of justice is a necessary part of the dignity of the person, and that it is this dignity ,which puts a value upon the person distinct from and logically prior to his capacity for enjoyment and his ability to contribute to the enjoyment of others through the development of his talents.20 26 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 what rawls is trying to say here is that someone with a sense of justice is to some extent willing to view his practical problems from a standpoint that can be shared by others, in that he takes into consideration the interest of others as well as his own. insofar as he is willing to show others the respect he desires others to have for him, he has moral worth, or dignity. the problem with this view is that it requires one to have a sense of justice in order to be viewed as having dignity. but the most to be required is that one has a capacity for developing a sense of justice. rather than an appeal to the capacity for a sense of justice, pritchard prefer to appeal to the capacity for developing a sense of dignity as a basis for attributing dignity to persons. now we move on to the next ethical theory known as utilitarianism utilitarianism is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of ethics and was really founded and developed in the late 19th century. the conventional person associated with this ethical theory is john stuart mill. utilitarianism, as a moral theory that bases the morality of action on their consequences, is that “we ought to act in accordance with the greatest happiness principle”21 we can perhaps best indicate this by listing the various steps in mill’s argument: “firstly, people ought to do what produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number (the utility or greatest happiness principle). secondly, we can discover what produces happiness by examining what people in fact do to bring happiness. therefore, people ought to do what they in fact do”.22 this position was strongly criticized by many philosophers. the philosophical concept of a categorical imperative is central to the moral philosophy of immanuel kant. in his philosophy, it denotes an absolute, unconditional requirement that allows no exceptions, and is both required and justified as an end in itself, not as a means to some other end; the opposite of a hypothetical imperative. what is hypothetical imperative? a hypothetical imperative, in the philosophy of immanuel kant, is a command that applies only conditionally: if a, then b, where a is a condition or goal, and b is an action. for example, if you wish to remain healthy, then you should not eat spoiled food. thus, a exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 27 hypothetical imperative is not justified in itself, but as a means to an end; whether it is in force as a command depends on whether the end it helps attain is desired (or required). the opposite of a hypothetical imperative is a categorical imperative, which is unconditional and an end in itself.23 from kant’s point of view, utilitarianism would be based on hypothetical imperatives, but he does not think that morality could be based on assessment of consequences. the kind of command kant thought proper for morality was the categorical imperative. there is one thing, and one thing only, kant thought, that is, the proper end of actions, and that is to treat humanity whether your own or that of another person always as an end in itself. we should never use another person merely as a means but should treat everyone as worthy of respect and dignity.24 to treat people with respect and as an end can pass for a universal law as against the utilitarian principle. the main basis of a categorical imperative is that “we must be able to will that a maxim of our action should be a universal law. the formular of the categorical imperative is to act so that the maxim can be applied as a universal law. one must act on the maxim of the action as if it were a universal law of nature. the principle that determines the action is not based on the goal of the action but on the ability of the maxim to be universal. evaluation at this point it might seem tempting to say that it is one thing to treat persons as if they had dignity and another to be committed to the view that persons actually have dignity. however, aside from the air of perversity such a stance has, it seems to over intellectualize what it is to treat a person as if he has dignity. is it genuine or only feigned indignation that one is to feel in behalf of injustices done to others? is it that one only says, but does not feel, that certain ways of treating others are degrading? does one only say, but does not really believe that others should not be treated as mere means to another’s ends? and what of oneself? how is one’s own resentment, indignation, shame, self-esteem, and self-respect to be understood? if these attitudes show that one does not genuinely feel that he has dignity, 28 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 consistency and sensitivity, how should they lead him to feel similarly about others? aside from all these, the claims about the connection between dignity and justice are right, to challenge the reasonableness of our concern for justice. having a sense of dignity is not merely contingently connected with those attitudes and feelings that express our sense of justice. rather, indignation, resentment, remorse, guilt and shame are themselves expressions of our concern for human dignity. finally, vaclav havel has argued that the attempt of those (mostly scientists) who wish to dominate the world by science and therefore not respecting nature as created by god has dangerous consequences. this attitude of taking nature personal can lead to the destruction of societies. havel points in particular to totalitarian political systems as being the best examples of what happens when this logic is followed to its ethically absurd conclusion because all things are subjected to the end of utility including freedom, life and human dignity. the only way havel sees out of this dilemma of the radical degradation of human dignity in the modern world is to go back to being human again. he puts it saying that, we must not be ashamed that we are capable of love, friendship, solidarity, sympathy, and tolerance, but just the opposite: we must set these fundamental dimensions of our humanity free from their ‘private’ exile and accept them as the only genuine starting point of meaningful human community. jean bethke elshtain buttressed this point on human dignity by looking at it from the social teaching of the cathoolic church. it started with ditgnitatis hunanae which begins by proclaiming “the dignity of human person” and goes on to insist that dignity involves “enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of duty”. duty and the rightful exercise of rights cannot be served one from the other. conclusion the only suitable conclusion to the crisis concerning human dignity is to be convinced that human beings are not to be treated as a means exploring the nexus between human dignity and justice | 29 to whatever end we determine, be it pleasure or anything else. totalitarian governmental structure reduces the individual to what he can produce to help the economy, as do extreme forms of materialism. ones worth dignity or dignity is therefore determined by what he can produce. what about the child? what about the unborn? indeed, havel, pope john paul ii, and others have attempted to awake in the minds and hearts of everyone this inner conviction that there is more to life than simply the natural, seen world and its allurements. i think that peter singer has done this with regard to utilitarian ethical systems. singer has taken the arguments of john stuart mill to a conclusion that is not easily accepted. the initial shock and uneasiness that often accompanies singer’s conclusion should cause us to wonder what an alternative is to using human dignity as a means. our human nature will not allow such blatant attacks on human dignity to continue. it is the hope of thinkers that see these injustices that the world will recognize that true freedom includes every human being and treating each one with the dignity and respect that is intrinsic to their very existence as a person. endnotes 1. a dulles, ‘truth as the ground of freedom: a theme from john paul the ii’, in a recent encyclical veritatis splendor, 1993. 2. c.n. bittle, “the human person: a study and critique”, an international journal of social political and legal philosophy, 1995, 106. 3. ibid. 4. t. abdulezer, “the actualizing tendency: the foundation block”’ journal of social behaviour and personality, 1997, 1. 5. c.n. bittle, the human person: a study and critique”, an international journal of social political and legal philosophy, 1995, 106. 6. ibid. 7. j. a. simpson and e. weiner, eds. the oxford english dictionary, 2nd ed., oxford: oxford university press, 1989. 8. r. e. goodin, ‘the political theories of choice and dignity’; american philosophical quarterly, vol. 18, 1981, 95. 9. ibid. 10. ibid. 11. ibid.96. 12. t.e. hill, ‘servility and self-respect’, monist, vol. 57, 1973, 87. 13. kant, anthropology, quoted in spiegelberg, “human dignity”, 60. 30 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 14. m.s. prichard, ‘human dignity and justice’, ethics, u.s.a.: western michigan university, 1971, 306. 15. r.e. goodin, op. cit., 97. 16. m. s. pritchard op. cit., 299. 17. ibid., 300. 18. ibid., 307. 19. ibid.,310. 20. ibid.,310. 21. d. stewarts and h.g. blocker, fundamental of philosophy 2nd ed. new york: macmillan publishing company,1987, 322. 22. ibid..323. 23. m. martin, a utilitarian kantian principles, philosophical studies indianapolis: hackett, 1970, 90. 24. d. stewarts and h.g. blocker, fundamental of philosophy 2nd ed. (new york: macmillan publishing company, 1987, 331. introduction and problem as earlier pointed out in my book entitled, the idea of spirit in african philosophy, “the life experiences of african people are multidimensional and multifaceted, revealing and manifesting the nature of reality to african people in their own peculiar way. while many experiences are readily comprehensible some others may seem inexplicable, 1particularly to non africans.” in the book, we paid particular attention to one of those seemingly inexplicable experiences of spirits and world of spirits in african philosophy. we shall endeavor in this paper to focus on one of those apparent and controvertible problems of our time that bothers on human and national security challenges that has caught the attention of all concerned citizens of the world today. and as one whose area of special interest, is integral development of the human person, and knowing fully well that there cannot be meaningful development without security, one cannot close his eyes and ears to the national quest for immediate remedies to our security quagmire. 153 nigeria's national and human security problematic as a crisis of values: a philosophical reflection gregory e. ogbenika this paper studies in a conversational manner some key elements of the human and national security problem facing nigeria. it seems imperative that we intensify the process of expanding the depth and scope of our national dialogues so as to stem the tide of violence, frustration, chaos, disunity, intolerance and needless fear that appears to have taken over the society. on this particular occasion we could have a dialogue on the reasons why nigeria faces a serious problem of insecurity, violence, fear, instability, conflicts, inequity and social disorder. we may argue that the fundamental problems confronting nigeria's nation-state project have not altered significantly in the past decades. the disorder can be summarized in the inability to tackle the basic problems of unity, security and social justice at the personal and institutional levels within the dynamics of the state. the security problem in nigeria is easily seen in the inability of the nigerian government and the country at large, to ensure the protection of its core values; its territories, infrastructure, officials, citizens, laws and institutions. this has ensured that the various governments and the state agencies have been unable to consistently and institutionally guarantee the adequate protection, peace and well being of the generality of the citizens. scholars have aptly captured the essentials of the security challenge facing nigeria. for instance, philip ujomu argues that the problem of security in the nigerian nationstate is seen in the fact that the idea of security was reduced to the personal security of the ruler and that of his immediate 2supporters. the security calculus of the nigerian state failed because it was over militarized and there were conflicts of interest, undue competition and overlap of functions as well as a crisis of professionalism among the security forces. the nigerian security paradigm did not securitize and include vital aspects of social existence in a multi-ethnic society such as social justice which correlates especially institutionalized dialogue, equity in resource distribution, anti-corruption and the provision of basic social amenities. the security problem is linked to a crisis in the system of values given that the statist militarist paradigm of nigerian security gives so much room to the proliferation of military and militia forces and the use of brute physical force and psychological intimidation as a first choice in managing any conflict. so the statistcorporatist 154 paradigm or value system is a combination of values such as fear, force, violence, corruption, insensitivity, lack of social 3 justice and inequity as directing principles of the society. the deficits in these critical areas have triggered feelings of neglect and abandonment by the bulk of the citizens hence creating alienated consciousness as a core value. what are values? why are values important to human existence? the problem of value has been well discussed in the domain of economics, politics and philosophy with special reference to ethics and aesthetics which some philosophers have called axiology. “axiology is the branch of practical 4philosophy which studies the nature of value in general.” put simply, value is a word that covers the whole gamut of aspects such as interest, importance, desire, choice, norms and so on. the issue of “the nature of value is one of the central and most 5persistent problems of human existence.” value concerns the worth of something and the way we come to attain that worth, valuation is based on the decided weighted cost-benefit of the placement of a price or primacy on something as important, desirable or interesting. in either of these ways the concrete concern is to discover how people can live in peaceful cooperation, obedience to laws, and amenability to organization and loyalty to the state. we can understand the nature of values better when we realize that every society sets for itself “an ideal form of life or an image which it seeks to attain and to which it constantly refers to in the process of 6 going through life. more importantly, values form the basis of all cultural life, the foundation of all cognition and the 7categorical structure of the human consciousness.” to capture the essence of the notion of value, perry affirms that a thing or anything has value when it is the object of an interest, which is a train of events determined by an expectation of its 8outcome. singer, on his part, adds an extra dimension to the conceptual analysis of values when he suggests that a “person's values are what the person regards as or thinks 9 important.” the same is applicable to the society insofar as a society's values are what it considers important. according to 10ackermann. “values must, then, be considered in intimate connection with what could be called the “collective interests 155 of the very social groups that hold them.” if values are intended to make life meaningful and worthwhile, then it means that there is a need to zero in on the human person as 11 the creator and carrier of values. according to koch values always involve some references to the human person, and thus are concerned with human ends. values are understood in terms of features such as “human needs, instincts, powers to act, the natural environment, and the surrounding peoples 12and cultures.” as dewey says every adult has acquired in the course of his experience and education certain measures of 13 the worth of various sorts of experience. he has learned to look upon qualities like honesty, amiability, perseverance, loyalty as moral goods. for munker, the core values of social responsibility, caring for others are other dominant values that can make a difference in the human search for a better 14 existential situation. a value system is a combination of values that come together to form a holistic way of life. for instance, capitalism is a value system built around the values of profit, exploitation of natural and human resources, private ownership, use of surplus labour dividends and other elements. deficits in corporate values as threats to collective security in nigeria security has to do with freedom from danger or peace and tranquility. yet every human being or human system faces danger from real and potential events as well as threats. national security focuses on the classical view of protecting the country or state: its territory, assets, government, etc. sometimes national security attempts to protect these values but does not succeed in protecting the population and other subsidiary interests hence there is a conflict because the actions of a government can threaten its own population or even the interests of neighboring states. hence there could be internal or external intervention. one important realm of the manifestation of the problem of national security has been the generally overlooked, but extremely important aspect of values. it is interesting to note that insecurity in nigeria manifests in the form of competing values, beliefs and attitudes. thus, central to the problem of national security in nigeria has been that 156 situation in which there existed a fundamental conflict of personal and social values among various interests and groups with regard to the proper meaning of, and the proper approach to national security, national integration, peace and stability within the polity. this conflict of values and the various abuses and injustices arising from it, ensured that there were no clearly defined and established rules for harmonizing the diverse interests, needs and values of the different groups and sectors in the society in view of achieving the urgent task of national development and the sustenance of security, peace and prosperity in the country. in short, the lack of shared beliefs, attitudes and values among the rulers and the ruled, as well as between the various segments of the nigerian society ensured that conflicts remained endemic in the nation. recent comments on the pervasive insecurity and disorder in nigeria are frightening. in tracking the fundamental, perennial levity, laxity, aversion and indifference of the nigerian state to social justice and development we note the local contexts of the incapability and lack of power of the state to eradicate poverty, corruption, ineptness, authoritarianism, abuse of human rights, tribalistic 15exclusiveness dictatorship, poor public service delivery, unreliable courts, unreliable transport and power, inefficient 16 education, health. according to the center for constitutionalism and demilitarization 2012 annual report (cencod annual report) “the harsh economic policies foisted on the people by the ruling elites underpin the rising social violence in the country and were accountable for the upsurge of violence and violations recorded. the boko haram sect insurgent activities increased. the northern half of the country became a battle front with waves of suicide bombing and killing of innocent citizens culminating in the total collapse of governance and institutions of government in the affected 17states.” all of these constitute a threat to national survival. in nigeria in the last couple of years crime and criminality have reached a crescendo. the combined activities of armed robbers, hired assassins, arsonists, political thugs and abductors have unleashed terror on the civil populace, 18 making life extremely unbearable.” 157 vulnerability and marginality in the postcolonial nigerian state insecurity and disorder are simply the real consequences of alienated consciousness. the threats to national security arising thereof, indicate that nigeria, as it exists, may not have fully articulated the conditions for establishing a truly humane and progressive society. the reality of a system lacking in enduring principles of trust, social justice and moral action, which can promote genuine social reconciliation, suggests that nigeria remains a terrain of conflicting identities after decades of independence. the state remains a battleground where individuals fight for whatever resource or power they can capture. this situation is worrisome because the long period of co-existence among various groupings has not yielded genuine mutual respect, understanding and common purpose. this is a significant pointer to the potential continuation of insecurity in the 19country. we should note that certain levels of marginality are now beyond the merely ethnic factor. the insecurity of the ordinary peoples is seen in their marginality, which makes them highly vulnerable to various forms of vulnerability. the marginal peoples include the aged and neglected pensioners, the handicapped persons and poor people who have no hope of justice, the unemployed educated and uneducated youth, some of the ethnic minority groups especially of the southern niger delta of nigeria and even those ravaged by religious violence and terrorism in the north, among others. the fact is that these peoples are usually disadvantaged, exploited and oppressed and their lives are associated with hardship. evidence of the defeat of national consciousness is seen in the increasing attacks on national leaders and citizens by violent mobs, armed robbers and other criminals. gaps in nigeria's good governance and human security policy as inadequacies of the state the nigerian state could not meet the social, economic, as well as the military conditions of national security. the failure of the state and security organs to maintain national security in the country can be seen in the 158 inefficiency of the police force and its abysmal failure to maintain law and order and provide security for the citizens continues to create a vacuum that is being filled by auxiliary ethnic militia, vigilante groups and militant civil society vanguards. the state has employed its repressive instruments, especially the army and the police, in order to regulate and regiment the political, social and economic freedom and space for the other subordinate groups in the society. gaps in the establishment of good governance and security reform mechanisms have opened the floodgates to terrorists, armed robbers, assassins and kidnappers, ethnic militia groups, as well as the invading rebel forces from neighboring countries to the north of nigeria to perpetrate their acts. central to the crisis of security confronting the nation has been the general trend towards the misconception of the foundations of security. this has led to difficulties. the most pronounced is the deterioration of the quality of human personal and social life in nigeria. the reality of alienated consciousness and the threats to national security arising thereof, indicate that nigeria, as it exists, may not have fully articulated the conditions for establishing a truly humane and progressive society. the reality of a system lacking in enduring principles of social justice and moral action, which can promote genuine social reconciliation, suggests that nigeria remains a terrain of conflicting identities after decades of independence. the state remains a battleground where individuals fight for whatever resource or power they can capture. this situation is worrisome because the long period of co-existence among various groupings has not yielded genuine mutual respect, understanding and common purpose. shortfalls in trust and tolerance and the role of social capital in the quest for security the lack of trust between the rulers and the ruled in nigeria ensured that there was an obstruction of national development at all levels of social existence. furthermore, we can say that the absence or lack of operation of some core social values such as trust, cooperation, compassion, justice, tolerance, etc, among the different interests and segments in the society, ensured that the country achieved little or no 159 sustainable development and that the various levels of national government could not effectively and responsibly manage the nation's resources for the overall security, peace, prosperity and well being of all. t h e r o l e o f r e l i g i o n i n n i g e r i a ' s development and the challenge of terrorism at another level, religion is a powerful tool for fostering peace and corporate existence among the members of the society. but with reference to most parts of africa, the influx of different religions has created the fertile grounds for conflicts and instability. the abuse of religion in order to serve ethnic or political purposes has often led to severe consequences for the society and its members. this point is more significant in a multi-religious society such as nigeria. the perversion and exploitation of the religious sentiments of the people can eventually lead to malice, disarray and violence. the reality on ground is that the problems of religions and social tolerance facing the society have been worsened by the elite, often motivated by violent struggles for benefits, power and influence within the society. this situation has led to the vitiation of the nigerian state in the social, political and economic realms of life. the mistrust and hatred emanating among groups, and the heightened intolerance have led to the proliferation of religiously conscious militia groupings that ostensibly claim to be social liberators. in actual fact, these militia committed to religious violence have opened the opportunity for individuals to foment tension in the society and to violate the vital laws necessary for the sustenance of order, peace and stability. this circumstance has created problems for national development and social reconciliation. terrorism is more than anything else an attack on our sense of trust and feeling of confidence as human beings in ourselves and in the institutions that we have built to protect us and ensure our safety. it is a challenge to our values and the idea of being human. it is an attempt to place a different price on our individual and collective humanity. these threats are struggles between the forces of order and disorder, freedom and tyranny, tolerance and repression, hope and fear. they 160 threaten not just peoples and nations but values and ideas”. this is a very important and sensitive issue for the survival of humanity and human institutions. in fact, it is the question of whether we are in need of a redefinition of civilization, security and its associated values. recommendations; 1. we strongly suggest that schools that were taken over by government should as a matter of urgency, be returned back to their original owners so that as a nation we shall once again experience the revival of moral instructions that will help in no small measure in inculcating moral and religious values into our children and our future generations. 2. adherents of all religions should be enlightened on the need for constant dialogue, and religious tolerance considering the multifarious nature of religion and our multi ethnic society in order to promote peace, harmony and mutual coexistence. 3. different religions in nigeria should identify a common ground and common values that could form the nucleus of religious and moral instructions at all levels of our education system to minimize if not eradicate the decadence and suspicion that is prevalent in our country today. 4. there should be a de-emphasis on the use of religion as an instrument or tool for wealth and prosperity, with a renewed emphasis on the values of conversion, repentance, reconciliation, holiness, love and salvation that are fundamentally parts of the major values of religiosity. 5. on the part of government, modern day military equipment and ammunitions should be procured in an 20appropriate manner to arrest and combat the increase wave of terrorism and radical extremism in our country 6. occasional seminars and conferences should be organized by government at all levels and religious bodies to enlighten leaders of various religions and their followers of the need to promote their unity despite their diversities on doctrinal issues and faith. 7. private individuals, corporate bodies and governmental 161 parastatals should create employment opportunities for all cadres of our labour force to avoid idleness that could lead to these class of people being used for violent crimes like terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, political thuggery with 2015 elections close at hand. 8. government should closely monitor the movement and flow of hard currency within and outside the country through the appropriate agencies in order to avoid money laundering that could lead to the misuse of such money for illegal purchase of arms and mercenaries to promote terrorism and similar crimes. 9. we would also like to reiterate the need for axiology (the science concerned with the study of values) should be introduced into the curriculum of our senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions of learning. conclusion in setting up a framework for the critical and discursive analysis of the national security problem in nigeria, we are in need of seeking a new idea or vision of security that can effectively ensure the redemption and rectification of the nigerian situation. apart from the aforementioned recommendations, at the heart of the study of national security in nigeria is the urgent and persistent search for the rules and patterns of action that will guarantee human survival and national integration in the nigerian nation. this reconstructive task is more significant, owing to the failure of existing approaches to national security employed within the country. the failures of these approaches have led to insecurity. the real context of the spectral insecurity that has continually plagued the nigerian state which is an indication of the urgent need for a conceptual and theoretical examination of the core visions and values embedded in the idea of national security in nigeria. as an example, there is a need to determine the unique approaches to security such as are relevant to the needs of a particular country. the good society aims at its own notion of the common good through the provision of greater opportunities for participation and responsibility among citizens. underlying this feeling of mutual responsibility is presumably, the attitude of trust or faith in a unique pattern of 162 political administration and social conduct that seeks the inclusion of as many as possible in the management of its affairs. the question then is: how can we establish and sustain rules and values that can propel human actions for positive ends? this issue is more significant in the context of organizations that centre on cultural, educational and expressive functions. finally, behaviour is modified as a result of experiences. as individuals go through life, they strive to attain certain goals and avoid some situations. they associate many objects in the environment with either success or failure. hence, they develop positive attitudes to objects that serve their purpose, while showing negative attitude to objects that thwart their needs. the main conditions for the change of attitudes revolve around the definition and redefinition of threats or actual deprivation of needs, creation of new needs or new levels of aspirations. attitudinal change depends on reviewing the scope of social adjustment, the means of control, the attractiveness of the project, the courage, the reward system and credibility that go with the new vision. this essay has attempted a theoretical and conceptual interrogation of the idea of national security using the typological, philosophical and prolegomenon approaches. it has situated the problem in the context of a postcolonial setting and has tried to engage the core ideas and values required for a proper methodologica l conceptualization of security. endnotes 1. gregory. e. ogbenika, the idea of spirit in african philosophy, ibadan: safmos publishers, 2011, p. x1v. 2. ujomu p. o, “the bounds of security theorizing: envisioning discursive inputs for the rectification of a postcolonial situation.” d. adelugba d and p. ujomu (2008); rethinking security in nigeria: conceptual issues in the quest for social order and national integration. (dakar: senegal codesria). isbn 286978-211x. 2008. 3. ibid 4. concise routledge encyclopedia of philosophy, london: routledge, 2000. s.v. “axiology” by barry smith and allan thomas. 5. titus harold., living issues in philosophy. new york: van nostrand, 1970. p. 313. 163 6. sogolo godwin., foundations of african philosophy. ibadan: ibadan university press. 1993. 119. 7. brunner. a. and raemers s., fundamental questions of philosophy. london: herder books. 1937. pp. 87-88. 8. perry 1968, p. 336 9. singer marcus., “value judgements and normative claims” in a. p. griffiths edited key themes in philosophy. cambridge: cambridge university press, 1989. p.145. 10. ackermann, werner., “cultural values and social choice of technology” international social science journal. vol. xxxiii, no. 3. 1981, p. 451 11. koch, adrienne., 1958, “the status of values and democratic theory” ethics. vol. lxviii. no.3. (april). p. 166. 12. mcinerney peter., introduction to philosophy. new york: harper collins, 1992. p. 154. 13. john dewey, “reconstruction in moral conceptions & morality is social” mann, jesse & kreyche, gerald (eds.) approaches to morality. (new york: harcourt, brace & world). 1966. p. 234. 14. st munkner hans. h., “which values for africa of the 21 century?” africana marburgensia special issue 17, 1998, p.87. 15. samatar abdi ismail and samatar ahmed .i. (eds.) the african state, portsmouth: heinemann 2002. p. 4. 16. collier paul and gunning jan willem. “why has africa grown slowly” journal of economic perspectives. vol.13. no. 3. (summer). 1999. p. 10-11. 17. cencod center for constitutionalism and demilitarization 2012 annual report. state of human rights in nigeria. lagos: cencod. 2012, pp. 10-11 18. ozohu-suleiman abdulhamid and baba samuel. crime prevention and control in nigeria: institutional failure and the option of food security. the constitution, vol.9.no.4. december. 2009. p. 47. 19. ujomu p. o, “the bounds of security theorizing: envisioning discursive inputs for the rectification of a postcolonial situation.” professor d. adelugba d and dr p. ujomu (2008); rethinking security in nigeria: conceptual issues in the quest for social order and national integration. (dakar: senegal codesria). isbn 286978-211x. 2008. pp. 35-36. 20. governments should use recognized and licensed arms dealers in the procurement of military equipment and ammunitions to avoid mutual suspicion among members of various religious groups and affiliation. a case in point is the recent 9.3million us dollar scam involving the president of can which has generated a lot of controversies in our polity today. 164 the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 31 the ethics of folktales in edo culture abstract this essay examines the significance of traditional folktales in the moral development of the individual person and laments the near extirpation of this tradition in contemporary family life and the attendant toll on the moral values that are characteristically african. in an attempt to investigate this issue critically, this paper employed the critical analytic approach to situate folktales in the edo thought system. from the analysis, part of the reason why there is deficit in our value system was attributed to the disappearance of folktale, that acted as a veritable vehicle for transmitting life`s lessons that guaranteed a humane society. it called attention to the danger of departing from such a phenomenon and ruminated on the cultural splendour of keeping the folktale tradition. it concluded by recommending ways of revamping the folktale culture. keywords: folktales, edo, morality, culture. introduction as a young boy growing up in the city of benin, it was a common custom that in the evenings, usually after supper, we gathered round the elder ones, this time our uncles, aunties, and some of our elder cousins, who told us a lot of fanciful stories and the impact above all was the great lessons that were part of the story itself. for example, it was through this medium that we learnt why the tortoise had such a rough back, why the nose of the dog was black, cold and wet or moist, why the sky is so far from the earth; but above all why 32 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 it was good to be morally upright, and so on. though education later clarified certain knowledge we had but one area that remained constant in terms of relevance and importance is morality. we always looked forward for those moments of storytelling, to the extent that whenever we had visitors coming to the house, especially the elderly ones, the first thing we would demand was a folktale, after the exchange of pleasantries. the excitement was even more when the visitors were from the countryside. it was as if a new movie was out in the market, and people are enthusiastic to get a view. this robust tradition is now moribund even in a typical rural setting that was thought to be the fertilizing ground and the storage bank of such tales. the lamentable aspect of the current situation is the attendant toll it has had on moral and ethical values. the only one that has not suffered significant setback in this aspect is the parables that are still prevalent in everyday discussions. while parables could be seen as quintessential of such folktales, and a vital aspect of the entire folklore tradition, it must be noted that the interpretation and deeper meaning and explanation would be more favourable to adults. however since formation of minds starts as toddlers the import of folktales cannot be over emphasized, and this is the main focus of this essay. the task of this paper is to critically examine the impact of folktales in the overall building up of moral and ethically responsible beings who make up the larger society. why is this tradition that added so much value to the african personality no longer fashionable? what is its impact in terms of the moral value deficit? could this revival help in the overhauling of the present state of affairs, especially as we have it in africa? how can we make it more attractive once again? the meaning of folktales: this is a general term for different varieties of traditional narrative. the telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to basic and complex societies alike. even the forms, folktales take are certainly similar from culture to culture, and comparative studies of themes and narrative ways have been successful in showing these the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 33 relationships. also it is considered to be an oral tale to be told for everybody. tales, overtime that become the collective consciousness of a people and an essential part of their culture. though folktales vary from one culture to the other but generally are recognizable because of some basic features. etymologically folk refers to people, so the things being told are those of everyday life and common experiences of people. they are usually very simplified and could be understood by children. this is why many scholars believe that folktales originated among peasants and very common people. the last point that is also very relevant to this discourse is the fact that they usually contain some moral lessons. folktales are very prevalent in africa and among the negro world, and they cover a whole range of inspirational and fanciful stories. on the other hand, the term "folklore" can label a figurative narrative which has no sacred or religious content. traditional stories or folklores could be told in form of apologue, fairy tale, parable, myth, legend and allegory. each of these forms is a story passed down orally from generations and has become part of the tradition of a community.1a folk narrative can have both a moral and psychological scope, as well as entertainment value, depending upon the nature of the teller, the style of the telling, the ages of the audience members, and the overall context of the entertainment. sometimes there is a very tiny line between folktales, myths, legend, etc and what becomes of higher importance would be the particular significance of the story. in whichever case the message being communicated, is usually more important than the facts of the story being told. this particular point is very important so that one does not abandon the substance of the story and begin to argue over the shadows and the other less important details. the sumerian elish, for example was significant in explaining the origin of man and the world. the subject matter of literature is as wide as human experience itself. myths, legends, and folktales lie at the beginning of literature, and their plots, situations, and allegorical (metaphorical narrative) judgments of life represent a constant source of literary inspiration; 2 that continue to pass on lessons that would help in the sound and moral development of the individual. 34 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 edo culture: the term edo has an historical background. according to j.u. egharevba, edo was the slave that saved oba ewuare (1440-1473) from being killed.3so as to immortalize him, edo became a name for benin indigenes. on the other hand, ‘benin’ is a name that serves as territorial name (e. g. benin city, benin empire or benin kingdom) and its usage predates edo.4apart from serving as the indigenous name of benin city, edo can be used today equivocally: it is referred exclusively to the language spoken by the benin, who historically are the edo people as distinct from the other inhabitants of benin empire. it can also be used as a linguistic label comprising all the languages and dialects spoken in various communities, whose inhabitants have migrated from benin, many years ago. in this thesis the researcher shall be referring to the people who call themselves, their capital city and their language, ‘edo.’ the origins of the people are lost in myths and antiquity, while some hold that they migrated from sudan many centuries ago;5 the people themselves believe that the kingdom was founded by one of the sons of osanobua the supreme being.6this is precisely the point why the oba is regarded as a demi-god; as a direct descendant of the son of the supreme being. worthy of note is that today they occupy the edo south senatorial district of edo state, nigeria. folktales and edo moral values most of the knowledge we have of the rights and wrongs in the collective patrimony of the edo people are contained, sustained, and transmitted in folktales. unfortunately, this tradition of transmission via oral tradition is fast eroding, and this has its effect on the morality of the people. it is eroding not so much because of interaction with other value systems, but because the people are becoming less conscious and more ignorant of their own value system and moral matters. the reason for this is because the natural pedagogical school wherein all learnt via the folktale tradition is fast being neglected and no longer seem fashionable. if what samuel huntington prognosticated as the clash of civilization and the remaking of the world order7 is anything to go by, then the the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 35 domineering effect of western civilization is sure to swallow some of these smaller ones that have not found their feet in the world`s stage (globalization), that tends to promote everything and anything western. however, this would be at the point of convergence that chardin referred to as the omega point, which inspired senghor to speak of the civilization of the universal.8 but before we get to that table of discussion where all these cultures would cross fertilize each other, there is need to sustain one`s own culture and hence the need to revive the folktales that are almost extirpated. no doubt a lot of epistemological facts abound to evince the moral plenitude in these folktales. the more we forget about the tales the more we forget the root and the raison d’etre why certain things should be done the way they are done and why it would be wise and profitable to do those things; and to draw aspirations from the many lessons drawn and designed to be learnt and taught by these folktales. looking at the vast array of the so many folktales prevalent in the edo cultural milieu, one could notice and deduce a lot of saturation of her philosophical depths; her traditional and customary depths; her ethical and moral depths; her religious and metaphysical depths; there are a lot we find in the maxims and idioms and above all in the parables but they are not worth comparing to the ones we find in the entire folktales. in fact the parables came as a deep reflection on the folktales that have been told and established. the parables and maxims are the quintessence of the folktales and the moral lessons of the tales. they are if you like, the summary of these folktales; the essence or lessons from the tales. it is within this contest that we can appreciate the values of honesty, respect for elders, care for the poor, respect for truth, respect for hard work, care for the elderly, love for children, good parental upbringing, esteem for virginity and decency, sanctity of the human life, esteem for elderly counsels, love for the red colour and its symbolism, kinship ties, history of the ancestral lineage, the origins of the cosmos and of the land, the origins of the peoples of the land and the world, the origin of particular places, the origin of various customs and traditions, the origins of taboos, the origins of festivals, etc. there is hardly any aspect of the socio, religious and cultural life of the 36 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 people that are not explainable or buttressed by one or more of the folktales that are prevalent in the culture. in all of these one thing stands out clearly that virtue has its own profitable reward, while vices attract a regrettable recompense as far as morality was concerned. within the scope of this essay one cannot afford to accommodate all the folktales that are sources of these moral norms and values, we have outlined above; one cannot even exhaust the entire moral philosophy, but suffice it to say that the entire moral code of the edo people is distributed in these folktales with a very deep and far reaching implications for oneself, the family, the society in general, against the cosmic and karmic balance in nature that tends to ensure that whatever is sown would be reaped, good or evil. it was also within this tradition that we got to know more about nature, both plants and animals and the pattern of their behaviour. in the folktales you would find an abundance of aspects of edo moral codes, edo philosophy, edo religion, laws and customs, penal codes, rituals whether of initiation age grade, marriages, burial, and even entertainment, etc. our focus however is limited to the moral implications in the folktales, that are fast being forgotten, whether in terms of myths, legend, fable, parables, fairy tale, animal tales, etc. moral lessons of three key folktales here for purpose of illustration, we shall examine three folktales, of the thousands we have in edo repertoire: the first folktale we shall be considering is the story of omonsiuwa, the only child of the parents. she was a very beautiful girl and could be considered as the most beautiful girl in the village. many children were very fond of her and wanted to be in her company when they were recreating. the parents however were not favourably disposed to this interaction and would always drive away the lads. they did this just to make extra effort for her not to get corrupted. on one faithful day, the parents were about to go to the farm, and in order to keep her at home, gave her a sizable piece of rock to cook, and warned her sternly not to live the house until the rock was cooked and soft. when they left, as usual the kids came the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 37 calling her to follow them to pluck some fruits. she informed them that the parents asked her not to live the house until the rock was cooked. then the kids assisted her in fanning the flames and while she was not watching, they plucked the leaves of the cocoyam plant and put them inside the pot. very soon the leaves became very soft and cooked; and they informed her that the rock was cooked. she went to feel the leaves and thought it was the rock that had become cooked. she then followed them to the farm area to pluck some fruits. when they got there the first child was asked to climb the tree, but he complained that the legs were too fragile. the second child also refused to climb complaining the hands were too fragile. the third one complained that the stomach was protruded. the onus then fell on omonsiuwa to climb. it was the tree of the pepper fruit. now while up, whenever she plucked any ripe fruit, she put it in her pocket and threw only the unripe ones to the colleagues below. this made the other children very angry and they decided to punish her. they gathered a heap of dried leaves and wood under the tree and set fire on it. the smoke choked omonsiuwa, and she fell into the fire and was burnt to ashes. when the parents were returning from the farm, they happened to have passed through the scene, the mother saw the beautiful ashes and she said to herself that her daughter would be very happy to play with the ashes and decided to take some for her. as she was about to take some of the ashes, she heard a song coming from the ashes; and through the song the parents became aware of the sad event and that it was actually the ashes of their beloved daughter. they reported the matter to the village elders who subsequently penalized the children for murdering their colleague, the pride of the village. the moral lessons here would include: obedience to parental admonitions and constituted authority, the evil of keeping bad friends, and the evil of greed and cheating. another folktale we shall be considering is the story of edamwen (i am not pained, irritated or provoked). he was born into a peasant family and in the struggles of life lost the parents and managed to marry a wife. very soon the village folks took interest 38 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 in him particularly because of his name and especially his character that was a reflection of his name. sometimes they purposely would try to provoke him to see his reactions, but he always maintained a calm personality. things escalated when they forcefully took his wife from him thinking he would not be able to bear the humiliation, but he maintained his calm. the folks finally planned and to give him the last test of provocation, they took him to the forest and tied him to a tree and used a very sharp object to destroy his eyes and abandoned him there in excruciating pains. edamwen remained there in acute pains but did not complain or curse anybody. as luck would have it the tree he was tied, was the very tree where witches around the village came to hold their nocturnal meetings. as usual they came in the dead of the night, and edamwen could hear them debating and struggling over the leaves of a particular tree. the reason for the struggle was that the presenter had told the other members that it was therapeutic for any kind of blindness. it was in the cause of struggling for it that some of the leaves fell and rested on the head of edamwen who managed to use his hand to take the leaves to touch his eyes. immediately, his sight was restored and he freed himself from the stake and returned to the village that night. when it was day break he took his bath dressed properly and went round the village to the amazement of his persecutors, who began to imagine that perhaps he possessed some supernatural powers. not quite long, the village king of a neighbouring village became blind. it was in the cause of sending emissaries to look for doctors who could cure his blindness that the messengers came to edamwen, as one who had the powers to cure blindness. edamwen went with them and applied those same leaves on the eyes of the blind king and immediately, his sight was restored. in gratitude, the king gave the administration of half of his kingdom to edamwen and gave his daughter to him in marriage. the moral lessons would include: patience, as a virtue could be very profitable, and also the fact that there is always a reward for being good. the last folktale, we shall be considering is concerning a particular age group (okpolugbe) of young men whom the king of the village sent to hunt for wild pigs, to be used as part of their end the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 39 of year ritual celebrations. on their way they passed a group of elders, and with total disregard for them did not bother to observe respect by greeting them. later on when one of the young men who was not in the original company, because he had to meet the daily chores of his sick mother came by hurriedly, but by the time he came to the place where the elders were, greeted them respectfully. they were attracted to him, because he was different from the rest of his colleagues and beckoned on him to come to them. upon inquiry, they discovered the mission of the young men and advised this late comer not to join, them that there was going to be trouble. not too long they saw the young men returning, some injured some dead all wailing, as a result of a ferocious attack by a band of wild pigs. the elders then asked the other late arrival to join them back home. the moral lesson here will include: respect for our elders, and to always heed the advice of the elders. even the christian bible has it in the fourth commandment god gave to moses on mount sinai: honour your father and mother that your days may be long….9 from the foregoing, the link between folktales and morality, as far as the edo culture; and by extension african culture, is concerned; is very clear. the moral codes and what ought to be done are contained in these folktales. they also go as far as explaining the reason why things are done the way they are done. here the motive for morality is given, since there is always a recompense for every act or inaction. in other words for one to know the reason why certain customs are encouraged, why there are certain things that are forbidden, then we should go back to the folktales were these things are very explicit. it therefore means that the more we are unfamiliar with these folktales, the more also we become unfamiliar with our moral codes, at a time of great crisis in terms of trying to establish vital links with the past, it becomes very worrisome that the implication may likely be that there is going to be grave moral set back, as we already have. the current situation as we have it, has had its toll on morality and moral values for the edo people. no wonder more than five decades ago jacob egharevba already expressed this fear, when he wrote in 1965: 40 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 ke omuhen ghade ore emwiniremwin nidinmwinhia keg ha re domwande evbo vbe otoagbon, domwande evbonirhanro vbevbokegben emwinirenmwin oghe evboiraneso ye ebeni ma tie ugbugbehia. rhunmwundoni o kere ne imavbegharhieeso ma kherhe, kherhe vbe oghe evbomwanke ban ghakhian.10 what should have acted as the base for good moral conduct has thoroughly been neglected, and whatever that could be developed, had to also contend with the so many values, especially the negative ones that may not be at home to the african, hence some have spoken of the crisis of the african conscience.11 from the three folktales above, one could decipher the moral values of obedience to parental admonitions, respect for elders, patience, avoiding bad friends, avoidance of cheating (greed), etc. taking a closer look at the last story, and especially the behaviour of those young men; it would seem that if those young men had observed the simple courtesy of greeting the elders they passed on the way, perhaps the mishap that happened to them may not have happened. the fact that the one who greeted the elders was asked not to proceed on the journey implies that the elders had a premonition of what was about to take place. again the likelihood surely could have been that the elders themselves, through certain metaphysical prowess actually orchestrated the attacks by the wild pigs. in our time when the communal touch is fast giving way to the individualistic disposition, it is very possible for us not to greet anybody, no matter the age, as far as we have no business with such a person. in this connection we shall experience more often the culture of not showing courtesy to anybody we do not know. however this is contrary to the spirit and the morality of showing respect for elders as enshrined in african communalism in general. it is in this regard, that nwoko would averred: african traditional society is a society where the individual is always considered a free, integrated member of his community, a communion person. it is a society where individualism is considered the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 41 a taboo, where each member takes the interest of the community as his own. his pride is community is power. the more united he is to the community, the more he sees the community as a mere extension of the family12 here the community is seen generally as the family extension and the respect and courtesy one shows to the elderly members of the family is also extended to other members of the community. some of our people have also imbibed the slogan of respect is reciprocal. but from the folktale respect is the due we pay to elders. in our advancement into the realm and era of modernity, we must bring along into it the great values we have, as epitomized in the so many folktales in our culture. otherwise the fear of fanon13 would become very evident in our time. in this situation what would be there would be a very confused personality. this is just the issue of respect, and no doubt a small microcosm of the entire issues as regards the morality in our society. the example is just to show that there is urgent need to revive this tradition as it gives a better foundation for right conduct than we can get even from other western or religious sources. it is my highly considered opinion that with this tradition of folktales revamped there is going to be a serious development in terms of self-assertion and the gradual elimination of the inferiority complex that is felt by the average black man. the inferiority here lies in the fact that the average african feels inferior to the westerner and everything western. in this connection, the values in this folktales would become assets for the society and would help to revive an ailing society, and in resolving the problems of vices and the challenges of the future. the resuscitating of the folktales tradition would certainly act as a philosophy for ameliorating the current state of affairs with regard to high level of immorality on the part of africans. in this case it could really act as a remedy designed to improve the current existential situation particularly of a society coming to terms with so many problems like corruption, bad leadership, acute greed for wealth, and all other forms of exploitation of man by man and other related vices. folktales would certainly help as far as morality is concerned, to re position africans to a kind of primordial mode that 42 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 gives possibility to that desired change in their present ontological conditions. by its existential approach to reality, our folktales, mediated by the high moral content would become a philosophy of social action and societal rejuvenation. conclusion in bringing this essay to a close it is good for us to see some ways our folktales that carry within them our moral code, could as a matter of urgency be revived and enhanced. the urgency here lies in the early target of the young. so that once brought up in this robust tradition, with high moral value, it would be hard for them to lose grip of their personality when confronted with future challenges from other malevolent systems. the first recommendation in this regard is the documentation, as much as possible, of all the folktales that we have in the various cultures and a robust articulation of the moral codes they convey; for things written they say remain. this would enable none to be lost in this regard. the second recommendation would be the work of scholars to do in-depth analysis of these folktales and bring out the undercurrent. this would enable us to improve upon the patrimony of our ancestors given the fact that we live in a fast changing world. these analyses would enable the moral codes to accommodate the current trend of work and the changing face of societies. it would also take care of the challenge of globalization and all the attendant effects it has on modern african life. knowledge is dynamic and we know there are certain things we know now, that were unknown to our ancestors. eboh captures this point when she averred that “it behoves us to reconstruct and philosophise on as many stories and witty sayings as possible. they may prove useful in future. we ought to produce knowledge because we are the venerable ancestors of tomorrow.”14 another recommendation is the formalization of these folktales in terms of injecting them into school curriculum. children learn very fast and those whose environment makes it hard for them to benefit from the oral transmission could still benefit from them in the schools. this is with the presumption that all the children would the ethics of folktales in edo culture | 43 have access to quality education at least at the primary and secondary levels. for most african countries and cultural societies, political independence has been attained, but not cultural, economic and ideological independence. this has given possibility to a moral crisis. the moral crisis comes from the fact that africans have shifted away from their own value system and the moral values that go with it, to other value systems underpinned by other metaphysical foundations. the consequence of the shift in values is that the african is no longer defined by who he is, but by what he has acquired by whatever means. the task, therefore, is how the moral crisis caused by this shift can be dealt with in reviving our folktale. our folktales no doubt emphasizes a virtue ethics, with a capacity of redeeming the african value system and is geared towards the formation of the concept of the human being as a `being-with-self` and a `being-with-others. by revamping our folktale heritage, this could be a kind of formalization of a beginning of cultural independence, a potential opening, if not a total breakthrough for our moral value system. when all these have been attained then, in the words of frantz fanon, there will be "not only the disappearance of colonialism, but also the disappearance of the colonized man.”15 endnotes 1. marie paulin eboh, socio-cultural mode of knowledge production: folklore –a tapestry of principles, inspiration and proverbs in asiegbu, m. f. & chukwuokolo, j.c. (eds) truth knowledge and society. (abakaliki: pacts gm press, 2012), 14. 2. bradford morrow, world outside the window: the selected essay of kenneth rexroth, (new york: new directions publishing, 1987), 286. 3. jacob egharevba, a short history of benin, (ibadan: ibadan university press, 1968), 2. 4. ibid. 5. osemwingie ebohon, cultural heritage of benin, (benin city: midwest paper corporation, 1972), xvii. 6. ibid., 5. 7. samuel huntington, the clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order (new york: simon and schuster paperbacks, 1996), 103 8. leopold senghor,., on african socialism, (stanford: pall mall, 1964), 152. 44 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 9. exodus 20:12 in the jerusalem bible (london: darton, longman and todd, 1985), 106 10. ero eweka, we are because he was in institute of benin studies, monograph series 4, (benin city: 2006), 15. (since the beginning of time all deep knowledge (philosophy) has existed among different peoples of the world. various civilized peoples have written books which we always read about their deep knowledge. therefore it is proper that we reveal bits and pieces of our own deep knowledge from now on.) 11. kwame nkrumah, consciencism, (london: heinemann education books, 1964), 78 12. m. nwoko, the rationality of african socialism (rome: 1985), 72. 13. l. a. jinadu, fanon in search of the african revolution (enugu: fourth dimension publishers, (1990), 160. 14. eboh, socio-cultural, 40. 15. frantz fanon, black skin white mask (new york: groove press, 1967), 10. philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 1 philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world abstract this paper seeks to examine the relevance of philosophy to human development and in extension, the contemporary world. this is premised on the ground of the misconception about the discipline of philosophy. the paper develops by drawing on the meaning of philosophy with which it was clearly stated that it is a rational quest for wisdom. this preoccupation of philosophy clearly negates the wrong way with which philosophy is regarded. the paper elicits further, that philosophy is essential for human development in that it helps the individual to reason and think correctly, helps to facilitate selfknowledge and equally helps in the interpersonal relationship with people of other cultures. thus, man is said to be freed from the imprisonment of prejudice. the paper further argues that philosophy gives clarity to some theological concepts. this means that philosophy has answers to almost all the mysteries in reality. it, however, concludes that the contemporary world which is characterized by science and technology will only thrive because of the tools of philosophy. this means that science and technology, which people see as the ‘messiah’ of this present age, will only achieve its desired goal if the methods of philosophy are adhered to and this will be the basis for authentic human development. keywords: philosophy, human development, coherency, logicality. 2 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 introduction following social contract theories, there is the notion that the state of nature was characterized by barbarism and anarchism. however, in order to solve this problem, the likes of thomas hobbes, john locke and jean jacque rousseau came up with their social contract theories. although all three have different approaches, yet one thing that is common to them, is the need for a state to be organized for the protection of its members. from plato’s political utopia, the one that must be a leader must be a philosopher-king. commenting on the position of plato, a. s. fotiou says that “the member of this group (guardians) form a deliberative and a legislative body of the state. this is because their predominant virtue is wisdom, which they use as the basis for law and order”.1 this is due to plato’s notion of class stratification of the ideal state which is bifurcated into three as evident in his republic: the guardians (rulers), the auxiliaries (soldiers), and artisans (workers). these guardians or rulers are the people in the society whose duty is to steer the ship of the state. the notion of the philosopher-king or the ruler is based on the conviction that the philosophers have knowledge, intellect and are trained to govern. plato, however, believes that an elaborate and rigorous education of the guardians is a pre-requisite for the possible realization of the ideal state. this ruling class must necessarily exercise strict control over education, art, war and even marriages so as to keep away corrupting influences and promote social harmony according to philosophical principles.2 the above assertions of the contracterians and plato, underscore the thought of francis bacon that “ideas rule the world”. this is because a firm grasp of philosophical tools which is wisdom-centered will help in the fostering the society. philosophy trains human mind to reason correctly and rationally. when this irrevocable truth is put in the right perspective the society becomes a better place. be that as it may, there is this popular belief by some persons that philosophy does not bake bread. this is because for them it is a waste of time to study philosophy or to be a philosopher since it has no relevance to humanity. for some, the only thing that philosophy is capable of doing is that it has turned people into atheists. some see philosophy as that which is out of touch with reality. for them, philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 3 philosophy cannot thrive in the wake of science and technology. j.o. ndubisi captures more of this misconception when he says that: there is no discipline that is generally misunderstood and misconceived as being irrelevant to human society as philosophy… some said that philosophy is a study in futility … often times, people think that the students of philosophy are wasting their precious time in studying philosophy. some nonstudents of philosophy do not understand what philosophy students do in their philosophy classes”.3 the task of this paper therefore, will be to argue for the importance of philosophy to humanity and society. the thesis to be pursued will be that of spelling out the relevance of philosophy to human development in this contemporary world while addressing the misconceptions that have been there over time. this essay adopts the analytic, prescriptive and critical method. however, it is important to note from the outset that the attempt of this paper is not to construct a rigid, perfect and all-embracing relevance of philosophy to the world as this would be a futile and impossible mission. rather, the goal is to provide a framework that will foster on-going research on this area of study. meaning and nature of philosophy: a general overview h.s. staniland says that a question which takes only three words to ask is, one might think, a question which a presumed expert ought to be able to answer in three well-chosen words of his own. but, as every philosopher knows, ‘what is philosophy?’ is not such a question. professional dignity forbids any of us to reply ‘i don’t know’.”4 the implication of this, therefore, is that philosophy we all know has no univocal definition. this is because, giving any formal definition of philosophy presupposes some conceptions not likely to be shared by all philosophers. the implication of this is that different philosophers define it from different ideological ambience, orientations, schools of thought, socio-political bents or even personal convictions. despite the distinctiveness of thought as regards the meaning and definition of philosophy, one thing that all philosophers generally agree to, is that philosophy is a critical enterprise, something dynamic or a 4 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 quest to find out. this means that philosophy is a search for, or indeed a spirit of evaluative exploration. it is a term that is derived from two greek words philoslove and sophia –wisdom. this means that philosophy is the love of wisdom. it is a search for truth of reality. in other words, the essence of philosophy is to gain insight into reality and gain knowledge of reality and truth. it is from this perspective william lawhead sees philosophy as a “human attempt to systematically study the most fundamental structures of our entire experience in order to arrive at beliefs that are conceptually clear, experientially confirmed, and rationally coherent as possible.5 for him, philosophy seeks clarity of all our basic beliefs and assumptions. philosophy for matthew izibili, is regarded as “a process in which the individual is consciously engaged in the activities of a rigorous thinking process or deep reflective method with a view to establishing orderliness”.6 this definition shows that philosophy is goal-oriented and its goal is to seek orderliness in the society and world at large. a close look at the different definitions of philosophy shows that man is placed at the center of it all. this is as a result of man’s quest to know more about reality. williams aso captures this clearly when he says that “man as the subject of philosophy has unquenchable thirst for knowledge not only for empirical realities alone but also phenomenal realities and everything that concern human experience and the universe in general”.7 kolawole owolabi says philosophy is conceived as the critical reflection of human beings on the problem of their existence and essence”.8 olayinka opafola sees philosophy as an attempt to resolve problems of man, his nature and the universe.9 a close look at most of the definitions of philosophy, shows that it has to do with giving answers to the reality of man’s ontology. philosophy is said to have two orders. the first order and the second order. philosophy of the first order embraces among others, the following philosophy of life, culture, traditions, customs and worldviews, religion, beliefs, music, aesthetics, proverbs and folktales, et cetera. the second order of philosophy, is seen as something deeper and more involving, it is a rational venture, philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 5 critical and detailed in outlook, a reflective approach, an inquiry that truly involves the commitment of the enquirer. philosophy is known to have four major branches metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and logic. metaphysics is the study of reality. sylvester enomah captures this clearly when he writes “metaphysics is that branch of philosophy, which studies and investigates that principle that pervades all reality.10 this simply means that metaphysics as a branch of philosophy studies reality as a whole and not just a portion of it. corroborating this point enoch stumpf says that metaphysics refer simply to the subject matter or reality beyond physical nature or beyond the things we see.11 pantaleon iroegbu defines metaphysics as that branch of philosophy that studies reality as such, i.e., in its most comprehensive scope and fundamental principles.12 metaphysics gives the deepest meaning to reality. this further underscores the fact that metaphysics extends to all reality both those perceptible to the senses which we come to know by empirical investigation and those realities that we cannot experience or know experiencially but through abstraction, apriori and aposterori reasoning. it is derived from the greek expression ta meta ta physica (after the physics).13 it is a title that is credited to andronicus of rhodes. consequently, the subjects of metaphysics were then called “the treatise after the physical treaties”, which is the literal meaning of the word metaphysics. simply put, it means over and beyond the physical.14 epistemology as a branch of philosophy seeks to evaluate our knowledge claims. this is as a consequence of the sceptics who deny the possibility of knowing. it is derived from the greek word episteme which means knowledge and logos which means theory or study.15 it therefore means that epistemology is the theory of knowledge. in other words, it is the study of human knowledge, the study of the nature of human knowledge, its origin, its scope, its limits, its justification, its reliability or otherwise, its certainty or otherwise.16 in the same vein, anselm jimoh sees epistemology as a theory that deals with the analysis of sets of facts as principles that guide our understanding of issues that relate to knowledge.17 this means that as a theory, epistemology investigates the nature and possibility of knowledge by asking questions relating to whether we 6 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 can have knowledge as we describe and understand it. as the study of the nature of knowledge and justification, blessing agidigbi says epistemology attempts to provide answers to: in particular, (a) what knowledge is? (the defining components) (b) how do we get it? (the substantive conditions of sources) and (c) can our means of getting it be defended against skeptical challenge? (the limits of knowledge and justification). these questions are all aimed at explicating the nature of knowledge and how to establish the claim that one actually knows what he claims to know.18 it is not in doubt that the whole idea of philosophy deals mainly with knowledge. there are different sources of knowledge, they include empiricism, rationalism, and so on. ethics as a branch of philosophy deals with the ought and the ought not of human relationship. on this anthony asekhauno and gregory ogbenika write ‘ethics is all about the morality of the actions of human beings. it has to do with ‘ought’ of human behavior and life’.19 williams aso sees it as “the study of the basic principles about what is right and wrong in human relationship with others and ecosystem”.20 this is because etymologically, it is derived from the greek word ethica having its root in ethos i.e., custom which means the fundamental orientation and inner disposition of an individual about life. following the notion that the actions of man can be both instinctive and deliberate, there exists the difference between acts of man and human acts. higgins holds that a human act is a free and deliberate act with three main known elements: motion of the will, previous intellectual knowledge of the purpose of the act and freedom.21 the ethical implication here is the assumption that man is the master of his act. hence, he can be held responsible for his actions or inactions. acts of man on the other hand, are actions that are natural to the human person (blinking, sneezing, farting and so on). however, there exists different ethical principles with which human conduct is judged. these principles form the various aspects of ethics. they include normative ethics (teleological and deontological), descriptive ethics and meta-ethics (naturalism and anti-naturalism).22 there is no doubt then, that the basic concern of ethics is that it is the area of philosophy that reasons about morality, philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 7 particularly the meaning and justification of claims concerning right or wrong actions, obligation, moral rules, right, virtue, the good life and the possibility of objective morality. logic is derived from the greek word logos which simply means word that is spoken and the consequence of this meaning later on developed to imply human thought or human order of reason.23 logic is concerned with the principle of valid inference. the concept of validity has to do with the logical assessment of arguments. this is because validity as a formal concept, is mainly concerned with the formal connection between the premises and the conclusion of an argument.24 an argument cannot be both deductive and inductive, and the quest for every logical argument is to bring about rational proof for validity and soundness. this further strengthens the fact that the task of logic is philosophically characterized with the skill of recognizing valid and fallacious inference so that one can distinguish logical and illogical arguments. williams aso argues that logic is a critical thinking directed at distinguishing valid from invalid arguments or reasoning. logic deals with the question, nature and forms of human inferences.25 on the issue of the validity or invalidity of an argument, an argument is said to be valid when there is the logical connection between the premises and the conclusion. while it is said to be invalid when the truth of the premises does not entail the truth of the conclusion. when the premises are true and the conclusion is false, the argument is invalid. other sub-branches that emanate from the above main branches of philosophy, include, axiology, socio-political philosophy, philosophy of mind, philosophy of art, philosophy of science, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of education, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of economics and so on. philosophy, however, is known to have three main methods or approaches as some authors will put it. they include: the speculative, the prescriptive and the analytic. where the speculative tool consists of the mental reflection about the universe, the prescriptive seeks to establish a workable standard for placing values, judging conduct and art appraisal. while, the analytic focuses attention on the meaning words and expression. it also goes 8 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 further to show that the meaning of words are relative depending upon prevailing circumstances. all of these three put together makes philosophy methodologically structured. the discipline called philosophy has lingered on in history from the ancient era, down to this contemporary world. philosophy and the essentials of human formation: towards liberating the human person from the clogs of ignorance human formation is all about the development of a well-rounded and competent man, possessing personal maturity. the basis of this is the fact that we human beings are physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, social, intellectual and spiritual ...”26 this development can only flourish when there is a firm grasp of the tools of philosophy. “this means that one needs to grow in this aspect of humanity because “growth in one’s personal humanity is therefore the foundation of ones spiritual, pastoral and intellectual formation.”27 in order not to be swayed by the demagogue of acute deceit, illogicality and irrationality, it is expected that philosophy forms a major part in the terminus ad quem and the terminus a quo of man’s existence. this is because the failures due to lack of rationality and criticality in our world is almost indiscernible. on the necessity for philosophical education for an authentic human formation, the concillar fathers writes: “philosophical subjects should be taught in such a way as to lead the students gradually to a solid and consistent knowledge of man, the world and god. the student should rely on the philosophical patrimony which is forever valid, but should also take account of the modern philosophical studies, especially those which have greater influence in their own country, as well as recent progress in the sciences. thus, by correctly understanding the modern mind, students will be prepared to enter into dialogue with their contemporaries”.28 this means that for the fathers of the second vatican council, the goal of philosophy must be in such a way that it must lead to a better knowledge of man and the reality of his existence which will be connected to the one who is his primary cause, god. this will not exclude an acceptance of scientific findings after its objective evaluation. philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 9 the document went on to state that, “the history of philosophy should be taught in such a manner that students may grasp the fundamental principles of the various systems, retaining those elements which are proved to be true, while being able to detect and refute those which are false. the teaching method adopted should stimulate in the students a love of rigorous investigation, observation and demonstration of the truth, as well as an honest recognition of the limits of human knowledge.”29 this explains why the different histories and epochs of philosophy are exposed to the students from year one to four in the bachelors level down to masters and doctoral level. the essence of these historical surveys is to be able to understand better the background or system through which other philosophical trends were explicated. for instance, the theme of the ancient philosophy is speculation on the universe, the medieval era saw the need to marry religion with philosophy, the modern era which started with descartes was to apply scientific cum mathematical principle to philosophy thereby breaking away from the faith-based philosophy of the medieval era, the contemporary or post-modernist is more of a deconstruction from traditional philosophy like the thought of james ladyman’ naturalized metaphysics, jacque deridda and the binary opposite, emmanuel levinas alterity and a host of others. all of these history according to the conciliar fathers will help the student develop a thorough search for the truth and apply it in his day-to-day living. this is where the student’s own effort comes in. they are expected to draw useful implications from the wealth of philosophical speculation because the riches or gain of philosophy is when it makes humanity to take rational decisions in life. these essentials of philosophy to human formation can be summarily outlined as follows: 1. philosophy helps the individual and some religious leaders to analyze dogmatic issues in theology; dogmas in theology are not totally devoid of reason. this explains why the medieval thinkers and other early fathers of the church used the methods and logical techniques of the ancient philosophers to address difficult theological questions and points of doctrine like the trinity, holy 10 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 eucharist, and incarnation and so on. thomas aquinas following peter damian argued that philosophy is the handmaiden of theology (ancilla theologiae). st. augustine’s credo ut intelligiam (believe so that you may understand), which st. anselm also adopted in his faith seeking understanding. commenting on this, ratio fundamentallis institutionis sacerdotalis states that “philosophy is at the service of faith seeking understanding for the ultimate aim of carrying out the mission of christ on earth”30 on this view, reason by itself is not good enough to give us proper religious knowledge, instead, we have to begin with faith to set us in the right direction and, once we believe in god through faith, we can seek to understand the foundations of our belief through reason. it is not new that the early church faced intellectual and cultural ridicule from the romans and the greeks. these ridicules threatened internal cohesion within the church and its evangelistic boldness towards unbelievers.31 with the help of the rich tools of philosophy they were able to scale through. 2. philosophy helps the individual to reason correctly and to apply their thoughts coherently and logically. the study of philosophy helps the individual to be critical in his dealings and also to avoid errors in speech and in writing. it is this character of criticality of philosophy that makes us question everything before accepting it as true knowledge. in this regard, philosophy helps to remove ambiguity, thereby bringing out the clarifications of thought. 3. philosophy facilitates self-knowledge. the worst thing that will happen to a person is when he lacks self-identity. self-knowledge matters a lot. this is what necessitates his ambition to set up the goals he wishes to achieve. following the socratic imperative ‘man know thyself’, knowing oneself, means examining oneself; for the unexamined life is not worth living. philosophy will help the individual to constantly ask the following existential questions ‘who am i? where have i come from and where am i going? philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 11 4. philosophy helps the individual in ecumenical dialogues/interreligious dialogues. in his encyclical, fides et ratio, pope john paul ii made it clear that philosophy is of incalculable importance. he speaks of the influence philosophy has on the development of culture, and on personal and social behavior. he declared, “philosophical thought is often the only ground for understanding and dialogue with those who do not share our faith.”32 epistemic justice calls for an understanding of the faith of others so as to be able to relate with them. it will be an epistemic injustice to judge other religious groups from afar. 5. philosophy enables the individual to prudently change or enhance some fundamental beliefs. it is an existential fact that most of the things we do or even the way we interpret our experiences are based on our fundamental beliefs. it is therefore the task of the priest using the rich tools of philosophy to question those beliefs that are not in agreement with the rationality of the human person. any belief that is found guilty before the ‘court of reason’ is bound to be discarded or improved upon. philosophy, therefore, helps to shape and sharpen our mental faculty33. 6. philosophy frees the individual from dogmatism. by dogmatism, i mean being imprisoned by thought or narrowmindedness. philosophy disposes us not to accept anything without rational justification. in this sense, philosophy frees the human person from the imprisonment of the prejudices derived from common sense, from habitual beliefs of our age and our environment, from culture and from our spontaneous convictions. one important aspect of philosophy is that it makes us to stand out in the midst of the crowd. it provides us with intellectual independence.34 the relevance of philosophy to the contemporary world the relevance of philosophy to our contemporary world cannot be over emphasized since its importance is geared towards making the society a better place. now, every state is characterized by its economic, social, religious and politics. philosophy can helped to 12 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 cushion some horrendous effects. of all those who explain the relevance of philosophy to the society, j.o. ejikemeuwa ndubisi is more wholistic because his thought on the matter bothers on both the social, religious, economic and the political sphere of the society.35 the assertions below are products of his findings. philosophy and cross-culturalism: the reality of numerous cultures with their idiosyncrasies more often than not causes rift. however, philosophy is necessary to combat actions of war and conflict among people of different backgrounds. in our world of today where there are people of different races and nationalities, different ideological and religious orientations, there is the need to make sense of the whole quagmire. it is unfortunate that the society in which we live in recognizes those they feel are from their locality. for instance, where the white man feels at home with only his fellow white man, or a black man feeling same about his fellow blacks. there is a kind of natural hatred of one race or group against another. this is where the study of philosophy plays a major role. our knowledge of substance and accidents in metaphysics (a branch of philosophy) shows that every human person shares one substance – the humanity of the human person. the humanness of the white man or the black man or as evident in the different ethnic groups in nigeria, the hausa, igbo, yoruba, efik or ijaw is not lesser or higher than the humanness of the fulani, tiv, idoma, esan or egede as the case may be. we all share one humanity. the fact that one is a white man or a black man or igbo, yoruba or hausa is simply accidental to the being of the individual person. in this regard, therefore, the study of philosophy will certainly play a vital role to unite all communities of the world together. philosophy and the political sphere of the society: the society cannot be devoid of political influence. in fact, some scholars say everything is politicized. with this they mean that one cannot separate politics from the happenings of the world. be that as it may, it is important to state that in history the world has experienced different political dispensations. it is true that the human person is a political animal but it is also true that politics as it is being practiced philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 13 in the different countries cannot grow or even develop without the aid of philosophy. our politicians need at least a little dose of philosophy in order to be truly rational in all their dealings. j. ndubisi affirmed that “in the political sphere, a dose of philosophy, especially, is necessary to enable us to appreciate our political heritage. the fact that “ideas rule the world” points to the practical role philosophy plays or should play in the politics of the world. it takes a good dose of philosophy for one to understand and evaluate the essential needs of one’s people”.36 the role of philosophy in the political sphere will be much more appreciated in the area of policy-making. philosophers or rather those who have had some training in philosophy are better equipped to help the government to articulate good polices that will touch the lives of the people positively. philosophy can help nigerian politicians to desist from the politics of acrimony and bitterness. since philosophy upholds the dignity of human nature, politicians will certainly benefit from it given that it will dispose them to be fair in all their dealings. ndubisi holds that philosophy certainly will help all to be true citizens and to have regard for the constituted authority.37 philosophy and religious pluralism: philosophy has a major role to play in the way and manner religion is understood and practiced in our world. ndubisi holds that from our knowledge of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, we learnt that everything that is, derived its being from the being that is by necessity. this being that is by necessity is what religious people call god. this is a simple philosophical knowledge. the implication of this understanding is that there is only one supreme being that is approached differently38. he went further to state that, the knowledge of philosophy will help the contemporary world to appreciate the fact that each of us is unique and as such every religion is unique. it is philosophy that should help us to respect the views of others, be it religious or otherwise. basic philosophical knowledge will make christians, moslems and traditional worshipers in the world to tolerate each other without any form of violence or hatred. since philosophy is 14 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 the love of wisdom, it will dispose us to appreciate the good aspects of each religious group in the world. in this regard, christians and moslems are to see themselves as collaborators and not as enemies.39 philosophy and economic development/viability: ndubisi holds that economic development has to do with the production and distribution of goods and services for the good of human society. philosophy has what it takes to develop the economy of every state. philosophy, we must recall, is a reflective activity. it takes only a reflective mind to bring about economic growth and development. it will not be an overstatement to say, for instance, that nigerian economic problem is hinged on the lack of philosophical training. it is clear that when the mind is developed, it will certainly affect other aspects of human endeavor. according to him (ndubisi), ‘philosophy may not be a practical study or of immediate practical utility, but it contains what is finest and noblest in human life, because it is concerned not with the production of material wealth, but with the advancement of the wealth of the mind. one thing that is clear is that a developed mind translates to developed economy.40 he went further to state that there is a close relationship between a philosopher and an entrepreneur. a good philosopher is a good entrepreneur. entrepreneurship has to do with the process of generating ideas and venturing into business risks for the purpose of making profits. it takes only a reflective mind to generate ideas; and it also takes a reflective mind to actualize these ideas. philosophy has to do with creativity. this is what the society needs. we need philosophy to sharpen our creative minds for the purpose of economic growth and development in the world. this will bring us to philosophy of economics which has to do with inquiries concerning rational choice, appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes and the ontology of economic phenomena.41 philosophy and scientific inventions: the contemporary world is said to be a digital world. many scientific inventions have been explored to bring about ease in the society. this explains why people philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 15 feel the sciences are the ‘saviour’ of the society. indeed, the sciences have been seen as the redeemer of mankind. however, it is important to note that the sciences are able to thrive because they employed philosophical tools. in other words, philosophy asks the questions for which sciences or scientists find the answers and thrive. there is no scientific invention that is devoid of speculation, there is none that does not require analysis, and there is none that is devoid of prescription. these are important methods of philosophy. i guess this is why in the ancient times philosophers were called scientists. conclusion it suffices to state therefore that the relevance of philosophy to nation building will help to jettison the erroneous belief that philosophy does not bake bread. for me, philosophy does not only bake bread but also, butters the bread. the misconception of philosophy that we see and hear these days are wont to be dismissed and discountenanced as abstruse and recondite. philosophy, as traditionally understood, is the study, by the use of reason, of the deepest realities. it deals with the nature of the material world, the nature of man, the existence of god. it defends our capacity to know the truth and explores the transcendental of truth, goodness, and beauty. it explains the way of life that rational beings should follow. in the study of logic, it prepares and strengthens the mind to analyze arguments, and distinguish truth from falsity. endnotes 1 fatiou a. s. “plato’s philosopher king in the political thought of the sixth century byzantine”. florilegium vol. 7 1985 p. 3 2 monday l. igbafen. foundation issues in social and political philosophy: an introductory reader, ekpoma: a. inno printing press, 2013, p.30. 3 ndubisi j.o ‘the role of philosophy in contemporary society: the nigerian experience’ humanity & social sciences journal 10 (1): 2015. 40 4 staniland h. s. “what is philosophy” issues & problems in philosophy, kolawole owolabi, (ed.). ibadan: stevart graphics 2000 p. 3 5 lawhead, william. the voyage of discovery: a historical introduction to philosophy, 2nd edition america 2002 print xxv 6 izibili, matthew. readings in philosophy, ekpoma: zibnice press, 2009, p. 4 16 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 7 aso william. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates; lagos. fropiel international ltd 2018, p. 3 8 kolawole owolabi ‘the nature and problems of epistemology’ issues & problems in philosophy, kolawole owolabi, (ed.). ibadan: stevart graphics 2000 p 49 9olayinka opafola ‘basic problems in philosophy” ” issues & problems in philosophy, kolawole owolabi, (ed.). ibadan: stevart graphics 2000 p. 31 10 enomah, sylvester. the nature of metaphysics vol. 1. ibadan bibis press 1997, p. 11 11 izibili, matthew. readings in philosophy ekpoma: zibnice press, 2009, p.13 12 iroegbu pantaleon. metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy. owerri, international universities press 1995, p. 22 13 ibid, p. 21 14 fadahunsi, ayo. metaphysics: a historical and thematic introduction. ibadan: hope pub 2004, p. 9 15 omoregbe, joseph. epistemology (theory of knowledge): a systematic and historical study. lagos joja educational research and publishers 2013, p. vi 16 ibid 17 jimoh, anselm. certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books & kreations 2013, p.8 18 agidigbi, blessing. epistemology: central issues and problems. ibadan kairos publishing 2015, p. 2 19 asekhauno a. & ogbenika, gregory. ‘what ethics is?’ the substance of ethics & morality. benin city. justice jeco printing & publishing global 2017, p. 2 20 aso william. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates; lagos. fropiel international ltd 2018, p. 107 21 izibili, m. classics in ethical discourses: a selection of figures. benin city: optima quality print limited 2018, p. 3 22 izibili, matthew. professional ethics: a reader. benin city lucosem pub. 2016, p. 2-3 23 aso william. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates, p.123. 24 adeniyi o. r ‘the nature of logic’ issues & problems in philosophy kolawole owolabi (ed.) stevart graphics 2000 p. 135 25 aso william. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates, p. 124-125 26 australia catholic bishops conference, programm for priestly formation 2015 n. 1 27 ibid 28 decree on the training of priests vatican ii optatam totius 28 october, 1965. n.15 29 ibid 30 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis: a publication of the catholic secretariat of nigeria. n. 51 31gleghorn, michael, ‘why we shouldn’t hate philosophy’ https://bible.org article. retrieved 29th november 2018. p. 1 philosophy, human formation and the contemporary world | 17 32 john paul ii. fides et ratio: an encyclical. ibadan: pauline publications 14 september 1998, n 107. 33 ndubisi j.o ‘the role of philosophy in contemporary society: the nigerian experience’ humanity & social sciences journal 10 (1): 2015, p40 34 ibid 35 ibid p 40 36 ibid. p. 43 37 ibid. p. 43 38 ibid p.44 39 ibid p.44 40 ibid. p.44 41 ibid. p.44 68 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith abstract this paper attempts a theological reflection on the eucharist, with the aim of reawakening interest in daily participation at eucharistic celebrations. with the gruesome attack on persons during the eucharistic celebrations, a lot of fear and questions have gradually led to a decline in mass attendance. despite the challenges, it must be noted that the eucharist gives meaning and purpose to our everyday existence, putting us in constant communion with god, so the fear and terror, pain and sorrow cannot be compared to the union we have with christ at each eucharistic celebration. using the analytical and expository method, this work tries to delineate basic truths as it pertains to daily participation at eucharist celebrations and its consequent effects upon the lives of individuals. this piece concludes that the eucharist is the remedy for terror as well as the source for the reign of peace and tranquillity. we must all come to an appreciation of this august sacrament with the eyes of faith. keywords: eucharist, the last supper, sacrificial banquet, the word, communion. introduction the church in nigeria, in recent times, has been at the receiving end of many uncoordinated attacks against religion by radical elements of society either to intimidate christians or to diminish their activities. particularly glaring and disturbing was the gruesome murder of reverend father joseph gor, reverend father felix tyolaha, their catechist and sixteen (16) other christ’s faithful, theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 69 including little children, during the celebration of the holy mass in the morning of tuesday, 24th april, 2018 in mbalom, markurdi diocese. the rippling effect of this singular event on the faith of the local church in markurdi has surely gone beyond the locality. ever since this gruesome attack, many persons have been scared to go for morning mass. others may even have questioned the efficacy of the eucharist and the actual presence of christ. regardless of the emotional background of these questions, one cannot but recognize an urgent need to recall and proclaim once again, the truth of the eucharist as handed down by christ himself. that is why this paper, which, for the most part, consists of a series of short theological reflections on the eucharist, is vitally important. it is an attempt to remind ourselves that the eucharist is unquestionably the selfoffering of christ to the father; it is his sacrifice. it is the true body and blood of our lord and savior jesus christ. admittedly, it can be very hard to see the eucharist as described above, especially in difficult times like our own. nonetheless, what we need right now is the peace, the joy, and the power of the holy spirit as well as the medicine and healing of faith, not ruling out what the government should be doing to promptly and responsibly protect all her citizens, especially the most vulnerable. in the meantime, let us ask our father in heaven to send us afresh the holy spirit to console us, defend us, protect us, deliver us from evil. in addition, let us implore our heavenly father to rekindle in us the fire of his divine love, and to reopen our eyes to see the beauty and the wonders of his goodness and faithfulness everywhere, in the church, and especially in the eucharist. clearly, right now, our faith is being tested, and our deep conviction about the eucharist is under heavy pressure, given the present circumstances. but we cannot afford not to longer believe firmly in the eucharist, which is central to all the teachings of the church. faith, which has always done great things in the lives of the saints (cf. hebrews 11), is as important as the air we breathe. that is why, even in very difficult times, “if faith does not take on new life, deep conviction and real strength from the encounter with jesus christ, [everything we do and hope to accomplish may yield little or no fruit at all]”1. 70 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 we need the holy spirit today more than ever to help us to pray in these most difficult times. we cannot forget that whenever we pray as christians, we do not pray alone. the holy spirit does come to our aid, particularly in our weakness (romans 8:26-27), in these senseless and very depressing times, because the lord our god is always faithful (2 timothy 2:13). the eucharist is a mandate, an obligation that one has to understand correctly. when jesus christ said, at the last supper, “do this in memory of me” (lk 22:19), he empowered his disciples and subsequent generations of followers to do what he did that night. thenceforth, the eucharist became their responsibility and a very special privilege. the eucharist is not a mere human invention. in fact, it is doing what jesus christ did, and has commanded his disciples to do, in his memory: namely, 1) to offer to the father the sacrifice that he made of his life for us sinners, and for the whole world; 2) to take bread and wine for the sacrifice, not an animal: 3) to say over the gifts of bread and wine a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to the father; then, 4) to break the bread, rip it, and 4) to give it, share it, and have it eaten by his disciples (by those who believe in it). but the eucharist is not only something that jesus christ has commanded his disciples to do in his memory. he himself is present in his church in all liturgical celebrations, totally and continuously offering himself to the father in thanksgiving and praise, and is particularly present in the eucharistic species, as a unique expression of the very special love of god for mankind. the holy eucharist is fundamentally about sharing in the immortal life of god who gives his people hope that nothing can take away from them. it lifts the eyes and hearts of god’s people beyond the veil; the stronghold of sin and death, the scourge of division and hatred. the uplifting of the eyes and hearts of the people of god enables them to journey enthusiastically and confidently towards their fatherland in heaven in spite of all the disturbing and terrorizing activities of some violent men, women and children. the unchanging light of the gospel message theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 71 contributes greatly in combating the existing problems of our own country and of the world at large such as greed, gross disrespect for human life, violence and destruction. the eucharist equips his people to do this battle effectively. this is why for some people the celebration of the holy eucharist gives life and meaning to their day. it is not therefore uncommon to find many catholics who begin their day, regardless of their occupation, with attending holy mass. they are right. we should never intend to miss the mass, nor should we allow anything to stop us from going to mass. 1. the celebration of the holy eucharist: the reenactment of the event of the last supper on holy thursday and the sacrifice of good friday. the eucharist is a unique celebration in that it is a reenactment of what christ did at the last supper and of his sacrifice on the cross on good friday. even though they are distinct, they are nonetheless the same sacrifice of christ. what the church does when the validly ordained priest and the people of god are celebrating the holy eucharist is truly a continuation and commemoration of the last supper. the celebration of the holy eucharist is the means by which christ and his body the church continues to perform the rite of the last supper; prepare the last supper, and eat the last supper, the unique event through which christ wanted to be remembered. christ wanted to be remembered as one who had a passover meal with his apostles and gave them his own body to eat, and his own blood to drink under the appearances of bread and wine, for the forgiveness of sins.2 in the water and blood that came out of his pierced side on the cross, we the new people of god are generated. the water symbolizes baptism, while the blood symbolizes the eucharist. this is why, far from being like grass, or as deserving to be wasted, which is how some people have erroneously come to perceive us, we christians are the most precious of all of god’s creation, precisely because we are the body of christ. “behold my son, in whom i am 72 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 well pleased”. the blood of christ washes away our sins. and god has forgiven us in christ. the celebration of the holy eucharist commemorates christ the most loving person the world ever knew, and it reminds us that deep seated sins are paid for. actually, our sins are paid for by no other than christ himself, with his own precious life. thus, in the celebration of the eucharist we remember christ who has established a new and eternal covenant, who has given his own blood for our sins, once and for all. 2. christ is the food eaten, the victim (the lamb) of the sacrifice another attentive look at the eucharistic celebration shows that it consists of the actions of christ which are identical with his actions at the last supper in the upper room: at the last supper, christ presides; he takes bread and gives thanks, gives it to his disciples, saying, “take this, all of you and eat of it; this is my body”. the bread truly became the body of christ, and the wine truly became the blood of christ, while the appearances of bread and wine remained unchanged. this is what is called transubstantiation3. 3. christ himself is the priest christ the priest continues in every age to give the faithful his true body and blood for eternal life through the holy eucharist. the eucharistic celebration is “an action of christ the priest and of his body which is the church, [and] is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree”.4 this is because christ himself is the “high priest of the new covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every eucharistic celebration”5 ensuring a perfect and unparalleled celebration. in the eucharistic celebration the bishop or priest represents christ. he acts “in the person of christ the head (in persona christi capitis) [,] presides over the assembly, speaks after the reading, receives the offering, says the eucharistic prayer”.6 he does all of these in the name of christ, and he is ordained to carry-out these functions over which christ himself presides. theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 73 4. two great moments: the word and the eucharist. the eucharistic celebration is divided into two major parts, namely, the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the eucharist. these two major parts are related and are “so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship”,7 for jesus christ is the word proclaimed and the eucharist received in the eucharistic celebration. the second vatican council teaches that christ is both present in the eucharistic species and through the word.8 the liturgy of the word and liturgy of the eucharist are one and unbroken action of christ who came into the world not to be served but to serve and offer himself for the salvation of the world. in the liturgy of the word, it is christ himself that is proclaimed, and he it is who speaks. “[w]hen god speaks through the many inspired words of the bible, he communicates to us his one word, his son”.9 5. eucharistic mission and unity in the liturgy of the eucharist, christ, the food of eternal life, effects an ongoing transformation in the faithful and draws them together in the one sacrament of love and unity by giving to them one bread and one cup, his own body and blood. then he sends forth his church into the world to preach and celebrate this mystery of salvation,10 so that “[f]rom listening to the word of god, faith [will be] born [and] strengthened (rom. 10:17); in the eucharist the word made flesh [will continue to give] himself to us as our spiritual food”.11the word of god that is read, proclaimed, listened to and accepted in the heart is not separate from the liturgy of the eucharist since it is the same christ who speaks in the liturgy of the word, gives himself as the word of eternal life, and who, in the liturgy of the eucharist offers himself as the bread of eternal life: “indeed, the word which we proclaim and accept is word made flesh (john. 1:14); it is inseparably linked to christ’s person and the sacramental mode of his continued presence in our midst”.12 the second vatican council teaches: “in his church he [christ] instituted the wonderful sacrament of the eucharist by which the unity of the church is both signified and brought about”13. the bishop, priest and the entire faithful are united in the eucharistic 74 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 celebration. there is one shepherd, one cup, one bread, one sacrifice, one truth, one way, one purpose, one savior of the world, one redeemer of mankind, namely, jesus of nazareth who draws all men and women and children to himself. one can see here vividly why christ commanded that this sacrament of his body and blood be celebrated in memory of him, and in memory of the church too, for the church is his body. in this celebration, one can see clearly the real nature and definition of the church. 6. the holy eucharist as a memorial we get to understand better the eucharist and appreciate it more as a memorial when we realize that in the jewish custom “all memorial is done in obedience to god’s command”14. for instance, the feast of the unleavened bread (the pesach/passover: exodus 12, leviticus 23, numbers 9, deuteronomy 16, ezekiel 45, joshua 5, 2 kings 23, 2 chronicles 30 & 35, and ezra 6), the feast of weeks, also known as feast of ingathering, a convocation of and call at sinai to holiness: exodus 19: 1-6, 34:22, numbers 28:26, deuteronomy 16:10,16), and the feast of booths (sukkoth) and the day of assembly (azaret) (leviticus 23, deuteronomy 16, numbers 29:35, nehemiah 8:18, 2 chronicles 7:9, and ezekiel 43:27). they were all observed in obedience to god’s command. the eucharist is an order to do this in memory of jesus christ. but the eucharist goes deeper than that, for whenever the church celebrates the sacrament of the holy eucharist as a memorial, she does not only fulfill christ’s command, namely, “do this in memory of me”, but also christ himself is present, doing what he did on the night he was betrayed – i.e., the rite and prayers are his. this means, among other things, that the holy eucharist is not just a remembrance or anamnesis of past event of the lord’s passion, death and resurrection, and his glorious return, but rather is “the sacramental re-presentation”15 reenactment of the saving event of christ.16 he took bread (as now he takes bread), said the prayer of thanksgiving (as he does now), broke the bread (and he breaks it now), and gave it to his disciples (as now he gives it to his disciples), and said, take this all of you, and eat of it. this is my body … this theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 75 is my blood. it is all happening right now, thanks to ritusetpreces, i.e., the rite and prayers (sc 48). the holy eucharist as a memorial is not just the recollection of an event but really a reenactment of what happened about two thousand years ago. “ it joins together the past and the present: what happened in the past is happening now”.17 a reenactment is a privileged moment in this perpetuity of his death, the forgiveness of sins, the redemption, the reconciliation and restoration of the world to the father. the people of god re-live that very moment of salvation in the course of the celebration of the eucharist when they participate in the rite and prayers, actively, consciously, and fully (sc 47 & 48). furthermore, the eucharist reminds the faithful of their liberation from slavery to sin and death, and the peace and love jesus brings to the world. bouyer makes the comprehension of liturgical «memorial» even clearer, saying: it [i.e., the memorial] in no way means a subjective, human psychological act of returning to the past, but an objective reality destined to make something or someone perpetually present before god and for god himself… it is an institution, we may say, established by god, given to his people and imposed on them by him, in order to perpetuate forever his salvific interventions. not only will the memorial assure the faithful subjectively of its permanent effectiveness, but above all it will assure this very effectiveness through a pledge which they can and must represent to him, a pledge of his own fidelity.18 the people of god are expected to celebrate and respect this memorial, because it will not only shape their lives but it will guide and guard them. 7. the holy eucharist as a sacrificial banquet the eucharist is also a banquet that has the nature of a sacrifice. g. dalman observes that in the jewish practice, “every meal, especially when bread was used, was looked upon as sacrificial…”19 always or for the most part, the time of meals for the jews was time of thanksgiving, praise, worship of god, for he gives bread to the 76 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 hungry, and protects the widow and the orphan. the eucharist is sacrificial banquet not only because of the bread that is offered in the celebration, but also because it is an offering of christ’s own body and blood on the sacred altar.20 it is a sacrifice of christ’s body and blood in an un-bloody manner. it is a celebration of the one and supreme sacrifice of christ on the cross. it celebrates the anamnesis of his death on the cross21 and of his resurrection from the dead and of his ascension into heaven. there is no new sacrifice of christ in the eucharist. the sacrifice of christ on the cross is unique. in the eucharist what is celebrated is the sacramental memorial (anamnesis) of christ’s sacrifice… it is neither the mental recollection of a past event nor a repetition of the sacrifice of christ offered once for all for our salvation. it is the sacramental or liturgical celebration of that which took place once for all in the past in order that the present community of believers can participate in its redemptive reality.22 none of this would make sense without faith, by means of which, like eyes, christians perceive very profound and great things. faith, like a heart of flesh, makes them able penetrate and understand things of divine nature, including the mind of god. let us go back to talking about the eucharist as a unique sacrifice. the eucharistic celebration paints for us, as it were, a vividpicture of the passion of christ. it plays out for every generation of believers the unique drama of our salvation, is “the sacramental sign of christ’s sacrifice [on the cross]”,23 and is “… the perfect sacrifice that imparts definitive reconciliation on the altar of the cross on golgotha. no one partakes of its fruit of salvation who still clings directly or indirectly to the old order of salvation, fraught with shadows, which is henceforth wholly useless”.24 the sacrifice of christ is not only in and of itself perfect but also it demands that those who appreciate it and celebrate it live a new way of life, a sacrificial life, a reconciling life of selfless love. among the ancient greeks there existed a nexus between sacrifice and banquet as two important aspects of the same event. d. theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 77 e. smith, writes: “indeed, the two were so closely connected that a sacrifice without a feast had to be specifically defined as a “banquetless sacrifice”.25“similarly among the esan people of edo state almost every sacrifice to the gods was made in the context of a meal. the gods were offered some of the meal and wine symbolically, while the people ate and drank merrily…. it was like dinning with the gods”.26 our lord talked about the coming of the kingdom as a great banquet, as a wedding feast (matthew 22). his last supper with his disciples points to that final banquet.27 the celebration of the eucharist brings the faithful here and now to that promised banquet feast of the lamb, in which the goal of salvation history will be definitively perfected. to sum up, in the sacrament of the holy eucharist, the church celebrates (in the context of a sacrificial banquet and in an un-bloody manner) the death of christ on the cross and his victory over sin and death, once and for all. in it, christ the priest, the altar, and the victim offers thanksgiving and praise to god his father, our father for the salvation of the world. understanding the holy eucharist this way, that is, as a perfect indication and full expression of the love of god in christ for the whole of humanity,the eucharist in fact gives christians power that nothing in this world can take away from them. it gives them immortality. and it gives them the grace and power of the holy spirit to desire heaven and eternal life. the eucharist shapes them into living witnesses of the gospel of christ, and of the world to come, that is, the kingdom of god, which is already among us (luke 17:21). 8. the eucharist as an offering the eucharist as a sacrificial banquet already connotes the idea an offering. christ offers himself freely and completely to god the father through the ministry of the ordained priest.28 “no one takes my life from me. i lay it down, of my own accord. no one takes it from me” (john 10:18). besides, christ is always present wherever the eucharist is celebrated not only in the person of the ordained minister, but also in the proclaimed word, and in the praying assembly, but especially in the eucharistic species.29 in the 78 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 eucharistic celebration, christ offers himself to his heavenly father as a sacrifice of praise, for the forgiveness of sins. and he gives his own life, his body and blood to his people as food of eternal life.30 when christ took bread, said the blessing and said: “this is my body”, and then took wine and said the blessing and said “this is my blood”. he transformed ordinary bread and wine into his own body and blood, keeping intact the appearances of the bread and wine, so that his disciples would be able to eat of it and drink of it. this change of the substance (i.e., the transubstantiation) of the bread and wine is continued and sustained in the church through the action of the ordained priest, during the eucharistic celebration, when the ordained priest invokes the holy spirit to infuse the bread and wine. he appeals to god the father to send the holy spirit upon the bread and wine and change them into the true body and blood of christ31. and that is what really happens. the bread and wine change into the true body and blood of christ, respectively., the presentation of gifts in the eucharistic celebration is incomplete without the giving of self, without the submission of one’s entire life to the will of the father who so loved the world that he gave to the world his only begotten son. and his son, in turn, gave himself, that is, laid down his life for the salvation of the world. there is no greater love than that. 9. the eucharist as communion the catechism of the catholic church has it that “the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with christ through communion. to receive communion is to receive christ himself who has offered himself for us”.32 this communion, (which is jesus) that the faithful receive, effects a transformation because he, the lamb of god, takes away the sins of the world and at the same time gives to the faithful the grace to live a good and holy life.33 paul uses the world koinonia for the lord’s supper to signify communion that connotes a close relationship, a unity, and harmony among the people of god. he writes: “the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of christ? the bread which we break, is it not a communion in the body of christ?”34 theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 79 these questions are rhetorical. paul firmly believes that the eucharist unites and forms the new people of god into christ’s body, into communion, wherein the full mystery of christ finds expression. in other words, the eucharist forms christians, the new people of god into one body, one spirit in christ. the eucharist enables and encourages peoples of different cultures and different backgrounds to profess one faith in the one and same lord jesus christ, who feeds his sheep with the word of god and with his own body and blood, without any discrimination whatsoever. recall the men that he chose to be his disciples, the men with whom he celebrated the last supper. they were from many different backgrounds.therefore, in that single act of thanksgiving jesus the one great mediator united what is earthly with what is heavenly, that is to say, the sheer goodness of the father with the needs of his people. a brief theological evaluation there are other salient points about the eucharist to pay attention to. but one may deem particularly interesting the following: in the eucharistic celebration, the church continues to remember the marvels of god, and continues to celebrate his great love for mankind in christ jesus our lord, and she continues to ask to be sanctified and to be “brought together in unity by the holy spirit.”35 it is right and fitting not only to give thanks to god for his goodness and love, but also to live appropriately, fittingly and consistently as children of god in this world that appears ever hostile to the gospel of christ. the holy spirit, sent by the father and the son, supplies the grace needed for the new life in christ, and at the same time the holy spirit binds the faithful together as one in christ.36 a. the holy eucharist as a sacrament the holy eucharist is a sacrament that “actually brings about the intimate bonds of communion among all the faithful in the body of christ which is the church (1 cor. 10:16).”37 it is through the spirit that the eucharist becomes communion with god38 and with the faithful. it is through the power of the spirit that “[t]he eucharistic sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful 80 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 with christ through communion”.39 through the working of the holy spirit, the eucharist draws all the faithful who receive it into a dialogue of love and service. when the eucharist is being celebrated one can see that, there is “a reflection of this eternal dialogue of love between the father and the son in the holy spirit”40, and one can appreciate how it is, in the holy eucharist, that we enter into divine intimacy with jesus. by active, full and conscious participation in the eucharist the faithful become a holy people, and they grow in holiness, in faith and in unity, and are being knitted into one body of christ, one spirit in christ, into a people who make the mind of christ their own (cf. philippians 2:5). this is why it is particularly fitting to call the eucharista communion, the sacrament of unity. b. passover meal of the new covenant people of god. the eucharist is also the new passover meal. it brings christ’s faithful together in faith and in practice, in every age and in every continent, and makes them the new people of god, the new people of the new covenant by the sacramental signs and by the work of the holy spirit in the eucharistic celebration. the visible structure and perennial nature of the celebration of the eucharist, easily recognizable in and of themselves, form a strong and profound bond among peoples, whose delight has always been the lord, his new law of love and his mighty but gentle work in their midst – local language and customs, time and place notwithstanding. hence, whether one goes to the far east, or to faraway india or to china, to australia or to russia or to ireland, or to nigeria or senegal, one would recognize the eucharistic celebration there, sooner or later, because it has the same structure. the vastly different socio-cultural experiences and backgrounds, the different traditions and local customs of the ordained priests and of the worshipping communities of peoples do not render the eucharistic celebration incomprehensible. regardless of time and place, the celebration always begins with “in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit”, followed by the penitential rite, the gloria and/or the collect, the readings, and homily. then follows the presentation of gifts or offertory, the prayer over the gifts, the preface, the theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 81 eucharistic prayer, the great amen, the our father, exchange of sign of peace, agnus dei, communion, and post communion prayer, and almost always ends like this, “go forth, the mass is ended”or: “go and announce the gospel of the lord by the conduct of your life”. and the people respond, “thanks be to god”. other invariable elements are the materials used, namely, bread and wine. in addition and above all, the words and gestures of the ordained priest, during the blessing and consecration of the bread and wine, are always constant and invariable. the ordained priest appeals to god the father to send the power of the holy spirit on the bread and wine and change them into the body and blood of christ. and the bread and wine truly become the body and blood of christ, even though the appearances of the bread and wine remain unchanged. c. the transformation of the people of god the bread and wine are not only change into the body and blood of christ in the course of the eucharistic celebration, but also the transformation of the faithful, the disciples of christ is prayed for: “grant that we, who are nourished by the body and blood of christ, filled with the holy spirit, may become one body, one spirit in christ” (eucharistic prayer iii). it starts with the conversion of the heart. «when the heart is transformed [,] love (koinonia, communion) is established».41 the heart is the garden where virtues can be cultivated, by the help of the holy spirit, so that vices may wither and die. when the heart is transformed by the holy spirit, it bears fruits of righteousness, holiness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and the fear of the lord. d. the actions of the holy spirit in the faithful the holy spirit is the author of true conversion. it turns the hearts and minds of the faithful toward the father the creator of all in heaven and on earth, and to his only begotten son jesus christ,42 who takes away the sins of the world. by the power of the holy spirit, christians are innocent and serene, all the time, like gentle lambs in the midst of wolves. they are a profoundly happy people, who radiate happiness and joy, all the time. daily they dedicate 82 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 themselves to good works among their fellow men and women. the change, the conversion of heart and of morals, may not be immediately evident, but it surely does occur. take paul for example: he became a changed man on the road to damascus (acts 9). unfortunately, ananias and others were still afraid of him and of his name because they thought that he was the same saul that they knew. saul viciously attacked the church and persecuted the disciples of jesus the way. the lord brought him to his knees. he became one of the greatest champions of the same cause that he sought to eliminate. the sacrament of penance and reconciliation offers us another example of how the change of heart can occur, without necessarily showing on the surface. when the priest absolves penitents from their sins, their sins are forgiven. every so often, however, some penitents still remember their sins, and the scars of their sins still remain, that is, long after the prayer of absolution is said over them. but the truth is that the penitent is indeed a new creation, after the confession, after a good contrition, after the absolution and satisfaction of penance. e. the real presence the real presence of jesus christ in the eucharist is absolutely true, even though nearly always it takes faith to see it. the eucharist is the true body and blood of jesus christ. in the eucharistic celebration, jesus christ, in union with the holy spirit (who helps his disciples to remember and to implement his teachings), speaks and instructs christians with the word of god and feeds them with his own body and blood, while always or for the most part he keeps intact the appearances of bread and wine. in this consists in part the immortality of christians, namely, the fact that jesus christ who was crucified, died, and rose again, and who dies no more, feeds his disciples daily with his incorruptible body and blood. he and his disciples become one body, one spirit, through the rite and prayers. the other constitutive part of the immortality of christians is the knowledge, the revelation of the power of god. “to know your power is the root of immortality” (wisdom 15). those who know the power of the true theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 83 god humble themselves. they do not dare to take a human life, made in the image and likeness of god. they do not play with the name of god, the unquenchable fire. every day and night, they beg the almighty, the immortal to give them of the spirit to drink, in order to become compassionate as their heavenly father. as long as they accept jesus as lord, they are becoming children of god. they are becoming like jesus, the only begotten son of god, the true friend of god, who was and is the face of god, the visible presence of god in the world.“i call you friends”, said he, “because i have made known to you everything that i have learned from the father” (john 15.15). one can see now how it is that the church not only offers a eucharistic prayer, that is, a thanksgiving prayer with jesus to the father, she is in fact always a thanksgiving prayer with jesus to the father. conclusion jesus christ is the common element of all that we have said about the eucharist as memorial, as offering, as sacrificial banquet and as communion. in short, jesus christ is the eucharist. he is the son of god, the second person of the blessed trinity. he is true god and true man. he is the one mediator between god and man, and between man and man. therefore, to believe in the eucharist is to have complete confidence in jesus christ. he is the ultimate revelation of the mind of god. he is the absolute truth about god the loving father. he always acted in complete obedience to the will of god his father, whom he has also revealed to us as our father as well (john 20:17). we have seen that whenever the church celebrates the sacrament of the holy eucharist, christ is truly present with his church, and she fulfils the command given to her by christ: “do this in memory of me”43. paul elucidates this command when he writes, “whenever you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the lord’s death until he comes again”.44in carrying out this divine injunction, the church is in constant communion with christ, and is receiving eternal life, the fullness of life. 84 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 from all that we have seen above, and from all that the eucharist teaches us daily, it becomes imperative to embrace jesus christ and learn from him, who is our eucharist, the bread of life. we learn from him to live no longer for ourselves, but rather for god alone. consequently, missing the holy mass feels like and is indeed like missing the very source of life itself. let us go forward, relying on the help of the holy spirit, consolatory optime, lumen cordium, lux beatissima, the giver of wisdom and knowledge to draw us nearer to jesus christ the only begotten son of god. furthermore, we have a very deep joy that nothing can take away from us, because alive or dead we belong to the lord. endnotes 1 benedict xvi, christmas address to the roman curia, 22 december, 2011. 2 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization, floreat systens publications, benin city 2014,96 3 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization…. 98. 4 sc 7. 5 ccc 1348. 6 ccc 1348. 7 sc 56. 8 sc 7 9 c. e. miller, the celebration of the eucharist, alba house, new york 2oo1, 115. 10 sc 6. 11 benedict xvi, sacramentumcaritatis… 44 12 benedict xvi, sacramentumcaritatis… 45 13 sc 7. 14 d. n. power, «theology of eucharistic celebration» in a. j. chupungco, handbook for liturgical studies. vol. iii, eucharist a pueblo book. the liturgical press, collegeville, mn, 1999, 332. 15edeii. 16 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization…,77 17 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization….,77 18 l. bouyer, eucharist: theology and spirituality of the eucharistic prayer, trans. charles underhill quinn, university of notre dame press, notre dame, indiana 1968, 104. 19 w.r. crockett, eucharist: symbol of transformation…, 63. 20 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization….,80. 21 w.r. crockett, eucharist: symbol of transformation…, 120. theological insights on the eucharist as a strength of faith | 85 22 w.r. crockett, eucharist: symbol of transformation…, 95. 23 w.r. crockett, eucharist: symbol of transformation…, 121 24 j. auer; j. ratzinger, dogmatic theology:a general doctrine of the sacraments and the mystery of the eucharist…, 186. 25 d.e. smith, from symposium to eucharist: the banquet in the early christian world, fortress press. minneapolis 2003, 69. 26 j. okojie, the eucharisti celebration as an act of evangelization….,82 27 r. moloney, problems in theology: the eucharist…, 196. 28 the code of canon law, a text and commentary. edited by james a. coriden et al, theological publications in india bangalore 1995, 899. 29 sc 7. 30 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization…., 86 31 ccc 1375. 32 ccc 1382. 33 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization….,88 341cor. 10: 16. 35 eucharistic prayer ii. 36 gal. 3:28. 37 cl 19. 38«abide in me, and i in you». jn:15:4 39 ede 16. 40 f. stoekcl, john paul ii and the mystery of eucharist, pauline’s publishing, pasay philippines 2006, 129. 41 p. e. fink, «theology of eucharist» in the new dictionary of sacramental worship, ed. p. e. fink, a michael glazier book, the liturgical press, collegeville mn, 1990, 439. 42 j. okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization….,93 43 lk. 22:19. 441 cor. 11:26. reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 179 reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s theory of regeneration abstract reincarnation elicits the notion that the existence of man is beyond the physical life. it emphasizes the possibility of the soul’s birth into another body after death. the goal of this work is to critique echekwube’s naturalization of reincarnation as regeneration. the study employs the philosophical method of exposition and critical analysis. the theoretical framework is founded on the theory of naturalized metaphysics. this theory is the work of two contemporary philosophers: james ladyman and don ross. they postulated that reality which is the subject matter of metaphysics can be explained through the employment of scientific methods. the study locates echekwube’s description of reincarnation as biological regeneration within such a theoretical framework. it however shows that the theory does not stay true to the original objective of metaphysics, which negotiates between two worlds, in the platonic terms, with the first being a reflection of the other. the study presents echekwube not putting an end to the debate and concludes that echekwube’s usage of reincarnation as regeneration is as a tool for the attainment of global harmony and peaceful co-existence. keywords: reincarnation, regeneration and naturalism 180 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 introduction reincarnation is about the possibility of the human soul existing in another body after its death. according to stephen lampe, “reincarnation is the idea that a human spirit is given the opportunity to come to the earth more than once; on each occasion, it takes on a different human body”1. traditional belief in reincarnation holds that an ancestor could be born into another physical body after the death of the former body. unlike transmigration, which portrays rebirth of a soul into another body as a consequence of the sins committed in the former life, reincarnation is believed to be an opportunity for an ancestor to commune with families left behind, perhaps, either for good or bad. in transmigration, the rebirth is seen as an opportunity to atone for one’s offences. the enormity of such offences determines the state into which such souls are reborn. it could be reborn in a cat, a plant or in the human person. it depends on the offence. transmigration is un-african while reincarnation is african. reincarnation is different: the soul can only be born into another body; no one child is a monopoly of the ancestral soul of a deceased parent/grandfather; the spirit of a dead father is believed to exist in the ancestral world and at the same time reincarnate in several children on earth. this same spirit is venerated at will. for ehiakhamen, this ancestral concurrent existence is a philosophical dilemma that remains unsolved in the african philosophical perspective. no matter the irreconcilable issues regarding reincarnation, the living and the living dead surely have something in common2. idowu is right then in saying that, “there seems to be a general belief that communion and communication are possible between those who are alive on earth and the deceased, and that the latter has the power to influence, help or molest the former”3. this is the reason the living dead are remembered and venerated. for mbiti, “...the living dead act as intermediaries between men and god, or between men and important, but more distant, forefathers”4. while they are manifested in the real world, they are at the same time venerated in the ancestral world. in the works of sophie oluwole, succinct justification of the reincarnation theory as enshrined by its proponents has been unable reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 181 to stand the test of time. the justification of reincarnation is usually based on physical manifestation such as: family resemblance, the abiku/ogbanje syndrome and memory transfer. if human family resemblance is a basic for the belief in reincarnation, then we have to rethink since “family resemblance is a phenomenon not restricted to man alone…. the fact that a grandchild resembles a dead ancestor does not therefore constitute conclusive evidence in support of reincarnation”5. what about the abiku/ogbanje syndrome, which is the cult of born-to-die children. how much of the cult of born to die children do we hear of today? very rare! for oluwole: the point is not that children are no more born with missing fingers or toes. the fact is that the great reduction in infant mortality rates makes the talk of abiku almost a piece of nonsense. improved medical facilities, better health enlightenment programmes have helped many africans to realize that no specific group of children is born primarily to die young6. the cases of memory transfer among africans and elsewhere is one that needs special attention. however, the admonition of oluwole is very apt. scientists and philosophers must endeavor to establish the possibility of memory transfer. the modus operandi of memory transfer under which reincarnation is held to occur must be properly understood7. otherwise, we must be deluded either by a demon or an ancient belief from which we must free ourselves. generally speaking, oluwole presents a philosophical admonition for african scholars in their rumination of such concepts as reincarnation and others. however, echekwube, rather than embarking on the perennial debate, decided to employ the term as a panacea to global unrest. in doing this, he substituted the concept of regeneration for reicarnation. many have read echekwube as attempting to put an end to the great debate on reincarnation. to others, that he denied the reality of the belief in reincarnation. however, this paper presents echekwube as naturalizing reincarnation for a greater end rather than its current unending perennial problematique. 182 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 reincarnation as regeneration in his inaugural lecture at ambrose alli university, ekpoma, anthony echekwube delivered a soul piecing lecture on “a metaphysical analysis of the concept of reincarnation: towards global harmony and peace” with a novel perspective. he substituted the term “reincarnation” for “regeneration”. for him, regeneration, derived from generation, a biological term better describes the reality often regarded as reincarnation: “regeneration is derived from generation which is a biological term for prolongation and multiplication of family group and membership”8. it is a term which would wake us from the slumber of the fact of our common ancestry. in another perspective, regeneration “… also connotes a change in spirit, turning from evil to good, a quality which humanity needs today in abundance.”9there are majorly two types of regeneration. they are: physical regeneration and moral or spiritual regeneration. for echekwube, physical regeneration prolongs the numerical strength of human families and is sustained by the clan. echekwube quoted kaluto who corroborated his position when he said that: science has shown that properties of parents are transmitted to their young ones through genes and this is called reproduction and not reincarnation. for this, i subscribe to echekwube who sees reincarnation as a regeneration of mankind. this shows that families reproduce their type which continues to surface in subsequent generations10. the second sense of regeneration is a moral or spiritual kind. in this angle, echekwube argued that humans may choose to be reborn in order to change from their evil ways and behave in a more positive manner. st. paul is cited as a better example of a moral or spiritual regenerated individual: from being the persecutor to being the persecuted, having been converted or metamorphosed. the application of this theory in the philosophical postulations of echekwube would better be understood with this extensive excerpt from his 2002 inaugural lecture at ambrose alli university, ekpoma, nigeria. he writes: reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 183 the ancestors whose characteristics are extended to their surviving family members facilitate the extension and sustenance of the family tree. this is physical but has a moral and spiritual dimension in the demand that the living be well behaved in order to enjoy the support of their departed but living ancestors. their role is manifested in the demands of the elders who are representatives that the customs of the society be strongly upheld. the scenario created is that in which our primogenitors who have physically departed this world are spiritually present by the extension of their psychic and spiritual qualities and at the same time in the spiritual abode catering for our well-being.... thus our ancestors sustain both the physical and spiritual regeneration of their successors, making their earthly homes stable and progressive. 11 this means by physical regeneration, an ancestor could be replicated in a grandchild and by spiritual regeneration, an ancestor could also be spiritually present in their grandchildren by the presence of their psychic and spiritual qualities in them. little wonder then that grandchildren are often seen with the likeness of their primogenitors in physique or in psyche. in which ever case, our primogenitors are biologically able to (perhaps without their knowing) influence our routine life by extending the aforementioned qualities on their grandchildren. the theory of naturalization the perspective of echekwube, who views reincarnation as regeneration is perceived as naturalization of that which is considered spiritual. what then is the theory of naturalization? naturalization is from naturalism, which holds that the method of the natural sciences could be used to study all there is on the grounds that all there is belong to the world of nature12. naturalism is the belief that nature is all that exist; all things supernatural therefore do not exist. 184 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 there are variants of naturalism, these include ethical natur alism; which holds ethics as a sui generis discipline and thereby re jects nonnatural properties, interfering with the domain. the second is dual; these are metaphysical naturalism and e pistemological naturalism. while metaphysical naturalism holds the belief that the universe should be treated as a single sphere without incursions from outside by souls and spirits while epistemological naturalism deals with the methods used to study the objects of philosophy13. for arthur c. danto, naturalism in recent usage is a species of philosophi cal monism according to which, whatever exist or h appens is natural in the sense of being susceptible to explanation through methods which although paradi gmatically exemplify in the natural sciences are continuous from domain to domain of objects and invents. hence, naturalism is polemically defined as repudiating the view that there exist or could exist any entities or invents which lie in principles beyond scope of scientific explanation14. naturalism rejects all supernatural propositions which include nonnatural values. proper reading of naturalism unveils its position that mental properties are casually derived from an ontologically dependent system of non mental properties, powers or things. put d ifferently, allminds: content, powers and effect of minds are caused by natural phenomenon; the supernatural is in fact part of the natur al world15. biological naturalism is understood from the purview of the above. according to john searle, biological naturalism is “the view that mental phenomena such as consciousness and intentionality are natural biological phenomena on a par with growth, digestion or photosynthesis”16. two things are associated with biological naturalism (1) all mental phenomena from pains, tickles and inches are caused by lower-level neurobiological processes in the brain. (2) mental phenomena are higher-level features of the brain. this means the brain is conscious compartment. for searle consciousness is caused reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 185 by the behavior of lower-level element such as neurons even though no single neuron is conscious. whatever can cause mental phenomena therefore must have such casual powers equivalent to brains17. from the foregone, biological naturalism, metaphysical naturalism otherwise known as ontological naturalism, philosophical naturalism and scientific naturalism is a philosophical view that (1) nature encompasses all that through space and time. (2) non-physical or quasi-physical substances such as information, ideas, values, etc can be reduced to physical account and subject to the laws of physics and explained through science18. it is in this perspective we understand the effort at biologizing ethics by philip kitcher, the effort at naturalising epistemology by w.v.o, quine; the effort at naturalising metaphysics by don ross and james ladyman and; in this purview also, we perceive reincarnation as being naturalized as regeneration by echekwube. kitcher’s “four ways of biologizing ethics” in evolution und ethik perceives that non-scientific approaches to moral questions are indecisive and uninformed. hence, he calls for biologizing the ethical project. for him, it is at the domain of sociobiology to address this problematique. in doing this, kitcher drew a map, which he termed “four ways to biologize ethic”. since it is the task of socio-biologist to address ethical issues. i propose the following: (1.) they are to explain how people have come to acquire ethical concepts to make judgements about themselves and others, (2). they are to teach us facts about human beings vis-a-vis existing moral principles and other unknown normative principles. (3). they are to explain the meaning of ethics and answer traditional questions on the objectivity of ethics. (4). they can lead us to revise our system of ethical principles. this is not far from the effort of w.v.o quine, who naturalized epistemology. for quine, “epistemology naturalized” in ontological relativity and other essays, epistemology should be part of the natural sciences. this way it could be naturalized and its content would be decisive19. quine disagreed with descartes that we can get from reasoning to certain foundations for knowledge of the natural world. quine’s epistemological project focuses on the empirical study of how human beings develop a theory of the natural world on 186 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 the basis of the sensory inputs. quine’s epistemology is a deviation from traditional or classical epistemology as espoused by descartes and others before him. in every thing must go: metaphysics naturalised of don ross and james ladyman, a similar project of naturalizing metaphysics is enacted. they present analytic metaphysics as a failure in its pursuit of the objective truth, and argued that it be discontinued. david hume had earlier called for all unscientific literary endeavors be committed to the flames. the twentieth century vienna circle with its verifiability principle which states that a statement is meaningful only if there is a way to determine its truth. later on, they were accused of being victims of their own reed. ross and ladyman’s position are better regarded as “neopositivism”. its aim is the unification of sciences. that is, making coherent sense of the various picture of the world emerging from physics and spatial science. they admonished that metaphysics should not be based on philosophers’ apriori intuitions and common sense. the question i have asked myself is whether echekwube borrowed a leap from this theory of naturalism. from all indications, yes! he has looked at reincarnation through the lens of genetics: science. for this singular reason many scholars have disagreed with him. those who partially agreed with him agree that there are laws of physics which enable us to explain things scientifically; including reincarnation but also to submit contrary to the possible logical conclusion of some scientist the existence of the unmoved mover or the maker of the laws of physics/laws of nature. critique of reincarnation as regeneration echekwube holds that regeneration is a better terminology, which describes the reality of reincarnation to have children, to respect and honor elders and to have a sense of communal living. for him, “…regeneration ….is derived from generation which is a biological term for prolongation and multiplications of family group and membership”20. regeneration is fulfillment of the ancient and ever new command of god to multiply and to make use of the earth according to its ability21. regeneration explains how we come from reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 187 god who is the source and summit of all there is; in a special way, it describes how we come from god as the creator of creatures. regeneration reveals the truth in humanity: we are of the same root irrespective of our color or nationality. humanity is of the same ancestry. if this is understood, then, there would be a rethink to tribal wars and international unrest as experienced at the moment. with a firm purpose, echekwube became the first to publicly employ the term reincarnation as a substitute of regeneration. he was profoundly acclaimed by oluwole in her work: witchcraft, reincarnation and the god-head: issues in african philosophy. it is argued here, that the term was used as a tool to remind humanity of a common ancestry and a reason to reason together as a family even though diverse. in doing this, echekwube gave room to the myriads of problems bedeviling africa, which could have been curbed if we had seen ourselves as having a common ancestry. this is seen in his thesis statement22. echekwube’s reincarnation as regeneration has been supported and opposed by philosophers. those who have supported his thesis include sophie oluwole and orji kalu; while those who have openly opposed him are justina ehiakhamen. for those who approved of his thesis, sophie oluwole, for example, said: “if one starts by defining reincarnation in the way echekwube does, then very few philosophers would feel worried about it.”23 oluwole reveres the position espoused by echekwube and wished everyone keyed into it. echekwube himself quoted orji kalu to have said of him: “…i subscribe to echekwube who sees reincarnation as a regeneration of mankind. this shows that families reproduce their type which continues to surface in subsequent generations”24. however, for justina ehiakhamen, reincarnation as regeneration is injustice to the long culture and tradition of a people so blessed. in her words, “the concept of regeneration as substitution for reincarnation is somewhat misleading in esan as the two concepts do not mean one and the same thing; and cannot interchangeably be used. regeneration does not show the core evidence for and clear understanding of reincarnation”25. with concrete evidences to justify reincarnation, ehiakhamen gave a 188 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 critical x-ray of echekwube’s concept of reincarnation as regeneration. one thing is clear, while echekwube’s supporters did so having seen a greater course and reason for the substitution, ehiakhamen was vehement on the claims of tradition, much of which oluwole had debunked. while this work appreciates the critical analysis of ehiakhamen, it unveils a perspective unexpressed in the work of ehiakhamen. this veiled perspective is the fact that the work of echekwube did not foreclose the great debate on the reality of reincarnation. even though ehiakhamen recognized this fact, her work left it unstressed that echekwube did not attempt to foreclose the great debate but to employ the term: reincarnation as regeneration to pursue the possibility for global harmony should humanity perceives itself as having a common ancestry. echekwube’s formulation of reincarnation as regeneration must be appreciated as an attempt to proffer solution to the myriads of problems bedeviling africa and the world in general. i perceive regeneration also as a palpable explication of the tradition transmitted down to us in the name of reincarnation. regeneration is a demystification of reincarnation. it presents to us a better understanding especially of the tripartite demonstration of the justification presented by oluwole in her work: “witchcraft, reincarnation and the god-head: issues in african philosophy.” these include as mentioned above: (a. family resemblance, (b. abiku/ogbanje syndrome, and (c. memory transfer. in the first, that is, family resemblance, it was established that it is a biological possibility for likes to beget likes; for parents to give birth to their kinds. this includes the lower animals. the second is the abiku/ogbanje syndrome. this was discussed extensively especially by oluwole as a prevalent medical condition which with advancement in medical technology has reduced considerably. the belief in the reality of abiku/ogbanje syndrome was so strong that sometimes physical deformities and injuries which were purposely inflicted on these children after they died supposedly reflected in their supposed next coming. for oluwole, it is very possible for a mother to give birth to a child with same deformities inflicted in the one considered an abiku. for her, “the answer provided by psychologists in western europe is that a pregnant woman is usually reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 189 so deeply disturbed by both the death and amputation of a part of her baby that the emotional stress is strong enough to create an involvement which is physically capable of affecting the unborn”26. this was often the case until society stopped inflicting physical deformities on children born with special health problems; and especially as modern medicine has reduced much of such ailments. the last; that is, memory transfer has never been properly established by adherents of reincarnation. the transfer of memory to another is usually through a rigorous process of learning. but this is far from memory transfer in this context. adherents of the reincarnation theory have been unable to establish the medium of memory transfer within the human person or between the human persons. it therefore means that until the modus operandi of memory transfer is established we hold onto its impossibility. this naturalized or scientific explication of the theory of reincarnation leaves scholars thinking as to whether an end has been put to the great and perennial debate on reincarnation. i think echekwube has been unable to silence the reincarnation debate. yet the truth remains that he directed our minds to the usage of the term in a better light. conclusion the theory of naturalization upholds the usage of scientific lens in addressing whatever exists. naturalism, in philosophy, relates scientific method or principles to philosophy by affirming that all things in the universe including man are natural and knowable. naturalism holds that our search for scientific knowledge is a possibility because in the universe, there is regularity, unity and wholeness which makes for the objectivity of scientific laws. this has recently been made explicit in different aspects of philosophy. this is how we have discussed and understood the project of biologizing ethics, the project of naturalizing epistemology, and the project of naturalizing metaphysics; of philip kitcher, w.v.o. quine, and don ross and james ladyman respectively. this paper has also delineated echekwube’s concept of reincarnation as regeneration within the parameters of naturalism. for him, “i have opted for regeneration as a substitute for 190 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 reincarnation because it is derived from generation which is a biological term for prolongation and multiplication of family group and membership. it satisfies the biological extension of the family”27. regeneration in this usage is a project of prolongation which defends the position of kitcher who sees ethics as a project and not a final system28. reincarnation as regeneration is a project and not a final system that should be avoided but one that should be considered and reviewed according to scientific rubrics. end notes 1stephen lampe, the christian and reincarnation (ibadan: millenium press, 2008), 34. 2justina ehiakhamen, “a critical analysis of echekwube’s concept of reincarnation as regeneration” in explorations in african philosophy: essays in honour of echekwube, ed. monday igbafen and blessing agidigbi, (ibadan: b wright integrated publishers, 2015), 32. 3idowu, bolaji. african traditional religion: a definition (london: scm press ltd, 1973), 179. 4john mbiti. african religions & philosophy, (london: heinemann educational books ltd, 1969), 161 5oluwole, sophie. witchcraft, reincarnation and the god-head: issues in african philosophy, (lagos: excel publisher, 1992). 6 ibid 46 7 ibid. 51 8echekwube, anthony. a metaphysical analysis of the concept of reincarnation as regeneration: towards global harmony and peace. ekpoma: ambik press, 2002. print. p. 32 9ibid. 10 ibid. 33 11 ibid. 12lacey, alan. “naturalism” the oxford guide to philosophy (united states: oxford university press, 2005), p.640 13 ibid. 640-641 14 arthur danto, “naturalism” in the encyclopaedia of philosophy, ed. edwards paul, vol. 5and 6. new york: mcmillian publishing co., inc. and the free press, 1967),p. 446. 15 luke mastin, “naturalism”. the basics of philosophy, accessed 10 october, 2 016 http/www.philosophybasics.com/branch_naturalism.html 16 searle, john. “biological naturalism”, in the oxford guide to philosophy, ted honderich ed. (new york: oxford university press, 2005), pp. 1996-1997. 17 ibid. p.1997 18the encyclopaedia of philosophy. vol. 5 and 6.,s.v. “naturalism” reincarnation naturalized: a critique of echekwube’s … | 191 19 willard, van orman quine. “epistemology naturalized” in ontological relativity and other essays. (new york: columbia university press, 1969), p. 17. 20anthony echekwube, a metaphysical analysis of the concept of reincarnation as regeneration: towards global harmony and peace (ekpoma: ambik press, 2002), p. 32. 21 bible: revised standard version, genesis 1:28 22ibid. p.4-5. 23oluwole, sophie. witchcraft, reincarnation and the god-head: issues in african philosophy. (lagos: excel publisher, 1992)p.41. 24 op cit. p.33 25op cit. ehiakhamen, “a critical analysis of echekwube’s concept of reincarnation as regeneration”. p. 36 26op cit. oluwole. pp. 46-47. 27 op cit. echekwube, p.32 28 philip, kitcher. “four ways of biologizing ethics.” in evolution und ethik. e d. bayertz. london: reclaim, 1993. 14 march, 2016. web.< http://joelvelasco.net/teaching/167win10/kitcher%20%20f our%20ways%20of%20biologicizin%20ethics.pdf p. 13 abstract this paper examines how women's participation in nigeria politics creates negative popular narratives about women's political participation. it is generally believed that women involved in politics mirror shady sexual objectication. this narrative engenders apathy among women who would have otherwise participated in politics. this narrative also reveals how nigerian women's personal lives shape arguments about their political potentials and also show a deep continuous denigration of women as objects of sex and weak entities, and how these limit political participation among women. using hermeneutical analysis, this paper seeks to understand and interpret these narratives in the construction of gender identity in nigeria, the relationship between individual agency and personal encounters and the power of popular narrative in shaping political behaviour. also, this analysis will broaden our understanding of nigerian women's contributions to the development of politics in nigeria. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis of women's participation in politics in nigeria philip edema, ph.d. department of philosophy and religious studies augustine university, ilara-epe, lagos bells philip.edema@augustineuniversity.edu.ng malachy igwilo, ph.d. centre for foundation education university of technology, ota, ogun state migwilo@gmail.com and key words: hermeneutic, gendered identity, narratives, objectication, politics introduction the purpose of this paper is to look critically at the sexist and discriminatory dimensions of women's participation in politics in the nigerian context. there are many types of sexist stereotypes that are often taken for granted to the extent that the social acceptance of these stereotypes forms the essential parts of the narratives about politics and women in politics. in a patriarchal society like nigeria, women are often spoken of in relation to a man. you see, many people wishing to know whether a particular female politician is married and whether her husband has allowed her to be in politics or who is sponsoring her in this venture and also why they are sponsoring her. these types of questions are invasive and mirror the public perception of women in politics, and essentially saying that a woman cannot be in politics especially becoming a successful politician. central to this public inquiry about a woman in politics is the idea that a woman in politics must be a sex toy to male politicians. no matter how successful a woman politician is, she is often seen as a harlot, a woman that used “bottom power” to get ahead. these social constructs need to be examined philosophically to ascertain their origins, what they say about society and how intellectual engagements will further understand these constructs to better understand women's participation in politics. nigeria is a special case as there has always been a clamour for more women participation in politics, especially as there is an increased feminist consciousness among young women in nigeria. however, there is no sign that as more women show interest in politics and participate, there will be a reduced stereotype against them. if anything has remained unchanged. people have continued to believe that a woman in politics is a slut, a wayward person, and an irresponsible person. amidst all these prejudices, there is no concrete evidence to show that women in politics engage in sexual expeditions to get ahead. but this social myth persists given the overtly rough terrain, politics has become. so there is a need to examine these in order to get to the root sources of sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 81 these beliefs. feminist collective and women participation in politics in recent years discussions concerning women's rights and the lack thereof have become prevalent in the public space. the social media exacerbates these discussions and creates a form of women's collective in which we see increasingly women bonding together to uproot various biologically dependent sexist analyses that is prevalent in society. the women's conference in beijing, which took place in 1995 served as an outpouring of a feminist collective which instilled a certain level of collective action as to what women must do in order to end the ostracism in public service participation. this conference invested great hope in the mass adoption of gender main streaming as a strategy for transforming human development through a more complementary gender role. this has borne fruits worldwide. more and more countries are living up to the afrmative action recommended by the beijing conference and more and more discussions are done in positive light concerning women participating in politics. the beijing conference represents solidarity among women, a collective for a radical reshaping of society in line with feminist conceptions. 'the concepts of feminist solidarity and collective action are founded on beliefs about the role of individuals in engaging with others to bring about radical, visionary change, standing and 1acting together.' this “acting together” as a collective, represents a strongly gendered dimension in women's lives and fosters social action that dovetails into political participation. this means women discussing their lives, analysing their shared experiences of injustice and oppression, and developing common goals. fundamentally, it is about understanding and challenging gender-specic constraints on women's options, which prevent them from achieving their true potential. in gender and development literature on women's empowerment, collective association and action are depicted as 1c. sweetman, “introduction, feminist solidarity and collective action” gender and development, vol. 21, no.2, 2013, 217-22. 82 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 politically essential in supporting them to challenge male 2 oppression. the push towards challenging male-centred oppressions bifurcate society into “us and them” and introduces a power nexus that is designed to challenge the current oppressive and sexist dimensions of women's struggles with men and society in general. the political struggles that ensure as soon as men-centred oppressions are confronted show a completely dysfunctional relations that exist in the male-dominated society which tends to intrumentalise the women and objectify them as tools in the hands of men. this mentality 'points out the complex disadvantage that women face, not only from gender inequality, but from a combination of other identity-based forms of discrimination. they face the fear of losing their livelihoods, of violent reprisals, and of losing their means of survival by alienating those who give them the means to eke out an 3 existence, while exploiting them. therefore, the feminist collective is not only ghting for an equitable society, it is ghting for its own survival in a maledominated construction. in its more radical form, the feminist collective is not about some form of modication of the patriarchal system characterized by power, competition, dominance, and hierarchy, used in oppressing women; it is geared towards its 4 complete elimination. to eliminate this entails a radical modication of the biological underpinnings of women's oppression which has long held that women can't obtain some form of a balancing act in society as long as the biology is perceived as the dening factor in the understanding of women. according to firestone, the sexual imbalance of power was biologically based and is fundamentally described as: 1. women throughout history (before birth control) 2n. kabeer, 'gender equality and women's empowerment', in naila kabeer, gender mainstreaming in poverty eradication and the mdgs: a handbook for policymakers and other stakeholders, london: commonwealth secretariat/ ottawa: idrc/cdri, 2003, 169-196. 3c.sweetman, “introduction, feminist solidarity and collective action”, 222. 4r. tong, “feminist thought: a comprehensive introduction”, boulder, colorado: westview press., 1989, 16. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 83 have been at the mercy of their biology (menstruating, pregnant, giving birth, and breastfeeding) making them dependent upon males for survival. 2. human infants are dependent for a long time after birth, limiting their mothers' options. 3. this basic mother/child interdependency has existed in some form in every society, past or present, and thus shapes the psychology of women and infants 4. the reproductive differences between the sexes led to the rst division of labour based on gender, which is at the origin of all further divisions into economic and cultural classes and cases (i.e., the origin of all discriminations). thus, the inequality between men and women can be traced to the human body and to the women's biologic imperative 5 for childbearing and child-rearing. the feminist collective, therefore, centres on accepting this biological imperative and then modifying society to ignore the biological and existential predicament and focus on the humanity of women. this will require a radical exorcism of society to the extent that the biological underpinnings of gender-based discrimination must now collapse. to achieve this collapsing of the biological imperatives that feed the patriarchal society, the surest way for the feminist collective is to make inroads towards political participation with the view towards engendering social change through this participation. to 6 participate in politics, feminists have rejected the formal/informal 7 notions of political participation. it is generally believed that the informal sphere of political participation has to do with grassroots activism where disempowered citizens easily participate; and this is where women are most effective. the formal political sphere is regarded as where “real” politics takes place and where few women if 5s. firestone, the dialectic of sex: the case for feminist revolution. new york: morrow books, 1970, 45. 6n. naples and m. desai, “women's local and translocal responses: an introduction to the chapters” in nancy naples and manisha desai (eds.) women's activism and globalization. new york: routledge, 2002, 11-33. 7f. miraftab, “invited and invented spaces of participation: neoliberal citizenship and feminists' expanded notion of politics”. wagadu, volume 1, 2004, 1-7. 84 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 any, can venture to. the feminist collective counters these binary assumptions and insist that both the conceptual formal and informal spheres are viable political arenas where women can participate and shape society. however, a simple numerical expansion of women in politics may not translate into the effective representation of feminist collectives' interests in the development of policy-making which can lead to the collapsing of patriarchy. it cannot be assumed that women politicians are necessarily committed to representing women's interests when they join politics. indeed, few of them will have succeeded in politics by promoting a feminist platform in a male8 dominated political sphere. to join politics, women collectively initially ignore the thorny issues of gender and simply focus on the very idea that women ought to be in politics. political participation on the platform of transforming society to collapse patriarchal stereotypes and promote equality will be so problematic that it can be counter-effective. these kinds of topics can be profoundly threatening to men's privileges, individually and collectively, and unsurprisingly arouse considerable resistance. at stake in considerations of developmental democracy from a gender perspective, then, is whether democratic institutions can achieve enough autonomy from dominant gender interests to challenge male privileges and promote the policies necessary for this kind of social 9 change. women joining politics, banks on kick-starting discussions that can engender such autonomy so that in the long run gender-based bias or biologically dependent bias will be a thing of the past. but given the conditions and the deep-rooted stereotypes in society, a woman in politics is regarded, by and large, a bad idea. sexual lives and political women when women do join politics, they face myriad accusations and condescension of the society including from women themselves. 8a. m. goetz, “women in politics & gender equity in policy: south africa & uganda”, review of african political economy, 25:76, 1998, 241-262. 9ibid. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 85 there is a general belief that women in politics are of easy virtue and could not have gotten far in politics without granting sexual favours to men who promote them or those who sponsor them nancially. according to comments from alliance for africa on a workshop about sexual harassment, more women do not enter politics because of sexual harassment or perceptions of it. the participants, especially the women, maintained that it was because of the issue of sexual harassment that many women are deprived and discouraged in politics. they said, “even the men who are not politicians do not allow their wives to participate in the game of politics because it is 10assumed here that women in politics lack virtue.” women 11 themselves agree that politics is a 'dirty game.' according to ugwuegede: in nigeria, women who are actively participating in poli t ics are seen and treated as free women (prostitutes/wayward) of easy virtues, stubborn people, whores, too domineering, cultural rebellions, etc. it is observed that during the campaign, the political opponents (mostly men) use the alleged loose moral standing of these women against them and often insult them directly in public. thus, they are often subjected to public ridicule and are socially stigmatized by both men and women. the use of negative labeling; derogatory names; abusive language and expressions to describe nigerian women in politics discourage many of them 10alliance for africa,(no date) “sexual harassment among others, a continued struggle for women who participate in nigerian politics” seen at https://alliancesforafrica.org/sexual-harassment-among-others-a-continuedstruggle-for-women-who-participate-in-nigerian-politics/ assessed 30th may 2019. 11d. t. agbalajobi, “women's participation and the political process in nigeria: problems and prospects” african journal of political science and international relations vol. 4(2), 2010, 075-082. 86 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 12 from active participation in the nation's politics. this is clearly a representation of the common views of women in politics in nigeria and it is a candidate's idea of a patriarchal society. it is believed that since a woman is a weaker sex, and is dependent on men, there is no way she can muster the resources required to make headway into politics. it has to be through granting sexual favours to her sponsors and being ready to “sleep” with any supporter of important repute. it is believed that without this, a woman has no way of making it in politics. there is ample evidence that this mindset is rife in the political sphere helping to fuel this misogynistic mindset. prominent female politicians are always presented on social media and even in mainstream media as being sex seeking females. there are accusations and a counter-accusation that tends to fuel this wellestablished myth. for example, badmus related the well-publicized accusation made by a female politician against a male politician. this accusation is seen as a norm and the woman is only making it public 13because the affair fell through. what this entails is that women's participation in politics in nigeria has something to do with sex. the sex lives of the women involved are presented in public and judgments are passed on to them. even the state of their families is xrayed. narratives arise about most women politicians. it is said that the women dominate their husbands to the extent that their husbands cannot do anything to prevent their career even though the husbands know that politics is a “dirty game”. the narratives make the husbands victims of powerlessness. the husbands cannot say much since their wives' have other more powerful men than they. social media and public opinion are riddled with such stories. from this, it is taken for granted that successful female politicians got there through having sexual affairs with male politicians or the powers that pilot 12n. p. ugwuegede, “challenges to women active participation in politics in nigeria” sociology and anthropology 2(7): 2014, 284-290. 13see, b. “anisulowo accuses pdp leaders of seeking sexual favors from her, others” in nigerian tribune, wednesday, 28th february 2007, p.1. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 87 political affairs. central to this urban myth is the idea of 'godfather'. in nigerian politics, the 'godfather' is the person that pays the bill. he is the nancial progenitor of the political project. he picks from among the people interested in holding various political positions and sponsors them nancially so that they would be able to scale the hurdles of politics. the godfather provides the background and inuence needed to ensure a successful political career. godfatherism is not strange in nigerian sociological realities. it is a long-accepted tradition that a younger person should learn and prosper under the tutelage and support of a more experienced patron. godfatherism is also used to connote the power and inuence of people who are politically relevant and savvy in deciding who gets nominated to contest elections and who eventually wins the election. godfathers are highly politically mobile and can sway political support to the political party and/or candidate behind which they 14 throw their political weight using various means. according to albert olawale, 'a person of lesser social status attaches himself to another person, usually of higher status, for support, which could be social or economic. the godfather gets something in return from the adopted son for the transactional relationship'. these godfathers are seen in the social and economic spheres in nigeria and have now been transferred to the political 15 spheres. in the political sphere; it gets tricky given the strange dimensions it has taken. most godfathers demand the nearimpossible from their clients. albert olawale also mentioned that 'giving of kola by a client to his patron is also not strange. what is probably strange is the transposition of this social or economic system into the political arena and also the ridiculous nature of what patrons now ask from their clients as compensation for providing them with 'brokerage services'. the present-day godfatherism is a 14n. bassey, and e. enetak, “godfatherism and good governance in nigeria: an appraisal of nigeria's fourth republic” journal of social and policy, vol.3, no4, 2014, 137-143. 15i. o. albert, “explaining “godfatherism” in nigerian politics” african sociological review / revue africaine de sociologie, review 9, vol. 2, 2014, 79105. 88 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 16 primordial tradition taken to a criminal extent'. most male politicians try to give 'kola' and other gratications to their godfathers. in the case of women, it can indeed be tricky as it is believed that the 'kola' given by the females to their own godfathers is nothing but sex even though additional nancial incentives are also imperative if the female wins a 'juicy ofce'. in the public narratives, we see that it is taken for granted that the client will always 'settle' his godfather with nancial gratication while the females settle the godfather with sexual favours. given the dimensions of these narratives about sex being the main currency when a woman joins politics, the women themselves have shunned politics for this very reason. many women agree with the narratives and in order to preserve their integrity, they avoid partisan politics. hermeneutics of women political participation: towards a critical understanding hermeneutics has become one of the alternative voices of contemporary philosophy used in assessing the human intellect and social conditions. it has long become the mainstream in philosophy and has garnered profound inuences. hermeneutics has once again come into use as a response to the totalizing and the perennial nature of epistemology which seeks to assert that knowledge and understanding are indeed a-historical and apodictic entities. but given the rise of postmodernism and also the consequences of gettier's counter examples, hermeneutics have become a viable alternative voice in bypassing the protracted debate about traditional epistemology and kantian ideas of epistemology which has 17characterized twentieth-century philosophy. according to maddox: “the term ' hermeneutics' was originally used to designate a classical discipline that formulated rules for correctly interpreting texts. early forms of this discipline can be found in biblical studies, philology and 16ibid. 17e gettier, “is justied true belief knowledge,” analysis, vol. 23, 1963, 121-123. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 89 jurisprudence. the philosophical discussion of hermeneutics, which began in the nineteenth century, likewise initially engaged in the development of rules for proper interpretation. as the discussion developed, however, its attention shifted to the more basic question of the conditions of the very possibility of understanding. the distinctive characteristic that emerged in this 'hermeneutic' discussion of understanding was a rejection of classical cartesian and kantian epistemology. indeed, hermeneutics has more or less taken the place of epistemology for these philosophers. to be sure, they usually refuse to identify hermeneutics with epistemology, but this is due to the empiricist and reductionist connotations which they sense in the latter term. there are essentially two problems which hermeneutic philosophers have with traditional epistemology. first, they disagree with the reduction of the entire cognitive process to a single model drawn basically from the natural sciences i.e. empirical observation. second, they reject the a-historical conception of the knower as one who stands outside of 18that which is known and imposes meaning upon it”. critical hermeneutics are used to assess tradition in order to correct it based on human interests. in other words, each human idea, in this case, women's participation in politics must be examined as a historical process that has arisen to enhance human life. so its contours and dimensions must be examined to show that there are no personal and sectional appeals inherent in it since if there are such aws, it cannot then serve the human's interests. so critical hermeneutics are humanistic in essence and seeks to use philosophical arguments to remove merely pragmatic or existential components from ideas and enshrine in the idea progress for 18r. maddox, “contemporary hermeneutic philosophy and theological studies”, religious studies, 21, 1985, 517-529. 90 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 humanity if that is possible. the major hermeneutical theorist of this idea was jurgen habermas. habermas articulated the fact that not all 19 tradition is acceptable or desirable. therefore, the project of hermeneutics is to correct tradition, in this case, women's participation in politics. correcting it means inculcating emancipatory cognitive interest in it. in some cases due to historical developments, in some concepts or traditions, it is impossible to have an intersubjective correction of a concept or idea so the concept or idea is discarded as being sectional. the push for the enthronement of women's participation in politics has permeated the world unmolested and has become the key idea for the understanding of today's socio-economic and rights landscape. but the desire for women to participate in politics enthrones a binary position among those who want it and those who reject it. the fact of this debate arises from the cultural perceptions in traditional societies carried over into modern life and which does not augur well with modern life. it is believed in most traditional societies in nigeria that women are to be seen not heard and women are as a matter of biology weak. this particular mindset has continued to entrench sexist dependent stereotypes that limited general progress that women can participate in. its metaphysics remains superiority of the male sex. the conquering spirit entrenched in our understanding of the male sex continues to enrich the males and pauperizing the female sex making the females mostly depend ent on the male. this pauperization creates a hybrid stranger who is outside the protable sphere of human development. the hybrid stranger or the female sex is given crumbs from the table of our patriarchal society since the males decide where the resources and integral existence goes to. these crumbs are used to create a façade as if the exclusion of women is in proper order for society. the patriarchal society continues to create more and more stereotypes pushing these from one generation to another to safeguard a society where female participation is muted. the continuous presence of sexism and stereotyping in society militates against integral development and progress and sabotages 19ibid. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 91 the complete development of the female sex. according to oecd, the fact that women are not given the full power to realize themselves in a nondiscriminatory environment, society is worse off. the more women are not empowered, the more 20 society is poor economically. apart from this, men suffer too because (as) conforming to masculine roles of competitive and ambitious self-seeking can put pressure on them and deprive them of joys that can come from parenting and having intimate respectful relationships. stereotypes and gender discriminations resulting therefrom having high costs in terms of development, impeded democracy, human rights denied and peace and security 21 endangered. so, the critical question that arises is; do women participation in politics serves as a tool for the progress of humanity? here progress is a moral concept that represents a holistic advancement of humanity based on sound morality. the new and emerging concept that seeks to deal with the obvious ostracization of women by the patriarchal society is offered by this paper as a de-feminization. defeminization is indeed a concept that has at its core a countermovement away from the radical insistence of radical feminists towards a more diffused social engagement. in other words, the feminine is redened not just from the point of view of biology, but from the point of view of progressive and necessary contributions. radical feminism and the general feminist collective impose on society a mandatory acceptance of women in politics without waiting for society to accept women as political leaders based on organic and intellectual development. the current stereotypes of our patriarchal 20oecd observer, “fighting poverty means ghting sexism” seen at http://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/5556/fighting_poverty_means_ ghting_sexism.html, assessed 30th may 2019. 21un women (2011) “countering gender discrimination and negative gender stereotypes: effective policy responses” seen at http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2011/7/countering-genderdiscrimination-and-negative-gender-stereotypes-effective-policy-responses, th,assessed may 30 2019. 92 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 society are mythical in nature and arise from the various perspectives about power and control. the society demands that men ought to always be in control of women. this mindset can change if there is a more diffusive understanding of the female sex. the female sex is not seen just from the feminine perspective, but from the contribution, it can offer based on her special nature and from her special experiences. hence de-feminization. de-feminization as a contribution of this paper is not seeking to remove the feminine nature from reality, but to embed it with the male as living being-together. women are not exclusively female given the interactions that embody them daily. so the idea of exclusivity, exclusive female sex bereft of any male dimension in the intellect is mute. men and women's history intertwine and this produces a special knowledge about life and when this understanding is harnessed. according to shetler, 'men and women keep and transmit historical knowledge by the paths that they walk each day and the outside/inside positions that they occupy in the imagined male and female spaces that permeate their world. these sets of knowledge signify separate, though interdependent realms of 22 authority deployed by men and women in their everyday routines'. conclusion this paper is about women's participation in politics and the difculties they face and how if women are truly allowed in politics, they can offer special improvements and progress for nigeria as a country. the current difculties faced by women arise from an entrenched stereotype that derogates women's sexual lives mostly based on biology. women as the receiver sex in a sexual encounter have been exploited to produce a highly damaging urban myth concerning their participation in politics. this is happening in the face of the demands made by the feminist collective who demands 22j. b. shetler, “the gendered spaces of historical knowledge: women's knowledge and extraordinary women in the serengeti district, tanzania” the international journal of african historical studies, vol. 36, no. 2 (2003), 2003, 283-307. sex and politics: a hermeneutical analysis... | 93 that women should as a matter of course or law participate in politics. this feminist demand has become inuential to the extent that some countries made it law and push women into politics without any consideration for the current perceptions of the female sex. most women in politics are seen as lacking virtue or being easy. this mindset has been exploited to prevent a full acceptance of the demands of the feminist collective. this paper is of the view that women participating in politics are highly desirable idea as long as a new understanding of the female is gradually visited on society, especially our patriarchal society. this concept of de-feminization is introduced to mirror a new woman understood from the perspective of embodying society. given the specialness of women, especially in their daily intellectual encounters with the male, it is believed that women offer a special kind of knowledge and presence and these can be used in politics for the progress of society. 94 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 157 a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture abstract this study is a metaphysical inquiry into the phenomenon of death in esan culture. it begins by expositing the esan understanding of death and how it constitutes mystery. it argues that in esan, the question of ‘the why of death’just like ‘the why of life’ and ‘the why of birth’, philosophically speaking, does not admit any satisfactorily answer. thereafter, the study discussed the esanconception of the causes of death. it examined the epistemological and logical status of some of these causal beliefs among the esan people and with reference to some other cultures. it argues that although some claims to afterlife seem rational and convincing; any claim to knowledge of absolute certainty of the hereafter is epistemologically suspicious since there is no valid epistemic intersection of this world and the assumed world after. although the esan do not conceive any contradiction in their beliefs in afterlife and reincarnation, but logically speaking, such belief suffers logical infelicity since it defies the logical laws of thought. however, the study also argues that just like any affirmation, any denial of certain knowledge of afterlife experience conversely rests on logical fallacy of ‘argumentum ad ignorantiam’. it concludes that death and the belief in life after death have practical moral implications on the living. in the course of inquiry, the engagement attempts simultaneously, an 158 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 excursion into comparative discourse with some other cultures. keywords: esan, phenomenon of death, mystery, causes of death, afterlife, philosophical implications. introduction this study is about death, its causes and philosophical implications in esan culture. esan isone of the three major ethnic groups in edo state nigeria. the word ‘esan’refers to the person, the people, the culture, the land and the geography of esan. fundamentally, the concept of death is a metaphysical phenomenon among the people of esan. it is an event which must occur in one’s life without waiver. it is also a game which does not admit any replay. the people of esan, like humans beings in other cultures, have the insatiable instinct of survival. this is why they are perplexed with the mystery and inevitability of death and its final precedence over material existence. they asked questions about birth, life and death. the esan answers to the “why of death”, just like the answers to “the why of birth” and “the why of life” do not yield any holistic ontological satisfaction; attempted answers are maximally quizzed in fables. the answers, just like the questions themselves open pandora’s box. despite these seeming irresolvable puzzles, it is philosophically wise and potent to attempt some intellectual muscle flexing, though not to completely eliminate the bizarre, but at least, to serve as palliative to the inquiring minds with unquenchable thirst for knowledge about these issues at hand. to do this, thestudy attempts a discussion of the esan’s attitude toward death and the dead, and their understanding of the causes of death. the people’s beliefs about death and its causes are subjected to epistemological and logical scrutiny; and despite the limitations, these beliefs influence their moral practice and disposition to both the living and the dead in their daily living. the study adopts expository method as well as the methods of conceptual and critical analyses. we shall begin this analysis with the attempt to understanding the notion of death in esan. a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 159 understanding the concept of death in esan culture death as a phenomenon is an irreversible cessation of life. in esan, it “is regarded as a transition from one state of existence to another. it is the last of the rites of passage that a person has to go through on earth (others being birth, puberty, marriage)”.1 deaths are believed to be caused. this causality is a constitutive part of esan ontology. even for empirical misfortunes, the esan, just like many other african cultures would believe that they are caused by some agents for some purpose(s). and just like some other cultures too, the esan people believe that at any stage an individual dies, it is caused for a purpose. this is why death is not only conceived as bad. it also suggests that one ought not to die. ironically, the esan people like people in some other cultures also believe that death is inevitable. death is an unavoidable experience which awaits everyone. it is therefore onerous for everyone to live a good life here and await the next. although it is an unavoidable phenomenon, the peoples’ belief and attitudes towards death epitomizes their willingness to continue life ad infinitum. this desirability reflects the belief that life is good despite its challenges and death is bad.segun gbadegesin2 argues that in some african societies, using the yoruba as instance, there is no desireto perpetuate all lives ad infinitum. partly because of the conception that life is good, the esan people mourn for the dead grievously and strenuously too. mourning the dead is not premissed on the cessation or forfeiture of benefits derived from the deceased for this would be egoistic, but on feelings. the esan empathize the dead. his or her absence in the scheme of things, the vacuum which his or her demise created, his uniqueness and irreplaceability make his or her death deeply felt. although death is inevitable, people fear death and weep for the dead because of human frailty, fear of the unknown and the agony sometimes exhibited by the dying, and so on. when people see other people die in agony and groaning, they fear the pain of death since it also awaits them. when it comes, no excuse, no appeal, no sympathy is necessary. despite all the beliefs which they 160 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 have about death and the hereafter, epistemologically speaking, no one really knows exactly what lies beyond the physical universe. indeed, philosophically speaking, for the people, death is a mystery. why death? this is a question that deserves answers in the course of this study. death as mystery the esan question of the “why of death” cannot be satisfactorily answered. attempted answers are maximally quizzed in fables. where they are existential, they cannot satisfy any ontological yearning. the attempt to satisfy this yearning requires answers to the why of birth and the why of life? these, like the first question are also bereft of any satisfactory answer outside religious terrain. it may, therefore, be the case that any attempt to unravel the mysteries of birth, life and death are futile and absurd. or it may be that human finitude about knowledge and wisdom is incapacitated in unraveling these meanings or answers to these ‘why’ questions. the wise and the foolish, rich and poor, king and slave, good and evil have death as a common fate awaiting them. the boethius question, in his the consolation of philosophy3,regarding why good people suffer and why evil men flourish, is pre-eminent in esan belief pertaining death. the wise, the good, the strong, the productive may die young while the foolish, evil, weak and counterproductive may die old. this is also a mystery. this mystery is couched in esan dictum as: omon non men bhuunuiseeman. this literarily translates into ‘a sweet soup is never sufficient for pounded yam’.what this means is that‘what is beneficial does not last’. the question again is why death? what causes death? causes of death in esan culture the analyses of the ontological sources of death constitute the focal point of this session. in the african traditional understanding and explanation of the causes of death,even when death results from natural causes, such causes are believed to have ontological underpinnings; hence, they are always ascribed with ontological connotation. on this view, such death occurrences are always a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 161 attributed to some non-natural causes. this is because, among theesan people, the belief that there is nothing without a cause has a firm root. no smoke without fire. for example, there are some physical or accidental sources of death such as death resulting from accidental gun discharges, collapsing toilets, felling from palm trees or other trees, and so on. deaths arising from such occurrences are ascribed with some ontological interpretations. it is only such explanations that remain meaningful and satisfactory among the people. even when death results from fighting or death by deliberate shooting, it is believed that the killer’s sense of reason was distorted or marred to commit such crime, or that his victim was already killed but was only tele-guided for perfection in physical manifestation in the hands of the supposed killer. this is why the esan would either say: eba lulu non – ‘it is what has been done’, or oiyiaboabo – ‘it is not ordinary’. this is partly why people abhorred and eschewed physical fight to avoid a person already killed having his predicament fulfilled in their hands. but when this happens, the esan would say oikayukhe, which means ‘he was dead already’. ontologically, deaths arise from different sources, which among others, include both malevolent and benevolent agents and beings such as: witches and wizards: witchcraft or wizardry is a concrete phenomenon in esan cosmology; it is a constitutive part of her discursive universe. witches and wizards are believed to operate mysteriously at night in coven where they convene, make decision and perfect their plans, and the consequences of which manifest in concrete reality. they are also believed to cause some deaths in esan through the use of evil magic. they prey on human beings for meal or kill them to thwart their foreseen outstanding andexemplary destiny, or as a revenge or punishment to their relatives, or on account of the victim due to malice. the belief in witchcraft and their evil machinations is not limited to esan people; it is a pervasive belief in africa and beyond. while writing about africa, orubu submits that: 162 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 [i]t is believed that witches and wizards can “contribute” fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters to the coven feasts as demanded. it has been suggested (or rather, speculated – mine) that for coven members to get promoted in the hierarchy, they must, as a rule “contribute” a soul for the witch festival….thus, when a person dies, no matter how old he may be, it is believed that a witch or wizard is responsible4 diabolic persons: the existence ofdiabolicpersons seems to be a characteristic phenomenon of almost all existing community in esan. they are usually very few in numbers, and found among the male folks mainly. in most cases,they are wretched but dreaded member in the community. the source of their power remains a mystery. diabolic persons can mysteriously cause death of both innocent people and those whom they believe trespass their boundary. they may also be hired by those who do not have the power to do so, for the same purpose. they are malevolent like witches and wizards. apart from causing death, witches and wizards, and diabolic persons can inflict pains and injuries on their victims and swap or downturn their destinies. while some of these effects can be counteracted, some cannot. they attack their victims with magic, juju and through manipulation of nature. like the esan, the yoruba and ibibio peoples of nigeria, among others, believe that magic powers can be used to harm an individual and also to cause his death. magic manipulations are powerful and potent and are often used or procured by medicine men to achieve evil effects. “magical preparations may be placed on the door steps of an intended victim. similarly, such preparations may be sprayed on his or her garments to achieve the desired results”.5they may also be spread on the footpath of the intended victim or sprayed on air and specifically teleguided to him for intended purpose. according to orubu, “[i]t is also believed that dogs, snakes, and rats may be sent to bite and to inflict death on a person. even lightening may be sent to strike down an enemy”.6other measures can be adopted. in any a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 163 case, some rituals are performed so that the deceased can avenge his death. evil consequences: death may also occur as a result of the evil deed(s) of the individual, to restore the disharmony which his sinful act(s) distorts in the ontological balance in the community or elsewhere. such sinful acts include adultery, incest, murder, contempt of deities and some other acts that are considered sacrilegious and desecrating in the community. in this case, the esan people would say ebo lulu gbo ole, or ole tobolegbeegbole which means, ‘it is what he did that killed him’ or ‘he killed himself’. death may also occur as a result of ontological evil of relatives particularly of parents and of the entire community. deities: deities are also believed to be responsible for some deaths. similar to the point just analysed, the death of an individual may result from the vengeance of deities due to either the wrongdoings of the individual, his family or his community. when such death does not result on account of the sin of the individual, an appeasement is made to the deities for forgiveness to prevent other occurrences. even when it results on the account of the deceased, appeasement can still be made to waive off the consequences for him in the hereafter and to insure other member of the family or community, as the case may be, from committing such crime. the duty of the deities is multi-directional. it is not only to enforce vengeance; they also protect. just like in most african communities, the deities are believed: to protect all the people in the locality. it also takes vengeance on evil doers for offences and crimes committed in secret. people may swear by the deity. in fact, individuals may be tried before the deities for various offences. it may thus be invoked to find out the guilty party. it is believed that the local deities do their work by causing the death of offenders7 164 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 such deities in esan, among the litany of others include idigun, ukhuekhie, omonruare, obiemenandedion. when offence is detected before death, appeasements are made; and when accepted the deity concerned may relent in anger and abort vengeance. whether in esan or elsewhere, some deities are believed to be more lenient or more temperamental than others. the justices of deities can sometimes be perverted to reflect public expectation. this is very common with extra ordinary means of arbitration and vindication, where ordinary human knowledge is defective, such as in the indictment of witchcraft or wizardry, diabolism, blatant denial in the ordinary judicial system, and so on. such cases are referred to, and tried by priests of sasswood, osunene, alamonka, itan, shrines, as well as native doctors and so on. these supernatural judicial means can be manipulated and when not manipulated has no guarantee for true justice. so while the guilty can sometimes be acquitted, the innocent can be penalized with capital or near capital punishment.8 however these practices are not very common in esan. the justices of deities can also be manipulated sometimes by malicious priests for pecuniary gains. though, not in esanland, the attainables in the shrine of the arochukwuoracle in iboland popularly named the long juju by the british (because it pointed vertically to heaven) are typical examples of perversion of justice by human beings in the name of deities.9 here, it was dispensation, not of justice, but of injustice. when cases are brought before this shrine, the priests do accept bribe from the offenders to distort justice. after accepting bribe from the guilty person, the innocent person is led through an underground tunnel from the shrine to the coast to be sold as slave. daron acemoglu and james robinson explain how the arochukwu oracle as a religious institution became perverted by the desire to capture and sell slaves. they write that: [t]he oracle was widely believed to speak for a prominent deity in the region respected by the major local ethnic groups, the ijaw, the ibibio, and the igbo. the oracle was approached to settle disputes and adjudicate on disagreements. plaintiffs who traveled to arochukwu to face the oracle had to descend from a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 165 the town into a gorge of the cross river, where the oracle was housed in a tall cave, the front of which was lined with human skulls. the priests of the oracle, in league with the aro slavers and merchants, would dispense the decision of the oracle. often this involved people being “swallowed” by the oracle, which actually meant that once they had passed through the cave, they were lead away down the cross river and to the waiting ships of the europeans.10 this knowledge was not in public space. then the priests slaughter a cock and sprinkle the blood on a white cloth to show the relatives of the actual innocent person that he or she was the offender and for that reason the gods has taken his or her blood, that is, has killed him or her. this nefarious activity was discovered when slave trade was abolished. those who were purportedly claimed to be killed by the gods returned home to tell their experiences. it is not impossible that these priests have been killing innocent persons in the pretext of dispensation of justice by the gods before they devised the above described mean as an additional source of lucrative business in the shrine. the arochukwu oracle was no doubt the most powerful oracular cult and the most dreadful institution in iboland and its environs. it is believed to have the ability to identify wizards, witches and poisoners, among other powers.11 the people of aro who were deeply feared because of the oracle manipulated the scenario to enhance their economic powers. according to ossai and odunsi, they: lured and sold into slavery unwary persons who came to consult the oracle. more often than not the aropeople create situations which necessitated consultation of the oracle. suspects who were hurried to the oracle to have their innocence or guilt established would mysteriously disappear. the aro 166 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 also used the oracle as a means of blackmailing wealthy persons and dispossessing them of their wealth.12 it is for the gruesome elements contain in the cult that the government suppressed it. in fact, a british expedition was eventually launched to attack the shrine in 1902. the preceding depicts that the supposed justices of the gods may sometimes be the reflections of the whims and caprices of the priests of such gods, just as the acclaimed supposed temperaments of the gods are sometimes the reflections of the actual temperaments of the priests of such gods. spirits: spirits of the dead are also believed to cause some deaths. their influence is mostly limited to the family they departed from. however their influence may extend beyond their family to wherever the cause of their death is. maximally, such influences are predicated on vengeance. they may have felt offended or unjustly treated or killed by person(s) while they were alive. they may also feel offended fornot being properly buried when they died,not accorded befitting burial, or for delay in second burial. they may also be aggrieved when sacrifices are not made to establish or maintain ontological relationship to exact their relevance. ancestors may also cause death; but their actions are not malevolent. such actions are attemptsto forestall impending calamities to befall a people as a result of omission or misdeed which can generate ontological disharmony with the ancestors and the totality of reality. god: god is believed to cause some deaths particularly of those who are old. when an old person dies, the esan people often say god has called him or her. in their language, they would say edolegbale. this means ‘his days are completed’. they say he has gone home to rest. this may suggests that this world is not a permanent home or that it is a place of toil and turmoil. although there is terrific fear of death, there seems to be an exemption of those who are very old, and who probably have children that are also growing old. they would wish to die before their children begin to die of old age in their own a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 167 eyes.the prayer of every esan person is that his or her children should not die before them. they would also want to join the ancestors. another probable reason is that if their children continue to die one after the other before them, not only that they will feel so bad about it, they will have no child(ren) to accord them befitting burial; and that would diminish their relevance in the ancestral realm. in addition, they may die a bad death.very importantly, they may be indicted of killing their children or using them to elongate their life span. in this case, the esan will say o roomon du uhonmon, which mean, “he has used his child to buy or replace his head”, that is, to elongate his life span. this is why when such old people die it is often believed that their death is natural. natural death is the only death caused and ordained by god; and it is the death of the aged. such deaths are least grieved and well celebrated. since they are natural, most cultures call it good death. although they are believed to be natural in esan, but in the deeper yearnings of the people, it is caused by some agent(s) for a purpose; and the principal purpose is to prevent him or her from eating the fruits of his or herlabour, that is, from enjoying being taken care of by his or her children. such opposing beliefs invalidate the idea of a good death. from the foregoing, it is evident that these beliefs concerning the causes of death are not limited to esan people; they are predominant in most other african cultures. the causes of death13 among the igede people of benue state in nigeria do not have significant difference from the esan account. in fact, it is significant replication of it. the replica in belief in most african cultures does not pertain only to causes of death but also to other beliefs about death and some other african spheres of life. however, the contemporary norm has diverged significantly from the traditional norm about some of these beliefs. epistemological concerns the belief in immortality or at least in life of some kind hereafter seems to be ingrained in human consciousness.14literally, 168 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 immortality means freedom from death.15 what this belief means is that death is not the end of human being. it wouldseem difficult to find any human culture or race, even among the most primitive that is without some ideas of an afterlife, which is taken for granted and as certain. for example, the esan and many other societies believe concretely either in reincarnation or in the ancestral world or both. there is the strong cosmological belief among the esan people that after death, the deceased transit into another life. there is also the cosmological belief in reincarnation. the contemporary mind that is critical will conceive this as contradiction. but for the traditional mind there is no contradiction at all, since contradiction only exists where people do not understand the connection between concepts or phenomena. although we shall not go into unending epistemological quizzing here, however, it suffices to ask and answer in a fair detail the questions: how do we know about afterlife and reincarnation? can both beliefs constitute knowledge? can there be any epistemic validity for any or both. since the dead cannot come back after a time to tell their experiences or the attainable in the world beyond the present, then what is the source of our knowledge claim about death experience, the dead and afterlife? orubu’s work16 gave some instances that may tend to sustain afterlife experiences. he writes about some recent scientific research findings which support the existence of life after death. medical and psychological research findings indicate that there is something in human being which survives physical death. the investigation by moody17 concerns those who have experienced the first stage of death and thereafter come back to life. this is near death experience. the reports of the experiences by moody’s respondents were very lucid. they knew all the events which surrounded them, including the attempts to revive them, extraterrestrial experiences and when they came back into their bodies. theodore schick and lewis vaughn write that near death experience is one of the many “extraordinary things that thousands of people experience, believe in, and change their lives because of”.18 according to them, hundreds of people who were near death have told of blissful experiences in the beyond. although their reports vary, certain details keep recurring. in each case, their a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 169 experiences do not seem like dream or fantasy; it seems vividly real. many who have had such experiences hold that such experiences are undeniable proof of life after death. sometimes, some face the difficulty of finding human words adequate enough to describe their experiences of unearthly episodes. nevertheless the experiences affect their lives profoundly, especially their views about death and its relationship to life.19 moody argues that since there was so great similarity in their reports, these reports must reflect reality.20 near death experience seems to be the most impressive evidence that we can survive the death of our physical bodies. although our physical body will certainly die,21but this does not mean we cannot survive death. the fact that the examinations of near death experiences in some parts of the world do not have essential differences from the reports in other parts, laid credence to the credibility of its claim of life after death. similar experiences abound in esan and other african societies. those who were already dead, such as parents, grandparents, other relatives, deities and unknown but describable benefactors, prevent the dying from going beyond a point and they then return back to their physical bodies. in addition, mountains, rivers, ditches, and other obstacles are reported to have obstructed their way. there are claims of physical manifestations of the spirits of the dead to the living, especially to their relatives. they sometimes pass unknown information that conforms to reality upon investigation or confirmation. there are also claims of dead persons who left to where they are unknown to begin another physical life on earth. they may get married and have children. when peradventure they are seen and recognized by those who knew them before they died, they disappear and relocate to another place where they are unknown. sometimestoo, upon persistence or pressure from spouse or children to visit their place of origin, they can lead them half way, but very close to enable them locate their home and then disengage. maximally, it is believed that these are those whose actual time of death was not yet. 170 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 psychologists also found out that under hypnotic regressions, some individuals reported that they have lived before some year ago in distant places. they also tell their career. investigations confirm such information. the investigation conducted by wambach,22 using a wide range of subjects of over 500, indicate that subjects have lived and died many years before coming to this present life.michael shallo23 argued that the human soul is not annihilated at death. he based his arguments on proof fromthe moral law, the sanctity and justice of god, man’s desire of perfect happiness, andthe universal judgement of mankind.relying on these arguments michael shallo settles for the reality of another life. in addition to these, the fact that we dream when we are sleeping, and this dream state is another plane of existence, suggests that there could be another plane of existence at death (a long sleep), and that it is not annihilation that awaits the human being at death. since, philosophically speaking, we do not fully comprehend all the circumstances of dream and dream state (a reality which we have personally and directly experienced during sleep), more so we cannot, at this stage, understand all the circumstances of afterlife experience which we have not yet experienced. although some claims to afterlife seems rational and convincing, epistemologically speaking all sources of knowledge is suspect. even the sources of knowledge that are most philosophically scrutinized, dependable, and reckoned with such as rationalism and empiricism are diametrically opposed on claims, beliefs and methods. if this is so, other sources of claims to knowledge such as intuition, revelation, introspection, authority, necromancy, clairvoyance and so on, will be fraught with more controversies and contradictions, and thus more suspects. the situation is worse when phenomena about which claims are made are not only beyond the physical, but are matters that are completely removed from terrestrial terrain, material existence and human experience such as the attainable in afterlife. this suggests that the supposed knowledge claims to afterlife and its experiences can be countered. some of the evidence we have had are not death experiences but near death experiences. a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 171 some are stories about the manifestations of spirits of the dead, belief in reincarnation and hypnotic regression.24 no one had really died to return to tell the true nature of life there, if there is. there seems to be a chasm such that once oneis here, he cannot be there, and cannot know what lies after death. conversely, once one is dead, he cannot come back to relate with the living, at least physically, about what exactly lies beyond the physical universe. this interactive limitation seems to be forever set between the living and the dead. this means that there is no valid epistemological intersection of the assumed two worlds. the preceding argument seemsreasonable because of the possibility of epistemic perversion. for example, regarding near death experiences, one can ask: if death actually occurs, will these experiences continue? how are we sure they are not mirages of death just like a mistaken pool of water that is not there when we get to the point? for instance, theodore schick and lewis vaughn25 hold that, although researchers generally agree that people do experience such things, but whether their experiences show that they literarily leave their bodies and enter another world is another question. moody was convinced that near death experiencers do have a glimpse of the beyond, a brief passage into a whole other reality, but schick’s and vaughn’s concern is: whether such a belief is justified. they argued that “a claim is justified if it is beyond a reasonable doubt, and it is beyond a reasonable doubt if it provides the best explanation of something”.26since the evidence from near death experiences does not provide the best explanation, it does not establish the belief in life after death beyond reasonable doubt. this mental wrangling by schick and vaughn may signify the danger of reducing reality to logic and epistemological justification. but speaking realistically, reality is beyond these. part of the counterarguments for immortality is that some thought of the notion of disembodied existence as meaningless. according to michael scriven,27 the belief in personal immortality through the survival of a spirit or soul conceived as the essence of personality clearly serves important functions in the psychic 172 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 economy of many people. this makes death seem less frightful, morality more meaningful and life more significant. but speaking uneconomically very little can be said about the truth of this claim. if the belief in personal immortality is divorce from the belief in a divine man-centered creation and redemption, it becomes unintelligible. this belief can slope into the claim that all animals and even plants survive death. speaking realistically, this is a fantasy, unsupportable claim and is contrary to evidence. scriven submitted further that: [f]ascinating though the literature of survival research is, then, it does not provide us with anything more than a thorough education about the experimental investigation of allegedly supernatural phenomena. and there is no other source of evidence to support belief in our survival of bodily death. we die, and then we rot; and that is the only reward or retribution for our life as a whole that we shall ever receive. the meaning of man’s existence lies within his life and not beyond the grave.28 but helen buss mitchell tends to mediate this argument and suspends categorical judgement about it. according to her, “[c]ompelling as the account of life after death may be, we currently have no way of verifying their truth by means of controlled experiment”.29 she argues that near death experience accounts do not establish life after death empirically – that is, through the scientific method of objective data gathering and hypothesis testing. there is simply no evidence for it. looking at it from the other perspective, by listening to accounts of near death experiences, it is also clear that these people feel that they know what they experienced. “children make particularly compelling witnesses because they tell of their experiences so matter-of-factly”.30 to argue against immortality or life after death because it has not been proven to be true is to lean on fallacy of argument from ignorance, since it has not been proven to be false either. to reduce its authenticity to empirical verification is like saying that the debates over the truth or falsity of x being the friend or president of a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 173 y, the availability or otherwise of network services in a place, the rightness or wrongness of abortion, whether it is good to do good and avoid evil, among others, are to be verified only by subjecting them to laboratory analyses. this makes nonsense of value, truth and reality. the over confidence in this empirical sort of a thing is misleading. it poses as if empirical verifiability is the panacea to fathom all reality. for example, some centuries ago any claim to the present state of communication development will be regarded as an abuse of common sense, an empirical cum verification nullity. today, here we are. a piece of information can go round the world in a minute. you can talk to anybody anywhere in the world without public address system and without any connecting wires. you can write a letter or make a write-up and another will receive it in a second or seconds anywhere in the world. this is the present state of information technology, which probably scientists or empiricists would have denied some centuries ago for non-verifiability. perhaps, some hundreds of years to come scientists or empiricists may by laboratory analysis confirm immortality or life after death. we shall not go beyond this stage here, since,to do so, will imply overindulgence in discussing afterlife with respect to the scope of this topic of discourse. we shall now turn our attention to knowledge claim of the pain of dying. part of the reasons people fear death is the pain, which is believed people experience in dying. but how do we know that dying is a painful experience? we may think we know this because, we see the dying agonizing. from his demeanour, we can infer that he is in pain. therefore, when we see many people dying with similar demeanour, weinfer that dying generally is a painful experience. how do we know for sure from their observable manifestations that dying is painful? this raises the problem of other minds in philosophy of mind. how do we know what is in the minds of others? do their demeanours, facial and other expressions grant any legitimacy for valid inference? if it does, does this inferencedepict any truth? but we can answer that since we see ψ in a–c for themto become ϰ , we can be sure that for d–z to 174 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 becomeϰ they must experience ψ. put plainly, since we have seen people expressing signs of pain when dying then it means that dying is painful. but this reasoning pattern is inductive;and it is commonplace knowledge that induction can be dubious. the fact that people’s expressions give the impression that they are in pain when dying does not give the guarantee that dying is inherently painful. has there not been a single instance of dying which did not manifest pain? put differently, has anybody not died without pain? if anyone did, then the sweeping statement that the act of dying is painful is unsupported with such contrary evidence. the dying may actually be expressing the pains of fear of deatha sense of leaving the world, a psychological rather than physiological pain of dying. the beliefsin afterlife and reincarnation, whether in esanor elsewhere also raisedthe problem of personal identity in philosophy of mind. is the reincarnated individual still the same person in ancestral domain? is the reincarnate and ancestor the same person with the deceased? what justify these? this is a problem. the logical flaws the esan belief in afterlife and reincarnation, as it is anywhere, is subject to logical error. it defies the logical laws of thought, that is, the principles of identity, exclude middle and noncontradiction. is it possible for the deceased to be in ancestral world and reincarnate at the same time? the problem is more than that. logically speaking, what is the source of the assumed inference that the deceased is somewhere or is not anywhere beyond the grave after death? there is the claim that “[t]he abode of the dead has no clearly defined geographical location”.31 those who reject life after death on this ground may claim that since the geographical terrain orabode of the dead has not or cannot be discovered, then, it does not exist,because for them, to exist, is to be in a place. the challenge here is that such claimers have not discovered all there is in the material universe. if this is the case, then, they ought not to think of a must discovery of realities outside the universe, and in spiritual matter at that. in whichever way, any claim made so far in this section commits the logical fallacy of argumentum ad ignorantiam, that is, the fallacy of a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 175 argument from ignorance.32 since fallacy is involved the argument cannot be logically valid. the affirmation and denial of knowledge claim about another plane of existence and of the abode of the deceased are both logical gibberish, an invalid assumption that is beyond demonstration. this isbecause, in logic, there is a specific pattern of occurrence such that given a then b. it will be a logical inconsistency or contradiction for b not to be when a. this is why the claims made about knowledge and experience concerning afterlife in the preceding session do not pass the test of logic. moral import of death in esan culture the consciousness that death is a debt which we must inevitably pay,enhances moral and social order to some extent. the esanperson believes that he or she will die one day. he also believes in life after death. these have tremendous moral signification for the esan people. the realization of the existential fact that we will die one day makes people to be kind to one another. it makes them to live sincerely and abide by the golden rule. their indoctrinated beliefs that ebunuleleimienobhanoghuuholo–‘whatever the mouth eats must without fail, worry the anus’ -, that the evil that men do lives after them, and that a good name is better than riches make them shun evil.33 they therefore lead good lives so that: 1. their good deeds and name will be echoed after their death. 2. they will live long. 3. they can join the ancestors. 4. they can leave good legacy. 5. they can attract befitting burial which is the prelude to joining the ancestors. 6. and very importantly, people will treat their progeny well when they are no longer alive. another way death inform moral behavior among esan people is that the sight of a dying person bring people to the realization of their own situation: that they too will be in that situation one day. this then makes them sober when they see somebody dying. it 176 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 redirects their focus and attitude morally toward the sick, the suffering, the poor, the dying and the dead. it enhances their senses of solidarity toward others as co-potential victims of death. conclusion skepticism can be raised about claims to knowledge and experience of afterlife. but this does not eliminate the possibility of afterlife and its knowledge and experience. a hindu philosopher nikhilananda34 puts it that “experiences of after death cannot be demonstrated by reason”. he also puts it that “the doctrine of rebirth is more probable than improbable”. reality is not all about passing the test of logics and epistemological rigour. what isis and what is not is not independent of intellectual rigour. the beliefs which the esan people have about death help in organizing their individual and community lives meaningfully. but the contemporary norm has diverged significantly from the traditional norm about some of these beliefs. it has perverted it. this has impaired their moral and social conception that enhanced the proper functioning of traditional community life. in contemporary time, people’s attitudes do not show that they will die. but this does not mean they will not die. and this does not exempt them from moral and social responsibilities. what it means is that they are morally callous and insensitive and are thus not using their present to shape their future. endnotes 1. peter alli, esan cosmology and its effects on the social behaviour of the people: bringing all things under christ, (lagos: deocraft communications, 2011), pp. 25-26. 2. segungbadegesin, “culture and bioethics” helga kuhse and peter singer, eds.,a companion to bioethics,2ed., (oxford: wiley-blackwell, 2009), p. 31. 3. see anicius boethius, the consolation of philosophy,v.e. watts, translated and introduced, (london: penguin books, 1969). 4. a.o. orubu, “the hereafter in african traditional religion”, a.o. orubu, ed., african traditional religion, (benin city: institute of education, university of benin, 2001), p. 155. 5. orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, p. 155. 6. orubu,the hereafter in african traditional religion, p. 155. 7. orubu,the hereafter in african traditional religion, p. 156. a philosophical analysis of death in esan culture | 177 8. see christopher okojie, esan laws and custom with ethnographic studies of the esan people,2ed., (benin city: ilupeji press ltd., 1994) pp. 100-101. 9. see details in j.b. webster, a.a. boahen with h.o. idowu, the growth of african civilization: the revolutionary years: west africa since 1800, (london: longmans groups ltd, 1967), pp. 185-186; olumide lucas, religions in west africa and ancient egypt, (lagos: nigerian national press, 1970), pp. 88-89; t.a. osae, and a.t.o. odunsi, a short history of west africa: a. d. 1800 to the present day. (london: university of london press ltd, 1973), p. 98. 10. daron acemoglu, and james robinson, why nations fail: the origins of power, prosperity and poverty, (london: profile books ltd., 2013), pp. 253-254. 11. see details in g.t. basden, niger ibos, pp. 49-52, cited in olumide lucas, religions in west africa and ancient egypt, p. 88. 12. osae and odunsi, a short history of west africa, p. 98. 13. s.o. oboh, et.al.,igedegedegede: selected essays on igede cultures and language, (makurdi: onaivient. ltd, 1987), p. 14, cited in a. ali and p.o. agogo, traditional african beliefs: the case of igede people of benue state, nigeria, a.o. orubu, ed., african traditional religion, pp. 107. 14. orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, p. 160. 15. michael shallo, lessons in scholastic philosophy, (philadelphia: the peter reilly publishers–importers, 1934), p. 313. 16. see orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, pp. 161-164. 17. see details in raymond moody, life after life, (new york: bantam books), cited in a.o. orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, pp. 153166. 18. theodore schick and lewis vaughn, how to think about weird things: critical thinking for a new age, (london: mayfield publishing company, 1995), p. 6. 19. see schick and vaughn, how to think about weird things, p. 271; also see raymond moody jr., life after life, (new york: bantam books, cited in theodore schick and lewis vaughn, how to think about weird things, 1975, pp. 21-23. 20. schick and vaughn, how to think about weird things, p. 52; also see james alcock, parapsychology: science or magic? (oxford: pergamon press, 1981), p. 76. 21. see details in schick and vaughn, how to think about weird things, pp. 270-272. 22. see h. wambach, life before life, new york: bantam books, 1982; a.o. orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, pp.163-164. 23. see details in michael shallo, lessons in scholastic philosophy, pp.312-317. 24. see orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, pp. 161-164. 178 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 25. schick and vaughn, how to think about weird things, p. 52. 26. schick and vaughn, how to think about weird things, p. 274. 27. michael scriven, primary philosophy, (new york: mcgraw-hill, inc. 1966), p. 175. 28. scriven, primary philosophy, p. 177. 29. helen buss mitchell, roots of wisdom: a tapestry of philosophical traditions,6ed., (belmont: wadsworth cengage learning, 2011), p. 203. 30. mitchell, roots of wisdom, p. 203. 31. orubu, the hereafter in african traditional religion, p. 160. 32. for details of the nature of this fallacy, see morris engel, the study of philosophy: an introduction, (new york: holt, rinehart and winston, 1981), pp. 133-134; stuart hirschberg, ed., strategies of argument, 2ed., (boston: allyn and bacon, 1996), p. 821; irving copi and carl cohen, introduction to logic, 12ed., (new jersey: pearson education, inc., 2005), pp. 140-141. 33. felix airoboman and joseph osagie, “the phenomenon of death and its moral implications among the esan of edo state, nigeria”, higher education of social science, vol. 10, no. 5, 2016, pp. 6-7, also available from: url: http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/hess/article/view/8559 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/8559 34. see the watchtower, do you believe in reincarnation? benin city: watchtower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, vol.118, no.10, may 15, 1997, p. 4, citing nikhilananda, hinduism: its meaning for the liberation of the spirit. 86 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament: a historical, theological and ritual approach abstract there is no denial of the fact that the idea of many contemporary catholic christians about confirmation is shaped by the definition in the catechism of baltimore that confirmation is a sacrament through which we receive the holy ghost to make us strong and perfect christians and soldiers of christ (no. 166). this definition tends to emphasise confirmation as a sacrament of christian maturity. the catechism of the catholic church, however emphasizes that confirmation, together with baptism and eucharist are sacraments of initiation whose unity must be safeguarded (ccc. 1212, 1285).how can we possibly consider the notion of confirmation as a sacrament of christian maturity and one whose unity with baptism and eucharist must be kept? is our present ritual practise reflective of the initiation character of the sacrament? when and how did this differentiation in the primary role of the sacrament emerge? this essay responds to these, and some other pertinent questions regarding the true character of the sacrament of confirmation. it assumes that the survey of the historical, theological, and ritual understanding of the sacrament can help to put in right perspective the true character of the sacrament and thus affect the present practice. keywords: confirmation, sacrament, baptism, initiation, catechism. rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 87 introduction the catechism of the catholic church explicitly stated that the sacraments of christian initiation are baptism, confirmation, and eucharist, they lay the foundations for every christian life, and their unity must be safeguarded (ccc 1212, 1285). this affirmation understands ‘initiation’ as a unitary process by which an individual comes to full membership in the christian community. however, the practice of confirmation today reflects little of the initiation character, and consequently raises question about its meaning. when the question is asked about the meaning of confirmation, the most likely answer will be something relating to the holy spirit and not basically initiatory. it may be said to be the sacrament that gives us the holy spirit with all his gifts. or as the catechism of baltimore defines it: a sacrament through which we receive the holy ghost to make us strong and perfect christians and soldiers of christ (no. 166). this notion of confirmation with its link to the holy spirit and strengthening has been over emphasised at the detriment of its initiatory character. but this attitude attracts myriad of questions: is the holy spirit not given in baptism? if it is (and indeed is), is the holy spirit given in baptism different or in little measure to the one at confirmation? are those who have not received confirmation not capable of living the life in the spirit and manifesting the gifts of the holy spirit? do those who receive confirmation always manifest the gifts of the spirit? is it necessary to wait till adulthood to receive the holy spirit and his gifts? if it is a sacrament of initiation, are those who have not received confirmation full member of the church? how and why are those who are not fully initiated, partaking in the eucharistic meal? if it not for its initiation character, why is the request for confirmation of catholics before marriage (cic 1065 §1)? why should those from other christian traditions being received into full communion with the catholic church be confirmed (ccc 1312; cic 884 §2)? and the question can go on and on. one thing that these questions reveal is that confirmation is not as easily understood as it sometimes seems to be. it is a sacrament with complexities and this 88 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 calls for a rethink about what the sacrament is in its history, theology and ritual. confirmation: a sacrament with complexities one of the recurrent features in the writings on confirmation is the acknowledgement that it has multiple complexities in its history, theology and ritual practice. it is arguably one of the most difficult and complex questions in the history of the church.1 for gerard austin, “no other sacrament has had such a checkered history. no other sacrament has changed so frequently in ritual, prayers, and meaning through the centuries.”2 as a liturgical act, there is no other sacrament that has generated so much theological controversy and as a result attracted variety of interpretations.3 regarding its history and origin, “it is one of the most obscured chapters in the origin of christian worship.”4 it is a sacrament shrouded in much ambiguity, not just in its history and theology but also in practice. frank quinn considers it as “one of the most vexing issues in contemporary theology, liturgical reform and practice”.5 both the development and the reform of the rites of the sacrament seem to consistently generate more questions than they hope to clarify. confirmation: a definition to avoid ambiguity, it is important to give a working definition of the object of our discourse – confirmation.6 maxwell johnson gives a comprehensive definition thus: confirmation is the second of the three sacraments of christian initiation in the roman catholic church, the ‘seal of the holy spirit’ completing baptism and connected to the hand-laying prayer for the sevenfold gifts of the holy spirit and an anointing with chrism, both usually performed by a bishop (or by presbyters in the case of adult initiation), leading to the fullness of christian initiation signified by participation for the first time in the eucharist.postbaptismal ‘chrismation’ for both infants and adults, in the eastern orthodox and eastern catholic rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 89 churches is often viewed as equivalent to confirmation. in various protestant traditions, however, the rite of confirmation is not part of ‘initiation’, properly speaking, but is, rather, a rite having to do with a public affirmation of one’s baptism after catechesis, usually during adolescence, with baptism itself understood as constituting the fullness of initiation into christ and the church. and like chrismation in the eastern rites, so confirmation in the roman catholic rite is also used as part of the rites of reception into full communion with the church for those baptised in other christian traditions.7 from the above definition, we can deduce key terms like holy spirit, hand-laying, anointing or chrismation as characterising what confirmation is. in discussing confirmation therefore, these features are the pointers or markers for tracing its history, discussing its theology and shaping its ritual. historical approach to confirmation confirmation is closely linked to baptism both in history and in practice. as such, any attempt to trace the history and development of confirmation, inevitably discusses the practice of baptism as a (perhaps, the) means of christian initiation. the scriptures attest to this link between baptism and confirmation especially in reference to ritual-bath, hand-laying and anointing. while i acknowledge that there are references to spirit of god, ritual bath, hand-laying and anointing in the old testament (cf. gen 1:1-2, is. 11:1-6, 32:15-18, 61:1-2; jer. 31:31-34; ezek. 36:25-27), they are often in relation to renewal, commissioning and foreshadowing of messianic era. therefore, our attention will be more on the new testament which inaugurates the messianic era and provides a clearer foundation for confirmation. 90 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 new testament foundation for confirmation the event of the baptism of jesus in the jordan (matt. 3:13-17; mark 1:9-11; luke 3: 21-22) furnishes us with much to say about baptism and confirmation. this baptism of jesus was not the same as other baptisms by john because something particularly unique accompanied it – descent of the holy spirit and sonship of jesus.8 the evangelists emphasise these two important elements that have marked the understanding of baptism down the history – possession by the holy spirit and adoption as sons and daughters of god. thus, “just as jesus was anointed with the spirit, so his followers will be given the same spirit. just as jesus was declared to be the ‘beloved son’, so his followers will be declared to be sons and daughters of god.”9 the acts of the apostles that narrates the activities of the early church, including how new converts were initiated into the christian fold, also offers insights into the foundation for the origin of confirmation. the events of acts8:14-17 and 19:1-7 are often employed to buttress this point. in these instances, the samaritan converts (acts 8) and others who have received the baptism of john the baptist (acts 19) received the holy spirit through a postbaptismal hand-laying. one will be safe to say that these texts show that the post-baptismal rite of imposition of hand was a sacramental context of the gift of the holy spirit.10 while traditional scholarship sees these texts as the foundation for confirmation, joseph martos cautions that “recent scholarship underscores their exceptional contexts and situations rather than interpreting them as indicative of a singular or nominative practice in the apostolic churches.”11also, j.d crichton added that while considering these texts as ‘proof text’ for confirmation, they are to be seen as acts of the jerusalem church to establish and maintain the unity of the church.12 it was an ad hoc gesture to solve an abnormal situation.13 rather, baptism and reception of the holy spirit should have come together as suggested in acts 2:38. the pauline and johannine literatures give another trajectory into the understanding of the relation of the holy spirit to the baptized. while acts suggests that the holy spirit is imparted through post-baptismal hand-laying, for paul and john the holy rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 91 spirit is conferred by baptism itself and there is no mention of any post-baptismal ritual. john interprets baptism as being born by ‘water and spirit’ (john 3:5). for paul, the stages of proclamation and conversion (the earlier stages of initiation) is regularly consummated by a water birth that was itself the anointing and sealing of one’s adherence to christ in the same spirit (e.g. 2 cor. 1:21-22).14 amidst these different views, “the only thing that the biblical evidence is certain of is that while the water-bath and the gifts of the holy spirit are in some way distinguishable, they can never be totally separated.”15 as much as we do not have testimonies to the mode of initiation and impartation ofthe holy spirit in the immediate century after the apostolic era, we turn to the patristic era in tracing the development of confirmation. the origins of confirmation in discussing the origins of confirmation, one must note that the term ‘confirmation’ was not used until the mid-fifth century. prior to this time, terms such as perfectioor consummatio were used for those final rites of baptism which were associated with the bishop. the terms do not refer so much to specific rites as to the perfecting or completing of baptismal initiation by the bishop.16 as a technical term, confirmatiofirst appears in the fifth century, in documents reporting practices in southeast gaul. but as with perfectioand consummatio, confirmatiodid not refer directly to any particular rite or to the bestowal of the holy spirit. instead, it was juridical, referring to the personal intervention of the bishop in baptismal initiation, especially when the bishop had not been present at the baptism itself.17 the councils of orange and riez used it in the context of hand-laying on heretics and neophytes respectively. we should however be careful not to imply that post-baptismal rite of initiation and admission of heretics are the same, though they both follow the same line of development.18 the initial term that has a link to bestowal of the holy spirit in ‘the seal.’19 gregory dix, captures the essence of the change in terminology thus: 92 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 hitherto, the latin name for baptism of the spirit had been the scriptural term ‘the seal’ – signaculum, consignatio, corresponding to the sphragis which the greeks and the rushma which the syrian churches still retain. in the fifth century the latins begin to use the term confirmation. …. the change of term has its own significance. a document which needs ‘sealing’ is not valid until the seal has been affixed. the ‘confirmation’ of a document, though it may add to its authority, implies that it was already operative before it was ‘confirmed’. 20 confirmation is thus seen as ‘completion of baptism.’ this connotation will eventually have implications for the theology of confirmation, especially in its relation to baptism, in the subsequent era. stages of historical development the historical development of confirmation can be outlined in stages.though the development is not fine-cut, as there are series of overlaps, marsh recognises three stages which i shall adopt in this work.21 these are: a). the early centuries (2nd to 4thcenturies) b). the early medieval period (5th to 11th centuries), and c). the central medieval to modern times and recent developments. the early centuries (2nd to 4th centuries) as paul turner rightly noted, as much as we may not say that confirmation had been in existence since the second century, it suffices to say that the second post-baptismal anointing or/and handlaying “by the bishop, attested in many documents, became the forerunner of confirmation. the term ‘confirmation’ still did not occur, but the ritual was beginning to take shape after baptism and before eucharist.”22 most scholars believe that the apostolic tradition (at) a long thought to be an authentic, authoritative and dependable witness to early third-century roman liturgical practice, composed by hippolytus of rome is the first text in which what we consider as confirmation first appeared.23 the document outlines rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 93 a ritual celebration of baptism for christian initiation. what is relevant for our discussion here is the post baptismal rituals of handlaying and double anointing: afterward, when they have come up out of the water, they shall be anointed by the elder with the oil of thanksgiving, saying, "i anoint you with holy oil in the name of jesus christ." then, drying themselves, they shall dress and afterwards gather in the church. the bishop will then lay his hand upon them, invoking, saying, "lord god, you who have made these worthy of the removal of sins through the bath of regeneration, make them worthy to be filled with your holy spirit, grant to them your grace, that they might serve you according to your will, for to you is the glory, father and son with the holy spirit, in the holy church, now and throughout the ages of the ages. amen. after this he pours the oil into his hand, and laying his hand on each of their heads, says, "i anoint you with holy oil in god the father almighty, and christ jesus, and the holy spirit." then, after sealing each of them on the forehead, he shall give them the kiss of peace and say, "the lord be with you."24 though the model of initiation mentioned in the at referred to double post-baptismal anointing and hand-laying, a common practice in rome, there was no common consensus about the point when people receive the holy spirit during their initiation. the common agreement was that by the conclusion of the ceremony, christians had received the spirit.but for some of the patristics,“this happened during baptismal washing, for others it happened afterward. some did not specify when it happened but only spoke of the anointing or the imposition of hand as a sign that it happened.”25 tertullian, for instance, in de baptismosees the imposition of hand as a rite of inviting and welcoming the holy spirit.26 94 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 unlike in rome where there was both post-baptismal and hand-laying, the eastern churches only had post baptismal anointing for giving the holy spirit. cyril of jerusalem, for instance recognised the anointing, not just as the moment of imparting the holy spirit, but that the anointing is the holy spirit.27 for him, postbaptismal anointing is to ‘instil divinity’ in the one anointed.28 the apostolic constitutions requested that: “you shall anoint with holy oil, then you shall baptize with water, and finally you shall seal with chrism, so that the anointing may be the partaking of the holy spirit, the water the symbol of the death (of christ), and the chrism, the seal of the covenants.”29 the apostolicconstitution however added that: "but if there be neither oil nor chrism, the water is sufficient both for the anointing and for the sealing, and for the confession (of faith) of him who is dying, or rather is dying together (with christ).”30 j.d crichton captured the implications and the sentiments of the compiler of the document so well when he says “the compiler certainly believed that the spirit was given but evidently did not see either hand-laying or anointing as essential. for him, both ‘anointing’ and ‘seal’, which he regarded as important, did not need physical gestures for them to take place.”31 moreover, this period witnessed the separation of confirmation (as expressed in anointing and hand-laying) from baptism (water-birth). this separation is closely linked to the prevailing practice that the second post-baptismal anointing and hand-laying are reserved for the bishop. it gradually became practically impossible for bishops to be present at every baptism as christianity became the official religion of the roman empire. partly, the prevailing teaching of augustine about original sin of which baptism was necessary for its remittance influenced the increased infant baptism at that time.more people request for baptism and dioceses enlarged. also, as missionaries move towards the alps, only few bishops went with them. because of these, so many were baptised but only few were consigned.32 the early medieval period (5th to 11th centuries) in gaul, the fifth century was marked by some developments which will have long effect on the understanding of confirmation. in 416, rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 95 pope innocent i decreed that priest could anoint with chrism but the rite of consignation with chrism is reserved to the bishop since it is only the successor of the apostles that can give the holy spirit. through the council of orange in 441 however, the gallican bishops allowed the priest who celebrated baptism to anoint the people with chrism if it was consecrated by the bishop. also, as noted earlier, this was the first time the term ‘confirmation’ was used for the post-baptismal hand-laying or/and anointing. in 460, faustus of riez delivered a popular pentecost homily which was meant to encourage the people to approach the bishop for confirmation.33 faustus emphasised that confirmation gives graces different from what baptism gives. he preached that through baptism we receive new life through the holy spirit, but we are strengthenedonly in confirmation to battle with sin and evil. though this preaching didn’t yield much positive effect at the time, it doubtlessly will about 400 years later. lastly, though the term ‘confirmation’ was used in the councils of riez and orange in 439 and 441 respectively, and in the pentecost homily of faustus, it was not until 750 that it came to refer to baptismal episcopal rites in rubrical text – ordo romanus xi. moreover, this stage of the development of confirmation was strongly influenced by the germanization of the roman liturgy.34 the roman practices eventually found its way into gallican territory when pepin iii and later charlemagne established the ‘holy roman empire’ in the west. during their reign, they sought to end the rivalry between the roman and gallican liturgies and at the same time “wanted to be in closer contact with the porter of heaven, saint peter, with his tomb, with his city, and with his liturgy.”35 at this time, the roman custom of episcopal confirmation was extended “through all the countries of europe (except milan and some spanish dioceses), and the french explanation for confirmation became the accepted catholic view.”36 though the roman rite was imposed, it met with resistance with the gallican people. several efforts were made to safeguard the gallican autonomy, both politically and liturgically. these 96 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 efforts invariably led to the emergence of false decretals, which was an ingenious piece of forgery combining a collection of letter and decrees from popes and councils with the opinions of the forgers, and given the purported credibility by attributing it to isidore of seville in early 600s. parts of the decretals stated that “…all the faithful must receive the holy spirit after baptism through the imposition of the hand of the bishop so that they may become fully christians.” it taught that “at the baptismal font the holy spirit bestow absolutely all that is needed to restore innocence, but in confirmation he provides an increase of grace. in baptism we are born to new life; after baptism we are confirmed for combat. in baptism we are washed; after baptism we are strengthened.” and “that the sacrament of the imposition of hands was to be performed by no one but the successors of the apostles.”37 this forgery was so successful, accepted as genuine, attained the force of law and became foundational for the theology of confirmation championed by the scholastics. the central medieval to modern times and recent developments. much of what was done during this period was the theological explanations of confirmation and its effects. theologians of this period are largely influenced by the pentecost homily often credited to faustus of riez. this period witnessed the emergence of the use of military imagery with its defensive connotations for, an imagery which hitherto had been restricted to the pre-baptismal anointings. hence, confirmation is foremost considered as the sacrament of being strengthened or empowered by the holy spirit. this was the idea projected by many theologians of the time including alcuin, rabanus maurus, peter lombard, nicholas claivaux and thomas aquinas. there are some other notable pronouncements that shaped the practice of confirmation during this period. based on the teachings of peter lombard in his treatise that confirmation is a sacrament, the second council of lyon (1247) recognizes confirmation as one of the seven sacraments of the catholic church. the council of cologne (1280) declared that children under the age rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 97 of seven were too young for confirmation and various episcopal and conciliar bodies opted for between twelve and fourteen. it was however the council of florence (1439) that canonized the medieval practice and theology of confirmation. it declared that there are seven sacraments, define the form and matter of confirmation, the ordinary minister is the bishop and priest can be delegated provided that the chrism blessed by the bishop will be used. the medieval teachings about confirmation however met with opposition during the modern era. the modern era was the period of the reformations and the understanding and practice of confirmation was so much attacked by martin luther and other reformers. for luther, that confirmation gives the holy spirit is a superstition. at best, confirmation is for him a sacramental at par with ritual of blessing of water. in his 1520 treatise, babylonian captivity of the church, luther rejected confirmation as a sacrament on the ground that it does not have a biblical foundation. calvin on the other hand argues that baptism on its own is perfect without confirmation as against the teaching of the scholastics that confirmation perfects baptism.38the council of trent responded to these accusations, but only by mostly reaffirming the teachings of the scholastics especially, aquinas. in recent times, the reform of the second vatican council has been responsible for the development in the understanding and practice of confirmation today. the conciliar fathers proposed the revision of the rite of confirmation. the revision was done in 1971 and was accompanied by an apostolic constitution, divinae consortium naturae. the new rite sought to respond to the questions of the age for confirmation, the matter and form of the sacrament, the minister of the sacrament and the relationship of the sacrament to baptism. paramount in the task of the reform was to situate confirmation back into the context of christian initiation preceded by baptism and followed by the eucharist. the reform has led to the emergence of different models of confirmation in the roman catholic church: the confirmation of infants, children, adolescents and adults. arguably, the most popular today is the 98 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 adolescent confirmation. in the opinion of turner, this growing practice was enhanced by the “evolution of catechetical theory – or the theory of how people best learn and grow in the faith.”39 he argues that the late twentieth century has experienced a principal shift in theory of learning from being abstract learning to experiential learning, from learning from books to learning for experience, from learning by memorization to learning by reflecting on personal experience. these eventually became the foundation upon which teen or youth catechesis was built. the method is highly productive in fostering spiritual growth and commitment to the faith. but the question remains: does it reflect the theological and ritual meaning of confirmation? theological approach what has mostly engaged the mind of liturgical theologians about confirmation is its theological relationship with baptism. though kavanagh argues that such relationship is more of structure than theology,40 the theological relationship should not be undermined. schmemann argues from the eastern understanding of the ‘seal of the holy spirit’ with which confirmation is celebrated. he argues that confirmation is both the fulfilment of baptism and a new mystery taking the neophyte beyond baptism. in confirmation, christ’s own spirit is given as gift. thus, “prepared and made possible by baptism, which is fulfilled in it, it takes man beyond baptism, beyond ‘salvation’: by making him ‘christ’ in christ, by anointing him with the anointment of the anointed one, it opens to man the door of theosisor deification.”41 it is with this understanding that turner says: “sequence alone does not make confirmation initiation; its conjunction with baptism in the same ceremony drives the point home.”42 for maxwell, problem only arises when confirmation is not connected to baptism at all but added as a separate and self-sustained rite.43 confirmation, together with baptism and orders are regarded as sacraments that impart permanent character and as such cannot be repeated (ccc 1317). while this is an ecclesiastical statement, it constantly begs for theological explanation. theologians differ on what this means. for schmemann, the rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 99 question of character is more of the understanding of the relationship of the holy spirit with the confirmand. one is to ask what is received when we say confirmation bestows the gift of the spirit. schmemann pointed out the scholastic problem when he says that “instead of ‘receiving’ the meaning of the sacrament from liturgical tradition, theologians created, so to speak, their own definition of sacraments and then, in the light of such definitions, began to interpret the liturgy of the church, to ‘squeeze’ in into their own a priori approach.”44 for him, “the sacramental formula is and has always been in the singular, ‘the gift’ (dorea), theologians while ‘defining’ this sacrament almost without exception speak of ‘gifts’ (charismata) in the plural; the sacrament, they say, bestows on the neophyte ‘gifts of the holy spirit’. to them the two words, one in the plural and the other in the singular, seem to be interchangeable.”45 for schmemann, the gifts needed for man’s preservation in christian life is given in baptism, the sacrament of regeneration and, confirmation “bestows on man not any particular gift or gifts of the holy spirit, but the holy spirit himself as a gift (dorea).”46 while the reflection of schmemann seem to have corrected the scholastic idea, one cannot but ask if it is possible to have the gifs (as in baptism) without having the spirit as a gift (as in confirmation)? moreover, apart from the theological relationship of confirmation and baptism, reflections on the various themes of confirmation have contributed to a better theological understanding of the sacrament. among these are initiation, strengthening, more christ-like and witnessing. when the conciliar fathers requested for the revision of the rite of confirmation, it was foremost to situate it in the context of initiation.47 it was observable that the imagery of strengthening that was initially attached to pre-baptismal anointing in the early centuries soon became transferred to the post-baptismal anointing (that grew to be confirmation). the rite of confirmation (rc) in its euchologies constantly pray that those confirmed are conformed more to christ (cf. rc, 9, 22, 24, 58) and to be his witnesses in the world (rc 33, 59). 100 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 ritual approach just as the historical and theological approach to confirmation are complex and difficult, so also is the case for the ritual approach. the difficulty in the ritual approach is largely due to the complex history and varying theologies of confirmation. nevertheless, the rite was set forth to address the relationship of confirmation with baptism and eucharist, and then how this relationship is to be understood and celebrated. annibale bugnini, the secretary of congregation for divine worship (1969-1976), the commission that worked on the reform of the catholic liturgy following the second vatican council wrote: “the path of reform of the rite of confirmation was a long and difficult one because of the many problems connected with the sacrament, the uncertainties and the adversity in theological and pastoral thinking about it.”48 the present rite of confirmation, promulgated by pope paul vi in 1971 and revised at the direction of pope john paul ii, provides a theologically rich resource in its content. in structure, the rite consists of the apostolic constitution divinae consortium naturaeof paul vi. the apostolic constitution offers a synopsis of the history and theology of confirmation. the rite contains an introduction and five chapters. chapter one contains the order for the conferral of confirmation within mass. the second chapter deals with the order of conferral of confirmation without mass. it was the third chapter that discusses those things to be observed when confirmation is conferred by the extra ordinary minister. chapter four considers the confirmation to be administered to a sick person in danger of death. the final chapter offers texts to be used in the conferral of confirmation. the structure of the rite in all cases follow the order of liturgy of the word, homily, renewal of baptismal promises, laying on of hands, chrismation, general intercessions, and at the end solemn blessing. though the roman church has often been accused of not emphasizing the pneumatic dimension of liturgy like the eastern churches, the rite centralizes the role and position of the holy spirit in the celebration of the sacrament. firstly, the rite keeps the two traditional ways of imparting the holy spirit: anointing and handlaying. the apostolic constitution decided to keep the two “in order rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 101 that the revision of the rite of confirmation may, as is fitting, include even the essence of the sacramental rite.”49 secondly the euchology is filled with pneumatic themes, and the suggested scripture readings relate directly with the holy spirit and the pentecost experience. strikingly, the alleluia verses included two options that are not taken from the scriptures but from traditional hymn to the holy spirit (rc. 64).50 furthermore, the centrality of the holy spirit also serves the purpose of linking confirmation to baptism and the eucharist. the apostolic constitution opened by affirming that it is by the same spirit by which the faithful are born anew in baptism that they are strengthened in confirmation and will be fed by the bread and wine transformed by the holy spirit into the eucharist. also, we see the expansion of the renewal of baptismal promises.the usual threefold questions preceding baptism (rcia 316) is expanded into four to accommodate the theme of the holy spirit relating confirmation to baptism: “do you believe in the holy spirit, the lord, the giver of life, who today through the sacrament of confirmation is given to you in a special way just as he was given to the apostles on the day of pentecost?” (rc 23) moreover, the former ritual practice of taking a new (or additional) name at confirmation was dropped in the revised rite. the custom which originated from the imitation of baptismal ritual and signifying a new direction in the life of a christian was now considered unrelated with confirmation. this is largely because the rite emphasises the link of baptism and confirmation as one initiation process. the omission thus “argue for the importance of the baptismal name throughout one’s life, and against the belief that confirmation begins a new decisive moment in the life of the christian.”51 the rite also sheds light on the minister of the sacrament. leaning on the historical evidence of the celebration of the sacrament, the rite acknowledges the bishop as the ‘ordinary’ (or primary or original) minister of the sacrament.52 like the rite of ordination, the rite of confirmation also provides a provisional 102 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 homily that can serve the celebrant as an outline. however, unlike that of ordination, the rite has an intriguing part to emphasise the role of the bishop. it reads: “when confirmation is conferred by an extraordinary minister, whether by concession of the general law or by special indult of the apostolic see, it is fitting for him to mention in the homily that the bishop is the ordinary minister of the sacrament and to explain the reason why even priests receive the faculty to confirm from the law or by an indult of the apostolic see.” (rc, 18). the rite also addresses the ‘matter’ and ‘form’ of the sacrament through the ritual description. the rite acknowledges that rome has the two traditions of anointing and hand-laying and the two are to be kept together though they are different ritual acts. this seems to resolve the medieval practice where the hand-laying is presumed by the anointing on the forehead. the bishop invites the people to pray to god that “he will graciously pour out the holy spirit upon them to confirm them with his abundant gifts.” he then lays hand on each of the candidates and says another prayer that god may send them the holy spirit and his seven gifts. after this, the bishop goes to the candidates for the anointing with chrism. “the bishop dips the tip of the thumb of his right-hand in the chrism and, with the thumb, makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of the one to be confirmed, as he says: n., be sealed with the gift of the holy spirit.” (rc 27). through the prayers, the rite seamlessly unites anointing and hand-laying. we should note that there is no specific prayer for the anointing. the prayer that precedes it is the prayer after laying on of hands. yet, the content of the prayer is in the context of anointing. in this way, the rite shows that the ritual actions are distinct, yet performed to the same effect: impacting the holy spirit with his gifts. thus, while the rite has borrowed the byzantine chrismation ritual, it remains faithful to rome’s hand-laying. furthermore, the change in the sacramental formula in the new rite be sealed with the gift of the holy spirit captures the meaning of confirmation. though kavanagh regards this move as ‘byzantinization’ of the roman rite,53 it was seen by the committee in charge of the revision as the best formula to rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 103 express the ‘mind of the church’ regarding confirmation. it expresses external action of signing, that is sealing the initiation, and at the same time the effect of the sacrament, which is the giving of the gift of the holy spirit.54 hence, johnson remarked that “never before had the roman confirmation anointing been this explicitly pneumatic in language and orientation, and with the omission of the postbaptismal anointing in the rcia in favour of this confirmation anointing alone, an interesting new parallel between roman confirmation and byzantine postbaptismal chrismation has been decidedly established.”55 evaluation the survey of the historical and theological development of confirmation enables us to arrive at some considerations regarding the ritual and pastoral practice of the sacrament in the roman catholic church today. one thing that is persistent, as noted at the beginning of this work, is that there are complexities and ambiguities in the history and theology of confirmation. the most popular reason for the observable liturgical crisis that results from these complexities and ambiguity is the separation of what used to be one single celebration of ‘double sacrament’. the separation is twofold: separation-in-time and separation as distinct sacraments. several scholars argue that the separation-in-time for the celebration of baptism and confirmation is the source of the ambiguity surrounding the sacrament. presently, there are different models for the celebration of the sacrament based on the separation in time. we have the confirmation of baptized children, which often come up while they prepare for their first holy communion. this is an attempt to rescue the supposed harm caused by the 1910 document of pope pius x, quam singularis that decreed that children should receive communion at the age of seven. those who are faithful to the sequence of the sacrament thus celebrate confirmation with the first communion in the same mass. the second model is the adolescent/adult confirmation which is very popular today. its origin lies in the practical experience where those 104 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 who were baptized as infants desire to personally affirm their faith or the christian community desires a reflection of a rite of passage to adulthood (in faith). it takes place after a period of catechetical program aimed at faith growth and commitment to faith, and at the end, “confirmation ritualized their own commitment”.56 on the other hand, there are other scholars who believe that the liturgical crisis of confirmation goes deeper than their separation in time. yarnold, holds this different view that even when baptism and confirmation are brought together into the same celebration, the crisis will still not dissolve. he contends that there will still be question of the effects of the different sacraments. hence, he concluded that the problem lies in the recognition of baptism and confirmation as two distinct sacraments. as long as they are held as two distinct sacraments and are both understood as giving the holy spirit, the rite will keep raising different questions.57 marsh maintains that the deeper problem of the sacrament of confirmation lies in the new testament theologies of the holy spirit.58 in luke-acts’ theology the holy spirit is imparted after baptism while pauline and johannine theologies uphold that the holy spirit is given at baptism. for marsh, to maintain the unity of the sacraments, their liturgical expression must recognize, accept and incorporate this scriptural foundational duality. “not to do so is to commit oneself to a bad methodology which offers little hope for a sound solution.”59 furthermore, we may question further if the problems around confirmation is not imbedded in our understanding of sacrament? andrew mcgowan rightly observed that the catholic church’s unequivocal recognition of seven sacraments has “caused confirmation to attract more meaning than it would if there were more (sacraments).”60 this is obviously an eye opener for us to discover that we may actually be ‘seeing’ problem where virtually there is no problem. possibly, we have created problems by spending time theologizing about something else (perhaps another sacrament) in or with the name of ‘confirmation.’ could it be that if from the early centuries, different terms (like perfectio, consumatio, orconfirmare) have been retained for the hand-laying in reconciling, penitents, heretics and schismatics, or the postbaptismal anointing rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 105 of infants and children or the hand-laying, and anointing of very sick adults, we might be speaking of different sacraments all together? as much as i don’t intend to reduce the complexity to semantics, the problem might possibly not have existed if the use of the same term does not apply to several ritual events. call to return to a unified rite it is obvious that the problems that the rite of confirmation sought to resolve are still there. it is a sign that the responses are not either satisfactory or confusing.as many as those who identify problems in the theology and practice of confirmation, so are attempts to proffer solutions. but in all, it is almost a chorus that there should be a return to the practice of the early centuries, a ‘unified rite’ where baptism, confirmation and eucharist are celebrated together in one liturgy. proponents of this view argue that this is the only way to restore the sacramental dignity of confirmation. while they recognise that there are two main dominant theologies in the practice of confirmation today – as sacrament of initiation and as sacrament of maturity, commitment and mission – they insist that the former is the real essence of confirmation. however, they also recommend that there should be repeatable moments in which to ritualize maturity, commitment and mission. such ritualization does not necessarily need to be a sacrament or the sacrament of confirmation.61 with this, liturgical theologians might stop seeing adolescent confirmation as a misuse of the sacrament of confirmation as a catechetical device, a utilitarian purpose which makes a mockery of the catholic sacramental system.62 for the unified rite to be effective, this will necessarily involve allowing priests to celebrate confirmation along with baptism, especially where the rite of christian initiation of adults (rcia) takes place. it may suffice to presume that the office of the bishop, as the ordinary minister of the sacrament, is not usurped since the oil of chrism to be used would be one that is blessed at the chrism mass presided over by the bishop. the ceremony for the blessing of the oil on holy thursday invariably emphasises the 106 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 ecclesiastical bond that the reservation of the sacrament to the bishop envisaged (cf. ccc. 1318). it is however unfortunate that even in some situations where the bishop celebrates the baptism of adults, confirmation is still deferred to later date. this attitude keeps one wondering what our understanding of confirmation as initiation sacrament is. to better appreciate confirmation as an initiation sacrament, efforts should be made to restore the order of initiation – baptism, cnfirmation and eucharist. we must note that the latin rite recognises that the practice in the east of administering confirmation after baptism and followed by the eucharist highlights the unity of the three sacraments of initiation (ccc 1318), and this is the foremost reason for the reform of the rite of confirmation (lumengentium, 71). it is worth rethinking if our practice today reflects the mind of the conciliar fathers. also, bearing in mind that the church is disposed to priests administering confirmation (cf. ccc 1313, cic, 884§1), giving faculty to priests to administer confirmation neither usurps the bishop’s authority nor diminishes the strengthening of ecclesiastical bond envisaged by the catechism (ccc 1318). on the contrary, it better signifies confirmation as an initiation sacrament, and thus approached for the right reasons. conclusion in conclusion, though the issues considered above presents us with liturgical crisis around confirmation, they also present us with pastoral possibilities as we seek to understand the mission of the church.63 one thing that is certain is that we cannot totally separate the work of the holy spirit from the gift of the spirit. the themes of strengthening and witnessing that are closely linked with the mission of the church should always be kept in view as members are initiated into the church. rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 107 endnotes 1 thomas marsh, “confirmation” in the new dictionary of sacramental worship, ed. peter e. fink, (dublin: gill and macmillan ltd., 1990), 260. 2 gerard austin, anointing with the spirit: the rite of confirmation: the use of oil and chrism, (new york: pueblo publications, 1985), ix. 3 alexander schmemann, of water and spirit, (london: spck, 1976), 76. 4 jean daniélou, the bible and the liturgy, (notre dame: university of notre dame press, 1956), 114. 5 frank c. quinn, “confirmation reconsidered: rite and meaning,” worship 59, no.4 (july 1985): 354. 6 it is striking that the catechism of the catholic church does not really define what the sacrament of confirmation is but makes several allusions to the effects of the sacrament (see ccc. 1285 – 1305) 7 maxwell johnson, “confirmation” in the new scm dictionary of liturgy and worship, ed. paul bradshaw, (london: scm press, 2002), 126. 8 see aidan kavanagh, the shape of baptism: the rite of christian initiation (collegeville: the liturgical press, 1974), 12-13. 9 austin, anointed with the spirit, 4. 10 thomas marsh, “a study of confirmation ii,” irish theological quarterly 39 (1972), 319. 11 joseph martos, doors to the sacred: a historical introduction to sacraments in the catholic church (ligouri: ligouri/triump, 2001), 187. 12 j. d chrichton, christian celebration: understanding the sacraments (new york: geoffrey chapman, 1993), 102. 13 marsh, “a study of confirmation,” 320. 14 kavanagh, the shape of baptism, 25 (emphasis mine). 15 austin, anointed with the spirit, 7. 16 quinn, “confirmation reconsidered,” 360. 17 paul turner, “the origins of confirmation: an analysis of kavanagh’s hypothesis” in living water, sealing spirit: readings on christian initiation, ed. maxwell johnson (collegeville: the liturgical press, 1995), 360-61. 18 austin, 16. 19 for in depth analysis of ‘the seal’ see the chapter on ‘the sphragis’ in jean daniélou, the bible and the liturgy, 54-69. 20 gregory dix, the theology of confirmation in relation to baptism (london: dacre press, 1946), 25. 21 marsh, “confirmation,” 260-261. 22 paul turner, confirmation: the baby in solomon’s court, (chicago: hillenbrand books, 2006), 28. 23see paul bradshaw, maxwell johnson and l. edward phillips, the apostolic tradition: a commentary (minneapolis: fortress press, 2001), 1-6. 108 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 24 e.c whitaker, documents of baptismal liturgy (revised and expanded edition), ed. maxwell johnson (london: spck, 2003), 7-8. [i will henceforth refer to as dbl]. 25martos, doors to the sacred, 190. 26 dbl, 9. 27 dbl 32. 28 paul turner, sources of confirmation: from the fathers through the reformers, (collegeville: the liturgical press, 1993), 30 29 dbl 37. 30 dbl 37 31 j. d crichton, christian celebration, 89. 32martos, 192. 33 gabriel winkler, “confirmation or chrismation”worship 58 (january 1984): 13. 34 edward foley, from age to age: how christians have celebrated the eucharist, (collegeville: the liturgical press, 2008), 133-184. 35 theodore klauser, a short history of the western liturgy: an account and some reflections, transl. john halliburton, (london: oxford university press, 1969), 73. 36see martos, 194. 37martos, 193. 38 gregory dix, 33-34. 39 turner, confirmation, 101. 40 kavanagh, “confirmation: a suggestion from structure,” worship 58:5 (september 1978):386 & 394. 41 schmemann, 80. 42 turner, confirmation, 87. 43 maxwell johnson, the rites of christian initiation, 252-253. 44 schmemann, 76-77. 45 ibid., 78. 46 ibid., 79. 47sancrosanctumconcilium, 71. 48annibalebugnini, the reform of the liturgy 1948-1975, transl. matthew j. o’connell (collegeville: the liturgical press, 1990), 613. 49 apostolic constitution no.9 50 “come, holy spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.” and “holy spirit, lord of light, from the clear celestial height, thy pure beaming radiance give.” 51 turner, confirmation, 80. 52 the english translation of icel opted for ‘ordinary’a juridical term to keep with canon 882 and catechism of the catholic church, no.1313. however, bugnini argued that the term ‘originarius’ better translated as ‘natural’ or ‘primary’ is used in lumen gentium 26 and shows that the bishop’s office makes rethinking confirmation as an initiation sacrament… | 109 him the ‘natural’ minister of the sacrament. cf. bugnini, liturgical reform, 621 (footnote 20). 53 kavanagh, confirmation: origins and reform, 93 54bugnini, 625. 55 johnson, 400. 56 see turner, confirmation, 98-103. 57 edward yarnold, the awe-inspiring rite: the origins of rcia, (collegeville: the liturgical press, 1994), 35. 58 marsh, “a study of confirmation,” 335-336. 59 marsh, “a study of confirmation,” 150. 60 mcgowan, 131. 61 see geoffrey robinson, “confirmation: a bishop’s dilemma”, worship 78 (2004): 53-58. nicholas e. denysenko, chrismation: a primer for catholics (collegeville: liturgical press, 2014), 156, 171. 62 frank c. quinn, “confirmation: does it make sense?” ecclesia orans(1988): 322 63 liam bergin, “anointed to proclaim the kingdom” in catholic sacraments: a rich source of blessing, ed john baldovin and david farina turnbloom, (new york: paulist press, 2015), 48. introduction the second vatican council's call for the reform of the liturgy has aroused much discussion and conflicting opinions. a leading voice in this discussion is joseph ratzinger, who became pope benedict xvi in 2005 and resigned from his petrine ministry in 2013. unlike the exceptions he takes to certain formulations of some of the 2 conciliar documents, like gaudium et spes, for example, ratzinger is not known to have expressed any reservation about the conciliar document on the liturgy, sacrosanctum concilium. in fact, in his early and later writings, he is full of praise for this document. however, what becomes increasingly pronounced in his later writings is his criticism of the way the conciliar reform was implemented. he sees the liturgical abuses in post-conciliar times as manifestations of the deficiencies in the implementation of the conciliar reform. he particularly finds the promulgation of the new order of mass and some of the changes it called for problematic because it gave the impression of a break with the past in the 175 idahosa amadasu the reform of the reform: an examination of joseph ratzinger's vision of 1liturgical renewal church's liturgical life. such implementations were informed by a hermeneutics of rupture, that is, a break with past that undermines the organic development of liturgy in the church. for ratzinger, it is this kind of hermeneutics that has given the impression that one could easily formulate the liturgy according to pastoral expediency. such formulations are often based on a selective reading of history that is informed by an antiquarianism which romanticizes the early church in a way that precludes its later historical developments. the consequence of hermeneutics of rupture is that the place of god is marginalized in the liturgy and an undue attention is given to our human actions and creativities. it is from this perspective that ratzinger expressed reservation about the way that the conciliar call for active participation in the liturgy has been understood, for example, the change in the liturgical celebration from ad orientem to versus populum, the use of certain kinds of music in the liturgy etc. in contrast to the traditionalists who reject the conciliar call for reform and the progressives who see the post 3conciliar changes as advancing the conciliar reform, ratzinger's liturgical vision sees some gap between the conciliar call for reform and its implementation. he would, therefore, call for a reform of the reform so that the reform which was carried out after the council can conform to the council's true intention. the purpose of this paper is to examine the plausibility of ratzinger's call for the reform of the reform. his proposal cuts across a range of liturgical issues. but for the limited scope of our presentation, we will briefly examine few of these areas. more specifically, we will examine vatican ii's notion of active participation and the change from ad orientem to versus populum. we will take our discussion further to examine pope benedict xvi's liberalization of the celebration of the mass according to the 1962 missal. from these discussions, our evaluative conclusion will show whether ratzinger's call for the reform of the reform has any hope for the revival of the church's liturgy today. 176 ratzinger's liturgical vision of the reform of the reform in his report on the vatican ii, ratzinger praised the conciliar constitution on the liturgy for its solid achievements. he wrote that the text recommended a profound change which was informed by an integral understanding of the christian faith that did “not restrict itself 4 to mere changes in individual rubrics.” it marked a return to the “sacramental origins” of the faith against a limited 5 “hierarchical narrowness.” he thereafter enumerated some basic traits that characterized the recommended reforms of the conciliar document on the liturgy as follows: i) the ritual rigidity which undermined the meaning of individual actions in the liturgy was defrosted. this restored the priority of sunday liturgy over the feast days of saints and the priority of mystery over devotion. such prioritization would return the church to the origins of the christian faith and prune the accretions that have concealed the nucleus of the liturgy. later in a monograph on the liturgy, he describes these accretions with the metaphor of a whitewash that has overlaid 6a fresco. ii) a stronger emphasis on the liturgy of the word. iii) a more active participation of the laity in the liturgy. iv) a decentralization of the liturgical decision making. v) more place to vernacular in the liturgy against an exclusive use of 7 latin. in 1964, pope paul vi established a committee for the implementation of the conciliar reform called the consiliumadexsequendam constitutionem de sacra liturgia (consilium for the implementation of the sacred liturgy). the committee (which was commonly referred to as consilium) was headed by cardinal giacomo lercaro and the secretary was father annibale bugnini, a vincentian, who later became archbishop. in his account of the activities of the consilium, pierro marini notes that pope paul vi had created the consilium because he was unwilling to entrust the implementation of the conciliar reform to the congregation of rites, which was established to implement the reforms of the council of trent, due to the fact that it was still wedded to an antiquated mode of thought that was unsuited for the implementation of the vatican ii's liturgical reform. in its 177 modus operandi, the consilium allowed for experimentation in some proposed areas of liturgical reforms before a 8definitive missal was promulgated in 1970. in his memoirs ratzinger wrote that he welcomed the promulgation of the new missal, though not without reservation, noting that the church now “had a binding liturgical text after a period of 9 experimentation that had often deformed the liturgy.” his reservation becomes pronounced when he notes that, the publication of the new missal was accompanied by an “almost total prohibition” of the old missal. furthermore, speaking as if the missal was actually prohibited, he adds, “but i was dismayed by the prohibition of the old missal, since nothing of the sort had ever happened in the entire 10 history of the church.” later in an interview he advocated that “the proscription against the form of liturgy in valid use 11up to 1970 should be lifted.” there have been some debates on the canonical and theological status of the old missal. nicola bux makes a distinction between the prohibition and the abolition of the 12old mass. in fact, he notes that pope paul vi never abolished the old mass; rather he only restricted its usage. but there are others who hold that the old mass was abrogated with the promulgation of the new missal. such positions would argue that there would not be any need to promulgate a new missal if 13 the old one was still valid. one could reason from this perspective that if the law of belief and the law of prayer are mutually reinforcing, then it is normal that the renewal of the faith and a renewed ecclesiological understanding should also warrant a new missal that replaces the old. but if the new missal replaces the old, does it then mean that the old missal is no longer valid? for ratzinger, to hold such an opinion is to create a rupture with the past, which also renders the foundation of the present fragile. ratzinger's perspective is informed by his understanding that the liturgical rites are of divine origin and no power, even that of the pope, can abrogate them. thus, he makes a distinction between the renewal of a liturgical book and the abolition of an old 14missal. but critics of ratzinger would tend to see this standpoint as an attempt to place too much emphasis on the 178 church's liturgical tradition in a way that undermines her contemporary needs. his view is also seen as a way of seeking for the solution to the problems of present liturgical abuses 15 only by a return to the past. we will come back to this discussion, but for now, let us see some of the areas that ratzinger thinks are in need of reform and the solution he proposes for the reform. active participation and ad orientem ratzinger holds that there was a need for reform of the pre-conciliar liturgy because like a fresco it had become tainted with a whitewash that needs to be removed. he uses the same metaphor of a fresco to explain how this very reform called for a new reform. the liturgy, like a fresco covered with whitewash, was laid bare by the pre-conciliar liturgical movement, and this uncovering achieved a definitive form in vatican ii. while the colors of the uncovered fresco are captivating, it has again been left exposed and “has been endangered by climatic conditions as well as by various restorations and reconstructions. in fact, it is threatened with destruction, if the necessary steps are not taken to stop these 16damaging influences.” by the metaphor of the fresco, ratzinger meant to explain the way the conciliar reforms have been carried out and the understanding of the liturgy that it gave birth to. one area that he has found often misunderstood is the conciliar call for active participation, actuosa participatio. ratzinger thinks that the word has often been reduced to the external form of participation, as if the liturgy is what we do, rather than what we participate in. the liturgy is first an action of god that we participate in. john baldovin comments that the “greatest strength of his [ratzinger's] analysis of liturgy and sacrament today is his insistence on keeping god at the centre of the liturgical 18 celebration” baldovin continues that this marginalization of god in the liturgy today is often the result of a superficial understanding of the etymological meaning of liturgy, which is sometimes translated as 'work of the people.' but in its true meaning, rather than the work done by the people, the liturgy 19actually refers to the 'work done for the people.' it is the false etymological meaning of the liturgy as 'the work of the 179 people' that ratzinger objects to in the post conciliar liturgical celebrations, which has often led to a reductive understanding of community celebration. the fundamental idea here is that the liturgy is a community celebration, an act in which the community forms and experiences itself as such. in fact this means that the liturgy more and more acquires a 'party' character and atmosphere, as we see for instance in the increased importance attached to the words of greeting and dismissal and in search for elements with 'entertainment' value. a 'successful' liturgical celebration is judged by the effects achieved in this way. liturgy is thus dependent on the 'creativity', the ideas of those .20who organize it in a critical evaluation of ratzinger's monograph on the liturgy, pierre-marie gy raised doubts about the former's faithfulness to the council in the way he understands active participation as autocelebration. he thinks that ratzinger's criticism does not pay adequate attention to article 48 of sacrosanctum conciliumwhich calls on the faithful not to assist at mass as dumb spectators, but to actively take part in the sacred action. gy also questions ratzinger's objection to versus populum in the liturgy. he thinks ratzinger's criticism is based on an incorrect reading of history and an inadequate appreciation of how versus populum spontaneously became a common practice as a consequence of the celebration of mass in the vernacular. it subsequently gained magisterial approval in the first document that was published on the implementation of the conciliar liturgical reform, inter 21 oecumenici. in response to gy, ratzinger denied that he understands active participation as autocelebration. he explains that his criticism was not directed to the conciliar phrase, but rather to its interpretation which simply understands it as “assigning specific active functions to each of the faithful gathered for the celebration of the eucharist.” he thinks active participation as understood by the council means something more. indeed, it primarily refers to an inner participation that informs the external activity. it requires, in the first place, that one is really 180 familiar with the shape of the liturgy and its texts. liturgical formation is what i mean, without which purely external actions remain empty and meaningless liturgical formation is a fundamental prerequisite for, and indeed an essential form of, active participation in the celebration of the mass. but such participation which allows an inner adherence to the liturgy with one's whole being, one's thinking and activity, must of course also be 22expressed externally, with our bodies. on the issue of versus populum, there have been much discussion on whether the council or the documents that heralded the liturgical implementations actually warranted 23the versus populum as gy claims. ratzinger's basic reservation is that versus populum gives the impression that the community is in a closed circle in which the priest presides over the assembly. it has, for him, further helped to 24 reinforce a false understanding of active participation. but when ratzinger does speak of reforming the reform, since the practice of versus populum has become conventional in the celebration of the novus ordo, what then does such a reform call for in this case? does it mean returning to the preconciliar liturgical form of ad orientem, which most current church architectures no longer favor? if the liturgy can be compared to a fresco in which the reform called by the council was meant to remove the whitewash that covered it, and if the fresco has become once more 'endangered' how can it be protected and at the same time made captivating again? for ratzinger, “of course, there must be no question of its being covered with whitewash again, but what is imperative is a new reverence in the way we treat it, a new understanding of its message and its reality, so that rediscovery does not 25 become the first stage of irreparable loss.” hence in calling for a reform of the mistaken impression that versus populum may have created, ratzinger thinks that because the essential element of the ad orientem is its christcenteredness, this christocentricity can be rediscovered even in the versus populum. consequently he proposes three steps for a greater emphasis on this christocentricity in the liturgy: i) a proper space should be arranged around the ambo for the dialogue of proclamation and response that goes with the 181 liturgy of the word. ii) altars should be constructed near the people in churches where they are too far from the people. iii) a visible cross should be placed on the altar that would be the focal point of the priest and the faithful at liturgical 26 celebrations. we now move to examine one more area in ratzinger's program of reform before drawing our conclusion. summorumpontificum this idea of the reform of the reform has also shaped pope benedict xvi's liberalization of the old missal by the 27 motu proprio, summorum pontificum. at the promulgation of the new missal, only the elderly priests who could not easily learn the new form were permitted to still celebrate mass with the old missal. later in 1984, pope john paul ii granted the indult (quattuorabhincanno) in which bishops were to permit those who request to celebrate mass according to the old missal. the establishment of ecclesia dei, with the motu proprio, eccleisa dei adflicta in 1988, was to further strengthen this indult and take care of those who wished to celebrate the mass according to the old missal. summorum pontificum builds upon the foundation of these two documents and describes the celebration of the mass according to the 1962 missal as the extraordinary form of the roman rite, while the celebration according to the novusordo is described as the ordinary form of the rite. these two uses of the roman rite means that any priest could celebrate mass in the extraordinary form without any need for permission, and it also allows it to be offered for any 'stable group of the faithful', coetusfidelium that requests it. in a letter he wrote to bishops on the promulgation of summorum pontificum, pope benedict noted that his intention for the motu proprio was to bring about “an internal reconciliation in the heart of the 28church.” according to nicholas bux, the pope's statement “implies not only healing the formal schism of the lefebvrists, but also overcoming the break brought about during the reform of the liturgy, opposing the new and the old 29 rite” but there are others who doubt whether this reconciliation can be achieved by the motu propio. baldovin finds it troubling that the document does not insist that those 182 who celebrate with the 1962 missal should show due allegiance to vatican ii. he continues that if the mass according to the missal of paul vi is not celebrated with reverence, then the pope should have focused on how to ensure this reverential celebration with the new missal instead of restoring the pre-conciliar liturgy. he adds, “(m)any people have not accepted the second vatican council and the renewal and reform of the church that have sprung from it. this document will only give them hope that 30the last forty years can be reversed.” thus, while pope benedict xvi thinks of bringing about reconciliation within the church with the motu proprio, scholars like baldovin see a potential reversal of council's gains. opinions like those of baldovin might have been informed by the different ecclesiological emphasis that underline the old and the new missal. according to peter jeffery, on the one hand, for those who are more attuned to the new form of the mass, it offers a model of the church as a community, with the priest and people united together in 31prayer. for such people 'tridentine mass' cannot bring out this communitarian aspect of the liturgy, for the architecture of the church effectively demarcates the clergy and the faithful, making the latter look like dumb spectators during 32 liturgical celebrations. on the other hand, jeffery notes that for those who favour the pre-conciliar mass, it depicts a more 33 contemplative model of the church. for such persons, the new mass appears to place a superficial emphasis on the horizontal dimension of our being in a way that virtually 34evacuates the mystery of celebration and the trials of life. considering the fact that the positive dimensions of both celebrations have a legitimate place in christian life and worship, in contrast to baldovin's assessment of summorum pontificum as having little hopes for addressing the problems of the liturgy today, jeffery thinks that the document calls us to widen our hearts (cf. i cor. 6:11-13) so that positive emphases of both forms can enrich our liturgical 35celebration. jeffery's evaluation of summon pontificum shows that the task before us today is to appreciate the strengths of the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the roman rite, and to 183 see how they mutually reinforce each other. since the liturgy is a living reality, it is when both rites are alive that they can grow and learn from each other. it is in this respect that one could perhaps see the positive effects of the liberalization of the extraordinary form of the mass. for the interior reconciliation which the pope calls for to be achieved, it means that those who celebrate in the new order of mass should not see it as a rupture from the old form, just as those who celebrate in the old form as baldovin advocates should also be open to celebrating mass in the new form. this will help to ensure that the liberalization of the extraordinary form of the roman rite promotes the right hermeneutics for interpreting the council. such a hermeneutics would ensure that continuity with the past does not stifle development, just as the development of the liturgy, even as it calls for some discontinuities with the past, is not a rupture. this reconciliation that the pope desires would be further advanced if there are greater efforts made not simply to describe both forms from the abuses one sees in their celebration, but rather to see how they can promote good liturgical celebrations in their authentic meaning. thus the two forms of the roman rite can enrich each other with their different emphases, correct their shortcomings, and bring 36 about a more healthy liturgical celebration in the church. conclusion from ratzinger's proposal of the reform of the reform, it is clear that left to him, some of the changes that came about from the implementation of the conciliar reform should not have been made because they did not represent an organic gradual change that is proper to liturgical development. hence these changes have also resulted in losing some of the precious liturgical practices that the missal of the 1962 mass embodies. this has informed his idea of the reform of the reform so that the lofty values of the past are not lost in the liturgy's openness to changes and development. but the fear that has often been expressed about ratzinger's idea is that it is an attempt to draw the clock back. this is evident in the criticism that greeted the publication of summorum pontificum. however, a careful study of ratzinger's proposal 184 shows two characteristic traits that might suggest otherwise. first, while he regrets the changes that were made in the postconciliar reform, his proposal for a reform of these changes is not always an exact return to pre-conciliar practices, as seen in his proposal to place a cross at the centre of the altar to achieve the ad orientem status of liturgical celebration, rather than reconstructing the church altar according to its prevatican ii architecture. second, while he still desires some past liturgical practices, like the silent recitation of the canon, he is not known to have departed from the current practice of 37the loud recitation of the canon, even as pope. while certain practices like kneeling for communion, reception of communion on the tongue, the use of old vestments were conspicuous during his papal liturgical celebrations, these too, have not been made universal laws. it is for this reason that mariusz biliniewicz comments that the “'reform of the reform' is mainly an educational process consisting of explaining, showing good examples and encouraging good practices. benedict does allow liturgical pluralism and does not impose his style on anyone.” biliniewicz continues, “i think that it is quite clear to those who look closely that the imposition, disciplinary compelling and limitation of postvatican ii liturgical pluralism are not benedict's method in 38 introducing his reform of the reform” in this light, we think that when the reform of the reform is understood as attempt to find a balance between the past and the present, a balance that gives room for liturgical pluralism, then it has much hopes for the revival of the liturgy in the church today. endnotes 1. a shorter version of this paper was presented at the leuven encounters in systematic theology, lest ix, at the catholic university of leuven, leuven, belgium on october 23, 2013. 2. see joseph ratzinger, theological highlights of vatican ii (new york: paulist press, 1966. reprint, 2009), 231-235, joseph ratzinger, principles of catholic theology: building stones for a fundamental theology, trans., mary frances mccarthy (san francisco, ca: ignatius, 1987), 378-393 185 3. for an overview of the different positions of the traditionalists and the progressives on liturgical issues, see thomas kocik, the reform of the reform (san francisco: ignatius press, 2003) 4. ratzinger, theological highlights, 31. 5. ibid., 32. 6. joseph ratzinger, the spirit of the liturgy, trans., john saward (san francisco, ca: ignatius 2000), 7-8 7. ratzinger, theological highlights, 32-37. 8. pierro marini, a challenging reform: realizing the vision of the liturgical renewal. (minnesota: liturgical press 2007), 139-143. for other accounts of the activities of the consilium, see annibalebugnini, the reform of the liturgy (1948-1975), (minnesota: liturgical press, 1990), nicola giampietro, the development of theliturgical reform as seen by cardinal ferdinando antonelli from 1948-1970, (colorado: fort collins, 2009) and laszlo dobszay, the bugnini liturgy and the reform of the reform, (hungary: church music association of america, 2003) 9. joseph ratzinger, milestones: memoirs 1927-1977, trans., erasmo levia-merikakis (san francisco, ca: ignatius 1998), 146. 10. ibid., 146. 11. joseph ratzinger, god and the world : believing and living in our time. a conversation with peter seewald, trans., henry taylor (san francisco: ignatius press, 2002), 417. 12. nicola bux, benedict xvi's reform: the liturgy between innovation and tradition (san francisco: ignatius press, 2012), 104. 13. for peter jeffery, to claim that the old rite was never abrogated “looks like a case of historical revisionism” see peter jeffery, widening our hearts: the latin mass is back.” commonweal 134, (2007): 10. available online at https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/wideningour-hearts.(accessed on january 30, 2014). see also nathan d. mitchell, “the amen corner: summorumpontificum”, worship 81 (2007): 556-558. john baldovin, reforming the liturgy: a response to the critics (minnesota: liturgical press collegeville, 2008), 131. 14. joseph ratzinger, milestones, 147-148 15. see john baldovin, reforming the liturgy, 89 16. ratzinger, the spirit of the liturgy, 8. 17. joseph ratzinger, the feast of faith: approaches to a theology of the liturgy, trans. graham harrison (san francisco ca: ignatius, 1986), 70 18. john baldovin, reforming the liturgy, 67 19. ibid., 68. 20. joseph ratzinger, the feast of faith, 62 21. pierre-marie gy, "is cardinal ratzinger's l' espirit de la liturgie faithful to the council?," doctrine and life 52, no. (2002): 426-429. see sacred congregation of rites, inter oecumenici. published on march 7, 1 9 6 5 . a v a i l a b l e a t www.ewtn.com/curia/cdwinoec.htm.accessed on october 31, 2014. 22. joseph ratzinger, "the spirit of the liturgy or fidelity to the council: a reply to pierre-marie gy, op," doctrine and life 52, no. (2002): 494. 186 23. according to peter jeffery, “the most familiar visual symbol of liturgical renewalthe altar facing the peopleis not mandatory in the new missal, and was not forbidden in the old. both the 1570 and 1962 rubrics expressly permit the early medieval practice of celebrating versus populum.” see peter jeffery, “widening our hearts…” see also uwe michael lang, turning towards the lord: orientation in liturgical prayer, (san francisco: ignatius press, 2005), john baldovin, reforming the liturgy, 108-113 24. ratzinger, the spirit of the liturgy, 80. 25. ibid., 8. 26. see ratzinger, the spirit of the liturgy or fidelity to the council, 497498.ratzinger, the spirit of the liturgy, 83-84. 27. s e e b e n e d i c t x v i , " s u m m o r u m p o n t i f i c u m " http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/motu_proprio/docu ments /hf_ben-xvi_motu-propr io_20070707_summorumpontificum_en.html (accessed september 17 2013). 28. benedict xvi, "letter to bishops accompanying the publication of s u m m o r u m p o n t i f i c u m " http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/docume nts/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html (accessed september 17 2013). 29. bux, benedict xvi's reform, 57 30. baldovin, reforming the liturgy, 132. 31. “ the new mass, to many of its supporters, offers a model of the church as a united assembly, priests and laity gathered as one around a central altar, confessing our sins, hearing the scriptures, praying for the needs of the world, greeting each other in peace, receiving the sacrament of the lord's presence, and carrying that graced presence out into the world as we disperse. the congregation participates by listening and responding to the prayers and readings. many of those who yearn for such a “church as community” ideal also hope for greater lay participation in the life of the church: more consultative and collaborative forms of leadership, more responsiveness to the new problems of today's world. from the perspective of a “community” ecclesiology, with clergy and laity united in hearing the word of god (and keeping it!)” peter jeffery, “widening our hearts…” 32. “…the tridentine mass seems to offer a poor substitute: the altar is three steps up from the rest of the church's floor, separated from the congregation by a railing, approachable only by the ordained, who turn their backs to the assembled people and mumble an ancient tongue. the congregation's deepest involvement in the proceedings takes the form of merely looking at the host when it is elevated after the consecration. to some, the whole thing looks like an enactment of monarchical rightwing political values masquerading as the christian gospel.” ibid. 33. “the mass celebrated before vatican ii focused sharply on the central moment of transubstantiation; all that comes before and after is preparation or aftermath. this liturgy depicts a more contemplative model: a church on its knees before the awe-filled mystery the son of god come among us in the broken flesh and spilled blood of an innocent 187 human being who was killed yet lives eternally with the divine life of god he wills to share with us. in the presence of that incomprehensibility, bells tremble, incense smokes, candles burn, hearts quake, choirs echo the heavenly host in the same words that inspired our ancestors in the faith for centuries, suggesting the unchanging quality of eternity.” 34. “for those who desire this kind of church a secret place where almighty god dwells hidden in our world, a foretaste of heaven amid the trials and disappointments of earthly mortalitythe new mass seems a tawdry affair indeed: an undisciplined burst of feel-good spirituality that evades the real difficulties and sacrifices of a committed christian life; a cheap dose of “relevance,” designed to make the mass seem entertaining so that people of little faith will not flee out of boredom; even, to some, a deliberate effort to confuse the faithful by disguising left-wing egalitarian political and social agendas as christian values. many people who favor the more “contemplative” ecclesiology long for clearer structures of authority, more emphasis on doctrinal accuracy, greater trust that contemporary issues can be addressed with the wisdom of tradition.” ibid. 35. “ if the 1970 mass promotes an outward-looking spirituality that cares for the suffering as mother teresa did, the 1962 mass asks us to embrace the suffering human condition with a more inward spirituality like padre pio's. the day may come when all this can somehow be encompassed in a single order of mass, but that day is not yet here, and i think we should expect more liturgical transitions in the years to come. the task now is somehow to recover what was left behind without losing what has been gained, like the householder who brings forth both new and old (matthew 13:52).” ibid 36. perhaps it is in this respect that one could understand ratzinger's statement some years back: “the difference between the liturgy according to the new books, how it is actually practised and celebrated in different places, is often greater than the difference between an old mass and a new mass, when both these are celebrated according to the prescribed liturgical books.” joseph ratzinger, “ten years of motu propio, 'ecclesia dei'” (october 24, 1998). available at http://web.archive.org/web/20020702085721/http://www.latinmass.org/ratzinger.html 37. joseph ratzinger,the feast of faith, 72. 38. mariuszbiliniewicz, the liturgical vision of pope benedict xvi: a theological inquiry. (switzerland: peterlang, 2013), 289-290 188 116 preamble unlike plato and aristotle, bradley is much closer to our time. born in 1846 in england, bradley is one of the most th 1 important philosophers in the 20 century. he contributed to virtually every area of the philosophical discipline. however, he is mostly known for his work in metaphysics which finds a systematic exposition in his magnum opus: appearance and reality: an essay in metaphysics (1893) his other important writings include ethical studies (1876), principles of logic (1883) and essays in truth and reality (1914). bradley's concept of metaphysics is implicit in all his writings, especially in his account of morality as self-realization in ethical studies and of course the theory of judgement and inference he develops in the principles of logic. same is true in respect of his discussion of the problem of truth and allied matters in essays on truth and reality. nonetheless it is in appearance and reality that his concept of metaphysics, receives its explicit articulation. bradley's concept of metaphysics damian ilodigwe bradley holds metaphysics in high esteem, seeing a close 2affinity between religion, mysticism and metaphysics. hence, he regards metaphysics as one of the highest vocations to which a human being is called. no human being can realize his full potentials unless he learns how to think and 3 more importantly to think properly. as a form of thinking, metaphysics provides us with an important avenue for understanding the nature of things as they are in themselves rather than merely in terms of their accidental determinations, 4that is to say, rather than merely as appearances. indeed as bradley makes explicit in his definition of metaphysics in appearance and reality, we may agree perhaps to understand by metaphysics an attempt to know reality as against mere appearance, or the study of first principles, or ultimate truths, or again the effort to comprehend the universe not as piecemeal but as a whole. (ar, 1) metaphysics and the ideal of knowledge this definition gives us a point of entry into bradley's concept of metaphysics. we should start by making a number of remarks about the definition. first, it is significant that bradley's says that “metaphysics is an attempt to know” (ar, 1). the use of the word “attempt” suggests a note of caution in respect of the possibilities of metaphysics. bradley is certainly not in doubt that the object of metaphysics is knowledge but he is concerned about the extent of knowledge 5that is attainable. bradley's cautious optimism is reinforced also by the fact that he qualifies his statement with the phrase “we may agree perhaps.” (ar, 1) combine this phrase and the word “attempt” as they function in bradley's definition and it becomes immediately clear he has reservations about the 6project of metaphysics. while bradley does not deny the possibilities of metaphysics, he is certainly at pains to underscore its limitations. when we attempt to do anything, or make an effort in respect of any goal, there is the implicit understanding that we may not succeed in what we set out to do. but there is also the implicit understanding that we may 117 succeed. it is a case of we may or we may not succeed. in other words, success is more probable than certain. the probability of success allows for the possibility of failure as far as the project is concerned. in respect of bradley's presentation of metaphysics as an attempt to know we must guard against two possible extremes the extreme of absolute failure and the extreme of absolute success. our attempt at anything can end in absolute failure 7 and it can also end in absolute success. when these two extremes become effective philosophy and skepticism may come across as enemies, but the truth is that there is a common ground between skepticism and philosophy so that one is not necessarily exclusive of the other. one cannot be a true philosopher unless one is a skeptic of a sort, so far as a basic requirement of philosophy is a certain critical attitude in 8 relating with issues. yet to realize the philosophical standpoint, there is need for the philosopher to transcend skepticism. bradley seems aware of this double requirement of the philosophic spirit and all the time his concern is to 9strike a balance between them. consequently, bradley's cautious optimism in respect of the possibilities and limitations of metaphysics lies somewhere in between the two extremes, for while he thinks that the object of metaphysics is the pursuit of knowledge, he does believe that we can attain absolute knowledge of reality in practice. nor does he take the denial that absolute knowledge is possible in practice as a denial that knowledge is not possible at all. the point is that our attempt to know reality always results in knowledge, but because of the gap between reality and our concept, we cannot speak of one to one correspondence between reality and concept, so that there is something of reality that escapes conceptual representation. so, for bradley, we are dealing with a case of success and failure in the same vein rather than a case of outright success or outright 10failure. we should remark the affinity between bradley's definition of metaphysics and that of plato and aristotle. indeed some commentators argue that bradley's definition combines the chief features of plato and aristotle's 118 11definitions. as we have seen plato says that metaphysics is a “science of the supra-sensible” while aristotle says that 12metaphysics is “the science of being qua being”. bradley's contention that metaphysics involves an attempt to know reality as against mere appearance reminds us of plato and aristotle's definition. the pivotal point here is the distinction 13 established between reality and mere appearance. the distinction presupposes that there are levels in reality as well 14as levels in knowledge. moreover a certain hierarchy subsists in respect of the levels of reality and levels of knowledge, so that we can speak of the higher and the lower and indeed the highest. in this context when bradley speaks of reality, he has in mind the category of the highest, not higher or lower. reality is properly understood only in the sense of absolute reality. in bradley's parlance, anything short of absolute reality is nothing but appearance, albeit within this domain of appearance the category of higher and lower realities is effective. nonetheless both the categories of higher and lower 15realities are subsumed under the category of absolute reality. metaphysics and the logic of part and whole another way to make sense of bradley's distinction between reality and appearance is in terms of the logic of part and whole. that which is said to be appearance is not the whole but part of the whole, while only that which is said to be reality is properly designated as the whole. to this extent reality is defined by its completeness while appearance is defined by its incompleteness. reality includes everything while appearance by virtue of its incompleteness is only a part of the whole, meaning that it is essentially one-sided and cannot be taken as the whole without falsifying the nature of 16things. in the sense that appearance is part of the whole of reality, appearance is always appearance of reality, so that we can say that appearance is reality. this emphasis represents the continuity between appearance and reality and it means that 17 appearance cannot be divorced from reality. yet within this continuum there is also the burden of working out the proper 119 18relation that subsists between appearance and reality. it is understandable that appearance always belongs to reality and to this extent cannot be conceived without reference to reality, as a part is inconceivable without reference to the whole in which it subsists. nonetheless in belonging to reality, the question concerns the mode in which appearance belongs to reality. while appearance is always appearance of reality, there is a sense in which appearance is not reality, since appearance is part of the whole and never the whole itself. the gap between absolute reality and appearance forbids a one to one correspondence between appearance and reality, meaning that in the final analysis reality is defined by its absoluteness whereas appearance is 19defined by its relativity. in appearance and reality and essays on truth and reality, bradley distinguishes between three levels of reality with epistemic corollaries, namely, immediate experience, relational experience and supra-relational experience. as the designation suggests the distinction is predicated on the reality of relation. there is a level below relation, there is a 20 relational level and there is a level beyond relation. immediate experience is level of reality below relation, in other words, a pre-conceptual level of reality, whereas relational experience is a level of reality in which relation is effective, a level of reality in which we can conceptually distinguish between object and subject of knowledge and in which an object exists for the subject as object of 21knowledge. supra-relational experience is a level of relation that exceeds relational experience and in which there is a realization of a higher unity in which the subject-object 22 distinction is supplanted. as the highest level of experience it is an absolute experience that includes all the other levels with respect to their possible developments. it is evident that the foregoing levels of experience exemplify the moral of bradley's distinction between appearance and reality which we have presented in terms of the logic of part and whole. in this parlance both immediate experience and relational experience are appearances albeit one is higher than the other. relational experience is higher than immediate experience. but neither of them is the whole 120 given that each suffers from a basic incompleteness as a consequence of its appearance status. supra-relational experience is the all-inclusive reality and contains everything. it includes both immediate experience and 23 relational experience. indeed as bradley maintains there is a dialectical principle at work in each level such that in quest of completeness, each level of experience finds its fulfilment in the next level of experience with its incompleteness made up for by the succeeding level of experience. such is the case with respect to the relation between immediate experience, which is a lower form of experience and its successor, relational 24experience which is a higher form of experience. the same is true of the relation between relational experience and supra-relational experience and by implication immediate experience and supra-relational experience. the breakdown of immediate experience in search of completion witnesses the emergence of relational experience just as the breakdown of relational experience also witnesses the emergence of 25supra-relational experience. consequently, properly understood, both immediate experience and relational experience are appearances and not reality, whereas only supra-relational experience is properly designated as reality. so too is any other thing that bradley designates as appearance such as self, space and time, causality, philosophy, morality, religion and indeed anything that is infected with relation. they are all appearances of the absolute as all other realities designated as appearances are 26 appearances of the absolute. notice however that it not just that a certain hierarchy subsists within the kingdom of appearances but there is a dialectic of appearance relative to which the incompleteness that infects one appearance is overcome by another appearance. the dialectic issues in a metaphysics of the absolute so far as the absolute is the ultimate point of reference for mediating the incompleteness that bedevils the 27kingdom of appearances and its constituents. levels in reality: bradley, plato and aristotle 121 bradley is certainly not alone in dividing reality into several levels. as noted a similar categorization of reality into levels can be found in plato and aristotle. in structuring reality into two basic tiers, the world of forms and the world of sensible particulars, plato installs a hierarchy between the two levels such that the reality of the world of sensible particulars is tied to the world of forms as derivatives are bound to their original to the extent that one is said to participate in the other as its 28imitation. yet beyond this hierarchical structure that binds the world of forms and the world of particulars, certain hierarchy similarly subsists within the domain of forms that allows us to categorize one form as higher than another form until we reach the peak of the hierarchy occupied by the form of the 29good. the hierarchical ordering of the forms within the world of forms is without prejudice to the fact that all the forms belong to a community of originals that are variously instantiated in the world of sensible particulars. just as it is the case with the forms, there is also logic of hierarchy at work within the kingdom of sensible particulars that enables us to categorize particulars hierarchically, even though they all belong to the kingdom of derivatives and so are not 30originals. in jettisoning plato's metaphysical dualism of universal and particular, aristotle says that every particular thing is a substance, so that the universal does not exist separately but 31inheres in the sensible particular. aristotle's division of reality into several levels takes the form of recognition of various categories of substance. essentially aristotle recognizes three divisions of substance. first, there is the sensible and the perishable substance. second, there is the sensible and eternal substance and third, there is the nonsensible and eternal substance. aristotle does not just divide substance into categories but a certain hierarchy subsists within the division so far as the category of higher and lower is operative. sensible and perishable substances occupy the lower strata. sensible and eternal substances occupy the middle strata while non-sensible and eternal occupy the 32 highest strata. 122 the point of aristotle's division of reality into three categories of substance becomes evident, once we consider his metaphysics of motion. the governing presupposition of course is that there is causal interaction between communities 33 of substances as no substance exists in isolation. yet in accounting for the motion in the universe, aristotle recognizes that we cannot persist in an infinite regress of causes as it will mean that we cannot account for the original cause of motion in the universe and to this extent nothing is 34accounted for in the end. in view of this consideration he is impelled to postulate a first cause, the unmoved mover which itself is uncaused as the original cause of the motion in the universe. unlike other substances which are made of matter and form, the uncaused cause is pure form, the understanding being that given that matter is the principle of potentiality, if the uncaused cause was to contain matter it would be invariably open to further determination which will undermine its status as uncaused cause and does render superfluous the explanation it 35guarantees in respect of metaphysics of motion. from our account of bradley's distinction between appearance and reality it is evident that bradley basically appropriates plato and aristotle's division of reality into various levels. bradley's theorization is somewhat a synthesis of plato's theory of forms and aristotle's metaphysics of substance. plato's world occupies a position akin to aristotle's third division of substance, that is, non sensible and eternal, with the highest substance at the peak just as the platonic form of the good. following aristotle in jettisoning plato's dualism, bradley recuperates both schemes in his metaphysics of the absolute with three basic divisions, nonrelational, relational and supra-relational experience, which levels in the end collapse into the distinction of reality and appearance, with the all inclusive reality serving as point of reference for the mediation and constitution of the kingdom 36 of appearance. just like plato and aristotle bradley locates metaphysics in the domain of absolute reality and not in the domain of particular reality. this is what he means by saying that 123 metaphysics involves knowledge of reality rather than mere appearance. understood in terms of his peculiar use of the term appearance, metaphysics seeks the whole rather than the partial. of course it does not mean that metaphysics cannot start with appearance but while it engages with appearance its concern is with the reality that reveals itself in appearance. metaphysics can do this since in truth every appearance is 37appearance of reality. thus by interrogating appearance the goal is to transcend appearance and attain reality. to be engaged with mere appearance therefore does not represent the preoccupation of metaphysics. in its engagement with reality, the sort of knowledge that metaphysics seeks is also important. here we must distinguish between forms of knowledge. we can speak of metaphysical knowledge of reality as contradistinguished 38 from scientific knowledge or historical knowledge. compared to the latter, the former represents a higher form of knowledge and is the sort of knowledge involved in the metaphysical interrogation of the nature of reality. this emphasis become evident once we consider a further element from bradley's definition of metaphysics, namely, the claim that “metaphysics is the study of first principles or ultimate truths.” (ar, 1) both points are not really new points if we consider as we have seen that aristotle says in the metaphysics the concern of metaphysics is to investigate the fundamental causes of being. it is in this respect in fact that he 39says that metaphysics is first philosophy. bradley's use of the term “first principles” immediately invites the distinction between first principles and secondary principles just as his use of the term “ultimate truth” also invites the distinction between ultimate truth and proximate truths. both distinctions can hardly be understood except in the light of bradley's concept of reality. the point is that the principles in question as well as truth are functions of reality. first principles are on the side of reality, while secondary principles are on the side of appearance. if one's concern was with secondary principles this does not count as metaphysical pursuit since one is preoccupied with a lower reality, appearance and not reality. the same is true of the distinction between ultimate truth and proximate truth. ultimate truth is 124 on the side of reality while proximate truth is on the side of appearance. the point of metaphysics in investigating reality is the ultimate truth of reality. were we to be concerned with the proximate truth of things, we could not say we are engaged in metaphysical investigation. without spurning proximate truths the point of metaphysics is to transcend it and penetrate 40 the ultimate truth of things. the question of the pre-eminent status of metaphysics: possibilities and limits of reason so like plato and aristotle bradley will also regard metaphysics as the queen of sciences so far as in preoccupying itself with first principles and ultimate truths, metaphysics presupposes other sciences. what entitles metaphysics to pre-eminence therefore, is that its province is the province of reality, while other sciences are preoccupied with appearance. in view of the dialectic of appearance that drives his metaphysics of the absolute it means that the interrogation of the foundation of the other sciences will end up in a full blown metaphysics of absolute since as appearances the sciences cannot ground themselves but must look up to metaphysics for their grounding, so far as the principles which define the foundation of the sciences fall to metaphysics to investigate. there is a further element in bradley's definition of metaphysics we need to examine in order to come to terms with his concept of metaphysics. i refer to the claim that metaphysics involves an “effort to comprehend the universe not as piecemeal but as a whole” (ar, 1). this element, as it were, further elaborates the contributions of the earlier elements in bradley's definition by clarifying the scope of metaphysical knowledge. metaphysics is not only preoccupied with knowledge of first principles or ultimate truth, but the ideal of knowledge it pursues is one that is as 42comprehensive as possible. the basic point here is that “truth is whole”; moreover in interrogating the truth of reality, metaphysics wants to see how everything fits together. it may begin with the 125 determination of truth of reality as appearance but its goal is 43to understand the nature of things as they are in themselves. of course, partial determination is always possible. but the truth is that metaphysics is not content with partial determination. on the contrary only a full determination of the truth of things can satisfy the metaphysical consciousness. it is not satisfied with half-truths, but is keen 44to uncover the whole truth. this demand for comprehensiveness in respect of the understanding of the truth of reality is one of the key features that distinguish metaphysics from other disciplines. in its pursuit of knowledge of reality, the sphere of the particular sciences is limited. but this is not the case with metaphysics 45which specialises in every department of reality. its sphere is seemingly unrestricted. as it were metaphysics is jack of all trades, claiming membership of every community of being as its legitimate object as far as its quest for knowledge is concerned. fundamentally metaphysics claims that its findings are valid in respect of all possible worlds and not 46only in respect of this or that particular world. the holistic nature of the metaphysical knowledge that metaphysics guarantees concerning the nature of ultimate reality is what confers pre-eminence on metaphysics. but this feature of metaphysics has also been one of the chief points in respect of which metaphysics is attacked by its critics. the complaint is that this ideal of knowledge presupposes a 47concept of reason that is rather too grandiose. it is not denied at all that there a basic identity between the structure of reason and the structure of reality. of course, without such identity, we can hardly vouch for the possibility of metaphysical knowledge and this in turn would mean outright that the project of metaphysics is impossible. as it were, therefore, the very possibility of metaphysics depends on the claimed identity between the structure of reason and the structure of reality. on the contrary what critics of metaphysics deny is that the claimed identity between the structure of reason and 48 reality is an absolute identity. of course if it were an absolute identity, the implication is that nothing of reality could be hidden from reason in the end. in other words, it means that reason would be sovereign over 126 being and there is no aspect of being that would resist conceptual schematization. in this respect therefore not only can reason determine things as they are in themselves, but it can secure full determination of the nature of things as they 49 are in themselves. given that bradley says that metaphysics involves an “effort to comprehend things not in piecemeal but as a whole” (ar, 1), we may be tempted to associate him with this position. but that would be a mistake for while bradley in principle accepts that metaphysical knowledge is as comprehensive as it can possibly be, he is quite hesitant in affirming the view on which there is no difference between 50existence and reality. given his confidence in reason, he certainly believes that if our metaphysical capacities are properly exercised we can understand the nature of reality as 51 it is in-itself. yet as desirable as it is to know everything about the nature of reality, bradley believes that the metaphysical ambition to fully determine the nature of reality through the agency of pure reason is doomed to fail in the end, so that without prejudice to the possibilities of metaphysics, metaphysics is nonetheless limited with respect to the extent of knowledge it can attain so far as the difference between existence and 52thought is irreducible in the final analysis. so in other words while bradley is basically in sympathy with the basic insight of hegelian dialectic in respect the dynamism of reason in its attempt to grasp the nature of reality, he recoils from any attempt to annul the difference between thought and reality. for this reason, he will prefer a more humble dialectic of appearance to the ambitious speculative dialectic that we find in hegel on which, “the real 53 is rational and the rational is real.” because he has basic confidence in the powers of reason and because he believes that being is intelligible, bradley will endorse the first part of the foregoing thesis, that is, that the real is rational. this optimism invariably means that the project of metaphysics is feasible and by all means we can attain metaphysical knowledge of the nature of reality through the agency of reason. (see ar, introduction) but because he has his reservations concerning the claims 127 of rationalistic idealism (or speculative idealism) he will not endorse the second part of the foregoing thesis, that is, that the rational is real. the presupposition of course is that the sphere of rationality is co-extensive with the sphere of reality. if this were the case, it means nothing could escape the gaze of reason in the end. but apparently, as we have noted, bradley finds this thesis problematic given that it does not allow us to maintain the difference between thought and existence, a difference which is vital to the very possibility of existence as 54distinct from thought. in view of this submission what is evident is that bradley is in support of rationalism at the same time he is also a critic of rationalism. he is in support of rationalism so far as he is optimistic about the powers of reason as far as the ideal of rational determination of reality is concerned. he is confident that this is a viable project and through such rational determination we can arrive at knowledge of the true nature of things as comprehensive as possible. but paradoxically bradley is also pessimistic about the powers of reason, so far as he thinks that because of the final difference between reason and reality, there is a limit to which we can know reality through the means of our rational determination no matter how sophisticated such determination may be. because of the final difference between thought and reality, no matter how comprehensive our knowledge may be, our rational determination falls short of the nature of things. the implication of all this is that bradley's attitude towards metaphysics is ambivalent. while he will not deny the possibility of metaphysics, he will be 55 keen to avoid a grandiose concept of metaphysics. assessment at the start of our exposition we indicated that there is a close affinity between bradley and plato and aristotle's concept of metaphysics. we noted that bradley's definition indeed incorporates several features of the platonic and aristotelian metaphysics such that bradley's concept is 56 arguably a synthesis of plato and aristotle. while this point is essential in understanding bradley's account of metaphysics, especially his distinction between reality and 128 appearance with the core element of his metaphysics of the absolute, it is equally important to stress the difference between bradley, plato and aristotle which often is not so evident. but there are clues in his definition no matter how indebted to plato and aristotle the definition may be. the classical account of metaphysics is usually associated with plato and aristotle, the two philosophical giants that have shaped the fortunes of metaphysics over the course of the last two millennia. until the emergence of kant the portrait of metaphysics they sketched held sway and it was one that assumed the metaphysical possibilities of pure reason. however, with kant the era of critical metaphysics started in the sense that kant set up a tribunal to investigate the metaphysical possibilities of pure reason as a prolegomena to any future metaphysics. this approach is not only novel but the result is revolutionary because of the embargo kant subsequently placed on the traditional province of metaphysics, that is, that the platonic supra-sensible world and the aristotelian being qua being are inaccessible to pure 57 reason. with this development emerged the era of what has been called categorical metaphysics in contradistinction from 58 traditional metaphysics associated with plato and aristotle. with kant we begin to have complaints about the claims of metaphysics to investigate the transcendent reality and the attempt to reconceptualise metaphysics in terms of the science of synthetic a priori, that is, the so called transcendental condition for the possibility of knowledge. with the dispensation inaugurated by kant, the ideal of metaphysics as investigating the realm of noumena through 59 the agency of pure reason becomes problematic. we need to take into account this entire development in order to understand the nuances of bradley's concept of metaphysics. bradley is on the side of plato and aristotle but, as it were, it is as if the copernican revolution of kant comes with the effect of the need to limit the possibilities of metaphysics even if not in the kantian sense. thus while bradley remains basically in sympathy with the traditional concept of metaphysics as science of being qua being or again as science of the supra-sensible as laid down by plato and 129 aristotle, he is also keen to insist that there is a limit to which 60we can know reality through the agency of pure reason. from the kantian standpoint therefore he is positive about the metaphysical possibilities of pure reason. yet like kant but with a different motivation, he is also concerned to stress the metaphysical limitation of pure reason. interestingly the recognition of the metaphysical limitation of pure reason does not issue in the deconstruction of traditional metaphysics as kant does but it simply signals that a grandiose concept of metaphysics may hurt metaphysics than 61help it. hence one way to shield metaphysics from attacks that seek to deconstruct it is to make concessions and tone down its claims with respect to the sovereignty of reason without losing the substance of its claim. i think this toning down exercise is what is at issue in bradley's ambivalent attitude towards metaphysics and in the final analysis it is meant to protect metaphysics from deconstruction by reckless critics. i suggest that this exercise of toning down the claims of metaphysics in order to protect metaphysics from deconstruction is what we find in the seeming uncertainty that hovers round bradley's definition of metaphysics. i mean the fact that he will say it is an attempt to know reality as against mere appearance instead of saying more assertively as aristotle or plato says that “it is a science of being qua being” or “a science of supra-sensible.” or again the fact that he says it is “an effort to comprehend the universe not as piecemeal but as a whole.” (ar, 1) as noted both phrases does not suggest he is taking off on a confident mood. it suggests rather a note of reservation. when you ask someone to do something and he tells you he will try or that he will make an effort, it is clear it is a humble submission and in truth it may make us down the prospect of success in such endeavour. but, as we have also noted, bradley's use of these terms is deliberate and is meant to indicate already his intention to develop a more humble concept of metaphysics in contradistinction from the grandiose concept of metaphysics that is associated with the classical traditions of metaphysics as defined by plato and aristotle. 130 in bradley's case, he feels compelled to make allowance for failure in the project of metaphysics an allowance which he thinks strengthens metaphysics rather than weaken it if it will protect it from deconstruction by those who will be quick to notice its grandiose claims. to this extent the way to save metaphysics from the sort of self-destruction that stems from intellectual pride is to tone down its claims. in this respect it is clear that the environment in which plato, aristotle and bradley are operating is quite different. while bradley is familiar with the classical traditions, he could not ignore the modern tradition but, especially, it's suspicion about metaphysics. so while he will take what is best in the traditions of metaphysics he will also be keen to strengthen metaphysics in its modern context, even if it means making concessions that do not alter substantially the claims of metaphysics. in this sense, bradley's concept of metaphysics could be seen as a subtle critique of traditional metaphysics, so far as he is raising the sort of critical question that kant raises about the metaphysical possibilities of pure reason. but unlike kant, he remains optimistic in respect of the overall framework laid down by traditional metaphysics. on the other hand, bradley's concept of metaphysics, especially his position on the problem of relation of thought to reality could be seen as a critique of the kantian position in respect of its dualistic formulation of the relation between thought and reality. in retrieving the matter from the problematic dualistic formulation, bradley will then develop a view of the relation of thought and reality that is both cautious and optimistic such as to sustain the possibility of metaphysics while at the same time delimiting its claims. conclusion when we take into account bradley's relation to the traditions of metaphysics as defined by plato and aristotle and then his response to the challenge unleashed by kant's copernican revolution and the entire modern assault on metaphysics, we begin to understand the sense of humility that pervades his definition of metaphysics and his motivation to save metaphysics from deconstruction by 131 toning down its claim. in this respect, bradley must be seen as a transitional figure so far as the odyssey of metaphysics is concerned especially in its modern context. one of the features of contemporary philosophy has been its anti-metaphysical bias. against this backdrop the caution and optimism that bradley combines in the portrait of metaphysics he sketches is understandable. a humble concept of metaphysics is more likely to survive in the unabashedly anti-metaphysical environment of contemporary philosophy than a concept of metaphysics that is blown out of proportion. the bottom line is that a balanced concept of reason in its relation to reality must be put in place to forestall the event of the “death of metaphysics”. the attempt to secure this consideration seems to be the most important aspect of bradley's contributions as far as the situation of metaphysics is concerned. little wonder bradley says in the appendix to appearance and reality that: the solution to this dilemma (of thought's relation to reality) offered in chapter xv, is i believe, the only solution possible. it contains the main thesis of this work, views opposed to that thesis remaining, it seems to me caught up in and destroyed by the dilemma. and we must notice two main features of this doctrine. it contends on the one side that truth or thought essentially does not satisfy its own claims (and this will be applicable to any finite existence or appearance) that it demand to be, and so far already is something which it completely cannot be. hence, if thought carried out its own nature, it both would and would not have passed beyond itself and become also an other. and in the second place, this self-completion of thought, by inclusion of the aspects opposed to mere thinking, would be what we mean by reality; and by reality we can mean no more than this. the criticisms on this doctrine, which i have seen, do not appear to me to rest on any serious inquiry either as to what the demands of thought really are, or what their satisfaction involves. but, if to satisfy the intellect is to be true and real such a question must be fundamental (ar, 493) 132 end notes 1. cf. p. a. schipp (ed.) the philosophy of bertrand russell (evaton: the library of living philosophers, inc. 1946), p. 10 the following abbreviations are used in the text to designate bradley's works: es=ethical studies, ar=appearance and reality, pl= principles of logic and etr=essays on truth and reality. 2. cf. ar, 5. see also w. t. jones, a history of western philosophy, vol 2, ndthe medieval mind, 2 edition (new york: harcourt brace jovanovich, inc., 1969), pp. 84-85 3. cf. ar, 3-4. see also james allard and guy stock, “editor's introduction” in f. h. bradley: writings on logic and metaphysics, edited by james allard and guy stock (oxford: clarendon press, 1994), pp. 103-114 4. see damian ilodigwe, bradley and the problematic status of metaphysics (newcastle: cambridge scholars publishing, 2006), chapter 1 5. cf. ar, 485 6. cf. ar, 5-10. see also damian ilodigwe, “hume's criticism of metaphysics”, wajops west african journal of philosophical studies, volume 14 december 2011 7. cf. ar, 5-6 8. cf. ar, 5-10, etr, chapter 1 9. ar, chapter 15 10. ibid. see damian ilodigwe, “bradley's account of the self as appearance: between kant's transcendental idealism and hegel's speculative idealism”, paper presented at the oxford international conference on british idealism and the concept of the self, harris manchester college, oxford university, united kingdom, 27-30 august, 2013, pp. 1-21; see also his “bradley's account of truth: between epistemology and metaphysics” in collingwood and british idealism studies, 19: 2 (2013), pp. 219-250 11. see j. h. muirhead, the platonic tradition in anglo-saxon philosophy (london: george allen and unwin, 1931), chapters 22; see also g. r. g, mure, an introduction to hegel (oxford: clarendon press, 1950), chapters 1-3 12. see w. t. jones, a history of western philosophy, vol 2, the medieval ndmind, 2 edition (new york: harcourt brace jovanovich, inc., 1969), pp. 84-85. see also j. l. ackrill, aristotle the philosopher (oxford: clarendon press, 1996), pp. 116-121 13. d. j. allan, the philosophy of aristotle (oxford: oxford university press, 1979), chapters 8-9 14. see samuel enoch stumpf, elements of philosophy: an introduction, rd3 edition (new york: mcgraw-hill, inc. 1993), pp. 399-413 15. cf. ar, 120-123 16. see damian ilodigwe, “bradley's account of the self as appearance: 133 between kant's transcendental idealism and hegel's speculative idealism”, paper presented at the oxford international conference on british idealism and the concept of the self, harris manchester college, oxford university, united kingdom, 27-30 august, 2013, pp. 1-21; 17. in concluding the first part of appearance and reality which is devoted to an account of the nature of appearance, bradley takes care to accentuate the community between reality and its appearances, maintaining effectively that appearance cannot be divorced from reality. in his words, “all appearances must belong to reality. for what appears is, and whatever is cannot fall outside the real. and we may now combine this result with the conclusion just reached. we may say that everything which appears is somehow real in such a way as to be selfconsistent. the character of the real is to possess everything phenomenal in a harmonious form. i will repeat this same truth in order to words. reality is one in this sense that it has a positive nature exclusive of discord, a nature which must hold throughout everything that is to be real.” (ar, 123) 18. see appendix ar, 491-495 19. see damian ilodigwe, bradley and the problematic status of metaphysics, chapter 2 20. ar, 403-431, etr, 159-201 21. cf. w. j. mander, “levels of experience in f. h. bradley” southern journal of philosophy 33, 1991: 485-498 22. see frederick copleston, a history of philosophy volume v111 bentham to russell, p, 187 23. see w. j. mander, “levels of experience in f. h. bradley” southern journal of philosophy 33, 1991: 485-498 24. see ar, chapter 24. see also “on our knowledge of immediate experience” in essays on truth and reality (oxford: clarendon press, 1914), pp. 159-201, first published in mind, number 18, 1909 25. see damian ilodigwe, “bradley's account of the self as appearance: between kant's transcendental idealism and hegel's speculative idealism”, paper presented at the oxford international conference on british idealism and the concept of the self, harris manchester college, oxford university, united kingdom, 27-30 august, 2013, pp. 1-21. 26. see ar, chapters 1-12. what bradley does in the first part of appearance and reality basically is to explicate the concept of appearance in terms of the various elements of our experience. in the second part of appearance and reality, he applies the general moral of his concept of appearance in dealing with the vexed issue of the nature and essence of thought and its relation to reality, concluding, as it were, that thought's effort to qualify reality unconditionally ends in failure as a consequence of its appearance status. it is the same logic at work in his analysis of morality, religion and judgment and philosophy in ethical studies, principles of logic and appearance and reality respectively. see ethical studies, essays 3-6, principles of logic chapters 1-2 and 134 appearance and reality, chapter 25 27. ar, chapter 24 28. see w. t. jones, a history of western philosophy, vol 2, the medieval ndmind, 2 edition (new york: harcourt brace jovanovich, inc., 1969), chapter 4; see also alan white, method of metaphysics (london: croom helm, 1987), chapter 1 29. see samuel enoch stumpf, elements of philosophy: an introduction, rd3 edition (new york: mcgraw-hill, inc. 1993), pp. 251-267 30. ibid. pp. 155-159 31. norman melchert, the great conversation volume 1: pre-socratics ndthrough descartes, 2 edition (california: mayfield, 1995), pp. 160165 32. ibid. 33. see samuel enoch stumpf, elements of philosophy: an introduction, rd3 edition (new york: mcgraw-hill, inc. 1993), pp. 251-267 34. cf. j. l. ackril, aristotle the philosopher (oxford: clarendon press, 1996), chapter 9 35. norman melchert, the great conversation volume 1: pre-socratics ndthrough descartes, 2 edition (california: mayfield, 1995), pp. 160165 36. see ar, chapter 24; cf. alan white, method of metaphysics, chapter 5 37. see ar, chapters 23-24 38. see alan white, method of metaphysics, chapter 9. the concern of metaphysics is always with the universal in the particular and not merely the particular in its particularity. metaphysics is interested, in other words, in the reality behind the appearance or rather the reality of the appearance. 39. see j. l. ackril, aristotle the philosopher (oxford: clarendon press, 1996), chapter 9 40. ibid. 41. cf. ar, introduction 42. cf. see samuel enoch stumpf, elements of philosophy: an rdintroduction, 3 edition (new york: mcgraw-hill, inc. 1993), chapter 23 43. cf. ar, chapter 14. see also damian ilodigwe, bradley and the problematic status of metaphysics, chapter 2. 44. cf. ar, chapters 14 and 27 45. stumpf, pp. 399-402 46. see e. j. lowe, a survey of metaphysics (oxford: oxford university press, 2003), chapter 1; see also brian carr, metaphysics: an introduction, chapter 1 and michael loux, contemporary introduction to metaphysics, introduction 47. we find such criticism in thinkers such as whitehead and heidegger. indeed this criticism informs much of the reaction against idealism at the turn of the century and to this extent provides the backdrop for the emergence of contemporary philosophy as can be seen in the various philosophical currents that condition the inheritance of contemporary philosophy such as phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, 135 hermeneutics and deconstructionism. for the most part, these currents of philosophy are anti-essentialist in orientation. see alfred whitehead, process and reality: an essay in cosmology (new york: free press, 1969), chapter 1; martin heidegger, an introduction to metaphysics (london: yale university press, 1987), chapters 3 and 4. see also ludwig wittgenstein, philosophical investigations (london: blackwell, 1958) and alan white, method of metaphysics, chapter 8 48. see damian ilodigwe, “hume's criticism of metaphysics”, wajops west african journal of philosophical studies, volume 14 december 2011 49. of course this understanding of the nature of reason is usually associated with hegel in view of his account of absolute knowledge in the phenomenology of spirit, trans a. v. miller with analysis of the text and forward by j. n. findlay ( oxford: oxford university press, 1977), one which implies that there is no gap between our concept and reality. this overly optimistic view of reason finds expression in hegel's submission that “the real is rational and the rational is real”. the entire post hegelian criticism of idealism adopts the general strategy of weakening the relationship between thought and reality by denying that a one to one correspondence subsists between concept and reality, meaning effectively that existence is more than thought and cannot on any condition be reduced to thought. see for instance, dale snow, schelling and the end of idealism albany: state university of new york press, 1996), chapters 1-4. also cf. damian ilodigwe, “bradley's account of the self as appearance: between kant's transcendental idealism and hegel's speculative idealism”, paper presented at the oxford international conference on british idealism and the concept of the self, harris manchester college, oxford university, united kingdom, 27-30 august, 2013, pp. 1-21; see also his “bradley's account of truth: between epistemology and metaphysics” in collingwood and british idealism studies, 19: 2(2013), pp. 219-250 50. see james allard and guy stock, “editor's introduction” in f. h. bradley: writings on logic and metaphysics, edited by james allard and guy stock (oxford: clarendon press, 1994), pp. 103-114 51. see ar, 127-152 52. see ar, 143-153 53. see principles of logic 585-591 54. as bradley notes in the concluding paragraph of the principles of logic, 590-591, “unless thoughts stands for something that falls beyond mere intelligence, if “thinking” is no used with some strange implication that never was part of the meaning of the word, a lingering scruple still forbids us to believe that reality can be purely rational. it may come from a failure in my metaphysics, or form a weakness of the flesh which continues to blind me, but the notion that existence could be the same as understanding strikes me as cold and ghost-like as the dreariest materialism.” 55. in the light of this reservation, it is instructive that bradley's appearance and reality, supposedly a metaphysical essay, ends on the 136 note of scepticism as the final chapter carries the title ultimate doubt. unless the ambivalence in bradley's overall attitude towards metaphysics is understood one is always bound to misunderstand him as his sceptical submission could easily be taken as vote of no confidence in metaphysics when in actual fact, it is a strategic attempt to tone down the claims of metaphysics so as to save it from deconstruction in the anti-idealist and anti-essentialist environment of contemporary philosophy. cf. damian ilodigwe, “bradley's account of truth: between epistemology and metaphysics” in collingwood and british idealism studies, 19: 2(2013), pp. 219-250 56. cf. alan white, methods of metaphysics, chapter 5 57. immanuel kant, critique of pure reason, everyman edition, edited by vasilis politis (london: j. m. dent, 1993), bxv and prolegomena to any future metaphysics, edited gary hatfield, with selections from the critique of pure reason (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1997, p. 10. 58. see brian carr, metaphysics: an introduction, chapter 1 59. michael loux, contemporary introduction to metaphysics, introduction 60. see ar, chapter 14. see also damian ilodigwe, bradley and the problematic status of metaphysics, pp. 234-264 61. ar, introduction 137 abstract the sense of a possible moral world projects some developmental and social monitoring of human activities through the languages the individuals employ to express them. such activities demand to be good in constituting social order, justice, and peace. this is possible when human freedom is put under the operation and application of the ethics of living for the realization of integral human development. this is against the notation of human development inherent in ayer's emotivism as a moral theory. in emotivism, human freedom is erroneously and adequately maximized without recourses to the necessity of common social and moral facts that exist in a possible moral world. such possible moral facts in the moral world help to checkmate human activities and some unguided exercises of freedom. this paper aims at critiquing ayer's emotivism as a moral theory by recognizing that there are moral facts that can be socially and linguistically expressed to establish and sustain moral order. at such, it posits that no society can be ordered, just, and peaceful when every human individual is allowed to exercise his or her freedom or carry out any activity at will, based on personal moral conviction and directive as ayer's emotivistic theory the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world philip osarobu isanbor department of philosophy, st. albert institute, fayit-kagoma, kaduna state, nigeria. osarobuisanbor@gmail.com suggests, without recourses to common moral and ethical facts or principles inherent in a possible moral world. the paper concludes that proper moral development of the human person cannot be achieved in a human society that so desires social order and probity, due to the moral relativistic tendencies it presents to the human society. keywords: possible moral world, human freedom, emotivism, moral facts, development introduction understandably, the relations between language and emotions can be viewed from two angles. first, a language in a broad sense can be viewed as “being done” (performed) emotive. that is, considering the roles and effects of language in the expression of emotion. second, in a narrow sense, language as a mere tool for making one express him/herself without reference to the meaning of such expressions. put simply, man has the ability to make assertions with languages to express, most especially what he feels within. this is a rational ability or gift from nature that denes, most especially, his social identity, personality, dependence, dynamism, integration and participation. though man is an animal, he has a unique form of animal communication, expressed in different languages such as morality, religiosity, cultural heritages, medicine, technologies, socialization, sexuality, civilization, and so on. all these contents of languages situate some level of moral contextualism of the individual in a society of diverse and conicting moral and social interests and desires. language, whether vocal and symbolic, has been with the human person as a subject of lived experiences. from time immemorial, philosophers have preoccupied themselves with the quests of solving in life. ayer on his part, denes, explains, and argues for the verication principle of logical positivism, and he explains how this principle may be applied to the problems of philosophy. the term 'emotivism' is derived from the word emotion. emotion is a strong human feeling, for instance, love, hate, anger, etc. emotivism the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 141 as a philosophical doctrine; is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes 1or feelings. it posits that ethical languages and expressions are nothing but mere expressions of one's emotional dispositions, sentiments, and feelings towards a given situation and as such is meaningless. it opines that ethical principles and values are not factual therefore, meaningless. the emotivists' view get round the logical positivists who argue that moral statements are not factual but expressions of the feelings of the person who makes them. for instance, if you like something, you call it good, if you dislike it, you call it bad. more also, two people can consider exactly the same facts and come to quite different conclusions. in these cases, the emotivists claim that one cannot say one is right and the other wrong, because fact are separating them. that one can only accept that each is using moral language or judgment to express his or her emotional response to the set of facts. � employing human language and other means of social communication for the ordering of human actions and development, the conceptualization of ethics becomes inevitable and indispensable. in all, ethics seeks to device reasons for approving ot condemning human acts as right or wrong, good or bas, and as worthy 2ot unworthy of a rational being. ethics though, many ethical theories have come up, like naturalism, which states that ethical statements are made base on natural law, but ethics remains what it is, the ougthiness of living and actions. emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions, but emotional attitudes. prominent in this school of thought is a. j. ayer who was a logical positivist. the emotive theory was vividly discussed by ayer in his book: language, truth, and logic, and its development is strongly attributed to charles stevenson in his book: 1r. gaardner, moral philosophy: a systematic introduction to normative and metaethics. ny: macmillan, 1967, 18. 2see, a. echekwube, what is ethics?. in p. iroegbu and a. echekwube (eds). kpim of morality. ibadan: heinemann, 2005, 29. 142 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 3 ethics and language. in emotivism as a moral theory, ayer thought that the meaning of statements are speciable in terms of the conditions in which they could be veried. in this light, when we make assertions like 'good' and 'bad', it is made based on our emotions. � the objective of this study is centred on the needs to understand the ethical implications of ayer's emotivism if adopted in our contemporary society, and to arcertain that the indispensability of the moral facts in possible moral world. methodologically, for the purpose to achieve the objective of this study, within the thrust of its limitations, we will discuss the following headings such as: ayer's emotivisn as a moral linguitic theory in relativistic socio-cultural context; ehe epistemology of moral facts in a possible moral world; the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world, and concluding remarks. all these, are the foster the understanding of relativistic nature of ayer's emotivsm and its contemporary moral implications, and to maintain or sustain the thesis that morality is placed on the contents of moral facts in our possible moral world. ayer's emotivism as a moral linguistic theory in relativistic socio-cultural context in knowing the moral contents of the languages used in expressing our feelings, many moral, analytic, and linguistic philosophers have 4 reacted to, and are still reacting to such human development. here, many people besides the professional philosophers share the opinion that ethics is fundamentally about feelings or emotions. this view is called emotivism. according to the emotivists, when people respond to the ethical question by making moral pronouncements, what they are doing is simply expressing their feelings about something and 3a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, “emotivism and upbringing of children in the contemporary era”. in m. a. izibili, et al. (eds). study in philosophy and society. kagoma: albertine institute, 2018, 400. 4e. imadon, the popular\rationalist image of science: an overview of the positivist view of science. ekpoma review, vol. 2, pp. 101-119, see, 111. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 143 5 trying to impose such feelings on others. emotive judgments are unveriable because they are pure expressions of feelings and as such do not come under the category of truth and falsehood. such an 6ethical judgment is not t to nurture our young ones. thereby, “morality will have an essentially communal dimension and cannot 7 simply be a question of an individual matter.” language is the ability to produce and comprehend both the spoken and written (and in the case of sign language, signed) words. understanding how language works means reaching across many branches of psychology evertthing from the basic neurological functioning to high-level cognitive processing. language shapes our social interactions and 8 brings order to our lives. complex language is one of the dening factors that make us human. the linguistic importance for the analysis of moral actions and decisions can be considered the basis of ayer's emotivist philosophy of human moral development. emotivism, as laid out in ayer's language, truth and logic, presents a different understanding how it is generally understood ethical statements. in emotivism, ethical statements are not statements of truth or fact, but statements that reveal a person's feelings towards a certain situation and the responses that they expect from others. ayer divides “the ordinary system of ethics” into four classes: 1. propositions that express denitions of ethical terms, or judgments about the legitimacy or possibility of certain denition: here, linguistic classications of objects and events are dened to know their cognitive relevance in order to situate their social placement for the valuation of the human individual. 2. propositions describing the phenomena of moral experience, and their causes: translating moral judgments into non-ethical intuitionist propositions, then assessing their social 5e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, “emotivism and upbringing of children in the contemporary era”, 391. 6n. preston, understanding ethics, sydney: the federation press, 2001. 7l. richard, is there a christian ethics? new york: paulist press, 1988, 76. 8n. preston, understanding ethics, sydney: the federation press, 2001. 144 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 conditionings and interests, dependable on the capacity of which the individual employs them. 3. exhortation to moral virtue: here, moral terms can be used in arguments in which the moral terms appear in a conditional, and so, not rarely conditioning to the valuationsof the statements made. 4. actual ethical judgments: examining that, in appearance, moral arguments retain their validity, but very illogical, since they 9 cannot be veried. according to ayer, moral philosophers have misconstrued the meaning of ethics. ethical philosophy is based on a series of emotions, opinions, and sentiment, but rarely on empirical fact. he asserts that what we understand as ethical philosophy is truly psychology. he highlights the commonly referred distinction between “right” and “wrong” as a difference in sentiment rather than fact. he explains that even if an act is unanimously agreed upon as “good “or “bad”, we can 10never treat this consensus as a fact. hence, ayer disregards ethical philosophy as a self-contracting practice and thus, non-existent. he stated his mission on emotivism thus: a question which is often discussed by ethical philosophers is whether it is possible to nd a denition which would reduce all ethical terms to one or two fundamentals. but this question though it undeniably belongs to ethical philosophy, is not relevant to our inquiry. we are not now concerned to discover which term, within the sphere of ethical term, is to be taken as fundamental, whether for example 'good', can be dened in terms of 'right' or 'right' in terms of 'good' or both in terms of 'value'. what we are interested in is the possibility of reducing the whole sphere of ethical terms 9a. j. ayer, language, truth and logic, new york: dover publication inc, 103. 10r. bradt, “noncognitivsm: the job of ethical sentences is not to state facts.” in ethical theory, englewood cliffs: prentice hall, 145, the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 145 to non-ethical terms. we are enquiring whether statements of ethical value can be translated into a 11statement of empirical fact. simply put, using the positivist tool, he indicated that statements or judgments can either be veried in principle or in practice. and since moral judgments according to him could not pass this judgment, he 12 discarded them. although; the terms “right” or “wrong” are incredibly subjective, we should acknowledge them as facts in extreme situations in order to establish common moral guidelines. he makes a valid point that philosophers tend to treat matters of opinion as fact. nevertheless, if we were to treat all of these matters only in terms of sentiment, it would be impossible to condemn an act as “immoral” since it may very well be moral by another's standard. ayer applied the verication principle of logical positivism to moral terms, and as a result, developed the emotivist meta-ethical theory. for him, moral judgments are meaningless, therefore, they not truthaptness, because; they are neither analytic nor empirically veriable. moral judgments are used not to describe something but to express emotions, so they have emotive meaning. they are cognitively meaningless; but emotively meaningful (non-descriptivism). therefore, there is neither moral truth and moral facts or moral disagreement (moral anti-realism thesis, so there is no proceeding rational argument over moral values). for him, moral statements have no meaning on them. meaning that, if we take moral statements, especially not to have any factual content, then there will be no point in the ethical debate regarding the ways the human individual should behave. ayer maintained that ethical statements are the expressions of feelings or sentiments; they also arouse and stimulate feelings only. hence, sentences which simply express moral judgments that do not say anything; they are pure expressions of feelings and such do not 11a. j. ayer, language, truth and logic, 40. 12see, d. ilodigwe, “ayer's critique of metaphysics. ekpoma review, vol. 2, pp. 3555. cf, 45. 146 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 say anything: “if i make a statement and say for instance, 'stealing money is wrong,' i produce a sentence which has no factual meaning 13– that is, expresses no proposition which can be either true or false.” it means that, for someone to express that 'stealing money is wrong' remains a personal opinion, and he or she does not imply it as a general rule, only makes meaning to him or her onlym since it is mere personal statement, not as a general fact. ayer goes further to assert that, “it is as if i had written 'stealing money!' where the shape and thickness of the exclamation marks show, by a suitable convention, that a special sort of moral disapproval is the feeling which is being 14expressed.” ayer's emotivism is a radical theory that thoroughly rejects fundamental presuppositions like cognitivism, moral realism, and rationalism, on which traditional ethical theories were based. ayer's emotivism contributed to the development of meta-ethics, in that, it directed our attention toward non-naturalist, anti-intuitionist, ethics and non-descriptivist ethics, and in that, it found out the practicality of moral judgments by showing their emotive meaning. he put it thus: “it is worth mentioning that ethical terms do not only serve to express feelings, they are calculated to arouse feelings and stimulate 15action.” by saying this, he modied the positivist's position that; ethical statements are only but mere expressions of the speaker's feelings. furthermore, ayer argued that if ethical statements were simply statements about the speaker's feelings, it would be impossible to argue about questions of value. instead, he claimed that it should be obvious that we discuss questions of value and that the 16 particulaly subjective. the epistemology of moral facts in a possible moral world the issues of morality are always within the projects of human experience. what is known to humanity is what the same humanity 13a. j. ayer, language, truth and logic, 40 14ibid. 15ibid . 16cf, m. john. the logical positivist and morality, london: university press 2000, 50. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 147 uses as a hinge of morality. it is a naturalised ethical projection of human experience, which formed an epistemic foundation of human moral development. with the expression of human lived experiences, the possibility of moral facts inherent in human actions becomes very inevitable and indispensable in sustaining human relations and development. socially, the human person is a being of experiences that are rationally, ethically, and intellectually classied. the necessity for such classication is epistemologically justied on the fact, as robert o'donnell asserts that “animals never become scientists. only people do. and that is because they combine their universal ideas into sentences (prepositions) which increase our 17 human knowledge.” the concept of “people' employed by o'donnell indicates or presupposes the establishment of knowledge that is socially or communally based. the individual is ethically situated within the moral consciousness of the society where he or she belongs to what the moral society directs him or her to do. it is about trying to establish what is good or bad, or works with the society in maintaining the ethics that promote social order and peace. in the moral sphere, such development of statements out of human experiences, help the human individual and his society to develop some ethical statements for the guidance or regulation of human actions and events, and they remain products of human intelligibility and rational capacities and capabilities, as aspects of human 18 beingness that differentiate the human person from other creatures. the agitation for the insititutionalization of the culture of peace and social order presuppose the interdependency of human lived experiences. it is about the social epistemology of the human lived experiences which is indispensably hinged on the possibilities of moral facts in expression of human actions. for paulo valori analyzing the moral contextualism of human actions in a world of nihilistic and relativistic conceptualization of development, asserts 17r. a. o'donnell, hooked on philosophy: thomas aquinas made easy. ny: st pauls, 1995, 2. 18e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, emotivism and upbringing of children in the contemporary era 395. 148 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 that, “it is the task of moral philosophy to try understand in-depth this (sometimes dramatic) life and to become moral science. the difference between moral life and moral science consists of the fact that the former establishes, while the latter understands and 19 explains.” with the authenticity and subjectivity of one's life being expressed among other lives presupposes the morality of freedom and character associated one's lived experiences. according to valori, “the former (moral science) observes phenomena as personal or social facts in their freedom, subjectivity, legality, utility, and in their absolute or relative character. the latter examines the spiritual value, the ideal, the objectivity, and the universality of these same phenomena, as well as their rapport with the happiness of the person 20 or of society, etc.” the human person develops along his or her moral provity and sensibility, a culture he or she projects through the expression of freedom and character of conscience in pursiunce of social order and peace. epistemologically, what the human person knows about his very self is what he uses to guide his actions and with such knowledge, he deals with others. then, human ethical or moral knowledge and development are not an exception to the content of his lived-experiences. so, “ethics are not necessarily unrealistic. likewise, utopia does not only signify the impossible. there exists, it is true, a bad utopia, that of a perfect society, totally harmonious, without conicts and contradiction. good utopias are based on 21possibilities that are not yet realisable.” within the ethical evaluation of human living, both good and bad utopias exist. for karol wojtyla, “the question: what of morality? is more directly related to the experience of morality and more plainly aimed at the 19p. valori, l' esperienza morale (the moral experience). brescia, 1971, as in dario composta, moral philosophy and social ethics. bangalore: theological publ. in india, 2000, p. 1. 20p. valori, l' esperienza morale, 1-2 21 ste. morin, “future ethics and politics” in j. binde (ed). the future of value: 21 century talks. paris: unesco, 2004, 242. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 149 interpretation of it. normally, when we come in contact with any reality, the rst question we ask: what is it? this is also true in the 22case of morality.” for instance, quine's project of naturalising ethics is an attempt to settle moral contextualism, in any way, afrms the 23 methodological inrmity of ethics. “it may even seem strange that we have ready questions that somehow presuppose that we know what morality is. what asked, “what makes human actions morally 24 good or evil?” and in posing the question in this way.” such questions like: what is morality? what constitutes good or evil? are all epistemic altercations that demand some regular foundation of what constitutes the true human knowledge, and what quine's account on the genealogy of moral values is established by human linguistic relevance of the contents of actions. it owes that moral value is generated in the same way as it is done in science and other naturalised discourses is further the reasons why such actions are 25 carried out.. within naturalised discourses of human issues, the ethics is normatively regarded as a science, and the understanding of science is situated on the fact that it takes interest in all facts that concern the human understanding of lived-experience. the actual way of being ethical for the sake of human development is man being sincere to any action he undertakes. he can only be ethical to this very self for being human when he is aware of himself that knows. the knowledge man has about himself determines his goals and interest, phenomenological concern for authenticity, and individuality. the knowledge of man himself cannot be distant from what the society provides for him. the issues for the epistemic justication of 22k. wojtyla, “the problem of the theory of morality.” in karol wojtyla, person and community: selected essays. translated by theresa sandok. ny: peter lang, 1993, 132. 23see g. fasiku, moral facts, possible moral worlds and naturalized ethics. west african journal of philosophical studies, vol. 11, 2008, p. 83. 24k. wojtyla, “the problem of the theory of morality”, 132. 25g. fasiku, moral facts, possible moral worlds and naturalised ethics, 83. 150 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 morality are based on the afrmative understanding of whether moral issues are facts or not. if there are moral facts, then, one can phenomenologically assert that morality can be epistemologically justied. if there is a possible world where human actions are either judged to be right or wrong ethically, such rightness or wrongness of actions is possibly in the afrmative as a fact in a possible world. therefore, the existentiality of the human person as a rational agent and a subject of lived experiences suggests the possibility of moral facts since the actions of the human person mst be checkmated. accoriding to wojtyla, “we assumed not only that morality was already experientially apprehended in its proper perspective, but also that it was intellectually objectied. since the question asks about 26 actions that are morally is.” in the words of gbenga fasiku; what derives from this understanding of moral facts is that the actual wrongness of a morally wrong act is not an empirical entity; it is a fact because it is not corrigible in the present and any possible world. though; the fact is not observable in the same sense in which natural facts are observed, they are observed by all the subjects concerned by searching through the entities in all possible worlds in order to see there is no fact that run contrary to the moral 27 fact. in a possible world, knowledge is possibly claimed when facts are established in line with the subject of knowledge. in ethics, as a normative science, the subject of knowledge is the perpetrator of the act (whether moral or immoral), while the object of the moral fact is the victim, and the medium of the fact to be established is the act itself (determining the means and nature of the social and cultural acceptance of the act). we know the establishement of moral facts from the means and nature of the moral actions, even they may be mere moral assumptions. man knowing what to do with ethical 26k. wojtyla, 132. 27g. fasiku, 95. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 151 practices presupposes that the individual is aware that such moral practices remain facts that can be subjected to future references. according to david lewis, the possible worlds are real in some way. in this conception of a possible world, what makes worlds distinct is that they are spatio-temporally separated from one another. in other words, every way that a world could have been is a way that some existing physical world really is. so, possible worlds are real worlds and they actually exist in the same sense the real or concrete world 28 we inhabit exists. hence, we are asking about the contents of moral facts that are indispensable for human moral development, this conviction especially when our question takes the form of what still goes further and enters the realm of the basis of moral norms themselves, thus, not only do ethical question go beyond the simple question, “what is morality?” which must suggest itself to us in connection with the experience of morality, but they also, so to speak, “begin farther 29down the line.” moreover, “naturally, man is eager from birth to death to know and discover what is unknown to him to have adequate 30 information and knowledge to live conveniently in human society.” the establishment of this point should ordinarily provide a ground 31for accepting ethics as belonging to the naturalist family. still, science cannot ignore questions that are less pressing from a vital or existential point of view, but not for the reason any less important from a scientic point of view. this applies in a special way to question the essence of morality, and how it is applied to the contents 28d. lewis, on the plurality of worlds. oxford: basil blackwell, 1986, 2. 29k. wojtyla, p. 132. 30w. o. aso, rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates. lagos: fropiel int'l ltd, 2018, 36. 31g. fasiku, p. 90. 152 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 32 of social development. to put it another way, the question of the essence of morality ensures that the questions concerning moral good and evil are posed homogeneously concenring the experience of 33morality. the experience of morality allows us to come in contact with the essence of morality, and, in direct relation to this, the question arises, “what is morality?” in this question, we are seeking the intellectual objectication of that which is given in the experience 34 of morality. humanity as a whole can only use its natural heritage to the fullest; if it does not lose sight of the library of knowledge that has 35been left to it by generations past. thus the theory of morality arises by means of knowledge of morality as the factor that accounts for the 36 homogeneity of ethical knowledge. like the human brain, it is only 37useful if it is integral and assessable exactly when it is needed. put simply, the epistemic justication of morality seats on the phenomenological afrmative of ethics as a normative science since moral actions can be epistemologically regarded as moral facts. this is because, experiences are facts, and since morality or moral action/event is an experience, then it can generate into a moral fact in order to afrm some level of social, cultural, and scientic justication of such act or event. in all, many ethical questions are epistemologically raised to situate any such justication. hence, thical questions – questions of the type, “what is morally good”, and what is morally evil in human actions? – already in a way concern a subsequent issue. we are not asking in them about morality as such; we are not trying to understand the morality; rather, we are asking – based on some previous understanding of moralityabout a distinction fundamental to 32k. wojtyla, p. 133. 33ibid. 34ibid. 35t. odhiambo, “the future of biodiversity” in j. binde (ed). the future of value: st21 century talks. paris: unesco, 2004, 209. 36k. wojtyla, 133. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 153 morality, the distinction between good and evil, and about the basis of 38 this distinction. every moral question will be meaningfully answered when it corresponds with the moral facts available for such moral knowledge, and it is justiable to be right or wrong in line with the content of such moral facts. this distinction (right or wrong, good or bad) is possible because the social status of morality is possible epistemologically, that is, the statue of morality is possible when the moral facts are possibly established. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world we have engaged in an expository analysis of an infamous ethical theory called emotivism. our expose brought to the fore the concomitant moral sleaze associated with this notorious doctrine. in an unequivocal language, it debunked the fallacious belief that ethical or moral statements are not reasonable statements but 39 statements based on one's emotional whims and caprices. we argue that the precepts of morality have their root in the moral laws of nature and as such not within the limit of science. hence the test for meaningfulness, wrongness, or goodness, licit or illicitness, would only be; if it conforms to the moral laws of nature which immanuel kant calls 'categorical imperatives' because it applies to man directly and it prescribes norms for human conduct. this can only be done by 40 metaphysicians and ethicists. according to research, ayer faced a 41 particular difculty in defending this brand of non-cognitivism; the combination of afrming a redundancy theory of truth with the denial that moral claims can be true; looks suspicious. though; looking at the views critically, one would discover that the views are not incompatible, the tension between the views is symptomatic of the worry that moral claims have so many of the features of truthevaluable assertions that one has to be unjustiably revisionistic in 37t. odhiambo, “the future of biodiversity” , 209. 38k. wojtyla, 132. 39r . m. hare, the language of morals. oxford: clarendon press, 1955. 40e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, 401. 41r. m. hare, the language of morals, 14 154 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 construing them as non-meaningful. they are, after all, typically expressed in indicative sentences, and people appear to dispute moral 42claims. however, there emerged a more troubling point about the role of moral terms and how it is being used in arguments. moral terms can be used in arguments in which the moral term appears in a conditional, and it is not their contributing to the expressive force of 43the utterance, not expressing an emotion of the speaker. ayer's defense is that all ethical disputes are about facts regarding the proper applications of a value system to a specic case, not about the value systems themselves; because any dispute about values can only be resolved by judging that one value system is superior to another, and this judgment itself presupposes a shared values system. with indispensability of shared values system in human society, we accept the conception of the good in monitoring human actions. here george edward moore's indenable good becomes very meaningful in understanding ayer's conception of moral emotivism in relation to the usage of human languages for the expressing moral facts. for moore, “if i am asked 'what is good?' my answer is that good is good, and that is the end of the matter. or if i am asked 'how is good to be dened?' my answer is that it cannot be 44dened and that is all i have to say about it.” if moore is wrong is saying that there are actual disagreements of value, we are left with the claim that there are actual disagreements of fact, and ayer accepts the position of moore's possibility of shared values system without hesitations. ayer sees good as an individual's approval of a particular thing and an attempt to arouse similar approval from other persons if 45 they morally accept it as well. ayer agree with moore that good is indenable and non-natural, and at such, it cannot be denied by anyone not be relevance for one's moral development. but ayer claim the he was misguided to think that it is cognitive, since good for his is 42see, r. m. hare, 15. 43see, r. m. hare, 15. 44g. e. moore, prinicipia ethica, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1903, 7. 45see, moritz schlick, the problem of ethics. usa: macmillan, 196, 91. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 155 just an expressor or evoker of feelings, mere suggestion, a pseudo and 46 indescrible concept which is neither true or false. � in ayer's emotivism ts into a naturalistic world view, and because of that, it appeals to many philosophers as an erotic philosophy. it does not posit the existence of any non-natural properties like goodness and love which cannot be empirically discovered. emotivism helps explain the strong link between making 47 a moral judgment and being motivated to act accordingly. looking at it from another angle, ayer claims that when we make moral judgments, what we are doing is expressing our emotional reactions to the thing we are judging. in sone indications, it seems possible to judge that something is morally wrong without having any emotional reaction to it, or even feeling positive about it. two moral judgments cannot contradict each other if they are, in fact, just expressions of 48 emotion. finally, our practice of making moral judgments treats such judgments as propositional in many ways. we use them in logical arguments and draw inferences from them. we employed them in other kinds of statements and use them in an un-asserted context. it is not clear whether the emotivist account of the nature of such judgments can explain why we can do these moral arguments. concluding remarks from the foregrounding, there are moral facts in any possible moral world since there are communities of persons that need to be guided in achieving social order and justice. we recognize here that any formation of the human person by the theory of emotivism would have the animalistic instinct and inclination and passions as his governing propensity. and instead of acting under the precepts of morality guided by reason, he would act under passion where there is no law, there is no sin. where there is no morality, no immoral acts, everything would be right. if all is neutrally neutral, then one will be 46v. c. anuniru, a critique of g. e. moore's indenable good. unpublished b. a long essay, deaprtment of philosophy, seminary of all saints, ekpoma, 2010, 49. 47see, e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, 391. 48see, d. ilodigwe, ayer's critique of metaphysics, 50. 156 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 able, ad libitum, to do whatever his or her whim and caprice urges. if putting on clothes is a mere matter of interest, like or dislike, convenience, those with emotivist' formation of minds may go on 49 naked if they so wish. for fasiku; a moral judgment is tested against a moral fact that exists in all possible worlds; it is a fact because it is found in possible worlds, and there is no world in which its contrary is found. if, however, there is a possible world where it is justiably shown that the moral fact does not exist, then the moral judgment would not correspond to 50any moral fact. such a judgment is therefore false. arguably, for an integral genuine and authentic formation of the human person, ethical relativism and emotivism should be carefully looked at and possibly pushed for its repudiation in its entity. the human family, the civil society, all agents of socialization, and indeed all those directly and indirectly concerned with the training, the formation of character, good conscience and personality of the child, 51should jettison emotivism and its doctrine. we can described the end effect of emotivism as oral annihilation, and any human individual brought up by this doctrine will end up being individualistic, antisocial, corrupt public morality, and embrace vices instead of virtues. according to eligabeth afolami and michael uzomah, man is a moral animal, because, he possesses distinctive quality and rationality, which makes him a moral agent. he is capable of moral evaluation/approbation and disapprobation. hence, obstinately denying man's rational ability to appraise social affairs, thereby, 52 making man an amoral being is incredibly absurd and despicable. one may be tempted to conclude that the theory of emotivism is so obscure and untenable that even the emotivists cannot attempt to 49e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, 402. 50g. fasiku, 99. 51see, m. lacewing, metaethics, intuitionism, emotivism and prescriptivism, http//www.alevephilosophy/socialphil.com. 52e. a. afolami and m. m. uzomah, p. 404. the ethics of ayer's emotivism in a possible moral world | 157 rear their children in an a moral emotivistic and relativistic world. it is because of its grave consequences on the formation of the characters and personalities of such children. at best, emotivism can only build a foundation of a social and moral disordered society. for williams aso, “there is no society; in which her own appreciated cultural values and practices that often served as the ontological basis of the worldview and approach to issues by the members of the social group. there is no iota of equivocation to say that these cultural values and practices, no matter how imperfect they may be, are not just from the 53 blues.” this is on the thrust that, given the conclusion that ayer's emotivism is unable to explain the meaning of all ethical terms used in moral discourse, and erroneous purpose of development and civilization in promoting relativistic society, only on the basis of personal conviction of what is right or wrong, it is reasonable to question whether emotivism should be abandoned as a meta-ethical theory. anyway, we believe that emotivism still offers one valuable insight that can potentially explain important features of our moral experience, and thus, should not be given up entirely, simply based on one's exercise of freedom and responsibility. 53w. o. aso, rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates, 36. 158 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 45 demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects abstract: the main objective of this paper is to discuss the role of african philosophy, in view of the links between africa and brazil, at a time marked by a reorganization of social life on the planet. this, of course, is a qualitative research. our investigation will focus on the current situation of these two regions, the historical elements that draw them together. one of the conclusions of this paper affirms that brazil should give due attention to the philosophical production in the african continent. keywords: african philosophy; 21st century; philosophy of education; brazil; conceptual decolonization. introduction the reflections presented here are grounded in a past that unites brazil and africa strongly. this connection is marked by pain and joy. as a birth that brings to the world a new being, the encounter that took place in these lands between three cultural matrices (indigenous, white and black) is the origin and source the modern brazilian people. as such, a brazilian is neither european nor african. however, his thinking is undoubtedly marked by western influence. in max weber's view, western rationality has as its main characteristic the desire to dominate the world. so, from an external perspective, we must consider our relationship with nature and with 46 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 other people as objects and adversaries that exist to serve us; from an internal perspective, the "i" channels its efforts towards profit. these weberian considerations are basic to explain the existence of capitalism. the main purpose of this paper is to reflect on the importance of african philosophical thought in times of restructuring of social life at planetary level. in addition this research also deals with the following scopes: discussing african philosophy as a problem for philosophy itself; discussing the philosophical production under development on the african continent; african philosophy as a source for education in the 21st century. in this academic exercise, we shall deal with african philosophy as a philosophical problem; the main currents of african philosophical thought since placide frans tempels; some of the most important issues facing philosophy in africa today; and finally, the relationship between the discipline philosophy of education and african philosophy. 1. the existence or not of philosophy in africa in my writing áfrica e filosofia, i present considerations on african philosophical thought as an issue to be confronted by philosophy itself. no século xviii, em um contexto histórico de colonização, aparece na europa para a filosofia o seguinte problema: há ou não uma filosofia africana? a resposta que o debate vai produzir reflete a visão de mundo e a compreensão de homem que possui o colonizador europeu à época. posteriormente, no século xx, esse problema será levantado outra vez, graças à obra la philosophiebantoue de l´être do missionário franciscano placidetempels, publicada em 1945. nela o missionário belga argumenta que as categorias metafísicas do povo bantu estão refletidas em suas línguas, isto é, em categorias linguísticas. finalmente, nasúltimasdécadas, o debate se intensifica.1 in fact it cannot be denied there is a philosophical thought in intense activity, in the african continent; but in addition there is a philosophy that can be termed african. demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 47 the philosophical work elaborated here can be organized into two groups: a traditional (not western) philosophy, linked to folklore; a modern (western) technical philosophy.2 thinkers like anta diop, odera oruka and théophile obenga represent the first group; the second consists of intellectuals such as paulin hountondji, kwame appiah and kwasi wiredu. let's pause a bit in this last one. wiredu, graduated in philosophy, at the university of ghana and then went on to oxford university in england for his postgraduate studies. for 23 years, he taught at the university of ghana, but also worked as a teacher at some western institutions of higher learning, especially at the university of south florida in tampa, united states. certainly, his training possesses strong western traits. this western foundation of his training must be taken into account for one to understand the conception of this theorist regarding the definition of african philosophy. for him, this kind of philosophy must be studied, using modern, logical and conceptual technical tools of western philosophy. he advocates a rational method used scientifically, but also recognizes the need of african philosophers to relate to the traditional basis of their philosophical thinking3. in his view, it is up to philosophy to perform an important social task. although philosophical ideas are theoretical and abstract, they are necessary for our well-being. he argues that this kind of knowledge is indispensable to modern life.4 wiredu recognizes, preserved in the oral tradition of african peoples, a popular thought that is present in proverbs, adages and folklore. for him, good philosophy, be it african or western, is one that is rigorous, constructive and critical. in this direction, he raises the following criticism: many identify the communal philosophy with the folk philosophy. according to wiredu, regardless of how we denominate it, it is no more than several aspects of traditional philosophy put together. the more technically elaborated philosophy is, the more philosophical it is considered to be in relation to its communal variation, explains the author.5 48 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 however, this distinction does not resolve the issue. wiredu considers the definition of paulin hountondji, according to which it would be the set of philosophical texts produced by africans. however, this definition has the limitation of not accounting for the traditional orality-based thinking produced in africa. indeed, wiredu defends the thesis that writing is an indispensable condition for african philosophy in the modern world. even so, he recognizes in the traditional thinking of staple societies the existence of both irrational and rational elements6 . concerning his understanding of african philosophy, he insists on the distinction mentioned above between: philosophy as popular thought preserved in the oral tradition of the african peoples and, philosophy as individual and critical reflection, aided by modern conceptual and logical techniques. we must emphasize: for him, the popular thought of the african continent should not be confused with african philosophy.7 the identification of the sayings of some traditional philosophers as a technical philosophy, however, represents an evolution in their conception of african philosophy8. he observes as a positive fact that, at present, there is a disposition, on the part of philosophers of that continent, to carry out studies on individual indigenous thinkers considered traditional technical philosophers. according to wiredu, this is a critical and reconstructive philosophy.9 indeed, the conception elaborated by wiredu as to what philosophy is, expresses his understanding of what african philosophy ought to be. fundamental, in this sense, is to define what philosophy can do for africa. in fact, he considers philosophy as theoretical knowledge, but emphasizing its practical function.10 in o despertar filosófico em áfrica11 (2014), the congolese pene elungudefends similar position. in his view, the main role to be played by contemporary african philosophy has nothing to do with either traditional africa or european modernity. their task is tied to what africa and africans want to do. demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 49 2. some chains of african philosophy in view of this dual conception of african philosophy, we will present three of the most significant currents of active philosophical thought on the african continent, from tempels to our days. ethno-philosophy: this chain has as important reference point the work of frans tempels a filosofia bantu.12 he worked as a missionary in the belgian congo for years. the occasion allowed him to carry out philosophical studies from an african perspective. the cited work: tornou-se um clássico do pensamento filosófico africano como etnofilosofia. filósofos como a. kagame ou j. mbiti têm seus nomes ligados à etnofilosofia. vale salientar que este modelo filosófico logo encontrou uma dura crítica. críticos dele são césaire e eboussiboulaga, por exemplo. se a filosofia africana termina sendo uma etnofilosofía (para estudo e análise dos de fora), se iria aniquilar tanto a existência como a identidade filosófica da áfrica. é o que defendem. assim, segundo eles, a filosofia bantu seria reduzida a um intento por parte dos europeus de explicar a idiossincrasia dos africanos.13 in fact, kwame appiah, in his book in my father's house (1992), claims to be the franciscan priest's text the founder of ethnophilosophy. he also criticizes this stream of thought that deserves to be recorded: “though much ethno-philosophical material is indeed very interesting – at least where it is not, as it too often is, woefully inaccurate – we should go carefully in discussing how to put it to philosophical use”14 he goes on to denounce the philosophical ingenuity of anthropological accounts by ethnographers. and he condemns it by explaining: we could say that it is only a question of criticism, if there were not the thesis defended by many, according to which african philosophy is ethno-philosophical.15 moving forward in his reflections on ethno-philosophy, he says that it is supported by two assumptions: 50 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 the first, which paulin hountondji has dubbed ''unanimism,'' is the factual assumption, which i have already rejected, that there is some central body of ideas that is shared by black. africans quite generally. the second is the evaluative assumption that the recovery of this tradition is worthwhile.16 the author cites some important works that critique ethnophilosophies: african philosophy: myth and reality (1976) of paulin hountondji; essaisür la problema de philosophique dans l'afrique actuelle (1971) of marcien towa; and philosophy and the african culture (1980) of kwasi wiredu. the sage philosophy: what is sage philosophy? the "philosophy of african wisdom" (also called "philosophy of wisdom" or "philosophy of sagacity") is the common name given to the body of thought produced by people considered wise in the communities of the african continent and, more specifically, to those who seek a rational basis for ideas and concepts used to describe and visualize the world, critically examining the justification of these ideas and concepts. this strand of thought has its origin in odera oruka, whose main objective was to establish, with evidence, that critical reflection on issues of fundamental importance has always been the concern of a few in african societies. these themes involve questions about the supreme being, person, freedom, equality, death, and the afterlife. the evidence that oruka collected about the rational elaboration of such themes by indigenous sages is contained in dialogues, many of which appear in his work sage philosophy: indigenous thinkers and modern debate on african philosophy, published in 1990. in the essay filosofia da sagacidade: sua metodologia, resultados, significância e futuro, kibujjo kalumba comments: a maioria das pessoas concorda que um sábio é uma pessoa excepcionalmente inteligente. além dessa sabedoria, henry oderaoruka sugere um segundo critério sobre a sagacidade. um verdadeiro sábio, ele diz, deve usar habitualmente o dom da sabedoria para o aperfeiçoamento ético de sua comunidade. por isso, ele ou ela tem que ser constantemente preocupado com os problemas éticos e empíricos provenientes de sua comunidade, com a intenção demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 51 de encontrar soluções interessantes para elas. na visão de oruka, o segundo critério é o que distingue um sábio de um sofista17 this proposal of odera oruka received criticism from many intellectuals, including the philosopher himself. next, to illustrate, we will present gail presbey’s criticism. she shows fragile points in the project of the kenyan thinker. she starts by considering odera oruka's self-criticism. for presbey,18 odera oruka doubted his own sage's philosophy project. in philosophy in east africa and the future of philosophical research in africa (1997)19, oruka admits the limits of his project from the point of view of the historical context and soon will give rise to tendencies that he considers central to the future of the african philosophy (the professional philosophy and the nationalist-ideological philosophy). moreover, although he criticizes the work of tempels and that of other ethnophilosophers, the author confesses that his own is a combination of anthropology and philosophy. oruka says that he began his sage philosophy20 as a contestation to the thesis defended by some europeans that the africans are not able to philosophize. however, he continues to suggest that his project serves only as a "base" or "raw material" for other forms of philosophy that must emerge in the future. in his view, professional academic philosophers must focus on african indigenous texts. in them, these philosophers can base their research, instead of always choosing the european texts for their future works. in addition, he notes that the beliefs of african populations would have little or no impact on the modern debate on philosophy or science. in other words, oruka seeks to reinforce his modernist position by asserting that the ethnological beliefs personified by those he calls "popular sages" would hardly have much impact on modern science and philosophy.21 according to presbey, oruka's criteria for the eligibility of someone as wise are discriminatory. he insists on the prudent philosophy that neither age nor gender is a necessary condition for becoming a sage. however, in his book sage philosophy (1991), we see that of the twelve sages, there is only one young man and one 52 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 woman. this credits presbey's critique and demands suspicion as to why the wise are generally referred to as "wise old men," in line with the general cultural bias that men are superior to women.22 thinkers like wiredu believe that it is not enough to limit themselves to data collection of what was thought or said by ancestors. part of the wiredudian critique of ethnophilosophical relies on this. in the philosopher's view, odera oruka's sage philosophy represents an individualistic version of ethnophilosophy.23 as previously noted, it can be said that wiredu does not agree to identify philosophy with traditional philosophy.24 this makes us realize that in kwasi wiredu the problem of whether or not an african philosophy exists is as follows: is it correct to speak of african philosophy as a contemporary discipline? in his work philosophy and an african culture, mentioned above, we find: "african philosophy, distinct from traditional african views of the world, is the current philosophy of production by contemporary african philosophers”.25 the formal african philosophical model: the position of kwasi wiredu, posed above, on african philosophy as a technical and professional philosophy enables the reader to have a reasonable idea of this current of thought. paulin j. hountondji26 and marcien towa27 ask whether it is really possible to speak of an african philosophy (alongside the western model) in the strict sense. for them, this is not possible. they deny, therefore, a strictly african philosophy. however, for the question of the existence of an african philosophy to find a solution, it must take into account the emergence of the spontaneous and autonomous development of african society. in this way, african philosophers are forced to invent their own definition of philosophy by virtue of their time and place.28 to end this topic, i would like to add, in terms of provocation, an element that seems to me indispensable in this debate. this is the role of the university for the development of africa. i am convinced that it does not make much sense to raise the problem of the definition of african philosophy without connecting it to the question of what task the university should carry out on that demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 53 continent, for as, for example, chemistry, physics, mathematics and medicine have a contribution to the development of africa, and for this to happen, these areas of knowledge need a well-structured university system, academic philosophy also has work to do not least important for the continent in question . in fact, this leads us to an old debate that goes back to plato, that is, to see if everyone can be philosophers or if, on the contrary, this would be the privilege of only a few. this debate is also of interest to brazil. there are issues to be resolved: what role should philosophy play in our country? is there a philosophy, effectively brazilian? what does it consist of? 3. some questions of african philosophy in recent decades the current philosophical debates that take place on the african continent revolve around topics such as identity, culture, religion, human rights, democracy, modernity, development and conceptual decolonization. it should be emphasized that, in brazil, they are also an object of interest in philosophy and the humanities in general. as an example and suggestion of consultation on the thematic identity, we present the congolese philosopher mudimbe.29 a obra a invenção da áfrica: gnose, filosofia e a ordem do conhecimento, de valentin yves mudimbe, caracteriza-se por abranger uma perspectiva historicista que problematiza os conceitos e discursos do que conhecemos como uma áfrica mitificada. as verdades veiculadas por filósofos, antropólogos, missionários religiosos e ideólogos, bem como imagens ocidentalizadas e/ou eurocêntricas, inerentes aos processos de transformações dos vários tipos de conhecimentos, são desconstruídas por mudimbepari passu aos padrões imperiais ou coloniais. para tal empreitada, vale ressaltar as inúmeras referências que compõem um sólido corpus documental utilizado pelo autor em sua investigação, ou seja, estas transitam da filosofia romana ao romantismo alemão. ou ainda, o questionar e investigar através do termo gnose, cunhado com o 54 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 intuito de erguer uma arqueologia do(s) sentido(s) do pensamento africano. 30 he is influenced by thinkers such as eboussi-boulaga, bimwenyi, foucault, lévi-strauss, ricoeur, among others. the very debate about which definition to give to african philosophy throws us directly into the heart of discussions about identity in general and about the identity of africa in particular. the same can be said in relation to thinking about these topics. as you can see, the problem of african identity has many nuances. one of them are the languages spoken on that continent. kwame appiah, in his book my father's house: africa in the philosophy of culture, right in the first chapter, faces this question of identity. he calls it the invention of africa (1992). the author begins his reflections by problematizing the multiplicity of languages and dialects spoken on the continent. the first element that he throws in the discussion is the predominance, in african countries, of the languages of the settlers (english, french, portuguese and arabic). africa, as a concept, is one of the main points of this book. defining what it is represents a central aspect of the debate about its identity. the philosophy of culture elaborated there is vigorous, and has provided good reflections so far. this text by appiah is an example of this. it is a recommended reading for anyone interested in the study of african culture. another notable author in the field of philosophy of culture in africa is kwasi wiredu. in this sense, famous is his already cited book cultural universals and particulars: an african perspective (1996). it starts from the universals and particulars in human culture to gain a better understanding of what africa means. as for religion, it can be said that this is an element that attracts, more and more, the interest of african philosophers. this assertion applies both to indigenous religions and to their relationship to both christianity and islam. to clarify these discussions, let us look at the text of wiredu african religions from a philosophical point of view (2010). the author points out that the term "religion" does not originate in africa. in addition, he adds that, according to mbiti, demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 55 there may not be an equivalent word in african languages. however, in african religions and philosophy, we read that not only are african peoples known to be religious, but they are said to know not how to live without religion.31 wiredu provokes: to have a religion isn’t necessarily a moral or intellectual advantage.32 wiredu, a confessed atheist, criticizes the fact that many african scholars strive to prove that a belief in god has arisen in africa. according to him, this results from the idea that religion is an achievement. the thinker points out: this assumption, unfortunately, is capable of undermining a dispassionate examination to clarify the role played by religion in african culture (2010). in his view, "the concept of religion applies to african culture, in most cases only in a minimal sense".33 he goes on treating the supreme being for african populations. the author seeks to clarify: african worldviews usually, though not invariably, feature a supreme being who is regarded as responsible for the world order. generally, that being is explicitly conceived to be omniscient, omnibenevolent, and, subject to a rider to be entered in due course omnipotent […]. a sense of dependency, trust, and unconditional reverence is almost everywhere evident in african attitudes to the supreme being.34 wiredu emphasizes an element that deserves to be mentioned in these reflections, that is, "strikingly, however, rituals of god-worship are often absent from african life".35 let's talk a little about human rights. law professor fischel andrade, in hisessay o sistema africano de proteção dos direitos humanos e dos povos, talksaboutthe banjul charter. a entrada em vigor da carta africana dos direitos humanos e dos povos, também conhecida como carta de banjul, aos 21 de outubro de 1986, consolidou o terceiro sistema regional de proteção internacional dos direitos humanos. trata-se, sem lugar a dúvidas, de um marco nos esforços que vêm sendo feitos, tanto a nível global quanto regional, com vistas à promoção e ao respeito dos direitos humanos. não obstante, o sistema africano encontra obstáculos de 56 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 ordem histórica, política, estrutural e jurídica que podem comprometer sua eficácia36. three decades after the promulgation of this document, the following testimony of achille mbembe, in a way, justifies this fear: eu estava aqui durante o último surto de violência contra esses “estrangeiros”. a caçada atual por “estrangeiros” é o produto de uma complexa cadeia de cumplicidades. o governo sul-africano tomou, recentemente, uma posição dura sobre a imigração. novas medidas draconianas têm sido aprovadas. seus efeitos são devastadores para as pessoas já estabelecidas aqui legalmente. algumas semanas atrás, eu assisti, em uma reunião de equipe “estrangeira”, na universidade de wits, histórias horríveis. licença de trabalho não renovada, vistos recusados para membros da família, crianças no limbo nas escolas… por meio de suas novas medidas anti-imigração, o governo está mudando os migrantes, anteriormente legais, para ilegais37. he is not reporting any developments in europe as a result of recent waves of migration of africans to that continent. on the contrary, it refers to what is being experienced in south africa. in fact, the cameroonian philosopher is denouncing human rights violations that are currently taking place in the country that had its name associated with the struggles against apartheid. indeed, this continent is the scene of countless disregard for human rights. wiredu believes that governments are his biggest violators. for the thinker, this results from the moral degeneration of some politicians or failures in the very system of majority democracy.38 of the suggested themes, the next three (democracy, modernity and development) will be treated together as a bloc because they have strong connections to each other. held (1996)39 and robert dahl (1989)40 present four historical models of democracy: a) participatory or classical democracy; b) republicanism; c) liberal representative democracy; d) marxism and single-party democracy.41 however, for many african intellectuals to propose democracy to that continent is something viewed with reservations or even reprehensible. already among the supporters of democracy for africa there is a problem to demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 57 be solved at the outset, that is, to define which model of democracy would be most appropriate there. the divergences are several. however, kwasi wiredu condemns both democracy by majority (proposed by the west) and that of a single party (inheritance of the former soviet union). the philosopher proposes a new model, that is, democracy by consensus. it is a system not anchored in political parties. this proposal has as reference the concept of community consensus, present in akan populations, in the pre-colonial period42. another relevant point for understanding kwasi wiredu's social philosophy is his contributions to the african development project. in this sense, a major challenge is the problem of selfdefinition, because, in that continent, the traditional and the modern coexist with difficulties.43 but what exactly does developed africa mean? for him, the development of africa demands technical-scientific knowledge, but he warns: “it would profit us little to gain all the technology in the world and lose the humanistic essence of our culture”.44 of course, developing it suggests modernizing it. this implies recourse to modern science to improve the living conditions of africans. in relation to the development of this continent, wiredu indicates two indispensable elements: technical-scientific knowledge and education. however, he makes an important clarification: the knowledge required by the continent is not that offered by the hard sciences, but the knowledge of the social sciences and philosophy, as these will contribute to defining how to apply scientific and technological resources properly.45 on conceptual decolonization, we will discuss in the next section. 4. the discipline philosophy of education and the african philosophy in brazil, we have in bachelor’s degree program under the discipline of philosophy of education. the idea is to provide future teachers with a minimum philosophical basis to better perform their 58 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 activities as education professionals. however, very often, the philosophical source that feeds this discipline is western philosophy (authors, theories, categories and concepts). we can say without fear of making mistakes: african philosophy is almost never considered when it comes to preparing the menus and, hence, the course plans of the discipline under analysis. looking briefly at the history of our country, we find without difficulty the neglect to which education was relegated from tomé de sousa to michel temer. one of the consequences of this is to have an elitist educational system (conscious, for most of its history). this is the first phase of a system whose landmark is the arrival of the jesuits to the land of vera cruz46. another important element is the fact that the constitution of brazilian society was marked by a terrible misunderstanding, that is, the attempt by the white matrix of anthropological negation of two of the three matrices responsible for the formation of the brazilian people (indigenous and afro). this was decisive in order to have, until the beginning of the twentieth century, a consciously elitist educational system, which made little or no case for indigenous and afros and their descendants. in the 1930s, due to the elaboration of the new constitution, we have a strong debate surrounding the theme of education. this is one of the highlights of the philosophy of education in our country. from these debates, there is certain hope that brazil needs an educational system open to all brazilians. so this is a new element. although, in practice, the country continues to have an educational system focused on the dominant elites, at least theoretically, we have a new concept. we can say that this is the second phase of the history of this system. with the departure of the military from power, in 1985, the period of redemocratization began in the country. in 1988, the new federal constitution, denominated as citizen constitution, was elaborated. this could be set as the beginning of the third phase of the brazilian educational system. the source that gives life to the discussions about education, in this third moment, is the notion of "democracy". in the years that follow, several practical measures are demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 59 taken with the aim of achieving the goal of providing quality education for all brazilians. however, since the end of 2014, we have been experiencing regression in educational policies, although we were still far from achieving the aforementioned scope. even so, it should be noted that there have been some advances regarding the integration of indigenous people, afros and their descendants. in this context of redemocratization, in spite of immense difficulties related to ethnoracial issues in brazil, there is maturation in some sectors of brazilian society capable of producing laws of the scope of the 10.639/200347 and 11.645/200848. certainly, in the country, one of the characteristics of basic education is inequality. it is in the racial field that these asymmetries are more blunt. ins fact, in brazilian society, those who are most affected by prejudice, racism and discrimination are those belonging to the afrodescendant population. as for the constitution of brazilian society, as mentioned earlier, the great misconception of the white matrix was to have expended a terrible effort with the objective of annihilating the other two matrices. indeed, this error contributes to a better understanding of the prejudices directed at blacks and indians in our country. if we consider the pre-colonial period, it is worth emphasizing that in the content taught in basic education, there is an almost absolute silence about the indian and the negro before his contact with the white in terra brasilis. inthe bookcasa grande e senzala (1963),theindians are describedby brazilian gilberto freire as "bandos de crianças grandes; uma cultura verde e incipiente; ainda na primeira dentição; sem os ossos nem o desenvolvimento das grandes semicivilizações americanas"49 (freire, 1963: 150). in a general way, the authors portrayed the indian and the negro, since the arrival of the europeans in our land. some of the themes visited by african philosophy today are of great interest to countries like brazil. among them we can emphasize those mentioned in the previous section. they involve issues that directly concern us. therefore, they are also interested in philosophical thinking that deals with brazilian educational issues. 60 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 therefore, in brazil, the discipline philosophy of education must seriously seek to carry out dialogues with the philosophers of africa, because for us, these are categories of the first order. one of the advantages that deserves to be highlighted in consulting these thinkers on these issues lies in the fact that we have in common with them the peripheral regions of the world. among so many traits that approach us this is quite significant. thus, in addressing these issues, observing the treatment given to them by africans will certainly be of benefit to us brazilians. here it is not suggested, of course, to give up the western classical philosophical tradition, when we approach the themes of interest in the philosophy of education. far from this, what we propose has to do with aggregate and not substitute. we defend the thesis, according to which, given the nature and proximity of the problems theoretically faced by the brazilian philosophy of education and those discussed by the african philosophy, we will only have to win if we are bold and able to include in the classes of said discipline, given for us in the courses of teacher training, the contributions of the african philosophers. as an example of the contributions that can be obtained by visiting the philosophical production of african intellectuals, researchers in the field of philosophy, let us cite the "conceptual decolonization", since it is a good category for dialogue with those mentioned above or with others of the interest of philosophy of education. for decades, this theme has been intensifying in that continent, involving several of its thinkers. in this direction, mbembe (2001) criticizes the fact that in europe, with the end of the slave trade, the doubts about whether africans can be able to govern or not to govern themselves.50 this negative view of the colonizer over the african ended up being assimilated by this. the result of this was the strengthening of something that was long gone, that is, the epistemic temptation of the african (and us brazilians) to think the world using european categories and concepts. hountondji is another author concerned with this subject. in conhecimento de áfrica, conhecimento de africanos (2008), he argues in favor of the thesis, according to which it is necessary to demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 61 strengthen in that continent an autonomous, self-confident epistemological tradition of research and knowledge that responds to problems and questions directly or indirectly, by africans themselves. the debate on the decolonization of thinking relies on the remarkable presence of kwasi wiredu. in hisview, conceptual decolonizationreferstotwocomplementaryactions: a) “evitar a assimilação sem verificações em nosso pensamento [...] de esquemas conceituais fixados nas tradições filosóficas estrangeiras que tiveram um impacto sobre a vida e sobre o pensamento africanos”51; b) “em nossas meditações filosóficas, desfrutar o máximo possível [...] dos recursos dos nossos esquemas conceituais originais, inclusive em setores altamente especializados da filosofia contemporânea".52 for the author, colonialism led to the overlapping of foreign categories over african thinking systems. basically, this is why it is necessary to carry out the task of conceptual decolonization in africa53. his research in this respect highlights his studies in the field of language and culture. in this direction, one of his works that deserves prominence is philosophy and an african culture. for him, there is a danger to be faced, that is, the “de-africanization”.54 here i turn to the words of kwame appiah in my father's house, which deals essentially with the philosophy of culture: when i argue that ideological decolonization is bound to fail if it neglects either endogenous ''tradition'' or exogenous ''western'' ideas, and that many african (and african-american) intellectuals have failed to find a negotiable middle way, i am talking about friends and neighbors and i am talking about how we deal with our shared situation”.55 bringing african philosophy into the philosophy of education will be helpful, as it will help us, as a brazilian people, to build our worldview (though open and attentive to the classical western tradition) from within ourselves, leading us to assume, in this process, an active role. in addition, it will produce, among 62 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 others, the following fruits: it will inform the new teachers in formation in brazil about the philosophical production, in the african continent; will move towards overcoming eurocentrism; will contribute to the enrichment of the content worked in the discipline philosophy of education; will collaborate for the implementation of laws 10.639/2003 and 11.645/2008; will enrich and deepen the debate on the brazilian identity. final considerations brazil should pay more attention to the philosophical work that, especially in the last decades, has been developed in africa. in my judgment, it is good that this happens for three main reasons: a) existence of a serious and quality work, in the field of philosophy, being elaborated in that continent; b) like us, they are seen as the periphery of the world; c) there are deep historical ties that bind us to them. as we have seen, wiredu takes the term "philosophy" in two distinct meanings: academic discipline and habit of reflection. the first is a relatively recent experience in sub-saharan africa; the second, in turn, is not something new on that continent.56 since the last decades of the twentieth century, humanity has been experiencing profound changes in social design. as in the fifth, fifteenth, and eighteenth centuries ad, we are experiencing another kind of society. put differently, we are undergoing a social restructuring. this time the process of transformation is marked, among others, by two new elements, that is, the highest level of technological development and a globalization that makes the planet a village. these changes bring before us a series of difficult challenges. i conclude these reflections by bringing to light one that, in my judgment, is central to this process. it is a question of the necessity of conducting, as humanity, this passage in such a way that we have as a result an organized society, where the humanity is given the greatest emphasis. it is worth clarifying that this does not imply taking it as master of nature, but, on the contrary, to consider it an integral and inseparable part of it and to understand it as a sine qua non condition of human existence. demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 63 to do this requires great effort and dedication from us. two things are indispensable: to be aware of this process; to resort to a type of rationality present, for example, in ubuntu that expresses itself in the "i am because we are". we should note the following: the "we" indicated here signifies not only the human collectivity (muntu) but also communicates nature (kintu). after all, we exist because we are also nature.57 end notes 1 translation: in the eighteenth century, in a historical context of colonization, the following problem appears in europe for philosophy: is there an african philosophy or not? the answer that the debate will produce reflects the world view and the understanding of man that the european colonizer has at the time. later, in the twentieth century, this problem will be raised again, thanks to the work la philosophiebantoue de l'étre of the franciscan missionary placidetempels, published in 1945. in it the belgian missionary argues that the metaphysical categories of the bantu people are reflected in their languages, that is, in linguistic categories. finally, in the last decades, the debate intensifies” vasconcelos, francisco antonio de (2015),“áfrica e filosofia”. in encontro internacional de literaturas, histórias e culturas afro-brasileiras e africanas universidade estadual do piauí, iv, teresina. anais iv encontro internacional de literaturas, histórias e culturas afro-brasileiras e africanas universidade estadual do piauí identidades e diásporas: afrodescendência, africanidade, educação e cultura indígena. teresina: nepa/uespi, 187-194. accessed september 15, 2016. http://s3.amazonaws.com/nepa2015/ckeditor_assets/attachments/56/africa_e_fil osofia.pdf. p. 1 2 ibid 3 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. roma: pontificia universitas urbaniana, facultas philosopiae, 2008. pp. 14-15 4 ibid. p.16 5 ibid. p. 21 6 mozzato, diletta (2011),filosofia (africana) in progress: studio sukwasiwiredu. milão: mimesis. (coleção la scala e l’album, 16). pp. 32-33. 7 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. op cit. p. 31 8 wiredu, kwasi (1980),philosophy and an african culture. cambridge: cambridge university press. p. 36 64 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 9 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. op cit. pp. 32-33 10 ibid. 23. 11 elungu, alphonse elungu pene (2014),o despertar filosófico em áfrica. luanda: edições mulemba; mangualde, edições pedago. 12 tempels, placidefrans (1945). la philosophie bantoue. paris: présence africaine. 13has become a classic of african philosophical thought as ethno-philosophy. philosophers such as a. kagame or j. mbiti have their names linked to ethnophilosophy. it is worth mentioning that this philosophical model soon found a harsh criticism. critics of it are césaire and eboussiboulaga, for example. if african philosophy ends up being an ethnophilosophical (for study and analysis of outsiders), it would annihilate both the existence and the philosophical identity of africa.that's what they stand for. thus, according to them, the bantu philosophy would be reduced to an attempt on the part of the europeans to explain the idiosyncrasy of the africans” vasconcelos, francisco antonio de (2015),“áfrica e filosofia”. op. cit.. p. 4 14 appiah, kwame anthony (1992), in my father’s house: africa in the philosophy of culture. new york/oxford: oxford universit y press. p. 94 15 ibid. 16 ibid. 95. 17 translation: “most people agree that a sage is an exceptionally intelligent person. in addition to this wisdom, henry odera oruka suggests a second criterion on wit. a true sage, he says, should habitually use the gift of wisdom for the ethical improvement of his community. hence, he or she has to be constantly concerned about the ethical and empirical problems coming from their community, with the intention of finding interesting solutions for them. in oruka's view, the second criterion is what distinguishes a sage from a sophist.” kalumba, kibujjo m. (2004),“filosofia da sagacidade: sua metodologia, resultados, significância e futuro”,translation for didactic use ofrenato rocha lima marques.in wiredu, kwasi (ed.). a companion to african philosophy. malden, oxord, victoria: blackwell, 274-281.accessed april 6, 2017https://filosofiaafricana.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/2/1/13213792/kibujjo_m._kalumba__filosofia_da_sagacidade._sua_metodologia_resultados_e_ p. 1 18 presbey, g.m. (1997), “who counts as a sage?, problems in the further implementation of sage philosophy”, inquest: philosophical discussions: an international african journal of philosophy/revue africaineinternationale de philosophie, v.11, n. 1-2, 52-66. accessed may 12, 2016. http://www.questjournal.net/ 19 oruka, odera(1997), practical philosophy: in search of an ethical minimum. nairobi: east african educational publishers ltd. 20 oruka, odera (1990),sage philosophy: indigenous thinkers and modern debate on african philosophy, nairobi: african center for technological studies (acts) press; also published by leiden: e. j. brill demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 65 21 mosima.pius maija (2016), philosophic sagacity and intercultural philosophy beyond henry odera oruka. leiden: african studies centre. pp. 102-103 22 ibid. 23 36 23 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. op cit. p. 18 24 mozzato, diletta (2011),filosofia (africana) in progress, op. cit. p. 35 25 wiredu, kwasi (1980), philosophy and an african culture. cambridge: cambridge university press. p. 36 26 hountondji, paulin (2008),“conhecimento de áfrica, conhecimento de africanos: duas perspectivas sobre os estudos africanos”, in.revista crítica de ciências sociais. ano 80, março, 149-160. 27 towa, marcien (2015). a ideia de uma filosofia negro-africana. curitiba: neab; belo horizonte: nandyala. 28 vasconcelos, francisco antonio de (2015),“áfrica e filosofia”. op. cit.. p. 5 29 mudimbe, valentin yves (2013),a invenção de áfrica: gnose, filosofia e a ordem do conhecimento. mangualde (portugal), luanda: edições pedago; edições mulemba. 30translation: valentin yves mudimbe'sainvenção da áfrica: gnose, filosofia e a ordem do conhecimento is characterized by a historicist perspective that problematizes the concepts and discourses of what we know as a mythical africa. truths conveyed by philosophers, anthropologists, religious missionaries and ideologues, as well as westernized and/or eurocentric images, inherent in the processes of transformation of the various types of knowledge, are deconstructed by mudimbeparipassu to imperial or colonial standards. for this work, it is worth mentioning the innumerable references that make up a solid documentary corpus used by the author in his research, that is, they go from roman philosophy to german romanticism. or, to question and investigate through the term gnosis, coined with the intention of erecting an archeology of the meaning(s) of african thought” weber, priscila maria (2014),“a áfrica de valentin mudimbe e o descobrimento de uma ordem do conhecimento”,anos 90: revista do programa de pós-graduação em história, v. 21, n. 40, 563-568. 31 mbiti, john. s (1990), african religions and philosophy.2. ed. london: heinemann. p. 2 32wiredu, kwasi (2010), african religions from a philosophical point of view. in taliaferro, charles; draper, paul; quinn, philip l. (eds.). a companion to philosophy of religion.second edition. malden; oxford; west sussex: blackwell, 2010, 34-43, by lana ellen t. de sousa. p.10 33 ibid. p. 2 34 ibid. p. 35. 35 ibid. p. 36 36 translation: “the entry into force of the african charter on human and peoples' rights, also known as the banjul charter, on october 21, 1986, consolidated the 66 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 third regional system of international protection of human rights. this is undoubtedly a milestone in the efforts being made, both globally and regionally, with a view to promoting and respecting human rights. nonetheless, the african system encounters historical, political, structural and legal obstacles that can jeopardize its effectiveness”andrade, josé h. fischel de (1994),“o sistema africano de proteção dos direitos humanos e dos povos”,áfrica: revista do centro de estudos africanos, 23-57. accessed november 23, 2016. http://www.revistas.usp.br/africa/article/view/96035/95278. p. 23 37 translation: “i was here during the latest outbreak of violence against these "foreigners." the current hunt for "foreigners" is the product of a complex chain of complicity. the south african government has recently taken a tough stance on immigration. new draconian measures have been passed. its effects are devastating for people already established here legally. a few weeks ago, i watched, at a "foreign" team meeting at the university of wits, horrible stories. unrecognized work permit, refused visas for family members, children in limbo in schools [...] through its new anti-immigration measures, the government is moving migrants, formerly legal, to illegal immigrants” (2015). mbembe, achille (2015),‘“afrofobia”? achille mbembe escreve sobre xenofobia na áfrica do sul”’. inpor dentro da áfrica. 19 abr. 2015. accessedseptember 3, 2016 http://www.pordentrodaafrica.com/noticias/afrofobia-achille-mbembe-escrevesobre-xenofobia-na-africa-do-sul-2 38 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. op cit. p. 80. 39 held, david (1996),models of democracy. 2 ed. oxfor and cambridge: blackwell publishers 40 dahl, robert (1989),democracy and its critics. new haven and lodon: yale university press. 41 ibid. p. 48 42 remember that wiredu is of the ashanti people, one of the akan people. 43 ibid. p. 85. 44 wiredu, kwasi (1980), philosophy and an african culture. cambridge: cambridge university press. p. 18. 45 ogbenika, gregory ebalu, democracy and development in the socio-political philosophy of kwasi wiredu. op cit. pp. 88-89. 46 this was the first name that the portuguese "discoverers" gave to the lands that later would be called of brazil. 47 it imposes on the network of basic educationthe obligatory nature of the theme "history and culture afro-brazilian". 48 it imposes on the network of basic educationthe obligatory nature of the theme "history and culture afro-brazilian and indigenous". 49“bandos of large children; a green and incipient culture; still in the first dentition; without the bones nor the development of the great american semicivilizations”(freire, 1963: 150). demands of an afro-brazilian thought: philosophical aspects | 67 50 mbembe, achille (2001), formas africanas da escrita de si.accessed july 12, 2016. 51 translation: to avoid assimilation without verification in our thinking ... of conceptual schemas fixed in foreign philosophical traditions that have had an impact on life and african thinking" 52 translation: in our philosophical meditations, enjoy as much as possible ... of the resources of our original conceptual schemes, even in highly specialized sectors of contemporary philosophy" wiredu, kwasi (2009), la necessità di un a decolonizzazione concettualenella filosofia africana. in: rivista semestrale di filosofia, n. 6. roma: dipartimento di filosofia dell’universitàde gli studi roma ter. p. 97 53 ele aponta três canais responsáveis por essa sobreposição: a linguagem, a religião e a política. sobre a descolonização conceitual numa perspectiva de brasil, vale conferir o artigo descolonizar o saber: um tema da filosofia africana. [“he points to three channels responsible for this overlap: language, religion, and politics. regarding conceptual decolonization from a brazilianperspective, it is worth giving the paperdescolonizar o saber: um tema da filosofiaafricana” 54 vasconcelos, francisco antonio de (2016b),“descolonizar o saber: um tema da filosofia africana”, in congresso sobre gênero, educação e afrodescendência, iii, teresina. anais iii congresso sobre gênero, educação e afrodescendência: direito de ser nas relações de poder, november09-11, 2016. 55 appiah, kwame anthony (1992), in my father’s house: africa in the philosophy of culture. oxford: oxford universit y press. p. x 56 mozzato, diletta (2011),filosofia (africana) in progress: studio sukwasiwiredu. milão: mimesis. (coleção la scala e l’album, 16). p. 29 57 vasconcelos, francisco antonio de (2016a),“jürgen habermas e kwasiwiredu: reflexões sobre o consenso”, in colóquio habermas e colóquio de filosofia da informação, xii e iii, rio de janeiro. anais xii colóquio habermas e iii colóquio de filosofia da informação: conflitos contemporâneos – direitos humanos e solidariedade. rio de janeiro: salute, 342-355. accessednovember 12, 2016. introduction of late, some philosophers have come out to condemn rorty's neo-pragmatism as a distortion of the central goals of classical pragmatism, a great disservice to the contemporary pragmatic campaign. a good example of such thinkers is james kloppenberg, who in his article, pragmatism: an old name for some new ways of thinking? labels rorty's 1pragmatism as “…insufficiently pragmatic…” . for him, rorty's “liberal ironism encourages selfishness, cynicism, and resignation by undercutting efforts to confront the hard 2 facts of poverty and greed” . susan haack, who is strongly convinced that rorty misses the point of the early pragmatists, and primarily tilts the pragmatist legacy, terms rorty's pragmatism “vulgar 3 pragmatism” . basically, she is perturbed by “rorty's hopes of a post-philosophical culture in which 'we pragmatists' give up the old-fashioned idea that truth is a goal of inquiry, and remake philosophy as a genre of literature, just a kind of 4writing” . haack concludes that “playfulness has its price ... 189 rorty's neo-pragmatism: reshaping human condition with our thoughts stanley m. nkemnole literary dilettantism of rortyesque neo-pragmatism is crippled by its disastrous inability even to acknowledge the 5truths that literature can teach us” . 6 other contemporary thinkers have toed this line of thought in their attempt to disregard, and if possible totally eradicate rorty's brand of pragmatism. specifically, the work that triggered this write-up is rorty's point of departure from mainstream pragmatist approach to epistemology by 7 raymond osei and husein inusah . here, osei and inusah sort to demonstrate that “rorty's pragmatist theory is a deviation from mainstream pragmatism”, as his pragmatism 8repudiates epistemology . it is pertinent to state here that rorty's critique of epistemology is the most misinterpreted and, consequently, the most criticized part of his philosophical project. while this work is not a defense of rorty's pragmatism, we have to clarify some misinterpretations of rorty's philosophical concerns by the above thinkers. firstly, we need to state categorically that rorty's attack was on representationalist epistemologies (especially as championed by descartes and kant), not epistemology as such.in addition, rorty has done more than anyone to revivify pragmatism. in fact, his pragmatism reaffirms many of the central aims of the early forerunners of the movement. rorty's critique of representationalist epistemologies, his socialization of knowledge, and his emphasis on both fallibilism and possibility clearly keep in line with the pragmatist tradition. by bringing these pragmatist methods and concerns back into to the fold, rorty revitalized a rich philosophical tradition, thus enabling it to be put to use for inquiry into contemporary problems. more practically, rorty's philosophy has vital things to say in an epoch dominated by deconstructionists whose record appears less edifying to social structures. what makes rorty so stimulating in the present intellectual climate is his readiness to uphold an object of affirmation that functions in company with his criticism. rorty's idea of a post-philosophical culture, in which traditional intellectual constraints will give way to lively ironism and a more egalitarian society, is a source of hope in times when all the effects of global 190 capitalism are being established, terror is the new warfare, and fewer and fewer intellectual discourses seek to address concrete social realities. it is in this historically-specific concern for the problems of men that rorty best shows his pragmatist credentials. pluralism is a central feature in the history of pragmatism that allows rorty's position to be validated as sufficiently pragmatist. for peirce, a community of diverse minds was the only real means to refine knowledge and reach a final opinion. james held pluralism to be a critical philosophical and moral concept. in a pluralistic universe, james claims that there exists no final word, no one true perspective. he notes that “the pluralistic view ... is willing to believe that there may ultimately never be an all-form at all, that the substance of reality may never get totally collected, that some of it may remain outside of the largest combination of it ever 9 made” . in this acquiescence to the pluralistic universe, james sustains that mankind can leave its mark through dynamic, active creation. for dewey, pluralism encourages diversity in perspectives, which serves to multiply the capacities of human knowledge and discovery. in reconstruction in philosophy, dewey contends that “every combination of human forces that adds its own contribution of value to life 10has for that reason its own unique and ultimate worth” . indeed, rorty's emphasis on conversation is tacitly pluralist. for rorty, knowledge is contingent upon admittance to a particular language-game, which depends on a confluence of social and historical factors that define the sort of conversation taking place. thus, knowledge is not singular, but plural, depending on place and time. a consistent emphasis among the early pragmatists, then, was on the value of several perspectives in the testing of ideas and the formation of knowledge. it is in this vein that rorty's voice cannot be dismissed as distinct from the pragmatist tradition. this write-up, while not taking up the task of defending rorty's pragmatism, strives to show that rorty's neopragmatism supports the thesis that our thought (philosophy) can bear a hand in reshaping human condition. 191 rorty's neo-pragmatism pragmatism, as a philosophical ideology, stirs a multiplicity of meanings. to the common person, it suggests a sense of the american character, as americans are historically known for pragmatic choices that effect practical consequences. pragmatism can also suggest many things: a methodological approach for solving problems in the sciences and humanities; a term used by intellectual historians to describe a particular idea at a particular moment in american history; and so on. the multitude of meanings prescribed to the term is indicative of the difficulty of tying down pragmatism. as a philosophical field of inquiry, pragmatism is concerned with the practical significances of knowledge. william james reasons that “the whole function of philosophy ought to be to find out what definite difference it will make to you and me, at definite instants of our life, if this world11formula or that world-formula be the true one” . james gives voice to an important reoccurring feature of pragmatism: a passion for results, consequences, practicality, and value of knowledge and the means used to derive such knowledge. common among the early pragmatists is the preeminence conferred upon experience. although peirce, james, and dewey all hold divergent views of experience, the epistemological work of experience is the unifying thread that binds them together. on the surface, the emphasis on experience would appear to place pragmatism within the larger tradition that began with locke and berkeley. the critical difference between those usually identified as the british empiricists and the pragmatists is found in the rapport that exists between knowledge and experience. for locke, the epistemological role of experience is to provide the medium for coming to know ideas. that is, ideas are derived from experience. for the pragmatists, experience is transformed into an epistemological mechanism for evaluating ideas as they are encountered in reality. hence, pragmatists are concerned mainly with the consequences of experience and how experience can be used to test a store of 12ideas . with the publication of philosophy and the mirror of 192 nature, rorty “set down the path of pragmatism, one that he has been following for the past twenty years through a body of writing unmatched in recent american intellectual history in 13 terms of its mass, critical accessibility, and provocation” . charles taylor observes that “what is exciting and controversial about rorty's narrative is the sense of a radical new departure. what is radical is the promise that we can free ourselves of a whole host of questions which have been 14central to philosophy hitherto” . taylor enunciates the principal objective of rorty's argument: philosophy is constrained by the questions it thinks it has to ask. for rorty, the metanarrative of philosophical discourses, inherited from plato and the tradition he helped create, has become outmoded. rorty's intention “is to undermine the reader's confidence in 'the mind' as something about which one should have a 'philosophical' view, in 'knowledge' as something about which there ought to be a 'theory' and which has 'foundations', and in 'philosophy' as it has been conceived 15since kant” . from this, we can trace two main paths of rorty's philosophical outline in philosophy and the mirror of nature. first, traditional problems of epistemology (especially, the issue of foundations of truth) and metaphysics (especially, the mind-body problem) must be rejected because they are issues no longer valuable to study. additionally, the traditional philosophical categories of metaphysics, ethics, and particularly epistemology, reflect the entrenchment of the traditional metanarrative, and should be jettisoned as well. rorty believes that philosophy should move away from self-identification with truth-seeking and the finding of absolutes. on his evaluation, philosophers must develop mindfulness of the socio-historical context in which they are theorizing, while at the same time identifying the historicity of philosophical theories which are thought of as existing outside of time and place. it becomes apparent, then, why rorty chose wittgenstein, heidegger, and dewey as the 16“three most important philosophers of our century” : each of the three became profoundly dedicated to historicist and anti foundationalist positions in their careers, which, for rorty, “represented a paradigm shift from the cartesian-kantian 193 17era” . rorty's distaste of traditional philosophical categories reached its zenith in his critique of mainstream epistemology. in the structure of scientific revolutions, kuhn reasoned that scientific discourses function in two different ways: normally 18and abnormally . the former searches for answers to questions in an environment where an accepted paradigm is present and agreed upon. that is, an agreed upon foundation is present against which suppositions are tested, verified, or refuted. the latter is revolutionary, ushering in a new paradigm with an associated sphere of new questions and problems. for rorty, kuhn's distinction between normal and abnormal scientific discourses translates into the philosophical distinction between epistemology and hermeneutics. rorty contends that, similar to normal scientific discourses' notions of consensus, epistemology functions under a paradigm of “commensurability”. in his words, “epistemology proceeds on the assumption that all contributions to a given discourse are commensurable...by 'commensurable' i mean able to be brought under a set of rules which will tell us how rational agreement can be reached on what would settle the issue on every point where 19statements seem to conflict” . for rorty, epistemology presumes the existence of a foundation that grounds the criterion of commensuration for a variety of discourses. for an epistemologist, this foundation is truth. for rorty, hermeneutics is much more fugitive in its treatment of knowledge. it is “an expression of hope that the cultural space left by the demise of epistemology will not be filled-that our culture should become one in which the 20 demand for constraint and confrontation is no longer felt” . he maintains that hermeneutics embodies a similar function as kuhn's abnormal scientific discourse does. he notes: normal discourse is that which is conducted within an agreed-upon set of conventions about what counts as answering a question...abnormal discourse is what happens when someone joins in the discourse who is ignorant of these conventions 21or sets them aside . by its very nature, hermeneutics functions without a clear vision of rules that guide enquiry. it has no standard to test its 194 objects of inquiry against. it views philosophy and epistemology as less a unified formal discourse, or a group of discourses, than an ongoing conversation. rorty observes that “hermeneutics sees the relations between various discourses as those of strands in a possible conversation, a conversation which presupposes no disciplinary matrix which unites the speakers, but where the hope of agreement is 22never lost so long as the conversation lasts” . hermeneutics, then, is indirectly historicist , pluralist ic, and antifoundationalist. it is not reduced to a notion that philosophy and epistemology are wedded in a project aimed at showing how the mind mirrors nature. therefore, it makes no references to representation or correspondence that epistemology carries with it. rorty concludes that “if we see knowledge as a matter of conversation and of social practice, rather than as an attempt to mirror nature, we will not be likely to envisage a metapractice which will be the critique of 23all possible forms of social practices” . the emphasis on conversation allows rorty to move beyond the essentialism and foundationalism of traditional epistemological methods, while demonstrating the historical contingency of language and the discourses one chooses to express their knowledge and beliefs. this leads rorty to a position of epistemological behaviorism. rorty describes epistemological behaviorism as “explaining rationality and epistemic authority by reference to what society lets us say, rather than the latter by the 24former” . this proposition is radical because it contests the t r a d i t i o n a l k a n t i a n i d e a o f e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l representationalism that is the foundation of analytic philosophy. rorty employs sellars's critique of the “myth of the given”, and quine's appraisal of the necessary-contingent distinction to demonstrate the social nature of knowledge and belief. in sellars and quine, rorty spots a “commitment to the thesis that justification is not a matter of a special relation between ideas (or words) and objects, but of conversation, of 25social practice” . the emphasis on justification in social practice provides rorty with a more holistic view of knowledge, and, hence, allows him to abandon any criterion of accuracy linked with epistemological representationalism. 195 he reasons that “if assertions are justified by society rather than by the characterization of the inner representation they express, then there is no point in attempting to isolate 26 privileged representations” . consequently, the only criterion of knowledge for rorty's epistemological behaviorism is access to the rules of the language-game. if we see knowledge as justified in a social conversation, then “it will not occur to us to invoke either of the traditional kantian 27distinctions” . thus, without the appeal to representationalist epistemological techniques, rorty concludes that the “notion 28of the mind as mirror of nature can be discarded” . with the mind as mirror of nature metaphor discarded, rorty maintains that philosophy should move towards purposes of edification. using gadamer's notion of “redescription”, rorty describes edification as “finding new, better, more interesting, more fruitful ways of speaking”, to “reinterpret our familiar surroundings in the unfamiliar 29 terms of our new inventions” . for rorty, by its very nature, edification is revolutionary: in kuhn's terms, it is expressed in an abnormal discourse, for it is “the power of strangeness” that facilitates the shedding of “our old selves...to aid us in 30becoming new beings” . in order to fashion new words and expressions to redescribe ourselves, the discourse to articulate such a vocabulary would, essentially, need to be of a different and new brand than that of the normal discourse. the new expressions in which to redescribe the familiar are nonconformists and subversive, thus, the language used to describe the new and novel cannot be that which reflects the conformity of normal discourse. therefore, for rorty, there is need for openness to new ways of thinking and speaking to overcome the traditions of philosophy that are no longer 31expedient . if edification demands an abnormal, revolutionary discourse to redescribe our familiar mode of being, then rorty believes a certain approach is required on the part of the philosopher. for him, the edifying “peripheral, pragmatic philosophers are skeptical primarily about systematic philosophy, about the whole project of universal commensuration...they make fun of the classic picture of man, the picture which contains systematic philosophy, the search 196 32for universal commensuration in a final vocabulary” . in challenging systematic philosophy, “great edifying philosophers {like wittgenstein, heidegger, and dewey}destroy for the sake of their own generation ... to keep space open for the sense of wonder which poets can sometimes cause--wonder that there is something new under the sun, something which is not an accurate representation of 33what was already there” . without the mind as mirror of nature, rorty sees the hope of plurality and new ways of describing ourselves that move beyond the normal discourse provided by the traditional western conception of philosophy and epistemology. rorty not only provides a hopeful vision of postepistemology philosophy, he also held that philosophical theories and methodologies encompass a sociological dimension that is inherent in philosophical doctrines. the notion, then, of there being philosophical theories that exist in a vacuum apart from a socio-historical context is untenable for rorty. rather, philosophy embodies the needs and concerns of people in a definite context at a certain historical moment. for rorty, the story of philosophy is not one of the perennial investigations of foundational problems; rather, philosophy is a story of intellectual answers to human needs and longings throughout history. contemporary meta-philosophical arguments essentially, one could say that what motivated rorty's philosophical project is a quest for significance of philosophy in a pluralistic society. for rorty, the realization that there a call at the door of philosophy to lend a hand in social project is continuously being distorted by philosophy's image as a classroom activity. such an image, in rorty's judgment, seems to be reducing the role of philosophers to that of a historical interest or lone rangers closed in their own heaven. as such, philosophy should bear a hand in shaping our present conditions. rorty contends that the unrelenting fidelity to the cartesian/kantian epistemological foundation has stiffened the move for an alternative culture vision that is appropriately pragmatic. he asserts that descartes and kant created a rationalistic world of meaning that was far detached 197 from a practical appeal in daily living. hence, there is need for deconstruction and circumvention to usher in a state of affairs in which the intellectual achievements of the contemporary man will bear hand in shaping socio-cultural realities of the epoch. thus it is a quest for a post-philosophical culture, a reshaping of our tradition with our thoughts. rorty sustains that philosophers do not seem to agree as to whether philosophy is to be regarded as a science, metaphor or politics. three answers offered are rooted in the scientific, poetic and political traditions. each answer, according to rorty, has been presented as the aim of philosophy in western philosophical tradition. according to rorty, the scientific answer is typical of edmund husserl and his positivist counterparts that model philosophy on science. their reflection seems to be remote from politics and art. while heidegger favors the poetic answer. pragmatists see in science and philosophy a tool for 34social progress ; hence political. and each group is suspicious of the other. evidently, science is constantly growing and continually improving human condition. the problem, rorty specifies, is not science itself but those who are using science to dictate the pace and values of the culture. this understanding opens our horizon to a whole new frame of mind. the past inaction of the philosophical tradition should no longer be stomached; the sense for urgency in searching for a new vision is expressed in the fact that we are approaching a time “we shall no longer turn to the philosophers for rescue as our ancestors turned to the priests. we shall turn instead to the poets and the engineers, the people who produce startling new projects for 35 achieving the greatest happiness of the greatest number” . this, certainly, will puncture philosophy's insolent image as the foundation of culture. the expanding culture of poets, novelists, and politicians, interrogates the self-image of the philosopher as an intellectual supervisor. people are now in search of the opinion of poets and politicians rather than those of philosophers. in the face of this, philosophy senses itself as more outdated and less to do with the rest of the culture. thus, the big showdown to philosophers in their claim to ground, 198 criticize, and dictate for the rest of culture: they feel irrelevant because philosophy as a whole has been deflected by those that actually strive to improve human condition. nonetheless, there were some redeeming philosophical voices. according to rorty, wittgenstein tried to form a new theory of representation which would have nothing to with materialism; heidegger fashioned a new set of philosophical categories which would have nothing to do with science, epistemology, or the cartesian search for certainty; and dewey saw the illusoriness of epistemological problems, and truth as purported correspondence, and knowledge as accuracy of representations; he then tried to fashion a naturalized version of hegel's vision of history, by taking the 36line of a social crusader . instead of arguing against the kantian doctrines, rorty notes, these redeeming philosophical voices set them aside in order “to assert for the possibility of a post-kantian culture, one in which there is no all-encompassing discipline which legitimizes or grounds the 37 others…” . they announced new maps of terrain, thus, paving the way for new shapes in the culture. departure for a post philosophical culture rorty expresses the belief that the realization of a postphilosophical culture is imperative, because once we stop venerating idols like marxism, rationality, platonism, aristotelianism, cartesianism, etc., then we will be able to focus more fully on each other and attain a deepened sense of human solidarity. as a pragmatist culture, it will be a place for co-operation among all kinds of intellectuals. for rorty, this would be a culture in which neither the priests nor the physicists nor the poets nor the party were thought of as more 'rational' or more 'scientific', or 'deeper' than one another. no portion of culture will be singled out as exemplifying (or signaling or failing to exemplify) the condition on which the rest 38aspired . people will become champions, not because they have occult or clandestine knowledge of things, but because they have become extraordinary in being good to human beings. in other words, people will show themselves champions by being competent in their service to the human community. in 199 this culture in question, there will be a broader logical space in conveying communal opinions and hopes. in it, we seek for new enterprises that will help us transcend our acculturation. against this background, rorty trusts that “our best chance for transcending our acculturation is to be brought up in a culture that prides itself on not being monolithic on its tolerance for a plurality of subcultures and its willingness to 39listen to neighbouring cultures” . rorty believes that the hermeneutics of postphilosophical culture is to listen and partake in conversation without preconception of a predetermined foundation. the hope of agreement is never lost as long as the conversation lasts. he writes: the notion of culture as a conversation rather than as a structure erected upon foundations fits well with this hermeneutical notion of knowledge, since getting into a conversation with strangers is like acquiring a new virtue or skill by imitating models. is a matter of (phronesis) rather than 40 (episteme) . as conversation is an important useful tool in the social project, the post-philosophical culture should not lose sight of that sense of community, which only impassioned 41conversation makes possible . in this new culture, philosophers will become players rather than onlookers. their thoughts will be verified by their practical and adaptive relevance to the subject within the community. the philosopher, here, risks the danger of being outdated if he does not comprehend that philosophy is an instrument for social reform. the credibility of rorty's project rorty persuasively opens our vistas to a passionate concern for philosophy's segregation from common human concerns. there is no doubt that rorty searches for a condition for living in solidarity in a pluralistic society. rorty's attack on any individual or groups who tries to dictate, under the pretense of philosophy or privileged knowledge, is illuminating. hence, any person or group of individuals that postulates a predetermined ground blocks conversation with others, thereby causing harm to the community. 200 accordingly, it is appropriate to reason that a philosopher should not detach and insulate himself from the joys and fears of his community. and if he cannot, in any way, contribute to the social project, one can rightly ask of what use is his philosophical knowledge or initiative. and if a philosopher is closed up in his own discipline and see no need for solidarity and partnership with others in the literary field, but takes the sole position of a judge of all, it will at once be an arrogance to claim to possess already all that can be known. such a pretense and arrogance will obstruct intellectual development and solidarity in the community. charles guignon and david hiley are right to hold that what motivated rorty's post-philosophical quest is a concern expressed near the end of philosophy and the mirror of nature that “traditional philosophy's search for final solutions to questions about truth, rationality and knowledge could lead to 'freezing over of culture' and 'the dehumanization of human beings' seems to reflect the moral 42concerns that drive the argumentation of the whole book” . conclusion as philosophical theories increase, philosophical propositions become gradually detached from practical and social problems that first attracted its practitioners, and progressively irrelevant to the rest of culture. rorty advocates for a therapeutic conception of philosophy, where there is no separation of knowledge and action. this brings up an important aspect of rorty's philosophy that illustrates his pragmatist commitments: meliorism. it is in his meliorism that one finds a profound concern for social hope that is absent of cartesian and kantian literature. improvement of human condition is, thus, at the heart of rorty's neo-pragmatism and is realized in the abilities of human effort to create better future realities. this is a call that philosophy should not shy away from if it is to remain relevant in this contemporary epoch. endnotes 1. james t. kloppenberg, “pragmatism: an old name for some new ways of thinking?”, the journal of american history, vol. 83, no. 1., 201 1996, p. 125 2. ibid. 3. susan haack, manifesto of a passionate moderate: unfashionable essays, chicago: university of chicago press, 1998, p. 2. 4. ibid. 5. ibid. 6. t. m. alexander, (1980) “richard rorty and dewey's metaphysics of experience”, southwest philosophical studies, vol. 5, 1980; j. campbell, “rorty's use of dewey”, the southern journal of philosophy, vol. 22, 1994; r. shusterman, “dewey on experience: foundation or reconstruction?”, in casey haskins and david seiple (eds.) dewey reconfigured: essays on deweyan pragmatism, albany, new york: suny, 1999; b. allen, “what is epistemology?”, in robert b. brandom (ed.) rorty and his critics, malden, ma: blackwell, 2000; j. mcdowell, “toward rehabilitating objectivity”, in robert b. brandom (ed.) rorty and his critics, malden, ma: blackwell, 2000. 7. raymond n. osei and huseininusah, “rorty's point of departure from mainstream pragmatist approach to epistemology”, the nigerian journal of philosophy, vol. 2, 2011. 8. ibid, p. 86 9. william james, “what pragmatism means”, in john i. mcdermott (ed.) the writings of william james, chicago: the university of chicago press, 1977, p. 20. 10. john dewey,reconstruction in philosophy, new york: henry holt and company, 1920, p. 204. 11. william james, “what pragmatism means”, p. 379. 12. h. s. thayer,meaning and action: a critical history of pragmatism, new york: the bobbsmerrill company, 1968. 13. j. pettegrew,a pragmatist's progress?: richard rorty and american intellectual history, lanham, md: rowman and littlefield, 2000, p. 9. 14. charles taylor,“rorty in the epistemological tradition”, in alan r. malachowski (ed.) reading rorty: critical responses to philosophy and the mirror of nature (and beyond), cambridge, ma: blackwell, 1990, p. 258. 15. richard rorty,philosophy and the mirror of nature, princeton, new jersey: princeton university press, 1979, p. 7. 16. ibid, p. 5. 17. neil gross,richard rorty: the making of an american philosopher, chicago: university of chicago press, 2008, p. 205. 18. 19. richard rorty,philosophy and the mirror of nature, p. 316. 20. ibid., p. 315. 21. ibid., p. 320. 22. ibid., p. 318. 23. ibid., p. 171. 24. ibid., p. 174. 25. ibid., p. 170. 26. ibid., p. 174. 27. ibid. 202 28. ibid., p. 170. 29. ibid., p. 360. 30. ibid. 31. ibid., p. 364. 32. ibid., p. 368. 33. ibid., pp. 369 370. 34. richard rorty,essays on heidegger and others: philosophical papers, vol. 2, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1991, p. 19. 35. ibid., p. 26. 36. richard rorty, philosophy and the mirror of nature, p. 5. 37. ibid., p. 6. 38. richard rorty,the consequences of pragmatism: essays 1972-1980, minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press, 1982, p.xl. 39. richard rorty,objectivity, relativism and truth: philosophical papers, vol. 2, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1991, p. 14. 40. richard rorty,philosophy and the mirror of nature, p. 319. 41. richard rorty, “the historiography of philosophy: four genres”, in richard rorty et al. (eds.) philosophy in history, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1984, p. 74. 42. c. b. guignon and d. r. hiley, “biting the bullet: rorty on private and public morality”, in alan r. malachowski (ed.) reading rorty: critical responses to philosophy and the mirror of nature (and beyond), cambridge: cambridge university press, 1990, p. 339. 203 1 1 let the real feyerabend please stand: interrogating the ontological basis for a postmodernist epistemology of the human person prof. isaac e. ukpokolo department of philosophy, faculty of arts, university of ibadan. ie.ukpokolo@ui.edu.ng introduction i consider it necessary to begin this interrogation of the ontological basis for a post-modernist epistemology of a human person with the assumption that there is a necessary relationship between metaphysics and epistemology. it is difficult to think of an epistemological stance without a corresponding metaphysics. by extension, it would be difficult to think of an epistemology of the human person without a given ontological stance. ontology is the science of ‘being’ in general, covering such issues as the nature of existence and categorial structure of reality. as a term, ‘ontology’ has some additional special uses in philosophy. it is used to refer to the set of things whose existence is acknowledged by a particular theory or system of thought: it is in this sense that one speaks of ‘the ontology of a theory’.1 to this extent, the post-modernist epistemology of the human person must rests on a given ontological scheme, and interrogating this ontological scheme is the point of focus for this essay. the work, therefore, considers the metaphysical ground or justification of a post-modernist theory of cognition concerning the human person. in other words, the work raises the question, how does the postmodern condition influence our cognitive process concerning the nature of the human person? 2 formation of the human person in the 21st century the received view of rationality since the 17th century, rationality has been understood through a matrix of relations between ‘truth’, ‘objectivity’, ‘certainty’ and ‘reality’. this has been identified with a certain unique framework of principles and methods with reference to which we are to secure truth and objective knowledge; an impartial stand point for meaningful discussion, appraisal, comparison, and judgment. the task of identifying and characterizing this framework is one of the starting point of human inquiry in general and philosophy in particular. the cartesian epistemological program initiated in the 17th century, presents one of the attempts at developing a system of principles and methods for conducting human inquiry. inspired by the desire for reliable knowledge, descartes constructed a system which he bequeathed to modern thought of which he is often described as the father.2 this system had the background assumption that, the order of nature is fixed and stable, and that the human mind acquired mastery of it by operating in accordance with principles of understanding that are equally fixed and universal.3 to most seventeenth century thinkers, this assumption was beyond question. it did not only influence the understanding of rationality at the time, it also determined the type of epistemological question that could be raised.4 in addition to this assumption, there is a certain disposition of the mind – a certain anxiety5 expressed in the belief that in our understanding of reality and our interaction with it, only two options are open to us: either we are equipped with some permanent, historical framework to which we can ultimately appeal or we are ineluctably led to relativism, historicism, scepticism, and irrationalism. and so, we are always faced with a choice between a certain binding set of ideals and epistemological chaos.6 it was generally believed that to resolve this anxiety, we require a fixed framework of universal and foundational principles. descartes saw this and embarked on a search for what he called an “archimedean point” in his meditations.7 beginning with the first meditation, he says, it is now some years since i detected how many were the false beliefs that i had from my earliest youth admitted as true, and doubtful was everything i had constructed on this basis: and … i was convinced that i must once, for all, seriously undertake to rid myself of all the opinions which i had formerly accepted, and commence to build anew from the foundation, if i want to establish any firm and permanent structure…8 the need for this project of establishing a securely grounded thought system is compared to the vision archimedes. thus, in the second meditation descartes writes: commissioned papers 3 archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out of its place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. in the same way, i shall have the right to conceive high hopes if i am happy enough to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.9 in descartes’s view, the principles that guide our understanding of the world consists in the correspondence between “ideas” which the human mind found “distinct” and “clear” (such as the basic concepts of euclid’s geometry) and aspects of the world. it is in this correspondence that we establish the foundations of knowledge as well as the standard of rationality. thus, at the very base of knowledge is, according to descartes, the neutral activity of reason.10 an adequate analysis of the received view of rationality must consider the contribution of descartes and bacon to the development of ideas. in the 17th century, aristotle’s science faced challenges in the light of new discoveries in physics, astronomy and anatomy. francis bacon is often taken to be the spokesman to the new spirit and new method of science. his idea about scientific method subsequently became known as beaconian induction, and is expressed in his novum organum.11 in a general sense, bacon’s contribution to modern thought can be discussed at two related levels. the first level concerns the classification of knowledge. this is laid out in book 1 of the novum organum. in it, he made what was probably the first systematic attempt to express a psychological motives and human interests that often lie behind various forms of philosophical outlooks. he discussed what he called “idols of the mind” which had up to his own time persistently stood in the way of objective knowledge, dominated and distorted men’s mind and delayed the acquisition of true knowledge. the “idols of the tribe”, for instance, are tendencies to see things in relation to one’s own self, rather than as they are in themselves. in bacons view, man is not the measure of all things and we unthinkingly tend to impose order on phenomena which is not there. if we would command nature, he says, we must first learn to obey her. there are “idols of the cave”, which are the predispositions of character and learning with which different individuals approach facts, rather than seeing them as there really are. the “idols of the market place” arise through the use of language, when we read back into nature, conceptions that have arisen through our using words, which actually stand for nothing. bacon also identifies “idols of the theatre” which are due to the influence of philosophical system of our mind. in his view, we should not be misled by aristotle’s talk of experimentation and observation. someone in the grip of a philosophical system, he says, including aristotle himself had come to his conclusion before he did his experiment. the second level has to do with a new method of investigation, set forth in the most empiricist form. this consists in 4 formation of the human person in the 21st century making experiments and drawing general conclusions from them. these conclusions are then tested in further experiments.12 bacon’s position is primarily an attack against what he called the sterility of pure deductive logic, which is never really able to increase knowledge. he insisted that the traditional syllogism was not a means of discovery, but only an aid for exhibiting the deductive consequences of what is already known. he also attacked the older induction by simple enumeration which applies only when the class of “all” things referred to is finite and accessible, as in the statement: “the founding members of the royal society are all males and over the age of thirty years”.13 bacon’s new method of induction was believed to go beyond this aristotelian method because it is able to produce generalisations about “all” things, not simple about some property of members of a finite enumeration. however, bacon was not unaware of the fact that we cannot prove the truth of an induction in a general sense. the idea of “all”, he says, must always include the thought that there may be found an exception to the inductive generalisation, as this is always based on a finite number of instances. in this way, bacon proposed that a single negative experience was all we needed to falsify an induction. thus, although it was g.h. von wright and karl r. popper that expounded much later the principle that the laws of nature and theories are not verifiable, but only falsifiable, the credit of initial recognition of this principle should go to francis bacon.14 science, he thought, would develop by compiling vast tables of actual data accumulated with the help of experiment and observation. of course, he believed that the mere accumulation of facts would not necessarily yield knowledge. there must be, he argues, a selection whose establishment is also quite problematic.15 nevertheless, many scientists are known to have expressed, in varying degree, their adherence to baconnian philosophy. for instance, isaac newton in his principia (1682), explored and extended the inductive method from qualities of bodies on which experiments can actually be performed to “qualities of all bodies universally” (rule 3, bk. 3). in his words, the sum total facts, which are not only given in sense experience but also the experimental philosophical propositions gathered from phenomena by induction, should be considered either exactly or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis, until yet other phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to exception.16 bacon’s writings inspired the concern by british philosophers for the analysis of the nature of inductive reasoning, a concern which culminated in j.s. mill’s system of logic (1843). importantly, while bacon’s classification of knowledge stands widely adopted, his commissioned papers 5 understanding of scientific methods presents an adequate framework. this is because he failed to appreciate the sense in which mathematics was already the language of science. he also underestimated the use of scientist need to make of imaginative hypotheses.17 on this, he was criticized memorably by immanuel kant in his critique of pure reason (b.xii. 4). yet, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the austrian philosopher and physicist, ernst mach (1838-1926) adopted bacon’s epistemology in his the science of mechanics (1893) and the analysis of sensation (1914). in his view, science is no more than a conceptual reflection upon facts whose elements are contents of consciousness, and are given to us in sensation. this means that scientific statements or theoretical terms must be reducible to statements about sensations.18 this is contained in his famous “doctrine of elements”. science as the paradigm of rationality from the foregoing, we are presented with the idea of rationality as a privileged framework of principles and methods to which we can ultimately appeal in our understanding of reality. it was noted that the attempt to codify these principles and methods found its significant expression first in the programmes based on the (new inductive) method of inquiry advocated by francis bacon in combination with the analytic method of deductive reasoning emphasized by rene descartes.19 the concern of these men was mainly to establish a “theory of knowledge”, to discover a unique set of terms into which discourses may be reduced, or some privileged vocabulary by means of which discourses may be rendered commensurable. the programmes of inquiry initiated in the modern period were essentially attempts to establish our discourses on a secure foundation; that is, to justify our beliefs and actions, goals and policies with reference to a certain universal “tribunal of judgment”.20 the validity of this foundationalist task of epistemology was reiterated during the first half of the twentieth century in the works of philosophers in the analytic tradition who sought to ground human knowledge in, or reduce all discourses to, a certain system of formal language.21 rooted in the works of gottlob frege, the analytic tradition influenced the works of bertrand russell, alfred north whitehead, ludwig wittgenstein, rudolf carnap, moritz schlick and several others whose ultimate concern was how to make philosophy rigorous and scientific.22 they initiated a new tendency in philosophy, re-orienting epistemology towards an ideal system of propositions and methods; a complex of principles and rules. it is with reference to such a system that theories are to be constructed and corroborated.23 the general aim of the new tendency was to sustain an adequate analysis of the character of 6 formation of the human person in the 21st century scientific investigations.24 and so, epistemology as a “transcendental” inquiry into the meaning and conditions of knowledge was gradually replaced by a methodology pursued with an understanding of science as the source of genuine knowledge and paradigm of rationality.25 the first significant representation of science as the paradigm of rationality and model of genuine knowledge, came with the positivist orientation. positivism, along with phenomenalism, pragmatism, operationalism, and empirico-criticism, belong to the empiricist tendency. for the positivist, an inquiry into the conditions of knowledge can be meaningfully pursued only as a methodological inquiry into the principles and methods for the construction and corroboration of scientific theories. thus, at the heart of the positivist philosophy of science is the belief in the exclusive validity of science. in his contribution, karl popper argued that the problem of this age, which is the possibility and method of achieving progress in human knowledge, can be resolved only in the appreciating of the growth of scientific knowledge. in this regard, it is in following the principles and procedures of scientific inquiry that we are likely to arrive at a system that accurately depicts the world.26 thus, researchers in various fields of inquiry, ranging from history to psychology and sociology, which have, with much vigour, engaged in the quest for laws and theories, usually felt apologetic whenever their discipline fell short of the ideas derived from physical science. in the field of education, curriculum theorists have often considered science to be one of the basics, and since the time of herbert spencer it has been regarded as an indispensable component of liberal education.27 the overwhelming popularity of this image of science arises, at least in part, from the great successes of recent science, particularly, physics.28 in explaining this success, scientists argue that science has evolved some procedures of inquiry, and that the observed developments in science have been determined by acting on the basis of the outcome of the application of these procedures. these procedures constitute the scientific method, a privileged method in the hands of the scientific community, which disinterestedly and detachedly employs it to reach the scientific goals.29 the post-modernist world view30 in recent times, particularly since the second half of the twentiethcentury, the intellectual world has witnessed the emergence of a certain shift in attitude towards reality (metaphysics or ontology), rationality and truth; a rejection of what could be referred to as the ‘received view’, and accompanied by a neo-protagorean relativism. the idea of the ‘received view’ of rationality is here identified with the idea of a universal, commissioned papers 7 foundational, permanent framework of thought and discourse developed in the 17th century. the programs of discourse that represents this shift include those developed by thomas kuhn, peter winch, donald davidson, paul k. feyerabend and a host of others. in his program, paul feyerabend proposed a pluralist conception of rationality, in particular, and worldview in general and meant to present this to stand in place of the enlightenment program characteristic of the modern period. for him, the modernist project has been shown to be sterile.31 the present study identifies the positivist worldview that constitutes the climax of modernism as well as the pluralist orientations of the post-modern which ushered in a rather reckless relativism. the study then goes further to establish a rejection of both positivist and post-positivist projects for reasons to be stated, and presents an alternative epistemology of the human person founded on a given ontology, while employing the methodology of education and a given scepticism to enhance a robust representation of the human person. feyerabend’s ‘post’ in the post-modern in his representation, paul k. feyerabend sees the commitment to just one theoretical framework or cognitive scheme as ‘monomania’. the clearest form of this criticism today is best identified with paul feyerabend’s postmodern orientation. a number of assumptions underscore his position. one such assumption is that, the theories, facts, and procedures that constitute the scientific knowledge of a particular time result from specific historical developments, and any such information cannot be about history-independent facts and laws – a rejection of the idea that tradition-independent points of view can overrule traditions. there are different points of view, ways of thinking and knowing. in the same vain, scientific theories branch out in different directions, use different and sometimes incommensurable concepts, and evaluate events in diverse ways. what counts as evidence or as an important or sound science or scientific procedure depends on time, profession and the research group. nature can be and is indeed approached in many ways, and for every statement, theory or point of view believed to be true with good reasons, there exists conflicting arguments. human experience, is not restricted to merely intellectual matters, but includes concrete human feelings, faiths and empathy, and involves more than just one single medium of discussion. and so, paul k. feyerabend is opposed to a certain program or tendency which, for want of a better name, is referred to as “methodism”, the idea of a method that contains fixed and binding principles for conducting the 8 formation of the human person in the 21st century business of science, politics or ethics. for feyerabend, science is not the paradigm of rationality. it is just a belief like any other. from the point of view of ethics, he privileges ethics without ontology. furthermore, he proposes a movement from “boundaries without values to values without boundaries”.32 the core of feyerabends moral philosophy is what he expressed in killing time, concerning the nature of moral character. for him, “a moral character cannot be created by arguments, education, or an act of will. it cannot be created by any kind of planned action, whether scientific, political, moral or religious”.33 here, feyerabend indicates what should not be associated with moral character or where it does not derive from. morality is not a product of education or any rational intentional, planned action. he compares moral character with what he calls “true love, which he says is a gift, not an achievement”. for him, the source or basis of morality or moral character is accidental, such as parental affection and friendship. these, he says, constitute the condition for some kind of stability or balance between what he refers to as “self-confidence” and “a concern for others”.34 according to him, it is possible for us to create these conditions: conditions that are meant to ensure the needed balance as we are never able to create the balance itself. it is only when the balance is enhanced, that the idea of guilt, responsibility, and obligation make real sense. but without the balance between self-confidence and concern for others, these ideas become not just empty words but obstacles.35 the idea of self-confidence of course, connotes a reliance on ones abilities – abilities to engage one’s experience, one’s environment and one’s reality. the product of employing this ability is to enhance the individual’s wellbeing. the need for the project of modernity, of establishing a securely grounded thought system is compared to the vision of archimedes. thus, in the meditation ii, descartes writes; archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out of it place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. in the same way i should have the right to conceive high hopes if i am happy enough to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.36 this immutable foundation – ontological reference is rejected by the post-modernist position of paul k. feyerabend and replaces it with heterogeneity, chaos and pluralism. post-modern ontology at this point, it is pertinent to ask the question, is there any theory of ontology proposed by postmodern philosophy? in response to this question, it is to be borne in mind that paul k. feyerabend, presenting a prototype of the post-modern worldview, rejects any attempt to propose one singular general ground totalizing framework that could be a commissioned papers 9 reference point, and that could be a foundation for any inquiry. this is with regards to, not only a universal theory of truth, a fixed model of knowledge, a standard reference to method, but, indeed a foundation. and so, it presents a no-foundation epistemology as well as proposing an ontology that is not characterized by relativism, but a pluralism. what this means is that reality could be created, truth is formulated, knowledge is fabricated such that ontology which is the study of being, could only be said to be presented and created or formulated as need be. reading feyerabend therefore, one is tempted to raise the question, is it not the case that in proposing a no-universal foundational fixed theory of reality, by itself, proposes a universal theory? to this extent, the post-modernist proposal that there is no fixed theory of knowledge, truth and reality is itself a theory of truth, of knowledge and of reality – a philosophical dead end. perhaps, an alternative reading of the post-modernist theory of the human person would reject any fixed set of principles, axioms and assumptions, claiming that the character of the human person is hydraheaded and its features are not just pluralistic, but actually indeterminate. we are not to reduce the human person to any fixed model, be it scientific, legal, ethical, or social. rather, it would be a combination of all these and more. the human person would then be seen as a mystery that can be comprehended only inadequately by anyone even the self. thesis and concluding remarks identifying, with bernard lonergan this paper posit that the essence of the human person has to do with the fact that humanity is to be recognized in four characteristics. these characteristics belong to the human nature representing a fundamental orientation in the human person. these are (i) search for truth (ii) search for the good (iii) search for the absolute/infinite and, (iv) search for love. the human person in relating with these realities that is, truth, good, absolute and love employs the capacity of the senses, of understanding and of judging. the actions of these variables and their relationship with the human person are so complex that they can only be understood imperfectly. the human person, therefore, is driven to the actualization of truth, the good and love. these efforts remain always in the state of progress towards actualization. to this extent, the human person remains an ongoing project. 10 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 ted honderich, the oxford companion to philosophy, 2nd ed. (oxford: oxford up, 2005), 671. 2 r. p. peerrenboom, “reason, rationales, and relativism: what’s at stake in the conversation over scientific rationality?,” philosophy today, vol. 34, no.14. (1990), 4. 3 toulmin, human understanding, 45. 4 toulmin, human understanding, 44. 5 bernstein, beyond objectivism and relativism, 9. 6 fritjof capra, the turning point: science and the rising culture, (london: fontana paper backs, 1984), 39, john veith (trans.) descartes: a discourse on method and meditation of first philosophy, (london: everyman’s liberty press, 1979), 120-121. 7 meditation i, in elizabeth s. haldane and g.r.t. ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1969), 114. 8 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 114. 9 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 6. 10 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 149. 11 francis bacon, novum organum, i, ix, in john m. robertson ed., the philosophical works of bacon (london: university press, 1965), 51-8. 12 o’hear, an introduction to philosophy of science, 5. 13 toulmin, human understanding, 57. 14 putnam, reason, truth and history, 108-109. 15 isaac newton, principia bk. i, rule 4, in b.i. cohen (ed.), 150. 16 isaac newton, principia bk. i, rule 4, in b.i. cohen (ed.), 150. 17 cohen, revolutions in science, 150. 18 jostein gaarder, sophie’s world: a 3000 year adventure in philosophy, (ibadan, spectrum books, 1996), 181. 19 antiquity had its own system constructors in plato and aristotle. the middle ages have st. thomas aquinas who attempted to link aristotle’s system with christian ethics and theology. after this came the renaissance with a welter of old and new beliefs about nature and science, god and man. but it was not until the seventeenth century that any significant attempt was made to assemble ideas into a coherent systematic whole. 20 randell, p. peerenboom, ‘reason, rationales, and relativism: what’s at stake in the conversation over scientific rationality?’ philosophy today, vol. 34, no. 14. (november, 1990), 4. 21 james l. battersby, “professionalism, relativism and rationality” in p.m.l.a. vol. 107, no. 1. (1992). 22 harre, the philosophies of science: an introductory survey, 18. many of the germinal ideas of frege’s philosophy are to be found in his conceptual notations (1879). his philosophy influenced russell’s thought. in the preface to volume i of russell and whitehead’s principia mathematica (1910), the authors wrote, “in all questions of logical analysis our chief debt is to frege”. in the same vein, wittgenstein acknowledged frege’s influence on his thought. in the preface to commissioned papers 11 tractatus logico-philosophicus, wittgenstein wrote, “i am indebted to frege’s great works and to the writings of mr. russell for much of the stimulations of my thoughts”. frege’s influence on carnap was also acknowledged by carnap who studied under him at the university of jenna. 23 habermas, knowledge and human interest, 65. 24 william bechtel, philosophy of science: an overview of cognitive science, (new jersey: lawrence eribaum, 1990), 1-15. 25 ted benton, philosophical foundations of the three sociologies, (london: routledge and kegan paul, 1977), 21. 26 karl r. popper, the logic of scientific discovery, (london: hutchinson and co. publishers ltd., 1975), 15. 27 a.f. chalmers, what is this thing called science?: an assessment of the nature and status of science and its methods, (london: open university press, 1990), 1. 28 newton-smith, the rationality of science, (new york: routledge, 1981), 1. 29 d.c. philips, philosophy science and social inquiry, (oxford: perganon press, 1988), 3. 30 a system of beliefs that are interconnected: not merely a collection of separate, independent, unrelated beliefs, but an intertwined, interrelated and interconnected systems of beliefs. 31 paul k. feyerabend presents his position most clearly in against method (london: verso, 1987) and farewell to reason (london: verso, 1993). 32 isaac ukpokolo, “navigating feyerabend’s moral philosophy from boundaries without values to values without boundaries” in the ethics of subjectivity, elvis imafidon ed. (new york: palgrave macmillan, 2015), 201. 33 paul k. feyerabend, killing time (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1995), 174. 34 feyerabend, killing time, 174. 35 feyerabend, killing time, 174. 36 elizabeth s. and g. r. t. ross eds. philosophical works of descartes, (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1969), 149. introduction the complexities and pressures within modern western societies have eroded the perceived relevance of traditional sources of meaning and identity…the construction of meaning and identity is therefore, a critical developmental task…that needs to be well informed and supported by the church, catholic and religious 1 education. there is currently a growing concern in the catholic church about the continued but gradual confusion or at best deviation from the age-old understanding of catholic identity in the face of modern and contemporary ideologies, pressures and complexities of the human knowledge and societal 2 organization. some even fear that the continuity of this trend could, in the near future, result in significant erosion of the fundamental catholic identity which in reality, they say, may 3 have seismic implications on the church's survival. while this concern is generally shared about the catholic church, it is much more expressed about the catholic universities and colleges, some of whom are seen to have 165 osayamen s. imhangbe the quest for catholic identity for catholic universities and colleges over the years, assumed continually nuanced configurations 4and identities. this development no doubt, provokes such critical questions as, what is a catholic university? what should constitute the identity of a catholic college? what is 5 the nature of a catholic university and the like. these questions invariably raise a legitimate critical issue of what is and what should be the true and enduring identity of catholic colleges and universities today in the midst of growing technological and scientific advancements, cultural dynamism, societal configurations and incessant social 6change. the quest then into the true identity for catholic universities and colleges in the attempt to reassert their fundamental character as citadels of sacred and sound learning, where faith and reason meaningfully interact for the faithful service of the truth (benedict xvi, 2008) becomes imperative. it is in clear appreciation of this need therefore, that this work embarks on this enquiry, quest for catholic identity for catholic universities and colleges. it is its expectation that this enquiry would provoke some critical questions that would help to further understand and effectively engage this issue of the catholic identity of catholic universities in our world today. quest for catholic identity: what is catholic identity? d'antonio, davidson, hoge & gautier define 7 “identity” as “a person's sense of self, his or her concept.” (p. 15). alternatively, it is circumscribed as basically referring to the factor that differentiates one thing from another. that is, the essential characteristics that belong to a person, institute 8or organization. on this understanding of identity in general, they explain that catholic identity can be viewed as the distinctiveness and the uniqueness of the catholic 9institutions. in a similar way, fuller et al., place the meaning of catholic identity within the frame of the incorporation and expression of three circumscribing principles/characteristics; 10 viz: universality (catholic), tradition and sacramentality. these three principles, they observe, though overlapping and interdependent, yet distinctive, constitute the defining strands of catholicism that confer the catholic identity. thus, to be a catholic, true to the name, would mean 166 to be in full accord with the teachings and traditions of the universal church and to accept and submit to her hierarchical 11authority (p.17). this understanding of the catholic identity, it would appear, places more emphasis on what differentiates 12 than on what binds , which however, would seem to be the leaning for many with the shift of emphasis of the vatican 13 council ii. it remains, nonetheless, the subsisting conceptualization of the catholic identity and thus would be adopted as the work's working definition here. catholic universities and colleges: identity of pope benedict xvi in his address to catholic 14educators in his 2008 visit to the united states, states that a university's catholic identity does not necessarily reside in the number of students it has. but rather it resides in her acceptance and manifest conviction in the mystery of the word made man, commitment to the self, both in mind and heart, to god, acceptance of the truth that christ reveals faithfulness to the liturgical and sacramental life of the church, and in acts of charity, concern for justice and respect for god. these he avers give fervent expressions to these truths and mystery of the catholic faith. as such, in the mind of the pope, the true catholic identity of catholic universities and colleges must be found not in its numerical constitution but in its total immersion in the life, values, teachings, celebrations and sacramentality of the church. in this way, the true identity of the catholic university and colleges has to involve recognition and commitment to the ecclesial duty to illuminate the light of christ, demonstrate the harmony between faith and reason and maintain a careful and discreet posture towards methods and discoveries that not only deviate from the principles of the catholic teaching and cherished values but also that are seen 15to have controversial ethical implications and coloration. it is in the light of this functional identity that the catholic universities and colleges are called to maintain a posture that is in perfect accord with the church's teachings and positions on issues. every catholic university or college is, thus, charged with the inalienable commitment to the service of the 16truth ; to perform some specific functions for the church 167 17from whose heart it is drawn. maintaining the identity of catholic universities and colleges as institutions drawn from the heart of the church to be an extension of the church's life, teachings and cherished values and faith has posed current and contentious issue both in the church and in the institutions themselves. in relatively recent times, the catholic identity of the catholic colleges has been viewed to be gravely undermined in these universities' pursuit of relativism and unrestricted academic freedom, laying claim to their right to independence and 18autonomy. coupled with the declining control of the bishops over these institutions, many faculty members shifted focus from the catholic tradition “rooted in the liberal arts which was originally seen as tools to train the mind and heart to be able to deal with the big issues of the day and apply 19 christian faith to them” to opposing alternatives. in some catholic colleges and universities, the concept of boundary and distinctive culture which define the catholic identity are either undermined or totally lost within the campuses of these 20institutions morphing to places where almost anything goes. 21 the critical nature of this development especially in the 1970s, 1980s & 1990s, generated such complex questions and issues as: who can teach the catholic theology in the catholic university? what should be the supervisory role of bishops in the internal organization of catholic colleges and universities on campuses? what are the core elements of the catholic identity of a catholic university or college? how much freedom should be allowed faculty members? and what should be the criteria for selection of candidates for honorary degrees in catholic colleges and universities? to address these issues, pope john paul ii issued two separate documents: sapientia christiana and ex corde ecclesiae on april 29, 1979 and august 15, 1990 respectively. while in the former, he focuses on ecclesiastical universities and faculties that grant ecclesiastical degrees, in the latter, he aims at providing clarity of vision on the purpose and mission of catholic colleges and universities. the holy father defines a catholic university as: an academic community which, in a rigorous and critical fashion, assists in the protection and 168 advancement of human dignity and of a cultural heritage through research, and various services offered to the local, national and international communities. it possesses that institutional autonomy necessary to perform its functions effectively and guarantees its members academic freedom, as long as the rights of the individuals, persons and community are preserved within the 22 confines of truth and common good. according to him, catholic universities have four distinctive characteristics that define them uniquely and present them distinctively. these characteristics portray the catholic university as an institution with an identity that is informed and shaped by: 1) a christian inspiration not only of individuals, but of the university community as such 2) a continuing reflection in the light of the catholic faith upon the growing treasury of human knowledge, to which it seeks to contribute by its own research 3) fidelity to the christian message as it comes to us through the church and 4) an institutional commitment to the people of god and of the human family in their pilgrimage to the 23 transcendent goal which gives meaning to life. these distinctive marks were stipulated as the defining frames for every catholic university or college and every catholic university or college was expected to carry or be identified by these marks. in this way, it was thought that the issue of indistinctness and ambiguity about the true character and identity of the catholic university or college anywhere in the world would be wholly resolved and laid to rest. but did this put the issue of the catholic identity of catholic university to rest? it did not seem it did. developments after the documents continue to indicate that the quest for distinctive and common delineation and understanding of the catholic identity for catholic universities and colleges 169 remained very relevant and was still very much alive. we inquire more. historical development 24d'antonio et al., observe that over the years, the catholic identity of the average self-identified catholic in terms of perception of the catholic identity, identification with the faith and commitment to her cherished and taught values has consistently continued to evolve, variegate and assume new coloration. just as there has been evolving perception and conceptualization of the identity of the catholic among catholic members in general, so also it has been about the catholic identity of catholic universities and colleges. historical consideration, however, of the earliest periods of the existence of catholic universities does not suggest that the question of the catholic identity of catholic 25 universities and colleges was an issue. it was a given that to be identified as catholic university meant to be immersed in and to uphold unequivocally the known identity and commitment of the church. though the place of the origin of university remains unsettled among scholars with some identifying it with the greeks, and others, rome, it is, however, clear that the origin of the modern organization of the university system is undeniably traceable to the catholic church. it is the catholic church which in the middle of the th 13 century aided the unity of three cathedral schools to form 26 a university. thus, in the early centuries of the existence of this institution, most of the leading universities basically existed as extensions of the church's life, beliefs and values. it was not until 1871, following darwin's publication of the descent of man, that some questions began to emerge as to what should be the true identity of the catholic universities. the call for reform of the church's teaching to conform with modern science and sociology, the review of the content of the universities' curriculum and the general crisis that this publication provoked led to the issuance of two papal documents: testem benevolentiae nostrae of pope leo xii, 1899 and paschendi dominici gregis of pope st pius v, 1907. both documents condemned the call and posture and described them as heretical and an attempt at the 170 enthronement of relativism. since then, there has arisen series of declarations and postures, especially after vatican ii that has continually kept alive the critical question of the catholic identity of catholic universities and colleges. for example, the eugenic movement that spanned from 1899 to the 1960s on the basis of which many prominent universities and colleges' professors and luminaries like fr john a o' brien, c.s.c “publicly criticized church teaching on sexual morality and advocated their reform to conform to 27 the times” are still fresh in modern memories. in 1967, there was the notre dame statement, or the land o'lakes declaration, where the autonomy and independence of the universities from both lay and clerical authorities was asserted and enshrined. as a result, many of the universities and colleges engaged in activities that consistently raised question about the authenticity of their catholic identity. by 1972, many universities who were not part of the land o' lakes declaration adopted it; such that any appeal for an unreserved commitment to the fundamentals of the catholic faith became considerably ineffective in most of these institutions. the land o' lakes declaration won admiration in many quarters that in 1976, the national catholic education association of the united states (ncea) adopted it and made it an official document. the vatican however, 28 never gave its approval . this trend took a different turn in 1990 as observed earlier. some professors of theology in some catholic universities and colleges did not only make statements that ran contrary to some catholic teachings but also attempted to publicly debunk the principles on which the tenets of these teachings sprung and stood. we have, for instance the case of fr. macquarie of marquette university who in his sacred 29choices declared abortion, as an option, a sacred choice. this spurred the instance and issuance of the ex corde referenced earlier to address the issue. these examples are some historical cases in point that suggest that the question of the catholic identity of catholic universities and colleges has been and continue to be an issue of critical concern for the church. while these controversies seem to have expression in lands geographically distant from the african continent, their 171 possible or potential influence in the african continent in the near or distant future cannot be totally occluded. be that as it may, the reality and recurrence of these developments evoke a lot of critical questions that demand urgent attention and extensive consideration. we note a few. critical questions it would appear that the papal document of pope john paul ii, ex corde resolved this issue of the true identity of catholic universities and colleges. but recent developments in these institutions, like the continued hosting of the “coming out week” and the publication of “vagina monologues, both by notre dame university, which have been criticized as opposed to catholic teachings on sexual morality, protection of human life and contraception, indicate clearly that this issue is far from being laid to rest. hence, the more reasons that the following questions remain critical: who can teach the catholic theology in a catholic university? what should be the supervisory role of the bishops in the internal organization of catholic colleges and universities? who should be invited to speak in their campuses? what constitutes appropriate activities on campuses? what are the core elements of the catholic identity of a catholic university or college? how much freedom should be allowed faculty members? and what should be the criteria for selection of candidates for honorary degrees in catholic colleges and universities? conclusion the paper has attempted to point out that finding or carving the right and enduring definition and circumscription of the actual identify of catholic universities and colleges, remains a critical issue that appears to continue to demand attention and resolution. in so doing it observed that this attention and/or resolution that it apparently demands may be not effectively pursued and engaged if recourse to and clear understanding of the antecedents of the developments in the existence and intervention for this issue are not included in the effort. that is why this work took an intellectual journey into the development and progression of this issue over time 172 and highlighted efforts made to bring the final denouement to the issue. it was also able to show how these efforts of intervention and response do not seem to have quelled or surmounted the issue. in this way, the paper noted how the issue continues to haunt or linger and yawn for more and urgent action to forestall greater harm that its continued presence can trigger and/or engender. it is the expectation of this paper that unambiguous delineation of the identity of the catholic university or college is needed and the need to insist on compliance to the determined character and defining marks of the catholic identity of the catholic university or college for it to be properly and unquestionably so calls for urgent and specific action. to this end, it has been the intention of this paper to provoke and spur relevant efforts to put final analysis, conclusion and clarification to the issue of what can be properly known as catholic university and/or college and totally lay this issue to rest. endnotes 1. rossiter, g. & tinsey, w. search for meaning and identity. brisbane: acu, 2002, p. 1 2. d'antonio, w.v., davidson, j.d., hoge, d.r& gautier, m. l. american catholic today: new realities of their faith and their church: new york: a sheed and ward book, 2007. 3. hendershot, a. obama and the alternative magisterium: how catholic universities and colleges played a role in electing him, despite the pope's message to them about fidelity to the church's teaching, march, 2009. mcintire, m. v. from orthodoxy to heresy: the secularizing of catholic universities. new oxford review 75 (8) pp. 26-31. retrieved march 9, 2014 from pro quest catholic world report, pp. 19-22., 20008. 4. pace, e. “universities” the catholic encyclopedia, 15. new york: robert appleton, 1912. 5. the question of the indistinctness or nebulousness of the delineation of the identity of what is catholic in the catholic college or university comes to mind. the need for close engagement, determination and clarification for what should present for an institution that must go by the qualification “catholic” is called for, and the resolution of this may be urgent. 6. fullan, m. leading in a culture of change. san francisco ca: josseybass, 2007. 173 7. d'antonio, w.v. et al., opera cit. (p.15) 8. encarta world english dictionary microsoft corporation, 2005 9. d'antonio, w.v. et al., opera cit. (p.17) 10.fuller, j. l.,& eamon, m. irish and catholic? towards an understanding of identity. dublin: columbia press, 2006. 11.ibid, p.17 12.agnus, i. identity and justice. toronto: university of toronto press, 2008. 13.d'antonio, w.v. et al., op. cit. 14.benedict xvi. meeting with catholic educators: address of his holiness, benedict xvi.” in l.t. cameron, r.g. henning &p.i. vaccari (eds.) christ our hope: pope benedict xvi's visit to the united states and visit to the united nations. washington dc: editions du signe, 2008. 15.pope john paul ii. on catholic universities: ex corde ecclesiae. washington d. c. : united states catholic conference of bishops, 1990, no. 12. latter versions exist. the contents of the latter versions do not markedly defer on the issues referenced herein from the contents of this earlier version. 16.united states conference of catholic bishops committee on education. catholic identity in our colleges and universities: a collection of defining documents. washington dc: usccb, 2006. 17. on catholic universities: ex corde ecclessiae, op. cit. 18. hendershot, a. (2009, march) op. cit. mcintire, m. v., op. cit. 19. morey, m. m.& piderit, j. j. catholic higher education a culture in crisis: new york: oxford press, 2006, p. 4. 20. ibid. 21. the variegation in opinion about what catholic identity should be generated a lot of questions about what actually should stand as the unifying strand for what can be truly claimed the catholic identity as typified in institutions of leaning. 22. pope john paul ii. on catholic universities: ex corde ecclessiae, op. cit. no 12. 23. ibid. no 13 24. d' antonio, w.v. et al., op. cit. 25. mcintire, m. v., op. cit. 26. pace, e. “universities” the catholic encyclopedia, 15.op. cit. 27. mcintire, m. v., op. cit., p. 28 28. legan, j. p. catholic universities in the church and society: a culture in crisis. new york: oxford university press, 1993. 29. hendershot, a., op. cit. 174 192 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 the resurrection of jesus: our life abstract at easter we celebrate a super extraordinary event. in the words of pope john paul ii, paraphrasing st. augustine: “we are the easter people and ‘alleluia’ is our song”. we all sing ‘alleluia’ today to praise and thank the lord for the wonders he has worked for us. easter, the celebration of the lord’s resurrection is the center of the whole year of worship, ‘the feast of all feasts’. our faith, our hope and the meaning of christian life is founded on jesus’ resurrection. despite the surety of the christian belief, the idea of the resurrection and its effect or relevance in christian life has often been either underplayed or exaggerated. this paper therefore sets out to theologically affirm this historical reality of faith, examining counter theories of the resurrection by examining their logical correspondence and hypothetical soundness. as this essay will reveal, in as much as the resurrection of christ cannot be definitely disproved, it becomes a fundamental element and in fact the most radical of christian faith as the conclusion of the work revealed, to believe in the resurrection of jesus christ is to believe as well in the possibility and reality of change in one’s life. this essay also clarifies the existential concreteness of the resurrection; it is not a raising from the dead which postpones an inevitable fate still but rather a definitive victory of christ over death. different formulations of the creed and magisterial statements give complete credence to this faith. this is the faith of the the resurrection of jesus: our life | 193 christian church from its beginning, celebrated in her ceremonies and rituals and lived in the life of christians. keywords: resurrection, supernatural event, christian faith introduction we are in the year 2019 (two thousand and nineteen years, since the beginning of the calculation of time and history). in fact, two thousand and nineteen years since the birth of christ god became man the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. it is 2019 years since this happened; when god entered time and made time sacred. that was an extraordinary event in every sense of that word. ever since then in mankind’s history a lot of things have taken place. consider for a moment what mankind has accomplished. we have built spaceships that can leave our solar system. we have transplanted hearts into a week-old babies. we have computerized everything from architecture to zoology. we have made tremendous progress in many areas of life. we are, as some people claim, at the apex of history. nothing is so new that it has never been heard or seen before, and nothing is so old that it will never be seen or heard again. as the american astronauts landed on the moon for the first time, the then president nixon declared: “this is the greatest event in the history of the world since the day of creation.’ to this exaggerated statement bill graham responded: “the president seems mistaken because the birth, death and resurrection of jesus are the greatest and most important events in the history of the world.” that is true indeed, it was true, it remains true till this very day; and it will continue to be true forever. alleluia! at easter we celebrate a super extraordinary event. while the law of science stipulates a cycle of life and death, while other religions celebrate cycles of birth and death, christianity insists that in one unique historical moment, the cycle is reversed, and a dead man came back to life.1 that something which was never seen or heard before, or to be again, happened. round this revolves the whole economy of the christian religion. st augustine used to say, 194 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 “the faith of christians is the resurrection of jesus.” using the words of the holy father, pope john paul ii, while paraphrasing st. augustine: “we are the easter people and ‘alleluia’ is our song”. alleluia, as we know, is composed of two hebrew words ‘allelu’ and ‘ia’. the former is the imperative form of the verb hailal which means ‘to praise’, while the latter is a shortened form of the personal name of god, yahweh. ‘alleluia’ thus means “praise the lord”. throughout the christian era, ‘alleluia’ has been the outburst of the church, the authentic response to the joyful, easter event. we all sing ‘alleluia’ today to praise and thank the lord for the wonders he has worked for us. in fact ‘we are truly the easter people and alleluia is our song’. easter, the celebration of the lord’s resurrection is the center of the whole year of worship, ‘the feast of all feasts’. our faith, our hope and the meaning of christian life is founded on jesus’ resurrection. paul expressed it well: “if christ has not risen from the dead, then our believing is useless. . . ” (1 cor 15). the resurrection of jesus is a fundamental element and in fact the most radical of christian faith. it is theologically relevant in that it is essential for being identified as a christian. to be a christian is to believe in jesus christ not only as a great man of the past, even the greatest, but as someone ever living among us. otherwise his coming twenty centuries ago leaves us entirely indifferent and he interests us no more than napoleon or julius caesar. not to admit the resurrection of jesus means that one is not a christian. such issues which deal with the uniqueness of jesus can never become irrelevant to christians except as the price of making christianity itself irrelevant. no doubt the resurrection is a central and inexhaustible mystery. to attempt an account of the redemption without including the resurrection is to end in a deadlock. “no approach to new testament christology is possible without coming to terms with the resurrection.”2 through the centuries many princes and rulers have tried to stop the majestic wave of the news of the resurrection of jesus – first the synagogue, then roman empire, and then communist regimes. but the resurrection of jesus is still being proclaimed and celebrated. the resurrection of jesus is the most powerful, liberating, joyful message we can hear. the resurrection of jesus: our life | 195 questioning the resurrection of jesus but then, let us stop awhile and address ourselves to some pertinent concerns.the resurrection is ridiculed and rejected in some quarters, even supposedly ‘christian’ quarters. it is important that we get the right and proper meaning of what we are celebrating. inasmuch as we do not intend to be unnecessarily apologetic, it is also important that we brighten some clouds, clean some doubts, and settle some difficulties often associated with the resurrection of jesus christ. among the various stories and theories used to doubt or discredit the event of the resurrection are the following: 1. the fraud theory: that the disciples of jesus fugitively slipped to the tomb at night and stole his body, hid it somewhere and then circulated the report that he had risen from the dead. (cf. matt 28: 13) therefore the whole story is a hoax, a deliberate imposture. d. whitaker is of such opinion that the body of jesus was stolen by thieves. this idea even goes back to new testament times, and according to matthew 28:13, it was even put forward by the jewish elders in their attempt to bribe the roman soldiers. it figured in origen’s debate with celsus, in which origen argued that men do not suffer persecution and risk martyrdom for a lie. now we ask: how is this possible with the putting of seals on the stone and the soldiers to guard there? the soldiers could not be bribed to open it. how would they know it if they were asleep? what good would the body of jesus have done them? and again, if they were afraid to fight for jesus when he was alive (cf. matt. 2: 56; mk. 14: 50), how would they have the courage to risk their lives when he was dead? as it is commonly said: “the courage to die for one’s beliefs is given for those who have the courage to live for them.” the disciples were not trying to prove anything; in fact they were reluctant to believe in him after they saw him alive again. sincere belief in the resurrection does not spring up causally. indeed the pain and disillusionments of life and the scepticism of this world would almost seem to make confident faith in the resurrection foolish or impossible. 196 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 long ago, st. augustine gave a decisive answer to this theory when he said: “you bring forward as witness men who were sleeping. truly, it is you who have fallen asleep, you who have failed in examining such things. if they were asleep, what could they have seen? if they saw nothing, how are they witnesses?” 2. the swoon theory: holds the view that jesus was not really dead; that he had only swoon or fainted for the soldiers did not kill him and that the cool, quiet tomb and spices caused him to revive and come back to life. the rationalist h. e. g. paulus put forward this theory and in more recent times a similar view has been set out by h. schonfield in “the passover plot” (1965). we respond to this theory as follows: but the fact of jesus’ death was clear. the facts are evident. the soldiers pierced his side with the spear before joseph of arimathea took him down from the cross. if there were any possibility that jesus was still alive, mary and other disciples never would have let him be buried. according to jewish understanding, burial is the final signing and sealing of death. also, in contrast to the above story, the spices were poisonous and would have killed him instead. moreover, his weakened physical condition (after all those beatings and passion) would have prohibited such revival. then too, if he rose later, certainly he would have been apprehended by the guards. 3. the hallucination theory: states that the agitated disciples and hysterical women wanted to see jesus and thought that he would rise. so they imagined that they saw him. they therefore did not see what they claimed to have seen but just what they thought and wanted to see. they had hallucinations. but the response to this: if so, how did it happen that the disciples were steeped in unbelief and would scarcely believe him after seeing him, for which jesus rebuked them (cf. lk. 24: 25) think of thomas who refused to believe without touching him. the records all indicate that this resurrected jesus had a body. the disciples recognised his features; mary recognised the tone of his the resurrection of jesus: our life | 197 voice; his mannerisms; he ate fish with the disciples; he invited thomas to examine his hands and his side. furthermore, if this theory is true, how can one explain the fact that the tomb was empty? if what these believers saw was only a ghost in a vision, his body would still have been in the tomb. but the tomb was empty. jesus was not there. this is more eloquent than speech, more convincing than logic. 4. the mistake theory: states that the women made a mistake and went to an old deserted tomb, and thinking this to be the burial place of jesus, hurried away to circulate the report that jesus had risen. similar explanations are those of k. lake in “the resurrection of jesus”, lake conjectured that there were several tombs and that the women misunderstood the young man who said that jesus was not there. the man had intended to redirect them to the right place, but they read into it something more. but the response to this is: there is no parallel to this in all history. people do not forget a place so indelibly impressed on their minds and hearts. there is no question about the identity of jesus’ tomb. the women, some apostles, and even the pharisees saw to that. it was guarded carefully and sealed by men whose hatred and fear would let them take no chance of making a mistake. the facts are very clear, true and undisputed. 5. the earthquake theory: holds the view that an earthquake swallowed jesus’ body.the response to this is: peter and john found the linen shroud and face cloth wrapped neatly in the tomb. it would be a most considerate earthquake that would swallow the body of jesus and neatly fold the shroud. it certainly was not the work of vandals and enemies who would wish to desecrate the body of jesus. such a group would never have left the tomb and linens in such a neat order. even, how would they have entered the tomb with the seal and guard of soldiers there? 198 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 from the foregoing, it would seem that none of the alternative interpretations or attempted explanations succeed to provide a satisfactory account. they cannot be defended or sustained, even on the strength of their evidence, sequence or logic. their weaknesses are apparent and inherent. in fact, it requires as great a miracle to explain away these facts as it demands such a miracle to accept the reality of this supernatural event. as we read in the easter edition of the word among us, april 1999: in the orthodox world, there is a very beautiful tradition. when people meet each other, especially at easter time, one person says to the other, “christ is risen.” and immediately, the other answers, “he is truly risen.” at the beginning of the bolshevik revolution, there was a public debate in a russian city between an atheist and an orthodox priest. the atheist speaker stood up and spoke against the resurrection of jesus. when he was done, he stepped down convinced that his arguments could not be disputed. then, the orthodox priest came to the platform, looked at the crowd and said “christ is risen.” and all at once, everyone shouted, “he is truly risen!” with that, he left the platform. for the one who believes, no explanation is necessary. for the one who does not believe, no explanation is possible. the uniqueness of jesus resurrection no one in the new testament claims to have seen or witnessed the actual resurrection even, or to know what a resurrection is. this, however, is not to question whether it actually happened. though the event itself is nowhere described, since no one saw it or had direct experience of it and could have described it literally, the resurrection of jesus christ including the predictions and the testimonies, represent the watershed of new testament history and the resurrection of jesus: our life | 199 the central point of its faith. on the historical plane it marks the division between the earthly life of jesus and the apostolic age. it is a unique event, and not one of a class in relation either to the expectation of other individuals or to other raisings from the dead in the biblical narrative. it has priority in time (cf. act 26:23) and superiority in status in that it forms the first and most significant part of the series. in fact the noun (‘resurrection’) is never used to those other raisings. even in the lazarus story, it is reserved by martha for the general resurrection at the last day (cf. john 11:24) and by jesus for himself (cf. john 11: 25). all other men apart from jesus are restored to life only to die again. even those raised from the dead by jesus and the apostles have still to die again. their death is merely postponed. indeed, it is often debatable how far over the boundary of death they have passed. what the language indicates is, rather, that for the hebrew mind there was no absolute division between life and death. they are indeed dead; but in all these cases the dead person is simply called back to life, and this is indicated by the corpse’s opening its eyes and sitting up (cf. acts 9:40) or sitting up and beginning to speak (cf. luke 7:15). raising the dead is the continuation of healing beyond a certain point. such is included as part of the regular mission program laid upon the twelve (cf. matt. 10:8). the restorative power is of god, but the agents of it may be purely human. the case is quite different in the resurrection of jesus. only he is exempt from this (cf. acts 13:34; rom 6:9). there is no suggestion of mere resuscitation. he passed right over the border into the realm of the departed spirits. he is not brought back simply to this life, destined to die again, but raised forever to the right hand of god. this is effected, not through any human agency, but by god alone: and only of his rising does the new testament use the term ‘ the resurrection’. the resurrection of jesus, according to st. thomas is the efficient and exemplary cause of our resurrection.3 for karl rahner: the resurrection which is referred to in the resurrection of jesus as distinguished from the 200 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 resurrection of the dead in the old and new testaments means the final and definitive salvation of a concrete human existence by god and in the presence of god, the abiding and real validity of human history, which neither moves further and further into emptiness, nor perishes altogether.4 what kind of event is the resurrection of jesus? in the midst of all sorts of arguments and theories to explain the resurrection away as not real and factual, one can ask another meaningful question: what kind of event is the resurrection of jesus? is it an event or experience? no matter what we say about it, all would agree that something clearly happened after the death of jesus which transformed the band of shattered disciples into people who were firmly convinced that jesus was alive and that they had a message which would transform the world. even the historical scholar must agree that something has to have happened which suddenly awakened in all these men, who were in no way prepared for it, such a conviction that they had. the new testament writings are unanimous that what happened was the resurrection of jesus christ. such apparently divergent texts illustrate, if anything does, heraclitus’ principle: “an implicit agreement is more valuable than an explicit one.”5 the deep-seated harmony of these different testimonies have great weight. and it would be difficult to explain their mutual relationship by mental contagion or coincidence. in other words, the early preachers were proclaiming an actual event, an unexpected as it was supernatural. when we see the extraordinary way in which the church burst forth during the first centuries, we must admit that there was an explosion at the start; this explosion was the resurrection. it alone gave to the christian missionaries the dynamism that we see in them as that time; it alone made of them, who were discouraged and sad after the passion (cf. mk. 14:50) the martyrs and confessors of the faith who would fall by thousands, all declaring that christ lives forever. those who reject such are obliged to find some other explanations for the extraordinary transformation of the disciples. none of those the resurrection of jesus: our life | 201 attempted explanations will bear critical examinations or account for the extraordinary psychological and moral change induced into so many different people and with such lasting effects in the face of those who had every reason to discredit the belief if they could. the true plausible explanation of the disciples’ experiences of the appearances and the discovery of the empty tomb is the resurrection of jesus. we cannot therefore spiritualise the resurrection and remove it from the real of historical fact. neither can we allow christian theology and spirituality to be shaped by the contemporary distrust of the miraculous. we cannot impose on what god has chosen to do in jesus what we think god would have done. this is our faith. this is the faith of the christian church from its beginning, proclaimed in all her doctrines, celebrated in her ceremonies and rituals and lived in the life of christians. different formulations of the creed and magisterial statements give complete credence to this faith. historical and transcendent event yet our question remains: what kind of event is the resurrection of jesus? the new catechism of the catholic church describes the resurrection of jesus as ‘historical and transcendent event’. “the mystery of christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the new testament bears witness.” (ccc. 639) “although the resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles’ encounters with the risen christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history.” (ccc. 647). as pope john paul ii emphasized, the resurrection is a ‘historical event’ because it took place in a precise context of time and place’.6 in our ordinary sense ‘historical’ denotes not only what is in itself knowable by scientific observation of facts in its actual occurrence, but also what has in fact occurred. in itself we cannot concede that the resurrection of jesus is historical in the first sense of something open to scientific investigation and verifiable by 202 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 neutral witnesses or an event that could have been photographed as it was occurring. the new testament does not claim that anyone saw the resurrection and makes no attempt to describe it. this ineffable reality cannot be assimilated to any fact of human history which can be grasped and completely understood by applying the rules of criticism. by its nature, such an event, being at the same time a mystery of the faith, does not completely fit into any of the categories of human knowledge. it is a real event which does not come from this world, and cannot be the object of historical investigation as such. on the other hand, the resurrection of christ is truly historical in the sense that, while it is in itself completely metaexperiential, it is objectively signified for us by its effects negative, like the empty tomb, or positive, like the appearances not to mention the faith of the women and the apostles and the birth of the church itself. the appearances, for the disciples who were convinced that they had indeed seen him, are historical. behind their confession of faith in the risen lord lies the experience of having witnessed him at some time and in some way. at the same time the resurrection event, as distinct from the appearances, is above all a unique supernatural event. as such, we are reminded by pope john paul ii that, at the same time: it transcends and stands above history . . . no one was an eye-witness of the resurrection. no one could say how it had happened in its physical reality. still less could the senses perceive the most interior essence of his passage to another life. it is this tranhistorical feature of the resurrection that must be especially considered if we are to understand to some extent the mystery of that historical but also transhistorical event.7 the resurrection of christ is transhistorical in the sense that it refers to an ‘event’ that took place on the other side of death; therefore, which lies beyond the confines of space and time. it is, as jean guitton said, “a trans-reality, known by trans-historical cognition; a the resurrection of jesus: our life | 203 trans-reality, but reality; trans-historical, but based on evidence.”8 history alone is not qualified to teach us about the facts of the beyond. similarly, the reality resulting from this event namely the reality of the risen lord, is also a trans-historical reality in that it belongs to the end of history existing within the new (eschatological) era. to say this, however, in no way invalidates the historicity of the appearances; it merely safeguards the other-wordly new reality of the risen jesus. by the resurrection jesus enters a completely new universe of being, the end-time of history, beyond the control of history and beyond the reach of historians. he rose to a new life transcending the co-ordinates of time and space and therefore not subject to the criteria of simple human empirical observation. it is true that there is an underlying identity between jesus of history and the christ of faith which the risen lord invited the disciples to confirm in the appearances, the human identity hides another which is pervaded by the mystery of god. in an important article, w. pannenberg, writing against a cavalier attitude toward the historicity of the resurrection, insists that there is no question here of a simple revivification of a corpse. not only is there the physical fact that immediately after death irreversible process of dissolution begins but the new testament are thinking of transforming rather than revivification. paul, who draws a close analogy between the resurrection of jesus and the future resurrection of the dead (1 cor. 15:12), stresses heavily the characteristics of the transformation that takes place in the resurrection. what dies was perishable, weak, and mortal; what rises is imperishable, glorious, and immortal (1 cor. 15: 42 43; 52 54). in short, “it is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body” (1 cor. 15: 44). it was, rather than a return to his previous style of earthly existence, what the church has always referred to as a glorious resurrection. his body is endowed with special properties since it now shares in the glory which his soul had from the first instance of the incarnation. he appears as the same and yet different; a ‘transformed’ christ. 204 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 so we cannot speak of jesus’ resurrection as a process of revivification or resuscitation. his resurrection is not a “coming back” to life, but a “going beyond” to a totally new and different kind of life. stressing the change and the transformation and the newness of the risen body, so that resurrection cannot be understood as the old body coming back to life, st paul, writing to the corinthians (1 cor 15:35-36) said: “what is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. it is sown in weakness, it raise in power. it is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.” then he tells them a “mystery”: “we shall all be changed. … for this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality” (15:51-53). thus there is both continuity and discontinuity between the old and the new. it was the same jesus of nazareth who was raised from the dead, but he has been changed and transformed. we cannot know in any literal way what a resurrection is. we can only speak of it only in imperfect and inadequate metaphors or analogies. we must say with st paul that the risen body of jesus is not like the physical body that we know in its earthly existence. john navone clarifies further: resurrection is in some sense a continuation of the life that existed in history, and this is the point of the continuity between the old and the new. but it is not an historical continuation of this life, for eternity or the eschaton is not history extended indefinitely. risen life is a new kind of life and a new kind of existence involving a total change and transformation of the old, and this is the equally important point of discontinuity that paul stresses. it would be more proper to speak of the resurrection as an eschatological event rather than as an historical event. eschatological existence is not simply a continuation of history, it is not history extended and continued indefinitely. it is rather the culmination of history, the passage of the historical into a new and final mode of existence.9 the resurrection of jesus: our life | 205 trinitarian act also the resurrection of jesus was a trinitarian act, accomplished by the one act of the three persons of the blessed trinity. the new catechism of the catholic church illustrates this well in nos. 648 650. 648 christ’s resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of god himself in creation and history. in it the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. the father’s power “raised up” christ his son and by doing so perfectly introduced his son’s humanity, including his body, into the trinity. jesus is conclusively revealed as “son of god in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.” st. paul insists on the manifestation of god’s power through the working of the spirit who gave life to jesus’ dead humanity and called it to the glorious state of lordship. 649 as for the son, he effects his own resurrection by virtue of his divine power. jesus announces that the son of man will have to suffer much, die, and then rise. elsewhere he affirms explicitly: “i lay down my life, that i may take it again... i have power to lay it down, and i have power to take it again.” “we believe that jesus died and rose again.” 650 the fathers contemplate the resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death: “by the unity of the divine nature, which remains present in each of the two components of man, these are reunited. for as death 206 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 is produced by the separation of the human components, so resurrection is achieved by the union of the two.” as john navone explains: belief in the resurrection is not the same as believing in the immortality of the soul. there was nothing automatic about the resurrection, that is, it was not the automatic survival of the spiritual part of a man or of the soul. god raised jesus from the dead, not his soul, but the whole jesus in his total existence. it was the whole of jesus of nazareth who was changed and transformed into new life and existence. the whole jesus had to die and be raised from the dead, transformed into what paul calls “spiritual” existence.10 meaning and implications of jesus resurrection the consequences of the resurrection are far-reaching and have the utmost significance in christ and in the history of christianity. for jesus from the gospel narratives two characteristic reactions to jesus are evident to us: the one before the resurrection the other after it. there was a deepening of the evaluation made of him before. this would not have been so if a change had not taken place in jesus. a. “lord”, “son of god”, “christ” henceforth certain titles were to stand out in the minds of those who believed in jesus: “our lord”, “true son of god”, “christ”. these titles given to jesus at easter evoke a new messianic reality. the resurrection proved his claims and vindicated the character of jesus. the characteristic title of the risen christ lord was given to jesus with the same meaning it had when applied to god (cf. phil. 2:9; jn. 20:28.) in the fullness of his sovereignty. it is the resurrection that has established jesus in his lordship (cf. acts 2:24-36; mt. 28:18). many apologetic writers have presented the the resurrection of jesus: our life | 207 resurrection exclusively as the convincing demonstration of the claims of jesus or of his divinity. therein the full and profound significance of his earthly life is fully revealed. in lohfink’s erudite words, it was exactly through the resurrection that “the man jesus was shown to be ‘the one’ through whom god had definitively and unsurpassably revealed himself; and in whom he had acted in a definitive and unsurpassable way”.11 it is the resurrection, for the earliest christian preaching, that designates jesus as the christ, the son of god (cf. acts 2: 36; rom. 1:4.). this is the point at which his resign as messiah begins, when so far from returning to the confines of the present age, he enters upon and inaugurates the age of glory. at the hour when jesus is glorified, (cf. lk. 24:26; jn. 12:23; 1 pet. 1:21) god’s messianic act is complete and the age to come has begun to supersede this one. and conversely, it is because in it jesus is declared unequivocally to be the messiah that the raising of jesus can be spoken of as “the resurrection as the beginning of the last day. b. vindication of jesus by god another important aspect of the resurrection is the way in which it links the person and work of christ. the resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all christ’s works and teachings. this is its christological significance. the resurrection expresses god’s satisfaction with what christ has done. it is the seal the father put on the life, the death, the words, and the deeds of his son, jesus christ. the act of resurrection is always an act of god, although jesus claimed the power to take up his life again after laying it down, (cf. jn. 10:18) the new testament does not suggest that the resurrection was an independent act of jesus christ. the power behind it was the power of god. indeed, the resurrection of jesus christ is viewed as the supreme display of divine power. it is an allencompassing action of god in the history of humankind. the constant new testament emphasis is not simply that christ has risen, but that god has raised him or that he has been raised, not from the underworld back to earth, but up to heaven. the exaltation of the 208 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 person is the vindication of his mission. it is as his son that god raised jesus from death. if christ had not been raised there would have been no certainty that his death had effected anything. man would, as st. paul says, still be in his sins. the resurrection is seen, therefore, to be indispensable to man’s salvation. his exalted position has a direct bearing on his present activity. his capacity for effectively acting on behalf of his people in his continued ministry is as unlimited as his sovereignty. hence the epistle to the hebrews drew from its study of the resurrection the title “eternal high priest” and assigned it to christ. c. completion of redemption the resurrection is essentially part of god’s plan for the redemption of mankind. in fact, it demonstrates the completion of redemption. it is the salvific event par-excellence. jesus died to save the world. had he remained permanently in the state of death he could not have redeemed the world. had he not come from the grave no gospel message would have been given to the world. the work of redemption was completed in the resurrection. death plus the resurrection equals perfected redemption. it was by being raised to anew life, not less than by dying to this old existence, that christ now presents the picture of man-redeemed, or as st. paul states it “the redemption in christ jesus” (rom. 3:24). the resurrection of jesus christ is central within the whole act whereby we are saved. isolated from the earlier life of jesus, the resurrection becomes something unnatural and nothing more. however related to the whole gospel of the deeds and teaching of christ, the resurrection is seen to be its crowning point. this aspect is developed in the papal discourses: christ’s resurrection is closely connected with the mystery of the incarnation of the son of god. it is its fulfillment, according to god’s eternal plan. rather, it is the supreme crowning of all that jesus had revealed and wrought throughout his whole life, from his birth to his passion and death, by his deeds, miracles, teaching, example of perfect holiness and above all by his transfiguration. he had never the resurrection of jesus: our life | 209 revealed directly the glory, which he had with the father ‘before the world was made’ but he concealed this glory in his humanity until the definitive emptying of himself through his death on the cross.12 the resurrection is a saving event because it is not until jesus has received the fullness of life, which is properly his as son of god and son of man that his redemptive work is complete and effective. he is the first-born of those who rise (cf. col. 1:18.), “the first-born of all creation” (col. 1:15), the germinal cell of the new world and the figure of it in its final form, “the alpha and the omega” (apoc. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). jesus is the second adam, the true adam (cf. rom. 5:12-21). the saving effect of the resurrection that jesus communicates a new life to those who believe in him. d. fulfillment of prophecy the resurrection is the fulfillment of christ’s own prophecies and as such, is the most sublime proof of his divinity. as pope john paul ii points out, “the resurrection of the crucified proved that he was really the ‘i am’, the son of god.”13 christ had referred on a number of occasions to the glory that would be manifested in his death and resurrection as the eternal son of the father (cf. jn. 2:19-22; 11:4; phil. 2:9-11). this doctrine was subsequently expounded by st. paul as the high point of revelation in the way he based his evidence of the resurrection on the evidence of scriptures. the announcement of the death and the resurrection of the son of man (cf. mk. 9:34; 10:32-34) pertains to the preaching of the eschatological kingdom. it means that it is through death and then in a resurrection that jesus will enter into the glory of the kingdom (cf. lk. 24:26). jesus thus fulfills the prophecy of daniel chapter 7 on the heavenly coming of the son of man through that of the suffering servant. thus, theologically, we may conclude that the coming of the kingdom in which is the eschatological fullness of salvation is identical with the mystery of the resurrection. 210 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 e. victory over death the first christians did not just say that jesus lived beyond death. they said that he overcome (conquered) death (cf. acts 2:24). the resurrection of jesus meant that the kingdom of god, which was present in jesus, had also conquered death. the messiah had risen. the reign of god had come ‘with power’. christ has conquered sin and death and has promised us that we shall conquer it too. this easter mystery is one that throws a continuous challenge to us to rise above the fear of our precarious, tenuous and finite existence here on earth. our belief in christ’s resurrection is a radical expression of man’s conviction that no matter what happens, good and godliness will triumph over evil in the end. hence, with the risen christ, we can triumphantly say, “o death, where is thy victory? o death, where is thy sting?” (1 cor. 15:55). c. f. gellert rightly wrote: jesus lives! thy terrors now can, o death no more appaul us. jesus lives! by this we know thou o grace cannot enthrall us halleluiah! the powers of death have done their worst. but christ their legions hath dispersed. let shouts of holy joy outburst: halleluiah! 14 the victory of our lord jesus christ is one we can share. the holy father, pope john paul ii, reminds us that the definitive victory over death, already won by christ, is shared by him with humanity in the measure in which we receive the fruits of redemption, bringing with it admission to the “new life”.15 the importance of jesus’ victory over death is the christian mystery that underlies resurrection language. this sharing with humanity leads us to examine as well the theological implications of jesus’ resurrection in all men. for all people apart from being the culminating point of revelation, the resurrection has a number of consequences, which affect us directly. what jesus is in virtue of his resurrection, he is in relation to man and creation. far from him alone being affected by his resurrection, the resurrection of jesus: our life | 211 all men and women are affected. as the second vatican council emphasized: all this holds true not for christians only but also for all men of goodwill in whose hearts grace is active invisibly. for since christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the some destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the holy spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to god in the paschal mystery.16 a. gift and union with the life of christ in the first place, jesus’ resurrection is also seen by the new testament, in addition to its application to christ, as the moment when christ “opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers” and inaugurated the “new and living way” (heb. 10:20) between man and god. the risen christ is the principle and source of a new life for all men since he makes available to us a sharing in the divine life of grace and in that victory over death caused by sin (cf. eph. 2:45). the resurrection is the point of release, when the “life” that jesus came to bring (cf. jn. 10:10) is poured forth in power and let loose in the entire world. this new life is characterized in a special way by our becoming adopted children of god (cf. gal. 4:4-5; rom. 8:14) as a result of being freed from the slavery of sin. the grace of adoptive sonship or divine filiations makes us brothers and sisters of christ. jesus is restored to his friends, never again to be parted from them. he lives with and in his people. this vital union of the believer with christ becomes more precious after the resurrection. the believer is risen with christ and christian life is the outliving of the in living christ (cf. gal. 2:20). this restoration is not a mere human reunion but a permanent divine indwelling (cf. jn. 14:23). salvation is realized in christ alone, with whom it is identified. thus the resurrection that brought about salvation in christ also puts this salvation at the disposal of men. men will not be saved except by communion with christ in this salvation. 212 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 b. pledge and principle of our own resurrection another effect of christ’s resurrection is its causal relationship with our own resurrection. pope john paul ii thus writes: when he foretold the institution of the eucharist, jesus referred to himself as the sacrament of eternal life and of the future resurrection: ‘he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and i will raise him up at the last day’.17 we derive our title and hope for bodily immortality our supernatural union with him by faith in his divinity and by partaking of his lifegiving flesh. scheenben makes a penetration comment on this point: ‘the flesh of the lord is life-giving spirit’ says st. athanasius, ‘because it was conceived by the lifegiving spirit’. thus the spirit of god abides in it and the son of god, from whom the spirit proceeds, has taken it to himself as a fire takes iron. this indwelling spirit did not, it is true, actually preserve it from death, but guarded it from dissolution and decay; and once death had embraced it, the spirit called it back, in a way that was all the more miraculous, in a new, immortal life. this same spirit brings the flesh of christ, as the organ of his spiritual might, upon the alter, there to unite it to the flesh of the faithful.18 for st. paul, too, the strongest argument for our resurrection is that christ, the god-man, one head, has risen from the dead by the power of his divinity (cf. eph. 2:5; col. 2:12; rom. 8:11). since the best way of bringing about this union is to partake of the life-giving flesh of christ, the fathers point to the eucharist as the primary source and chief title of our immortality and the resurrection of the body. that christ is risen from the dead, and that through communion with him in the eucharist we already participate in this new life of christ in a very real way is the key to our own bodies on the last day. the resurrection of christ is our inheritance as well. in view of the the resurrection of jesus: our life | 213 finality and banality of human mortality, and more so of its frequency in nations like ours where both life-saving and prolonging devices are in short supply, the hope and purpose of life to be reposed in the resurrected jesus becomes the more urgent. it is this resurrected jesus who transforms and explains the meaning of human existence and materiality in all its ramifications. the resurrection of jesus, therefore, is the principle of the resurrection of the christian to the eternal life of glory. only because god has done this for his son are new possibilities opened for his many children who have come to believe in what he has done. the father who raised jesus will also raise the christian (cf. 2 cor. 4:14). nowhere is this theme more fully elaborated than in 1 corinthians 15. the risen christ is at once the prototype of redemption and the effective cause of the resurrection of all other men (cf. 1 cor. 15:20f; col. 1:18). he is the first to return from the dead. what takes place in him will take place in all. so closely bound together are christ’s resurrection and that of the christian, it must be said that if the christian will not rise from the dead, then christ is not risen (cf. 1 cor. 15:13) and mankind is not saved. salvation means union with the risen lord and through him peace with god and between all men, and this is meant not merely in a spiritual sense but in a real, corporeal sense. the resurrection of the faithful completes the victory of christ over sin and death. the resurrection is not a return to the conditions of the present life, but to a life of the spirit, the life already possessed by the risen jesus and communicated from him to those who believe in him. what the resurrection or man in christ means is not only a deliverance from physical death into eternal life. it also means – and this is in some ways more primary – the here-and-now deliverance of man from spiritual death into a life lived in christ and in consciousness of the power of his resurrection. according to the apostle, we shall share in christ’s resurrection principally for the reason that the divine, life-giving spirit of christ and his eternal father abides in us, the living members of christ (cf. rom. 8:11). 214 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 c. gift of the spirit this last passage again draws attention to the holy spirit as the vital link, not only between christ’s resurrection and ours, but also between our present and our future state. that “what is mortal” will be swallowed up by life is even now guaranteed by the gift of the spirit (cf. 2 cor. 5:4-5). for christ “will change our newly body to be like his glorious body, by the power, which enable him to subject all things to himself (phil. 3:21); and this power is the spirit”. indeed, the spirit, the principle of the new life of the christian, is not given until jesus is raised and glorified (cf. jn. 7:39; 16:7), and the first thing the risen lord did when he appeared to the disciples behind locked doors is to breathe the holy spirit upon them (cf. jn. 20:19-23). in fact st. paul regards the giving of the spirit as the characteristic activity of the risen christ (cf. 1 cor. 15:45). he is raised by the spirit, is transformed by the spirit and becomes source of the spirit for the christian. it is arguable that it is at the resurrection that the holy spirit enters history and the christian church is established as the new people of god. st. paul also identifies the spirit’s operation within the christian with that of the risen christ. our very bodies are given life through the spirit, which now possesses us (cf. rom. 8:11). the very same spirit who gave assurance to jesus can assure us in the midst of our struggles and problems and even in the face of death itself. it is the spirit who gives us confidence that we too will rise, not only as individuals, but as the whole and perfect body of christ. the process by which we are “transformed” ultimately to be “conformed” to the body of his glory (cf. phil. 3:21) is but the same process by which christ himself is formed in us. and this begins at baptism where, by incorporation into the body of christ, we come to “belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead” (cf. rom. 7:4). by such language st. paul relates the risen life at present known in christ to the resurrection yet to come. the agent of this continuity through change is, from the divine of side, the spirit; the vehicle, from the human side, is the body. the resurrection of jesus: our life | 215 caveat where then does the mystery of the resurrection stand in the work of redemption? what is its role and its aftermath in the life and mission of the church? what is the relevance of all this to our life as christians? of what significance is it to us today as christians? faith in the resurrection is something that has such a deep effect on life and has such profound repercussions on all that we do that it cannot be dependent on a few shaky arguments that not everyone accepts. it must have a more solid basis. faith in the resurrection holds two poles together very firm; one in the past, and the other in the future. what about the present? is there a wire that connects one pole to the other and, as it passes through the present, lights up the lamp of life, lets us see the road surface and starts the engine of existence? what use do people who are alive today make of their faith in the resurrection in their lives? is there any resurrection in their lives? for most of us christians today, to all intents and purposes the resurrection has little to do with our lives here and now. it is one of those difficult mysteries of the faith, hidden in the wake of the past and the future, that we’re not very sure what to do with in everyday life. for the first christians, faith in the resurrection was the necessary condition for talking about the life that sprang from the resurrection. faith in the resurrection was the environment within which they lived and out of which they spoke. it was like the air they breathed. both those who talked about the resurrection and those who listened to them lived within this new environment. faith in the resurrection was the root of everything, just as the life we have is the root of everything we do in life. there are two very different ways of approaching and living the same truth of faith. today we situate the object of faith in the resurrection in the past and in the future. the first christians situated it in the present. the way the new testament talks about the resurrection contains many elements that can help us to rethink our way of seeing and living the resurrection. 216 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 to believe in the resurrection is not just to accept a fact from the past and another in the future, but is, first and foremost, an attitude to life arising out of the discovery of a friend, alive in our lives, thanks to the power of god. believing in the resurrection, therefore, is believing, not in a thing, not in arguments, but in someone who acts in us and through us, with immense power, capable of bringing life out of death and making old things new, guiding us toward a future of vast dimensions and possibilities. the key point to faith in the resurrection is that we should discover in our lives this ever-present power of god who is a god of the living. only in this way will we too rise and, once risen, realise the scope of faith in the resurrection. the scientific arguments will not give faith in the resurrection its importance, but the lived experience of the resurrection will give importance to the arguments we discover to defend it. our faith in the resurrection of jesus is not out of human reason alone but reliance on god’s power at work in jesus. the power of god is great. his ability is certain. his faithfulness is sure. his promises never fail. he has promised and he will never fail. we stand on the unconquerable rock of our maker. the only truly convincing proof of the resurrection is life that rises again and is renewed today, that overcomes the powers of death today and enables the repressed and shackled powers of life to be discovered and released to give us all happiness and hope. this is the proof that there is a power stronger than death acting in human beings, the power of the risen christ. where are these signs of the resurrection in our lives to give backing to our words about the resurrection? this is the almighty question we need to search for and answer during this easter season. conclusion christ’s resurrection occupies, as asserted in creedal statements, an essential part of christian faith. it is, as pope john paul ii says, “the greatest event in the history of salvation and indeed, we can say in the history of humanity, since it gives definitive meaning to the world”.19 things can never be the same again. on this great event of good news revolves time and eternity. it completes the revelation of god, who has been trying, since the time of abraham, the resurrection of jesus: our life | 217 to make himself known to us. it is the supreme “epiphany”, for in the risen jesus we have, as john says, seen the “glory” of god (cf. 1 jn. 4:15; 5). at the same time we have the pledge and the first realization of the final state to which the whole human history and with it the whole creation must attain. as found in the easter preface ii “his resurrection is our rising to life”. however this consequence of the resurrection is not just automatic. each one of us must make room for the risen christ in our thoughts, words and deeds. the faith in the resurrection of jesus should have a great influence in our everyday life. if we do not die with him, then we cannot return to life with him (cf. rom. 6:5-11; 2 tim. 2:11). the sacraments of the church, especially baptism and the eucharist, incorporate us with the risen christ, make us become the physical body (people) of the risen christ. that participation in the new life of the risen christ, however, must, if it is to be authentic, be reflected in an external apostolic dynamic, as it was in the lives of the disciples in the post-paschal period. the christian people of every generation have the responsibility to continue this task. as john paul ii points out: every christian in every age and place is a witness to the risen christ. he sees with the eyes of peter and the apostles; he is convinced of the glorious resurrection christ crucified and therefore believes completely in him who is the way, the truth, the life and the light of the world, and proclaims him with a serene courage. the ‘paschal witness’ is thus the specific characteristic of the christian.20 to be credible witnesses of the resurrection, the pope says that our lives must be characterized by three elements: (a) clarity of doctrine; (b) ascetic struggle and consistency of behaviour; (c) apostolic commitment.21 218 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 this is life-long program. it is in fact the christian response to that call to holiness, which was articulated so eloquently by the second vatican council.22 this also has been explicated in practical detail in the papal document on the vocation and mission of the laity.23 however in fidelity to proclaiming the bodily resurrection of jesus, we should never become so defensively governed by apologetics that we do not do justice to the element of transformation and mystery in the risen state (glorified) of christ. on the final note, the call to give witness to the paschal events is not an invitation to an optional commitment. the words of the risen christ, “go therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole of creation” (mark 16:15), have an imperative ring about them. this is one of the most abiding and onerous duties given to the pilgrim church. it is an immortal tradition for every generation of christians. this unchanging nature of christ’s injunction, however, does not affect the means of realizing in concrete its requirements. the church would not be faithful to her own identity and vocation, did she not heed the urgent command to bring the good news to all people. in fact the church cannot avoid this divine commission without doing violence to herself. thus as rev. fr. (dr.) john k. a. aniagwu wrote: “evangelization belongs to the very essence of the church; so that the church can only be church if she evangelizes. if the church were ever to cease to evangelize, then she would cease to be the church, at least the church founded by christ.”24 hence the necessity and relevance of a new era of evangelization worldwide to revive methods, to seek every means by which we can bring the christian message to modern man. such a christian message and mission rested heavily on the resurrection as its essential instrument just as it was in the lives of the disciples in the post-paschal period. without the resurrection of jesus there would have been no message. christians today, as ever before, have no message more central or more important to give to mankind. therefore the resurrection is of central importance in the mystery of redemption and is at the very heart and seal of christian faith a living faith. above all, the resurrection is the seed of our hope. to believe in the resurrection of jesus christ is to believe as well in the the resurrection of jesus: our life | 219 possibility and reality of change in one’s life. what happened in the life of jesus can and will surely be brought about again in the life of his followers who truly believe in him as the resurrection and the life. jesus resurrection life is not a promise that will only be fulfilled in some future existence. this life is available to us here and now even as we await its complete fulfillment at the end of time. endnotes 1. k. stendahl, immortality and resurrection (new york: 1968) in rosemary edet. “leadership in the new testament resurrection/feminist perspective,” the nigerian journal of theology vol. 1 no. (april, 1990), p. 94. 2. donald guthrie, new testament theology (england: inter-varsity press, 1981), p. 372. 3. ferdinand holtz, s. c. j. “the soteriological value of the resurrection of christ,” theology digest vol. 3 (1955), p. 101. 4. karl rahner, foundations of christian faith, translated by willian v. dych (london: darton, longman & todd, 1976), p. 266. 5. eugene joly, what is faith? (new york: hawthorn books, inc., 1958), p. 78. 6. address, 1 march, 1989, no.1. 7. address, 1 march, 1989, no. 3. 8. jean guitton, the problem of jesus: a free thinker’s diary (london: burns & oates, 1955), p. 216. 9. john navone, “the resurrection,” in faith promoting a new synthesis of faith and reason, vol. 34, no. 2 (mar apr 2002), p. 17. 10. ibid. 11. the nigerian journal of theology vol. 1 no. 2 p. 41. 12. address at general audience of 8 mar. 1989, no. 9. 13. address at general audience of 8 mar. 1989, no. 3. 14. “easter, the message of hope”, sunday tribune, 31 march 1991, p. 11. 15. cf. address at general audience of 15 mar. 1989, nos. 4, 5. 16. vatican council ii, pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world, gaudium et spes, no. 22. 17. address at general audience of mar. 1989, no. 4. 18. m. j. scheeben, the mysteries of christianity, st. louis (1961), p. 518. 19. address, 1 mar. 1989, no. 8. 20. address at general audience of 29 mar. 1989, no, 2. 21. cf. ibid. no. 3. 22. cf. dogmatic constitution on the church, lumen gentium, no. 42. 23. post-synodal apostolic exhortation, christifideles laici of his holiness pope john paul ii on “the vocation and the mission of the lay faithful in the church and in the world”, 30 december 1988. 220 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 24. a talk on ‘the call to holiness and evangelization’ given on 10th october 1990 to nigerian federation of catholic students (n.f.c.s.) u. c. h., ibadan branch, 1990 federation week. 12 2 what sayest thou of thyself? some remarks on the entanglement of life and narration and its ethical implications for the philosophical canon björn freter, ph.d independent scholar, knoxville, tennessee, united states of america bfreterb@gmail.com i. life and narration when we are asked who we are, we often answer in stories. let us take a look at an example, namely at the answer given to that very question by john the baptist as told to us by the john the evangelist1. the evangelist has the baptist answer the question posed by the jewish priests and levites “who art thou?” – “σὺ τíς εἶ;” as follows: i am not the christ [ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ χριστóς] (john 1:20). the learned men do not understand this cryptic reply. they continue to interrogate john the baptist: what then? art thou elias? (john 1:21) john the baptist responds: i am not [οὐκ εἰμί] (john 1:21). and a third question follows: art thou that prophet? (john 1:21) john responds and, for the third time, only provides a negative confession: “no [οὔ]” (john 1:21). the inquisitors become impatient: who art thou? […] what sayest thou of thyself? (john 1:22) “what sayest thou of thyself?” – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ;” that is a wonderful explication of the initial question “who art thou?”. who john the baptist is, είναι, is what he has to say, λέγειν, about himself. one could argue that at times the same can hold true for us: who we are is what we have to say about ourselves and, of course, what others have to say about us. we are our stories. we can express who we are by telling – commissioned papers 13 even, as john does, in a highly condensed way – our story. in fact, it seems we have to express ourselves in stories, it seems to be a specific and rather necessary way of being alive as a human being, in other words, using odo marquard’s phrase, “narrare necesse est” – “to narrate is necessary” (marquard 2003, 56, 60, 64, 71). let us turn back to the evangelists’ narration. after his negative confession to christ john the baptist eventually determines himself positively: i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet esaias (john 1:23).2 the inquisition is still not over. now the pharisees proceed to question why john baptizes, if he is not the messiah, nor elijah, nor the prophet. john replies: i baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet i am not worthy to unloose (john 1:26-27). this is what john the baptist wanted and had – narrare necesse est (to narrate is necessary) – to say about himself – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ” (john 1:22): initially it is vital to him to make his story distinguishable from the story of the one who is of the foremost importance. he is not the prophet; he is not elias and – most notably – he is not jesus. “οὐκ εἰμί” – “i am not” is stated by john the evangelist in strict opposition to the many times he records jesus saying: “ἐγώ εἰμι …“ – “i am …”3. eventually john the baptist declares who he is positively: he is the one who announces jesus. even this positive confession is a conscious redirection from himself and towards jesus, the one who is coming after – “ὀπίσω” – him. john is the “voice of one crying” – “φωνὴ βοῶντος”, he is announcing the one “whom ye know not;” – “μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε”. this story is who john the baptist is. the story of john the herald of jesus christ is john. this story, john is convinced, is precisely what any person who wishes to know who he is must learn about him. john encounters himself through his story and he tells this story to those who wish to know him. thus those – be it the jewish priests, levites, pharisees or the reader of the story in the present day – need this story to understand him as the human being he understood himself as to be. “to comprehend anything human”, spanish philosopher ortega y gasset observed, “be it personal or collective, one must tell its history” (gasset 1941, 214) – “para comprender algo humano, personal o colectivo, es preciso contar una historia” (gasset 1970, 49). and that means nothing else but: one must make accessible our stories. 14 formation of the human person in the 21st century human beings attempting to comprehend other human beings need to learn about the other’s life stories. here we see that life and narration are, as edmund husserl’s earliest disciples, wilhelm schapp described, entangled (schapp 1953). not only are our histories vital for comprehending the other and that our lives and the stories we tell inextricable, even the stories tell do not necessarily have to be factual. returning to our example, it does not even matter if we consider john the baptist to be a factual or fictious person, the real herald of christ or not. as paul ricœur states, “fiction is quasihistorical, just as much as history is quasi-fictive” (ricœur 1990, 190). german novelist siegfried lenz notes we have to learn that even those experiences ‘made’ by fictious personal still hold relevance for us. our being or vitality is very much alive in the fictitious experience. lenz explains: “experiences made by the invented person do not only concern them; they are transferable experiences. novel characters would never challenge our interest in this way if we did not feel that our matter was being negotiated; we stop and say: that is how it will be. […] at such moments it becomes clear that we need the invented person if we want to give expression to the general or to find the hidden law that underlies human existence.” (lenz 1981, 437-438)4 from this we expand the essential nature of stories from being necessary for understanding others and a fundamental part of our lives to incorporate stories of both fact and fiction that bring vitality to our experiences and our understanding of ourselves and others. we could say, narration is being alive. it seems we would not be able to eradicate our aliveness out of narration, even if we wanted to. when the human being narrates it inevitably add its humanity or vitality into the narration. when the human being narrates it implicitly speaks – λέγειν – of the human being – ἄνθρωπος – in general. conversely, narrating – λέγειν – implies to tell about the human ἄνθρωπος. anthropology implies narration as narration implies anthropology. our aliveness remains alive when it is spoken, written, or sung, in any the narrative form. indeed, we encounter narration as a form extracorporal human vitality. not only are we able to convey this vitality, we are in need of this vitality. it allows us to understand our story, it allows us to be understood and furthermore to understand other human beings. interconnected human life itself comes to reality in stories just as stories come to reality in human life. schapp even insisted, that access to the human being is “only possible through stories, only possible through his [her/their] stories” (schapp 1953, 100)5. commissioned papers 15 being alive is narrative. the telling of stories at all, is possible, because we are alive in a narrative sense. it can be said that stories enable our existence, and our existence enables stories. maybe we can even say that the telling of stories enables the living of stories, and the living of stories enables the telling of stories. life is always life’s story and life’s story is always something living, something living in which we see our vitality reflected back to us. returning to john the baptist we see he is who he is, and he can tell his story because he is his story and he is his story because he can tell it. life is narration and narration is alive. this makes the story of john the baptist being asked who he is a story that can affect us all, whether we understand him to be a herald of christ or something entirely different. certainly, we hear the story of the herald of christ, but we find a human being narratively self-determining himself. this self-determination can speak to any human being. and here the significance of our telling the stories of ourselves takes on crucial importance: the question of “who am i?” is connected at the very foundations of our existence with the question of “what ought i do?”. these questions converge so dramatically at the foundations of existence that they seem to form only one single question: work on the question “who am i?” seems to be the same work as that concerning the question “what should i do?”. martin luther understood the baptist in precisely this sense in a sermon on the gospel according to john. he has john the baptist say: i know neither how to help nor how to advise you [scil. the inquiring scholars], nor indeed myself; but i know of one who can help me and you alike. […] [f]ollow [christ], i and will do so as well (luther 2002, 31).6 follow christ – that is what is to be done here. while we may know the story of john only in its outline, we know not only his actions, his being, but also his “why?”, his practical answer to the question “what ought i do?”. we know john’s ought-to-be: to be a follower – or a precursor – of christ. this connection between being and ought, between what i am and what i ought to be is present in john’s story in concreto, but it is present in abstracto, as the fight for self-determination, for anyone who comes across this narration. when we hear the story of john, we also hear – without this having to be expressly spoken of – his normative narrative. a story, as we would like to put it, thus concerns the genesis of action and the reasons for it, or, put into philosophical terminology, is and ought and the connection between the two at the foundations of existence. our biographical narrative is not an objective narration. in the biographical narrative, in the understanding of the world and oneself according to this biographical narrative, our normative understanding of the world is also reflected. 16 formation of the human person in the 21st century the biographical narrative tells not only of our being, but also of who we are, and this self-determination necessarily includes the ought to which we subject this being. let us summarize our findings: we are our stories. being alive implies being entangled in stories, implies tell one’s story – or at least desiring to have a story – and to deal with stories of other human beings. a hermeneutic of human life needs cannot be complete without taking into account that being alive happens qua narration. an epistemology of human understanding that disregards stories, as far as we can tell, will necessarily be an ignorant reductive epistemology. we have to take stories seriously as a part of the expressivity of human life. ricœur remarked that “the novel occupied a still vacant place in the realm of human sciences” (ricœur 1990, 191) – “le roman occupait ici une place encore vacante dans l'empire des sciences humaines” (ricœur 1985, 278). we agree with ricœur. however, we would like to broaden his understanding and insist that this holds true not only for the novel, but for stories in the broadest sense as we can find it in schapp when he observed that even the “corporeal appearance” of a human being is actually “an appearance of his [her/their] stories” (schapp 1953, 100)7. with stories, the narratives of life, we possess a reservoir of testimonies of human self-understanding that has thus far, despite the works of schapp, ricœur and others – been widely underestimated. we must finally and fully accept narrations as, in the words of austrian thinker robert musil, “contributions to the intellectual dealing with the world” (musil 1978, 942)8. ii. consequences we have to tried to show the mutual implication of life and narration. our hypothesis may seem prima facie deceptively simple, but there are some surprisingly powerful ethical consequences to it. if it is true that stories – in the broadest sense – and human life are inextricably entangled then the disregard of some stories as irrelevant, beyond the canon, or primitive equals the disregard of those people who listen to and tell these stories. the western humanities have hegemonically determined for centuries what stories are of relevance. those stories were mostly written by white, heterosexual men and those stories were mostly written down – even though some foundational figures of the western culture, most notably socrates and jesus, never wrote a single line of their own teachings. the african culture, for example, was and continues to be for its many people who continue to hand down their stories orally deemed ‘primitive’, pre-western, of less relevance, inferior. however, if we take the entanglement of life and narrative seriously, we might have to give up the idea of a narrow canon. commissioned papers 17 of course, can establish different parameters of, for example, the impact of different stories. the story of jesus christ has certainly had a great impact, but that does hardly make the stories of the yoruba or akan any less relevant. it is a still prevailing predominantly western misunderstanding that impact – often advanced by subsequent domination and subordination – is the parameter of relevance. we have to give up the idea of canonical stories as story of superior relevance, of a canon that one has to read to become a human being, of a canon that determines that only those who think within these given stories are truly thinking and thus entitled to speak their thoughts. we have to give up the idea of a general canon, because a general canon is necessarily an antiinclusive and superiorist tool of domination that is compiled by those in power. however, power is not a philosophical argument. there is, if we agree to the interconnectedness of life and narration, no philosophical argument for a canon. any argument for a general canon is an argument against the relevance of all human beings. when we accept life and stories and stories and life as what they are by their blending, we have to understand that ignoring, disregarding, suppressing stories means to ignore, disregard and suppress human life. africa was during the colonial era not allowed to have a story, was not allowed to continue her story. georg wilhelm friedrich hegel famously claimed that africa is “no historical part of the world; it shows no movement or development” (hegel 1986, 129)9, and anything one might of relevance there is actually part of europe’s or asia’s history. africa, in hegel’s opinion, which was highly impactful for the development of what is to be considered part of the philosophical canon and what not, has no story to tell and – and the colonial reality shows the transition of this philosophical assessment into tangible reality – thus there are no living beings to considered as fully human. this practice has to be discontinued. philosophy has to desuperiorized, i.e. philosophy has to understand and dismantle the – implicit or explicit – assumptions of superiority in all its iterations. all must be able to determine who they are so that they can determine how they should act. thus everyone is included in the ethical conversations of our times and we can collaboratively broaden our epistemological understanding and desuperiorize the philosophical canon by making it inclusive so that philosophy as a discipline can be a vital part of our coming history. 18 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 we will use the king james version to cite the english text of the new testament and the aland & aland 26th edition for the greek text. 2 see esaias 40:3. 3 see for example john 6:20, 7:9, 10:11 and many more, furthermore see thyen 2005, 112. 4 this is my translation. the german text reads: “erfahrungen, die die erfundene person macht, betreffen nicht nur sie; es sind übertragbare erfahrungen. niemals würden romanfiguren unser interesse derart herausfordern, wenn wir nicht spürten, daß an ihnen auch unsere sache verhandelt wird; wir stutzen und sagen: so ist es, so wird es sein. […] in solchen augenblicken wird deutlich, daß wir auf die erfundene person angewiesen sind, wenn wir dem allgemeinen ausdruck verschaffen oder die verborgene gesetzmäßigkeit auffinden wollen, die dem menschlichen dasein zugrundeliegt“. 5 this is my translation. the full german passage reads: “wir meinen auch, daß der zugang zu dem mann, zu dem menschen, nur über geschichten, nur über seine geschichten erfolgt“. 6 this is my translation. the german text reads: „ich weiß euch [scil. den gelehrten] nicht zu helfen noch zu raten, auch mir selbst nicht; sondern ich weiß und kenne einen, der mir und euch helfen kann. […] [h]änget euch an [christus], ich wills auch tun”. 7 this is my translation. the german text reads: “das leibliche auftauchen des menschen [ist] nur ein auftauchen seiner geschichten ist“. 8 this is my translation. the german text reads: “beiträge zur geistigen bewältigung der welt”. musil refers here only to the novel. 9 this is my translation. the full german passage reads: “[afrika] ist kein geschichtlicher weltteil, er hat keine bewegung und entwicklung aufzuweisen, und was etwa in ihm, das heißt in seinem norden geschehen ist, gehört der asiatischen und europäischen welt zu“. abstract� in this paper, we assess some factors that are obstacles to healthy christian – muslim relations in a pluralistic society such as nigeria. for several years there have been crises between christians and muslims in nigeria, most especially in the northern part. christianity and islam are two of the three major religions in nigeria, the african traditional religion being the third. sufce to point out here that christians, muslims, and adherents of the african traditional religion live together, buy and sell in the same markets, work in ofces together, and sometimes even inter-marry in various communities in nigeria. in this kind of scenario one still wonders the sometimes show of hatred between christians and muslims. tracing historically the two religions under focus it is pertinent to note that both religions are called the religions of the book and share a common heritage. the research methodology adopted here are socio-historical, and evaluative approaches. one of the research ndings is that authentic education of adherents by both religions is the panacea to healthy relations between the christians and muslims in nigeria. this work concludes with the fact that the existing religious climate in nigeria is a direct result of certain actions, utterances, and insinuations all unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations in nigeria as a pathway to authentic dialogue felix ehimare enegho, ph.d. professor of church history and mission studies research fellow, department of christian spirituality, church history and missiology university of south africa, pretoria felixenegho@gmail.com of which are preventable. this is to suggest that if nigerians are sincere in their quest for religious harmony and peaceful co-existence, the rst step is to address the issue of factors, which are inimical to religious unity and peaceful co-existence. subsequently, the nal solution becomes easily attainable. keywords: unity, diversity, christian, muslim, pathway, dialogue, nigeria introduction the quest for peace by all in our world today cannot be overemphasized. but there can be no peace without tolerance from inhabitants living together in human society. peace is an opposite of strife. to eliminate strife and crises within human society is the responsibility of all persons who genuinely want a peaceful society. � nigeria as a nation with three major religions, african traditional religion, christianity, and islam have overtime be bedeviled by strife, chaos, and outright crises which have often led to underdevelopment. while the african traditional religion, the oldest religion in nigeria has been quite docile and accommodating to other religions, the attitude of the adherents of christianity and islam has not been quite encouraging. for several years now, some adherents of these two religions have continued to see one another as enemies and competitors in their bid to proselytizing within the nigerian nation. this unhealthy attitude has continued to constitute a cog in the wheel of progress as far as religions are concerned in nigeria. � this paper aims to assess those lingering issues in christian–muslim dialogue in the nigerian context to ameliorate the crises that such issues have raised. we are quite aware of the bickering going on between the christians and muslims in the nigerian state. this work sets to outline those issues and thereafter suggest ways that would bring about worthwhile dialogue between the christians and muslims, which invariably would lead to peaceful co-existence between adherents of the two religions. the research 206 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 methodology adopted here is sociohistorical, and evaluative approaches what is dialogue? since the 1970s, interreligious dialogue has made unprecedented advances. in this relatively short period, a number of initiatives have emerged, including dialogue groups, encounter centres, interreligious organizations, academic and popular journals, and academic programmes, where the possibilities of interreligious dialogue are studied. depending on the participants (laypeople, religious leaders, theologians, and monks), the structure (local/international, small/large-scale, bilateral/multilateral), and the themes to be discussed daily concerns, ethical challenges, spiritual experiences, doctrinal issues, etc, interreligious dialogue can take diverse forms. these can range from encounters between academics in which the exchange of religious ideas is central to those between grassroots groups that are engaged in joint emancipation projects and dialogue, from diplomatic consultations between religious leaders to interreligious prayer meetings in which buddhist and christian monks share experience and insights on meditational practices. they can span the spectrum from encounters focused on action regarding concrete local, national, or ethical challenges such as global warming, human rights, etc., to scriptural reasoning groups in which jews, christians, and muslims read one another's scripture, from personal conversations to international conferences with hundreds of participants, from spontaneous encounters between people who live in the same neighbourhood to colloquia of specialists planned a long time in advance. these different types of dialogue, each in their own way, promote positive and constructive relations with individuals and communities of other faiths that are aimed at mutual understanding 1 and enrichment. 1marianne mayaert, “interreligious dialogue” in cheetham, david, prat douglas, and thomas, david (eds.), understanding interreligious relations. oxford: oxford university press, 2013, 201-202. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 207 dialogue as a term implies a conversation or an attempt to construct a bridge between two people or two communities with the purpose of coming to mutual understanding, respect, reconciliation, peaceful co-existence, and collaborative action for mutual growth in all aspects of human life. dialogue also connotes an exchange of opinions, assumptions, convictions, experiences, principles, beliefs between two representatives of different cultures, customs, 2 traditions, academic disciplines, religious beliefs, etc. � diversity is made up of enrichment and not necessarily a reason for a struggle. also, we are aware of the fact that the breath and plurality epistemologies impede any claim of dominance or exclusivity or absoluteness by any kind of research or search for 3 existence among different communities and countries. � dialogue is connected deep down with the search for truth and a striving for wisdom. it excludes fanaticism. a fanatic is someone who, convinced that he/she is absolutely right, locks himself/herself up in his/her position and refuses any critical testing or challenge. dialogue presupposes precisely the engagement of people with critical minds, who question the obvious and also give 4 room for others to challenge them. 'what all dialogues have in common is that they always concern a history of homo loquens, who 5is driven by reason, seeks wisdom.' in that sense, it is not surprising that the existence of dialogue and philosophy have been connected right from the start. although the adventure of dialogue started in greece with plato, the philosophical hermeneutics of han-georg gadamer especially can assist us to gain a better understanding of what is at stake in the dialogue between the religions. although he did not engage philosophical hermeneutics with a view to interreligious dialogue, reection on interreligious dialogue is greatly indebted to 2joseph bitole, kato, “reections on inter-religious dialogue: an african pastoral perspective.” in klaus kramer and klaus vellguth. mission and dialogue: approaches to communicative understanding of mission, quezon city: claretian publications, 2012, 45. 3ibid. 4ibid, 206. 5ibid. 208 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 gadamer. his hermeneutical model of conversion often resounds in reections on interreligious dialogue. as sallie b. king correctly remarks: 'dialogue and hermeneutics are at base about a very 6mysterious thing: the process of coming to understand the other'. pathway to authentic dialogue in our world dialogue has become such a fashionable word in recent times. we consider it progressive to discuss the need for the dialogue of religions and cultures and how to become competent for dialogue. it is generally accepted that interaction between human beings of diverse origins, leads to a positive result and is for that reason desirable. it naively assumes that people who know each other faceto-face are likely to develop an afnity for each other. but is the opposite not also possible? here, we mean people who get in touch with each other and know each other's views thus creating the opportunity for dissent and conict, perhaps even violence. obviously, more is needed for dialogue than just a coming together and speaking with each other or with one another. this additional feature is known as “good intention”, or the a priori positive inclination towards each other, the willingness to listen, the expectation of enrichment and the hope for a personal meeting of minds. unless the good intention exists, a dialogue is impossible. this positive inclination towards each other is an occidental heritage. it is a reection and a consequence of the christian command to love one's neighbour. it embraces whoever happens to be near; that is, 7potentially it includes everyone. � dialogue can be dialogue only if the focus is on the otherness, when the other can also truly be other; when the strange is not colonized. in the interreligious dialogue as well, openness cannot mean that the other is completely understood as such. the understanding of the other does not happen in a neutral space; our 6ibid, 206-207. 7martin kampchen, “dialogue between christianity and hinduism” in klaus kramer and klaus vellguth (eds). spirituality of the universal church rediscovering faith. quezon: claretian publications, 2014, 201. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 209 prejudices, commitments, and convictions help to determine how we approach the other and his/her tradition. human beings are situated and embodied beings, and we can never fully transcend our historical and cultural context. 'we never see from a god's – eye point of view, we never think from a neutral place or tabula rasa, but always from a specic point of view rooted in our culture, our language, our worldview, and our individual life experiences. there is no escaping 8� being rooted in the particular in this way' dialogue is a revelation of a christian–enlightenment optimism. it claims that conversation pays off because people are different. conversation is another ingredient of dialogue and is such a useful tool to discover differences and liberate oneself from illusions. it is useful because we expect that beyond those differences there lies something which unites us and which we can discover in our conversations. whatever we may have in common does not mollify these differences. however, our christian optimism demands that the common features are given more weight, thereby reducing the 9 perceived differences to insignicance. � one wonders the concept to be used in describing this common bond beyond all differences. is it the human factor, the divine in man, the holy spirit, or the divine soul in every human being? only when this common feature dwelling in every human person can be activated and put into constructive use will dialogue make sense. this means that the rst condition for dialogue is that it should take place between two partners with equal rights, meaning who are equal because god has equally endowed them with that common heritage. no cultural or religious superiority can be expressed, not even in innuendoes or by uttering obsolete clichés. a constant watch over our language, also body language, is needed to 10 avoid slipping into our clichés of superiority. in the case of nigeria, christians must never encounter muslims with a sense of superiority; neither should muslims show superiority towards christians. the 8marianne mayaert, “interreligious dialogue”, 208. 9martin kampchen, “dialogue between christianity and hinduism”, 201. 10ibid, 202. 210 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 claim that christianity is the only religion capable of salvation should not be the case because the muslims are also god's children created in his image and likeness and therefore, also on the path leading to paradise. some areas of divergence in christianmuslim relations we do not intend to highlight all the areas of conicts between christianity and islam in nigeria and other nations of the world. this analysis is just a microcosm of the divergence in the understanding of one another by the christians and muslims in our world. � we commence this section with anecdotal history which relates to an encounter in the mid 1960s between dr. nnamdi azikiwe who was nigeria's rst president and alhaji ahmadu bello, a onetime premier and sarduna of sokoto. the story related by johnson mbillah, general coordinator of the programme for christian – muslim relations in africa, is transmitted as follows: the two leaders met to discuss the growing tensions between coalition partners in central government (the northern people's congress and the national council of nigerian citizens). the tension brought to the fore open divergences between the majority christian south which was degenerating into ethnoreligious antagonism. in the cause of dialogue to restore some understanding, dr. azikiwe is quoted to have said to ahmadu bello, “let us forget our differences.” ahmadu bello replied, “no, let us understand our differences… by 11 understanding our differences we can build unity in nigeria.” from the perspective of islam, christianity is one-sided in its preoccupation with spiritual matters; it is exclusively concerned with the salvation of people's soul in the hereafter. but what does it have to say about life in this world, especially about social and political matters? secondly, the separation of state and religion is alien to islam; it is a western and christian idea. thirdly, christianity distinguishes between the things that are god's and the things that are 11martha th frederiks, “let us understand our differences: current trends in christian-muslim relations in sub-sahara africa” in marina ngursangzeli behera (ed.) interfaith relations after one hundred years: christian mission among other faiths. oxford: regnum books international, 2011, 49. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 211 caesar's. how then should one understand ventures carried out in the 12 name of christianity such as the crusades and colonialism? � islam understands itself as the nal revealed religion, fullling and superseding all earlier religions. judaism is one-sided in its preoccupation with this world; christianity is one-sided in its emphasis on the spiritual. islam in contrast is the perfect, harmonious religion of the middle way (cf. qur'an 5:3 and the reference to din wasat at 2:143, which is interpreted in this sense of a mediating religion). islam concerns body and soul, social, political and religious life, prosperity in this world and the hereafter. christianity, on the other hand, sacrices the body and the soul; it deals only with religion (din) and ignores politics and the state (dawla), setting no store by prosperity in this world, but rather laying all its hope on 13heaven. to varying degrees, such ideas are widespread among muslims. it needs to be acknowledged that several features of the th image that christianity offered in the 19 century lent support to this grossly oversimplied view. typical in this regard are phrases like 'the saving of souls' in this valley of tears'; a widespread negative view of the body and especially of sexuality, what at times was portrayed as sin's chief domain; the concepts of christianity as a 14private religion and of politics as a 'dirty business; and so on. � majority of muslims see monasticism and the practice of celibacy for the sake of the faith as a typically christian phenomenon which leaves its stamp on the entire christianity. they regard it as an embodiment of a 'ight from the world' (al-rar min al –dunya) which the 'healthy' perspective of islam rmly rejects. it should be noted, however, that this traditional muslim perspective of christianity has in recent years undergone a partial change. muslims often declare their interest in the efforts of the christian churches to gain a hearing in the sphere of politics and public opinion of issues of 12christian w. troll, muslims ask, christian answer. lahore: multi media affairs, 2012,103. 13ibid. 14ibid,104. 212 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 peace and justice in the name of the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. muslim thinkers are interested in liberation theology because it issues a call to struggle against political oppression and 15social injustice. christian mission and islam in nigeria today the shared history of christians and muslims indicates that it does not matter who is politically or culturally dominant, muslims or christians, perhaps with some exceptions in the ninth century, conict and confrontation have been a norm. the principle of 'exchange' has rarely been explored. in the early arab middle east, which experienced the muslim conquest and was integrated within the expanding muslim rule, only muslims had full rights. this may have partly contributed to the decline of eastern christianity. their migrations, even in our contemporary time (e.g. in turkey and iraq) are perhaps a sign of the continuing conicts (most of it avoidable, as in iraq). islam and christianity have been guilty of taking their notion of truth and reality to extremes and in hating the other enough to wage 16wars. � there is certainly something worthwhile that modern christians and muslims in nigeria need to learn from the ninth century dialogues. mark beaumont's work on christology indicates how christians presented 'christ for muslims' in what he called 'the th most creative period of christian-muslim dialogue' (9 century). thwhat is interesting is that he compares it with the 20 -century dialogue which follows a similar trajectory and this is where his signicant contribution lies. christians believed there were continuities between the two faiths. islam on the other hand already had the christ and their task was simply to build on this preunderstanding. in such an open and honest context even the seemingly intractable problems of jesus' divinity and crucixion 15ibid 16david emmanuel singh, “hundred years of christian – muslim relations: mission to interfaith relations” in marina ngursangzeli behera (ed.) interfaith oxrelations after one hundred years: christian mission among other faiths. ford: regnum books international, 2011, 39. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 213 could be explained and people were civil enough to hear them speak. they may eventually reject the idea but not before they had properly 17heard them. � the comparative framework for beaumont's study was intended to serve as a model for dialogue. for him what characterized christians from these periods was their ability to listen to muslims and their objections and take their 'concerns seriously'. there existed genuine commitment to engaging with them and although, they might eventually not accept christian claims, christian commitment to continue fostering this relationship and creative exchange held promise. this sort of friendly persistence was exactly what jesus intended in 'the parable of the sower' in mark 4. jesus spoke creatively in parables not to confuse people and prevent them from comprehending but to secure understanding. the question of acceptance was the prerogative of the listener. some thinkers go a step further in seeking to understand and secure an understanding of their respective faiths in the spirit of friendship and service. apostolov, for instance, in his 'christian-muslim frontiers' searches for an interface between christianity and islam from the new perspective of intercultural theology. the key notions in this approach are 'interface' or the 'zone of contact' where theologies 18intersect. � the notion of 'interface' or the 'zone of contact' (rather than conict) is quite interesting. it conceives of religions as representing as it were, different circles. much of these circles are unique to the religions they represent; meaning that the greater space in these stands on its own may owe to the unique trajectories they have traversed in their political, social, cultural, and economic history. however, between these circles, there appear, 'zones of contact' or 'interfaces' which may also be due to historical contacts between them, the natural osmosis of ideas and possibly also the common operations of a just and loving god, the creator of all beings and the spirit of christ. from the perspective of the idea of exchange through 17ibid, 39-40. 18ibid, 40. 214 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 such zones of contact, we have the example of w.c. smith who purposefully worked assiduously to emphasize 'interfaith' and particularly christianity's relations with islam. according to him, it was not about sacricing religious distinctiveness as that was the greater part of religious identities. the traditional approach, for smith, assumed that islam and christianity are two distinct religions and civilizations and as such presented them as separate circles. it is not a surprise therefore, that confrontation and conict have characterized their history. their relationship as a result is still largely understood and construed in terms of clash rather than cooperation and acceptance. therefore, smith's call, was for 'a new mental map', simply 'understanding' the other and securing their understanding of another's faith but to lead to genuine relations expressed in and through a common theology. this theology would be based on the premise that truth was a 'humane' and 'not an objective' concept. it was not contained in 'beliefs or doctrines' but was 'a function of the inner person.' if the nature of truth was concrete and not abstract then 19 it was something that grew in human engagement with it. christian communities and relations with others there is the need for urgent dialogue and collaborative solidarity from all faith-based organizations, communities, and cultural groups in africa (and most especially in nigeria) for the following reasons: a). the perceived dechristianisation of some nations which were for centuries considered to be the origin and hub of christianity, its inspiration, human and material resources for missionary activities in africa and worldwide; b). the general decreasing religious sense in society for several reasons, such as absolute or extreme materialism, socialism, egoistic individualism, and hedonistic tendencies (benedict xvi 43). the alarming share of ignorance of judeo christian principles and values in nigerian local christian communities whose population is 19ibid, 40-41. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 215 demographically increasing but lacking in deep christian conviction 20and commitment. c). the ideology of absolute human freedom that divinizes a created human being to the extent that those who embrace it ignore and devalue the rights of the community, senselessly exploit nature including fellow human beings; or the conviction that god does not 21intervene in human society. the mission is the reason for which an organization or a community was created, chosen, elected such as the church to do, or the reason why it exists. jesus christ tasks the church to bring the light of the gospel to all humanity without exemption. this task is executed via the tripartite ministry of jesus christ and his church, meaning, the prophetic, liturgical or sacramental and shepherding or deaconia or witnessing to gospel values and law of love of god and 22 neighbour. it is through love that dialogue comes into play; loving not only brothers and sisters and neighbours but strangers, opponents, true enemies, or those we merely perceive to be against our cherished interests. in this context; muslims, hindus, buddhists, animists, members of christian sects, extreme secularists, materialists, people with hedonistic tendencies, all are fellow partners with christians in the dialogue journey and process. the purpose of dialogue is that there exist several persons who are born, grow up, and educated in a cultural context that completely disregards or ignores the idea or 23 reality of god, the transcendental dimension, to mention just a few. a. the old classic absolute secularists who nd it a herculean task to imagine the existence of god; 20joseph, bitole, kato, “reections on inter-religious dialogue: an african pastoral perspective.” in klaus kramer and klaus vellguth. mission and dialogue: approaches to communicative understanding of mission. quezon city: claretian publications, 2012,43. 21ibid, 44. 22ibid, 45. 23ibid, 45-46. 216 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 b. the agnostics who purposely or intentionally refuse to decide whether to believe in god or not; c. the positivists who take pride in rejecting any reality that cannot be scientically tested, measured and veried through laboratory gadgetry or bodily senses; d. the extreme humanists who divinize the human being as having the absolute capacity to control and know every reality through scientic and technical know-how; thus giving him or her the unlimited power and freedom to do anything in his or her favour 24 and pleasure. e. the muslims who though believe in god and many of the characters and stories in the christian bible have their mindset and conviction on how god should be worshipped from the perspective of islam. the process of dialogue does not exclude any person(s) in these categories. nigerian christians need not see the muslims as enemies but rather as neighbours on the same road to knowing god and working towards the realization of god's kingdom here on earth. they are fellow pilgrims on the path to paradise where all mortals strive to reach to be united with the almighty god. christians in nigeria need to understand how christians elsewhere around the world are relating to muslims and surviving amid any situation. perhaps coptic christianity in egypt and ethiopia serves as a good example of intentional disjunction and separation. indeed coptic christianity is a brave survivor in a context dominated by islam. its marginalization in egypt does not make for a pleasant spectacle. even at that, one of the contemporary responses to this has been a reafrmation of a distinct identity that is rooted in an ancient culture that does not have another living parallel. this kind of identity serves to assert their unique discourse on egyptian – ness and coptic christian identity that is not shared by egyptian islam. separateness is emphasized to inspire the revival of a distinct identity and communal pride. this type of recollection or coming together 24ibid, 46. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 217 does not have its advantages in a context of overt discrimination and outright hostility but only for a time. it almost seems like coptic christianity is reliving a period of rst 'contact'. what it needs to further its relevance in egypt will require an immense sense of faith 25 to transcend to the level of 'cooperation' and 'exchange' with islam. the idea of conceiving christianity and islam in absolute circles may have been a welcome development in an era of political conicts of the western christianity with the east, but today we live more or less in a different world. we have the benets of hindsight. we remember vividly the crusades and the world wars and not forgetting the iraq war spearheaded by george w. bush which was actually not necessary because they were simply made to happen. they owe to certain ideological positions sometimes religiously legitimized. they could all have been avoided. there is the need to bear in mind that today, a majority of the christians live in the east where christianity is also growing. christianity can no longer be equated with the west. the great ideologically conicting axes of the west and islam cannot be simplistically equated with christianity versus islam. this way of thinking has serious consequences for the ancient christian minorities living in 'islamic' lands and generally for muslims and christians in africa and asia alike. in the case of nigeria just like elsewhere in the african continent, christians live with muslims and are often part of the same cultural and civilizational 'circles'. there is often a greater degree of overlap between the christians and their muslim neighbours than them and western christians. therefore, emphasis needs to shift to relations as we search with bennett (2008) for bases for peace and justice and 26 reconciliation. interreligious dialogue between christians and muslims in nigeria in nigeria, interreligious dialogue dates back from the second coming of christianity to the present geographical entity now called 25ibid, 41-42. 26ibid, 42. 218 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 thnigeria. its rst appearance in the 15 century was both brief and uneventful, as the portuguese traders who practiced their christian faith alongside their primary business adventure did not pursue evangelization with vigour, and they were also confronted with many unresolved challenges. there was no report of any clash between muslims and christians. however, the second appearance of th christianity in nigeria in the 19 century was ushered in with a determined effort on the part of various christian denominations church missionary society (c.m.s) at the forefront to convert muslims and others. no sooner had the missionaries settled down to business than informal discussions and consultations began. such discussions sometimes took place between muslims and christians and some other times between muslims and the colonial rulers who being christians themselves had always thrown all their ofcial 27 weight behind the missionaries. � the muslims in nigeria found the method used by the christian missionaries for evangelization as offensive, especially the use of education as bait to de-islamise muslim homes. the emergent discussions ranged between asking for a three hour on friday to full an important religious obligation and a provision for the muslim youth education system that should be devoid of christian colouration. such isolated cases of discussions and consultations represented the very early forms of interreligious dialogue in nigeria. but with the inception of tertiary education in nigeria and the subsequent proliferation of universities in which religious studies discipline was and is given some recognition, interreligious dialogue emerged as a tool to foster understanding and mutual respect between 28muslims and christians as well as adherents of other faiths. dialogue is rst and foremost meant to celebrate a common belief in god. dialogue brings together the community of believers of men and women who confess to the greatness of god and consciously employ this communality for the spread of peace and justice and love. 27muritala aderemi bidmos, inter – religious dialogue: the nigerian experience. abuja: panaf publishing, inc., 2006, 133-134. 28ibid,134. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 219 it is meant as a vehicle and a powerful sign in a world characterized by injustice and a lack of faith. by associating with non-christian communities for some length of time we become aware of the fact that they worship their god or their gods with the same fervor and dedication as christians do. dialogue professes the general aim to learn about the experiences and realizations of other religions and in 29 this way nd a new depth and breadth in their own religion. � understanding the missionary nature of islam and christianity is very imperative in any discourse on the interreligious dialogue between the two faiths in nigeria just as elsewhere around the world. inviting people to the worship of god is an obligatory duty in the monotheistic religions. in islam, for instance, the invitation is called da’wah and it is made compulsory on the muslim ummah (community). “let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong: 30they are the ones to attain felicity. (qur'an 3:104). also, the question of the mission is fundamental in christianity. the christians are instructed as a matter of duty to embark on the spread of the 31 gospel: “but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of god.”. the intriguing question applicable to both muslims and christians is, what extent have the faithful in nigeria complied with these golden and divine injunctions about da'wah and mission? the situation so far is that of awful disgust as some of those who claim to be calling people to the way of god have often conducted themselves in a manner considered a agrant violation of the tenets of their religions. for example, there have been incidents of clashes between muslims and christians during preaching sessions due to a group expressing unprintable words which the opposite group would consider offensive and react to spontaneously and violently too. the 1986 ilorin and the 1987 kafanchan incidents are good examples. it is obvious that the ugly incidents took place due to over-zealousness to win converts coupled with the unbridled utterances and violation of 29martin kampchen, “dialogue between christianity and hinduism”, 209. 30muritala adeyemi bidmos, inter – religious dialogue: the nigerian experience, 46. 31ibid,50. 220 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 32the divine principles guiding preaching. � islam and christianity lay down very clear and adequate regulations in pursuance of da’wah and mission. if these were strictly followed, there would be no case of bloody clashes during preaching sessions. the prospective preachers will be doing themselves and the faiths they represent a lot of good if they would 33 comply with the regulations. � another body that can play a key role in healthy interreligious dialogue is the press. it is a well-known fact that the traditional function of the press in any society is to inform, entertain, and educate. the mass media practitioners, like any other professionals, have a code of conduct that governs their practice. within the context of their professional immunity or license, they can decide on which of the many events covered by them is newsworthy. by implication, they reserve the right, by virtue of their profession and training, to determine what information or news item to feed their audience with. with regard to religious affairs in nigeria, it may be important to redene the role of the mass media practitioners, particularly in terms of what events they will nd newsworthy. the mass media reports, news analysis, and features are most likely capable of playing a positive or negative role in the relationship between muslims and christians depending on the intention and orientation of the journalist 34concerned. more often than not, the reactions of the muslims to the actions of a christian or vice-versa are determined by the mass media reports. it will be difcult for instance, to reconcile the objectivity, which supposedly constitutes the bedrock of the etiquette of journalism and the role played so far by the journalists in the following situations: first, during the second republic in nigeria (1979 – 83) a press report stormed the entire country like a thunderbolt. there was an allegation that the muslims had been given ten million naira (n10,000,000) by the then federal government, to 32ibid, 51-52. 33ibid, 51. 34ibid unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 221 build a central mosque in abuja, the new federal capital. the gesture was seen as a favour to the muslims and contempt for, or neglect of, the christians. the tension caused by the report was better imagined. even the prompt intervention of the government to explain the matter could not help the situation. the truth of the matter as given by a prominent member of the ruling party who incidentally was a christian was that both muslim and christian groups were given ten million naira each to build a mosque and church respectively in the new federal capital. the circumstances that led to the speculation came up when the muslims commenced work on their mosque project in earnest. they had mobilized their resources to contribute more money enough to erect a magnicent mosque. but for the christian church, information gathered indicates that the christians had to hold prolonged deliberations to resolve some nagging problems. it seemed that the press had hidden motive as the press was not willing to give an explanation offered by the government over the matter the same prominence given earlier to the damaging speculation. while some newspapers did not see the need to carry the story, others that carried it did so obviously reluctantly, as the report 35was tucked obscurely in one corner of the papers. secondly, the part played by the press in the religious crisis in kaffanchan in 1987 was surely not in the interest of peaceful coexistence between muslims and christians. the newspapers, radio and television programmes devoted their front-page headlines, editorial comments, and features to the reactions of the muslims in kano, kaduna, and zaria. whereas what transpired in those places represented the muslims' reaction to the original action of the killing of muslim students and the burning of their mosque in kaffanchan on july 6-7, 1987. the public was grossly misinformed by the press as they were fed with partial reports. such reports by the press led to 36muslims and christians ghting themselves. the electronic media too often give prominence to events that are negative and capable of causing hatred and antagonism between 35ibid, 51-53. 36ibid, 53. 222 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 muslims and christians. such events as the maitatsine riot of 1980, the bauchi and katsina unrests of 1991 were given wide publicity at the prime period of network bulletins. if the nigerian press was indeed interested in religious harmony in the country, they would nd several events that take place daily in nigeria that can promote unity 37 and cooperation between the muslims and christians. the stand of islam on alcohol is very clear. alcohol in all ramications, its brewing, distribution, consumption, entertainment, etc is forbidden to muslims. whereas, a substantial part of the nation's resources is earmarked to the brewing industry whereby alcohol is produced in such a quantity as to make alcoholic drinks more accessible than potable water in almost all parts of nigeria. in the health sector, facilities such as the ambulances, which are bought and maintained with the public funds in which the muslims are also contributors, carry the red cross sign. theologically, the religious symbolism of the red cross is not acceptable by the muslims. similarly, the common law practiced in nigeria is of western origin, and it is a truism that somehow christianity seem to be interwoven 38 into the western culture. in nigeria just as elsewhere in our global community, christians habitually live in close contact with muslims. for this reason, christians often feel the psychological urge to set themselves apart. however, such an identity must never be cultivated for its own sake, meaning for selsh motives. instead, nigerian christians should emphasize their identity so as to discover a new depth and maturity in their religion. this may also mean that christians absorb certain elements from islam or other religions and integrate them into their way of living the christian faith. just like other tradition, the christian tradition remains alive and vibrant only by continuing to develop and grow. it must be involved in a constant process of selfdoubt and self-discovery. accordingly, christians in nigeria must learn to strike a balance between two seemingly contradictory goals: on the one hand, to maintain an identity separate from the identity of 37ibid,53-54. 38ibid,58-59. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 223 the muslims and on the other hand, to learn from muslims for the 39 purpose of renewal of their christian faith. the second vatican council theologians suggested that christianity “fulls” the other religions which are so to speak, “prechristian”. these were theological crutches that shed away from formulating a genuine pluralism of religions. dialogue cannot but assume such a genuine pluralism. when engaging in dialogue, christians need to take muslims as seriously as they do their own faith. if they fail to do so, they cannot accept and treat their partners in 40 dialogue as full and equal partners. in conversing amicably with the 'other' person, you must set aside some of your ideas about his inferiority. indeed, if you genuinely want to comprehend his outlook and to learn something from him, you will quickly nd yourself admitting that your defensive beliefs are mere 'defences' and are far from being objective statements. the point being made here is that in interfaith dialogue, participants must abandon their defensive attitude and adopt an attitude of openness. openness implies readiness to look at the other man's beliefs from his point of view, to place them in the best possible light for understanding them, and to see that, even in some belief or practice which at rst seems meaningless or abhorrent, there may be 41 an element of truth. in interfaith dialogue, therefore, the participants should aim at faithfully representing their respective positions in an earnest effort to create a deeper understanding of each other's religious commitments. the two sides are free to express their views, ideas, doubts, objections, and agreements with complete freedom and without inhibitions, but necessarily in an atmosphere of goodwill and understanding. since nigeria is a pluralistic and 'inter-religious' society, there is an ever-growing interdependence in every aspect of our material life, interfaith dialogue is therefore to be seen as an 39ibid, 209. 40ibid,210. 41joshua idowu-fearon, “the imperative of dialogue for the survival of nigeria: lessons from christian-muslim relations” in leadership (online newspaper) accessed 14 october 2019. 224 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 imperative for the evolution of a truly happy and prosperous multireligious society. interfaith is to be accepted as an opportunity to describe and witness to one another. for too long we have described the 'other' from our own understanding resulting in prejudice, stereotyping, and condescension. this is a false witness and the bible 42 commands us not to bear false witness. recommendations; for a healthy relationship between the muslims and christians in nigeria, there is the need to suggest the following recommendations: the claim of the uniqueness of one's religion is psychologically easy to understand. in the old testament, we encounter a jealous god who is venerated by a jealously loyal devotee. neither god nor the devotee wishes to accept somebody equal beside them. god reveals himself as god when he emerges victorious from the competition with other gods. this kind of tribalism is inherent in the psyche of everyone in the global community. distinguishing between various tribes, social groups and economic strata comes naturally to human beings. we believe that 43only enormous efforts can free humans from it. often times we transfer group mentality from our human society to god. divine revelation of the different religions expresses itself through languages that are human-made and shaped by history. they speak to us from a particular historical context into our contemporary context. god is shown as a god who does not tolerate other gods beside him. this path towards the realization that there cannot be but one god, only one divine being that reveals himself/herself/itself in each religion – this path is long and requires prayer, contemplation, dialogue, and most importantly, the 44 renunciation of selshness. there is always a tendency to base one's image of islam and muslims on second-hand information from a distant, instead of entering into explorative dialogue with the muslim neighbour next 42ibid 43martin kampchen, “dialogue between christianity and hinduism”, 202. 44ibid. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 225 door. as a way of reducing this hatred between christians and muslims in some parts of our country, we must seriously try to identify with our muslim/christian friends, try to see people, society, and the world from their point of view, thereby gaining true understanding. to some extent there are possibilities for a process of mutual learning, e.g. through participation in one another's religious festivals. a basic principle, to begin with, is the 8th commandment; to speak well and respectful of one another, thus breaking the vicious 45circle of “prejudice by tradition.” conclusion as we round off this work it may be appropriate to use an analogy one of these researchers saw on a social media platform where one of his friends adams had an encounter at a bank premise. he went to an ebank hall and as he was entering the hall, a lady ran ahead of him and pushed him away, so she could quickly join the long queue before him. he refused to react in any way. she thought he would queue behind her, but he was actually not there to withdraw money but to make a deposit. so he walked to the deposit machine and he was the only one there and no other depositor joined the queue till he was through with his transaction. as he was set to leave the hall, the lady left the queue to apologize for her earlier rude attitude towards him. with a sorry smile on her face, she said “i am sorry sir for pushing you away, i thought you were coming to the queue, adams simply smiled and told her not to bother that it was not a big deal. but since then, the lesson in this story kept coming to his mind. he asserts that we do not have to push away or try to outrun anyone in the race of destiny, relationship, business, ministry, career, religion, etc. we should not always think we are going to the same queue (destination) with others. unknown to you, though your path may look alike, your destinations are different. in like manner, with the analogy above, christians and muslims in nigeria must never forget their differences but rather must learn to understand their differences. they may be different in worldview but the two religions lead people to the same 45joshua idowu-fearon, “the imperative of dialogue for the survival of nigeria 226 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 god via different methods and paths. the acrimony most times between christianity and islam leading to disagreements and tensions are from lack of proper understanding of the true meanings of christianity and islam on the path of some uninformed adherents of the two religions. for this reason, there is a need for the proper education of persons by the hierarchy of the two religions in nigeria. lack of proper education is the reason for the shallow understanding of what christianity and islam truly are. 46 finally, we share the view of bidmos that the existing religious climate in nigeria is a direct result of certain actions, utterances, and insinuations all of which are preventable. this is to suggest that if nigerians are sincere in their quest for religious harmony and peaceful co-existence, the rst step is to address the issue of factors, which are inimical to religious unity and peaceful coexistence. subsequently, the nal solution becomes easily attainable. 46muritala adeyemi bidmos, inter – religious dialogue: the nigerian experience, 59. unity in diversity in christian –muslim relations | 227 110 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 conceptualizing the problem of perception in the epistemological enterprise abstract is it possible to discuss perception from the object perspective? the much that has been recounted about perception has actually centred on the subject experience and i fear that such rather one-sided introspection may not offer a satisfactory view in the discourse of perception. so, the perennial problem of perception is not that we perceive differently or that we are trapped in an endless struggle of justifying knowledge claims through perception, but that proponents of the theory of perception are often guilty of silencing the vociferous perspective of the objects of perception. my concern, therefore, is how to echo the perspective of the object of perception in such a way that its relevance in the discourse of perception is not quietened. again, there is an attempt to discover if the objects of perception speak and if it does why the discordance interpretation of what otherwise is unanimous. finally, i conclude that there are linguistic aspects to the disconnection between the subject and the object of perception. keywords: perception, illusion, hallucination, realism, phenomenalism, idealism. introduction the epistemological enterprise is dotted with knowledge claim and the justification thereof. put differently, it prioritizes the quest for conceptualizing the problem of perception in the… | 111 how we come to know and the justification of what we claim to know. little wonder jürgen habermas opined that “if we are to be answering a question about modern epistemology, it should be about the possibility of human knowledge. what can we know? how do we know what we claim to know? how are we certain that we know what we claim to know?”1 robert audi typifies that “like rene descartes, we have all asked ourselves at one time or another ‘couldn’t everything i seem to see, hear, etc. be illusory? might i in fact be dreaming all this? if so what do i really know of the outside world?”2 worthy of mention is the fact that one of the thematic discourse in the epistemological enterprise is perception. scepticism about perception poses a great challenge to the possibility and justification of human knowledge by questioning the trustworthiness of our senses since avalanche of our knowledge claims are premised on the senses. most of the time, we justify our knowledge of the world on our ability to perceive things via the senses. sceptics ask, how reliable are the senses in providing us with accurate knowledge of the world? how sure are we that we are not actually experiencing a dream? what if we are just merely a brain in a vat stimulated to have the experiences and apparent memories we now have, what if all knowledge claim is illusionary and mere hallucination? consequence upon the above challenges, there are attempts to address them by scholars which has been novel. while some parts of this paper would relay critically some of the contributions to this discourse, the main focus is to explore the possibility of championing an object perspective. moreover, we submit that the problem of perceptions has a linguistic implication which is novel and worthy of attention. . perception: meaning and theories the oxford companion to philosophy defines perception as the “extraction and use of information about one’s own environment (exteroception) and one’s own body (proprioception). the external senses sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste — though overlapping to some extent, are distinguished by the kind of information they 112 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 convey (e.g. about light, pressure, sound, and temperature).3 perception, put simply is the channel through which we acquire information and knowledge about the outside world. perception has also been conceived as the process by which we become aware of physical objects, including our own body.4 according to robert audi, perception is a source of knowledge and justification mainly by virtue of yielding beliefs that constitute knowledge or are justified. hence, perception is not only regarded as how we acquire knowledge of our environment, but also as a ground or basis on which our knowledge claims are justified.5 for jimoh anselm, “perception is of things or facts, that is, the use of any of the five senses, seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling, to acquire knowledge of the world around us. through the senses we explore the world and gain knowledge of it.”6 having examined some of the views of some scholars, it is pertinent to submit that perception is not equivalent to knowledge although it is crucial for the assertion of knowledge. at this juncture, let us examine some of the theories of perception. some theories of perception i share with michael huemer the sentiment that a theory of perception should answer such questions as: what is it to perceive something? what sorts of things does perception make us aware of? how does perception enable us to gain knowledge of the world around us?7 with these in mind, we shall look at a number of the theories of perception. representationalism (indirect realism) it is a realist theory of perception which maintains that in perception, we are directly aware of certain internal, mental states or entities — referred to by various philosophers as “ideas” (locke), “impressions” (hume), “mental images,” or “sense data” (russell) — and we arc indirectly aware of’ external things (that is, our awareness of them depends on our awareness of the images).8 the mental images we perceive are usually said to be caused by external, physical objects or events and also to represent them. conceptualizing the problem of perception in the… | 113 representationalism implies a sense experience or collection of sense data that apparently picture some aspects of our physical world like objects. in other words, we can have knowledge about our external world by inferring facts about external objects from the character of our mental images. again, it claims that physical objects impact upon our sense organs causing us to experience sensations which represent the objects that cause them.9 this theory accommodates the opinion that there exists material objects with independent properties, but unlike direct realism, maintains that we do not perceive these objects directly as they are, rather, that we perceive them indirectly through mental representations. the proponents of representationalism are john locke and david hume amongst others. jimoh summarizes the general framework of this theory when he asserted that representative realism hopes to explain away sense deception by using the distinction between sensation and the objects we perceive. according to the representative realists, deceptions occur when our sensations do not match up with the objects of sensation.10 by implication, whenever the image or representation i have of an object does not correspond to the actual way the object is in the world, i might be subject to an illusion, while, in a condition in which my sensations do not correspond to anything in the world, i am then hallucinating. the pertinent question here therefore is how do we account for the actual condition of the object in the world? more so, how do we bracket the influence of the subject in accounting for the object? idealism idealism championed by george berkeley is epitomised by the submission that it is only the mind and its ideas that exist. this is was against the backdrop of indirect realism orchestrated by john locke. for locke, the only thing we are immediately aware of is ideas. but berkeley attempted to draw a connection between ideas and the mind which perceive them which is christened in the popular dictum, “esse est percipi”, meaning to be is to be perceived, for physical objects or things only exist when perceived by the mind. he argued that the mind perceives what god implanted in it hence 114 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 god is the cause of ideas. for berkeley, we have no reason for believing in the existence of external objects, and we could not have any coherent conception of what external objects (things that exist outside of the mind) were like. locke had posited that they resembled our ideas, hut for berkeley, nothing could resemble an idea, except an idea. berkeley thus refutes the concept of an external object claiming that it is a contradiction.11 the problem with berkeley’s idealism is that it fails to resolve the problem of perception, for it does not satisfactorily explain the distinction between perceptual error and veridical or accurate perception. by implication, everything we perceive could be asserted to be a kind dream, if this is so, then, there is no difference between perceiving something as it really is and being mistaken. therefore, there is no distinction between hallucination and reality. how then, does idealism make sense of perceptual error, since it has no representation of a real world? direct realism this theory developed by thomas reid was a response to hume and berkeley. the crust of this theory is the claim that we do not perceive ideas but we perceive physical objects directly. it maintains that objects continue to observe the laws of physics and maintain their properties irrespective of their being perceived or not. more so, that the senses are windows through which we make contact with the world and through which we know the world as it is. that is, we come to perceive the world in its most direct way through the senses. reid, furthermore argues that we are justified in believing in the existence of external objects without supplying arguments for their existence. another name for this theory is naive realism or common sense view of perceptual experience. aligning with the claims of reid, we find it really challenging to make a demarcation between perceptions shredded by illusion or hallucination and actual ones. russell buttressed the aforementioned when he observed that the apparent shape and colour of a table depend not just upon the properties of the table, hut also upon the lighting conditions. conceptualizing the problem of perception in the… | 115 phenomenalism phenomenalism maintains that physical objects are not just collections of actual sense data but also of potential sense data, therefore, they continue to exist even when they are not perceived. in other words, physical objects are permanent possibilities of sensation and that all talk about them can be reduced to talk about actual and potential sense data. phenomenalists would generally opine that “to be is not just to be perceived, but also to be perceivable.”12 there is a variation of phenomenalism, known as linguistic phenomenalism. it is essentially a theory of meaning, which tries to answer the question of what we mean when we talk about physical objects as if they are actual independently existing objects, we actually referring to various patterns of’ sense data that we experience. for them, talk about physical objects is a short form of sense data or phenomena. the argument that the linguistic phenornenalists seek to raise is that we can technically avoid talk about physical object, since all talk about them can be translated to sense data or phenomena, without any loss of meaning. for example, the word orange does not refer to any independently existing material object, but really means something round, green or orange, sweet and juicy and so on; a collection of potential sense data. even when it has been argued that if we translate physical object language into phenomenal language, physical objects will always recur in the translation into phenomenal language. and that it is almost impossible to use phenomenal language without mentioning physical objects, we feel mandated to explore the perhaps narrow possibility of using phenomenal language without mentioning physical objects. talks about physical objects should stand uncorrupted and battered by subject interference. we proposed that this might offer a viable address to the avalanche problems of perception. at this juncture, it is important to relay some of the known problems of perception in the history of this discourse. 116 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 the problems of perception when philosophers ask, what is the nature of perception? they are not asking purely empirical questions, such as: how do our senseorgans actually work? what are the mechanisms of smell and taste? how do vision and touch actually provide us with information about the world around us? on the contrary, they are concerned about how perception provides reason for our beliefs about the empirical world. for instance, suppose i see a jug before me, and come to believe on the basis of this that there is a jug before me. my reason for believing that there is a jug is that i can see it. but the question is what makes seeing the jug a reason for this belief? is it not possible that one is caught in a web of illusion or hallucinating? the problem of perception therefore, is the result of attempting to reconcile some apparently obvious truths about perception with the apparent possibility of a certain kind of perceptual error. the problem of perception is created by the phenomena of perceptual illusion and hallucination: if these kinds of error are possible, how can perception be what we ordinarily understand it to be, an openness to and awareness of the world? put differently, the very fact that it is difficult to identify when an object is perceived correctly and when an error occurs in perception spells out the problem of perception. in an actual instance of perception an object is seen and seen correctly or as it is. but in the case of illusion, an object is seen but seen incorrectly or as it is not. instances of illusion can be found in eases in which a round object is seen to be oval, a brown object is seen to be black, or a tall object is seen to be short. in such cases, the subject could be said to be suffering from illusion. hallucination on the other hand is a case in which it seems to the subject as though something is seen but where in fact nothing is seen. it is the kinds of things that happens in a dream experience. this problem emerged from descartes’s scepticism about experience where he alluded the possibility of one been deceived by a demon. again, the brain in the vat illustration by the sceptics point to the fact of the possibility of hallucination. the possibility of illusion, hallucination and perspectival variation or conflicting appearances are the underlying factors of the problem of perception. conceptualizing the problem of perception in the… | 117 david hume, bertrand russell and a j ayer are the major proponents of the argument from illusion. hume posited this argument in criticizing direct realism when he observed that the character of our sensory experiences often varies even when there is no change in the physical object we are putatively perceiving. for example, as one moves further away from a table, the table looks smaller, but there is no objective change in the physical table. this shows that one is not perceiving the real table. rather, one is perceiving an image of the table in one’s mind. 13 bertrand russell offered another versions of the argument from illusion when he argued that the “apparent shape and colour of a table depend not just upon the properties of the table, but also upon the location of the observer and lighting conditions.14 another version of the argument from illusion is expressed by a.j. ayer. ayer in his famous optical illusion in which a straight stick, when halfway immersed in water, appears bent. ayer claims that in this case, what one sees cannot be the real stick. in our ordinary conception of perceptual experience, we always assume that we are sometimes perceptually aware of ordinary mind-independent objects in perceptual experience. however, such awareness can come from veridical experiences, cases in which one perceives an object for what it is. i3ut it can also come from illusory experiences. for we think of an illusion as “any perceptual situation in which a physical object is actually perceived, but in which that object perceptually appears other than it really is.15 the argument from illusion has been strongly criticized by john austin, especially when he responded to a.j. ayer who subscribed to the argument from illusion alongside bertrand russell. in actual fact, austin “argues that the argument from illusion draws plausibility from various misuses of language.”16 he criticized ayer’s optical illusion in which a straight stick looks bent when immersed halfway in water, and as such does not amount to an experience of a real stick. for austin, for the fact that the stick looks bent, it does not follow that one is seeing something that is bent, nor does it follow that one is not seeing the actual stick. rather, for austin, what one is seeing is a straight stick that appears bent. this pre-empts the stance of this paper which is a clarion call for an 118 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 evaluation of the relationship between the subject and object of perception. exploring the objective perspective: a linguistic approach a critical introspection in the discourse of perception showcases that it is possible to assert that the entire arguments on the theories and problems of perception could be effectively summarized into a subject and object perspectives. in other words, positions offered so far could be categorized into two main emphasis; either the subject or the object. however, a sojourn through the history of the discourse of perception suggests that so much emphasis have been laid on the subject almost to the detriment of the object of perception. the over-imposition of the categories of the subject has silence the germane import of the object. this has left us to wonder if it is possible to analyse perception from one perspective without been erroneous. the claims of austin seems to corroborate the point that so much has to be done to offer a voice to the object of perception. in a case where a table appears differently to different observers troubles a critical mind. the challenge of asserting whose account represents the actual status of the table becomes herculean. this has been the fate of the philosophers of perception ab initio. worthy of note also is that in all the instances of reports from the subjects, the table’s status remains unchanged. we are therefore inspired to propose that philosophers of perception by amplifying the status of the object would go a long way to addressing the pristine and multi-faceted problems of perception. conclusion having attempted a conceptual analysis of the theories and problems of perception and also demonstrated the positions of various proponents in the discourse, it is pertinent to assert that the position of this paper is that there a linguistic twist to the discourse of perception which offers a viable perspective in addressing the problem of perception. we drew from the claims of austin which advocates for a language of report that would not compromise the status of both the subject and object of perception. conceptualizing the problem of perception in the… | 119 furthermore, we may ask; how then can we achieve the linguistic proposal of austin? for austin, a linguistic approach which will report the status of the subject as well as the object of perception without a compromise is inevitable in addressing effectively the problem of perception. again, how do we construe such a language that would guarantee these ambitions? this question is dedicated to the future of philosophers of perception. however, it is worthy of note to identify that there is a linguistic twist to the problem of perception. endnotes 1 sosa, f., kim, j., franti, j., mcgrath, m., 2008: epistemology: an anthology, usa: blackwell publishing. (second edition). p. 3 2 audi robert, 1998. epistemology: a contemporary introduction to the theory of knowledge, london: routledge, the taylor and francis group. p. 14. ted honderich, 1995. the oxford companion to philosophy (oxford new york, oxford university press, inc.) p. 652. 4 cardinal, d., hayward, .j., & jones, g., 2004. epistemology: the theory of knowledge, london: john murray publishers ltd. p. 148. 5 audi robert, 1998. epistemology: a contemporary introduction to the theory of knowledge, london: routledge, the taylor and francis group. p. 16. 6 jimoh anselrn, 2013. certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books & kreations. p. 88. 7 huemer michael, 2002. epistemology: contemporary readings, london & new york: routledge, the taylor & francis group. p. 3 1. 8 ibid, p. 27 9 cardinal, d., hayward, j., & jones, g., 2004. epistemology: the theory of knowledge, london: john murray publishers ltd. p. 149. 10 jimoh anselm, 2013. certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books & kreations. p. 97. 11 cardinal, d., hayward, j., & jones, g., 2004. epistemology: the theory of knowledge, london: john murray publishers ltd, p. 149 12 jimoh anselm, 2013. certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books & kreations. p. 99 13 huemer michael, 2002. epistemology: contemporary readings, london & new york: routledge, the taylor & francis group. p. 29. 14 ibid, p. 31 15 smith, a.d., 2002. the problem of perception, cambridge, mass,: harvard university press. p. 23. 16 snowdown, p.f., 2005. some reflections on an argument from hallucination. philosophical topics, 33.1. p.74. abstract the epistemology of testimony is an inquiry into the nature of testimony as an epistemic source. given that testimony is an epistemic source, is it a basic or generative epistemic source? or does it derive its epistemic credentials from other more basic and generative epistemic sources, like; perception, reason, and introspection? if testimonial knowledge is dependent on other basic epistemic sources, it means that testimonial knowledge is inferential. on the alternative, if testimonial knowledge is basic, it implies an inherent justicatory power. given that there are two cognitive agents in testimonial epistemic transaction – the testier (speaker) and the receiver (hearer); where do we situate the justicatory power of testimonial knowledge, the testier or the hearer? the responses to these questions have generated theories that dominantly swing between reductionism and anti-reductionism, bringing in the inferentialist and non-inferentialist perspectives. these theories, however, fail to successfully establish whether testimony, justification, and virtue: investigating the justificatory source of testimonial knowledge anselm k. jimoh, ph.d. department of philosophy ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary jimohanselm@gmail.com precious e. iyogun department of philosophy, university of ibadan p.m.b. 5171, bodija – ibadan, ibadan. iyogunp@yahoo.com and testimonial knowledge is basic or not and therefore, makes it problematic to establish the justicatory source of testimonial knowledge. the less dominant quasireductionism of duncan pritchard opens up the possibility to consider miranda fricker's application of epistemic virtues to testimonial justication. therefore, with the aim to establish the justicatory source of testimonial knowledge, this paper critically analyses and evaluates the role of epistemic virtues in testimonial knowledge. we argue that testimonial justication is a two-way process, and conclude that testimonial belief is justied as knowledge on the basis of the intellectual virtues of the testier's cognitive character traits and the hearer's cognitive faculties and excellences. keywords: ant i reduct ionism, epis temic source, reductionism, testimony, virtue epistemology. introduction this paper aims to establish the justicatory source of testimonial knowledge. the problematic lies in the question whether testimony is, or not, a basic epistemic source? by basic epistemic source, we mean a source of knowledge that is not reliant on other epistemic sources for its epistemic credentials. for instance, perception is considered to be a basic epistemic source because we acquire perceptual knowledge through our perceptual engagement with the world, without reliance on any other cognitive faculty. thus, the question, reformulated is: can testimony, without reference to other purported more basic epistemic sources like reason, experience, and introspection, generate knowledge in the hearer (receiver)? reductionism and anti-reductionism have emerged as the two dominant positions in this discourse. a corollary of the problematic, which is the focus of this paper is the question: what is the actual source of the justicatory power of testimonial knowledge; the trustworthiness of the testier, or the belief of the hearer? we rely on existing literature, to critically analyse and evaluate the various 160 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 issues within the purview of the discourse on the testimonial justication. first off, we analyse the meaning and nature of testimony, as well as, the different approaches to testimony and testimonial knowledge. secondly, we explicate the relationship between testimonial knowledge and justication. thirdly, we shall investigate the role of epistemic virtues in testimonial knowledge. thereafter, we conclude, based on our analyses, that neither the testier nor the hearer of testimony has the monopoly of justicatory power because the latter is not dependent solely on either the testier or the hearer, but a shared responsibility between the testier and the hearer. on the meaning and nature of testimony testimony is “a statement or other communication that purports to 1state a fact or provide information.” from its latin etymology, which is a synthesis of two words: testis – witness, and monium – which signies an action, state, or condition, testimony describes a proof or demonstration of some fact, evidence, or a piece of evidence that conrms or negates a state of affairs. therefore, we can understand testimony as that which a declarative sentence asserts, either written or spoken. needless to say that most of the body of knowledge we presently have are products of the testimony of others which we have learnt from their spoken and/or written words. we depend in endless practical ways on the technological fruits of the dispersed knowledge 2of others. hence, dan o' brien describes it as the way human beings 3 obtain knowledge through linguistic communication. despite, the fact that much of the beliefs that constitute our knowledge system extensively dependent on testimony, the very vast 1alvin goldman, “testimony and disagreement,” in alvin i. goldman and matthew mcgrath, epistemology: a contemporary introduction (oxford: oxford university press, 2015), 207. 2 elizabeth fr icker, “second-hand knowledge,” philosophy and phenomenological research 73, no. 3 (nov. 2006), 592-618. 3daniel o'brien, “introduction to the epistemology of testimony,” philosophica 78 (2006), 6. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 161 role testimony plays in our acquisition of knowledge, has not enjoyed a corresponding vast treatment in the history of traditional epistemology (te). the latter did not consider testimony as a basic epistemic source; its epistemic status was reduced to inference based on the trustworthiness of the speaker, which makes it a mere 4 transmitter of knowledge. testimony was conceived to be less reliable than other epistemic sources, like; experience, reason, and introspection. testimony embodies beliefs, and the beliefs acquired through testimony are considered, by te, to be second-hand because they have been passed on to the believer by someone else. although testimonial beliefs are considered second-hand, they are not second5 rate since on some occasions they may amount to knowledge. like knowledge, testimony is propositional. given that propositions are statements of fact about the world, they have a truth-value and therefore, are considered to be a medium for knowledge transfer. as a medium of knowledge transfer from the testier to the receiver, testimony presupposes credulity, especially when dealing with a trusting receiver – the latter readily believes whatever the information the testier provides. within this context, the issue of trust and reliance become important factors to consider in the epistemology of testimony. the interesting questions here are: (i) is the receiver's credulity founded on the reliability of the testier? (ii) 6 is credulity not an invitation and/or license to gullibility. what reason, if any, is there for a receiver to believe a testier, given that the testier is capable of lies, deception, error, and poor ambiguous or misleading expressions? does the receiver have good reason to rely on or believe the testier/speaker? note that the terms hearer and receiver, testier and speaker, are used in this paper as synonyms. sometimes, our testimonial information is misleading or false. but as 4dhirendon m. datta, “testimony as a method of knowledge,” mind 36, no. 143 (july 1927), 354-358. . http://www.jstor.org/stable/2249544 5daniel o'brien, “introduction to the epistemology of testimony,” 6. 6duncan pritchard, what is this thing called knowledge? (london: routledge, 2006), 99. 162 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 duncan pritchard avers, this kind of testimonial deceit, in itself, is not all that troubling given that there are some checks and balances through which we evaluate the testimony of others. the problem, however, with testimonial knowledge is that we are not able to offer 7 independent grounds for most of our testimony-based beliefs. in the opinion of laurence bonjour, this is precisely the problem with testimonial justication – our inability to provide general 8 justication for testimony-based beliefs. contemporary social epistemology tries to investigate whether testimony provides knowledge and justication. if it does, how does it provide knowledge and justication; by yielding basic knowledge or bas ic jus t icat ion l ike percept ion and 9 introspection/reection? the idea is to plausibly establish if belief in a testier's words is actually caused by inference. the questions correlated to this are: i. does the receiver of testimony believe, disbelieve, or suspend judgement about what she hears? ii. is the receiver justied in believing what she hears? iii. does the receiver acquire knowledge from what she hears? the attempts to respond to these questions raise another key question, namely; is testimonial knowledge inferential or non-inferential? for those who argue that it is inferential, a testimonial belief only amounts to knowledge if it is justied, and for it to be justied, it must be supported by inferences available to the hearer. on the contrary, non-inferentialists insist that we do not need to work through inferences to possess testimonial beliefs, that even if we have the ability to make such inferences, it does not play a justicatory role in 10 testimonial beliefs. 7duncan pritchard, what is this thing called knowledge? 91. 8laurence bonjour, epistemology: classical problems and contemporary responses, 2nd edition (london: rowman and littleeld, 2010), 164. 9robert audi, epistemology: a contemporary introduction to the theory of knowledge, 2nd ed. (new york and london: routledge, 2003), 137. 10daniel o'brien, “introduction to the epistemology of testimony,” 6. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 163 the inferential vs. non-inferential debate is concomitant with 11 the question of whether testimony is a basic epistemic source or not. while the inferentialists insist that testimonial knowledge is not basic in the sense in which perceptual knowledge is basic because the former derives its justicatory power from perceptual, memorial and inferential resources, non-inferentialists opine that even though testimony may be causally related to perception, the former does not need to be epistemically dependent on the latter. in other words, noninferentialists insist that the justication of testimonial beliefs is not derived from other sources since a hearer can acquire knowledge from simply hearing the testimony of another. testimonial knowledge: basic or not basic? inferentialists provide a reductionist account of testimonial knowledge by arguing that the latter is a derivation of more basic forms of knowledge and justication. on the contrary, noninferentialists maintain an anti-reductionist account that testimonial knowledge and justication are basic. the underlying assumption that undergirds both positions is that our testimonial beliefs are justiable on the basis that testimony provides evidence for the truth that it asserts. the argument can be formulated in a bi-conditional: either we trust the testimonies of others on account of what we have acquired from other epistemic sources or we do based on what we have independently veried to be true. therefore, we are generally entitled to trust what others tell us. reductionism is the argument that we can only rightly hold a 12 testimonial belief if it is traceable to a non-testimonial justication. the implication here is that our personal evidence is insufcient to justify testimonial knowledge. according to axel gelfert, if our testimony depends on our sense perceptions for its reception and the sincerity and competence of the testier for its truthfulness, it means that our justied testimonial beliefs must have been derived from, 11laurence bonjour, epistemology:classical problems and contemporary responses, 165. 12duncan pritchard, what is wrong with this thing called knowledge? 82. 164 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 and ultimately reducible to more basic epistemic sources, like 13 perception, memory, and inference. james van cleve, for “testimony gives us justied belief … not because it shines by its own light, but because it has often enough been revealed [to be] true by our 14 other lights.” here, van cleve collapses three other forces of justication – perception, memory, and inductive inference, into testimony. this position is described as “global reductionism,” the view that, based on the general reliability of inferential appeal to testimony, hearers are justied in believing particular instances of 15testimony. david hume's work, “on miracles,” promotes this position. here, hume argues that our general observations of testimonial trustworthiness in the past, allows us to inductively infer that fresh 16items of testimony would be justied. we do not have any a priori reason to think that beliefs gained through testimony should be true. therefore, we need independent grounds to justify our testimonial beliefs. he further argues, as michael huemer afrms, that the observation of the veracity of human testimony and their conformity to the facts of the testier's report provide the assurance of our 17 testimonial beliefs. this implies that our beliefs are proportionate with evidence to the extent that we either have a proof or a probability. we have a proof when the testimony and evidence are in constant and unalterable conformity and a probability when they 13axel gelfert, “hume on testimony revisited,” logical analysis and history of philosophy 13, no. 1 (2010), 62. 14james van cleve, “reid on the credit of human testimony,” in j. lackey and e. sos, (eds), the epistemology of testimony (oxford: oxford university press, 2006), 69. 15alvin goldman and thomas blanchard, “social epistemology”, the stanford encyclopaedia of philosophy (summer 2015 edition), edward zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/epistemology-social/, [accessed 29/02/2020]. 16david hume, “on miracles,” an enquiry concerning human understanding, (1748), e. steinberg (ed.) (indianapolis: hackett publishing, 1977), 74. 17michael huemer (ed), epistemology; contemporary readings, (routledge, new york, 2002), 225. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 165 (testimony and evidence) are not in constant and unalterable 18 conformity. hume assumes that the trustworthiness of testimony depends on the evidence that the testier is likely to be right. therefore, whether we accept a testimony or not must depend on inferential reasoning; from the speaker's track record and the plausibility of the claim to the acceptability of the specic testimonial claim in question. our reliance on testimony is based on our observation of a constant and regular aggregation between testimony and the facts in the external world. according to alvin goldman, the following questions would arise from hume's position: i. do we all, individually, make enough observations to justify our conclusions? ii. are our range of individuals and subject-matters diverse enough to warrant our acceptance and application of such a general principle of justication to testimonies and persons, 19 even those we have not met before? for anthony coady, we do not have enough observational bases to inductively conclude that testimony is generally reliable because we cannot individually achieve the required amount of eldwork to reach such conclusions. for instance, even though many of us have never witnessed the process of giving birth to a baby or examined how blood circulates around the body, we nonetheless, still hold the 20 conclusions we have about them based on the testimony of others. elizabeth fricker attempts to mitigate the global reductionist position of hume by advocating a local reductionism. she argues that the general principles of testimonial trustworthiness in hume's account do not sufciently warrant a receiver's justication in particular acts of testimony. in addition to these general principles, she contends that the receiver requires background evidence, based on observation and memory, about the specic testier to warrant the receiver's justiedness. the receiver achieves this by constantly 18axel gelfert, “hume on testimony revisited,” 63. 19alvin goldman, “testimony and disagreement,” 208. 20c. a. j. coady, testimony, (oxford: oxford university press, 1992), 82. 166 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 evaluating the testier for trustworthiness and make her conclusions based on the pieces of evidence available to her. therefore, all that is required for a testimonial belief is that the testier is reliable in relation to her specic testimony, and not the general reliability of testimony. reliability here refers to the sincerity of the testier and 21 not the testimony itself. thomas reid advanced an anti-reductionist argument against hume's reductionism. anti-reductionism is the view that testimony, like perception, memory, and introspection, is a basic epistemic 22source. the anti-reductionists argue that a receiver is justied to hold a testimonial belief, based on the testimony of a testier, given that the receiver has no defeaters (doubts) about the credibility of the testier. based on the general assumption of credulism that human beings have the natural propensity to speak the truth, and a 23disposition to conde in the veracity of others, reid argues that testimony is a social intercourse between intelligent beings by which 24 human knowledge is transmitted. according to him, although hume broke away from the traditionalist scheme with his (hume's) reductionist account of testimony, he did not free himself from his 25 own implausible principles. his argument tended toward individualism and solitude, which are against human nature. the human person is social by nature, and therefore, hardwired to trust the testimony of other people. for reid, we should rely on commonsense in our quest to justify testimonial knowledge instead of past experiences as posited by hume, because, the experiences of the past 21elizabeth fricker, “against gullibility,” in b. k. matilal and a. chakrabarti (eds), knowing from words: western and indian philosophical analysis of understanding and testimony (dordreecht: kluwer academic publishers, 1994), 125-161. 22alvin goldman and dennis whitecomb (eds), social epistemology: essential readings (oxford university press, newyork,2011), 73. 23thomas reid, “inquiry into the human mind,” in inquiry and essays, r. e. bean blossom and k. lehrer (eds), (hackett, indianapolis, 1983), 236-237. 24thomas reid, “inquiry into the human mind,” 236. 25nicholas wolterstorff, thomas reid and the story of epistemology (cambridge: cambridge university press, 2001), 163. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 167 26 cannot, of themselves, provide a belief of what is in the future. other anti-reductionists like tyler burge and richard foley argue that irrespective of the amount of evidence in support of the testier's reliability and sincerity, a receiver of testimony is warranted to believe the testimony of a given speaker. according to burge, a “person is entitled to accept as true something that is presented as true and that is intelligible to him unless there are stronger reasons not to 27 do so.” this implies that a receiver of testimony does not necessarily require positive support for the sincerity of the testier to hold a testimonial belief. what is required is that the receiver has no evidence that defeats the testier's reliability and sincerity. goldman supports this argument with the assertion that without defeaters, like prior experience, testimonial justication comes free for the receiver 28without reference to any positive reason for believing the testier. to moderate the rift between reductionism and antireductionism, duncan pritchard proposed a quasi-reductionist thesis. against anti-reductionism, he argues that credulism permits widespread gullibility, which is not epistemically attractive. against reductionism, he insists that we cannot resolve the issue of testimonial justication by providing additional instances of testimony that support the original testimonial belief. if the reductionist position is correct, we have to look for adequate supporting grounds that are non-testimonial. in the absence of the latter, reductionism leads us directly to a form of scepticism about the 29 epistemic status of our testimonial beliefs. pritchard's quasireductionist thesis is a hybrid position that accommodates the motivations and respects the intuitions of both the reductionist and anti-reductionist. according to o'brien, when we cannot have testimonial knowledge without non-testimonial epistemic support for our beliefs, we express the spirit of reductionism. this is, 26thomas reid, “inquiry into the human mind,” 236. 27tyler burge, “content preservation,” philosophical review 102 (1993), 457-488. 28alvin goldman, “testimony and disagreement,” 209. 29duncan pritchard, “the epistemology of testimony,” philosophical issues 14 (2004), 326-328. 168 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 however, compatible with certain fundamentalist or credulist intuitions in the sense that it provides some epistemic support by 30means of testimonial evidence. in this wise, quasi-reductionism brings within its ambiance the two-key intuitions regarding any knowledge inquiry, namely; that knowledge is a cognitive achievement, and that knowledge is not compatible with luck. hume's reductionism assumes that we should only trust testimony when we have evidence that the testier is likely to be right. it is an inferential position that places testimonial justication on the relationship between the reliability of the testier and supporting evidence, which invariably implies that the justicatory power of testimony lies in the reliability of the testier. reid's antireductionism argues for the reliance on common-sense in the quest for justifying testimonial information. this is a non-inferential position that presupposes that credulity is based on the commonsense of the receiver of testimony. here, the responsibility of justication is hinged on the receiver of testimonial information. pritchard's quasi-reductionism supports a justicatory model that accommodates some elements of both the inferentialist and noninferentialist considerations. it synthesises the reliability of the testier with the innate natural tendencies of the receiver to account for testimonial knowledge. if pritchard's synthesis is correct, it means the justication of testimonial knowledge is a shared responsibility between the testier and the receiver. herein, the latter applies common-sense in the exercise of her credulity to apprehend the reliability of the testier. this seems to be miranda fricker's concern when she explicates the idea of the testimonial sensitivity of the hearer. by the testimonial sensitivity of the hearer, fricker describes a virtuous display of perceptual capacity by the receiver towards a testimony. for the virtuous receiver to trust the testier, she must consider the testier to be trustworthy to a degree that enables her to achieve a reasonable level of trust towards the testier and the 30daniel o'brien, “introduction to the epistemology of testimony,” 8. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 169 31 testier's testimony. according to fricker, there is an emotional aspect proper to cognition, which is displayed through empathy. therefore, it is only when the virtuous receiver is in such an empathetic relationship with the testier, that she can make a good 32 judgement of the latter's trustworthiness. given that empathy is the ability to identify with the feelings of others; epistemically, it describes being in the same cognitive situation with someone. consequently, for a receiver to consider a testier reliable, both the receiver and the testier must possess some form of similar cognitive abilities, which are only perceptible empathically. such cognitive abilities are rooted in the theory of epistemic virtues, hence, we need to consider how epistemic virtues impact on testimonial justication. epistemic virtues and testimonial justication if fricker is correct about the idea of the testimonial sensitivity of the hearer as analysed above, it would mean that epistemic virtues impact on testimonial justication. given that this is the case; we should investigate the importance of the impact of virtue in testimonial justication. such an investigation warrants that we consider virtue epistemology since the virtues in question here are epistemic virtues. essentially, virtue epistemology (ve) is modelled on intellectual virtues, which is sometimes described as epistemic virtues. it promotes the socratic and aristotelian idea that a truly virtuous agent 33 would be an excellent cogniser, because intellectual or epistemic virtues are characteristics of the cognitive agent that promote intellectual ourishing, which accounts for excellent cognition. therefore, ve denes knowledge in terms of virtue-theoretic concepts, with two variants to its thesis. the rst variant is traced to aristotle's notion that intellectual virtues are cognitive excellences, which constitute reliable or truth-conducive qualities of the agent. this is virtue reliabilism. and the second variant is linked to 31miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing (oxford university press, oxford, 2007), 79. 32miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing, 80. 33julia driver, “the aristotelian conception of virtues,” in uneasy virtue (london: cambridge university press, london), 6. 170 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 aristotle's ethics, whereof, intellectual or epistemic virtues are conceived as character traits, like; fair-mindedness, open34 mindedness, intellectual carefulness, intellectual courage, etc. this is virtue responsibilism. virtue reliabilists argue that it is possible to acquire knowledge in the absence of an exercise of intellectual character virtues. consequently, they insist that virtue responsibilists character model of intellectual virtue does not provide a helpful account of the nature of knowledge because any analysis of knowledge aims to 35specify the necessary and sufcient conditions for knowledge. virtue responsibilists, on the contrary, argue that intellectual virtues 36 are states that indicate an intellectual grasp of the truth. therefore, they disagree with virtue reliabilists that intellectual excellences are competencies that properly position us to pursue the truth. virtue responsibilists consider virtue reliabilists' class of virtues as natural powers, faculties, and receptivities that provide the grounds for intellectual virtues. however, they are nurtured to the extent to which they nd expressions in rened character traits of epistemic agents. therefore, we can argue that intellectual virtues do not only refer to rened character traits but also to our nurtured inherent capacities. virtue reliabilism and virtue responsibilism share the same aim – the attainment of truth and knowledge, which is critical to intellectual well-being and ourishing. while the former considers cognitive qualities or faculties that effectively aid the attainment of truth and knowledge, the latter is concerned with the character traits of the cognitive agent that enable the attainment of truth and 37 knowledge. both variants of ve credit knowledge to the believer. considering that social epistemology (se) advocates the view that 34paul faulkner, “a virtue theory of testimony,” proceedings of the aristotelian society 114, no. 2 (2014), 189. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9264.2014.00370.x. 35jason baehr, “character reliability and virtue epistemology,” 197. 36michael depaul and linda zagzebski, intellectual virtues, (oxford: clarendon press, 2007), 38. 37anselm jimoh, “a critical assessment of virtue epistemology,” flash: journal of philosophy and religion 9, no. 1 (2015), 7. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 171 the trustworthiness of the testier justies testimonial knowledge, it 38 would seem that ve would run into tension with se. this, at least, is the view of jesper kallestrup and duncan pritchard, who argue that a robust ve is opposed to se, especially the epistemology of 39 testimony. kallestrup and pritchard differentiated robust ve from modest ve. the latter, for them, denes knowledge in both virtuetheoretic and non-virtue-theoretic concepts, and the former, which is 40 their concern, denes knowledge only in virtue-theoretic concepts. according to benjamin mccraw, as kallestrup and pritchard conceive it, for robust ve, “there is nothing more to knowledge than true belief plus some virtue-theoretic condition or set of 41 conditions.” this implies that a cognitive agent's true belief in knowledge is a credit of the agent's (who is the believer) virtuous activity. this is the credit thesis (ct), which states that: “s knows 42 that p only if s believes that p because of s's virtuous operation.” the ct situates the credit for true beliefs that yield knowledge to the individual believer, which in the view of kallestrup and pritchard defeats the paradigm of ve as se. this is so because the ct commits robust ve to epistemic individualism. the latter is the view that 43justication supervenes on internal features of the cognitive agent. internal features here should not be associated with epistemic internalism or externalism, but instead, refers to the cognitive faculties of the individual cognitive agent. the position of kallestrup and pritchard notwithstanding, the question of interest in relation to our subject matter – the possibility of a virtue epistemology of testimony is: “what justies out uptake of 38benjamin w. mccraw, “virtue epistemology, testimony, and trust,” logos and episteme v, no. 1 (2014), 95-102. 39jesper kallestrup and duncan pritchard, “robust virtue epistemology and epistemic anti-individualism,” pacic philosophical quarterly 93 (2012), 84103. 40kallestrup and pritchard, “robust virtue epistemology and epistemic antiindividualism,” 85-86. 41mccraw, “virtue epistemology, testimony, and trust,” 96. 42mccraw, “virtue epistemology, testimony, and trust,” 96. 172 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 testimony? that is, when our acceptance of a bit of testimony to p is 44 the acquisition of the belief that p, what justies this acceptance?” the two prevalent answers to this are: (i) the reductionist view that because “our grounds for acceptance are all the things we believe about the testimonial situation [our] uptake is … justied … in so far as, our beliefs about the testimonial situation overall support the 45conclusion that a piece of testimony is true.” (ii) the none or antireductionist view that “we do not need grounds to be justied in the uptake of a bit of testimony. rather, we have a general defeasible 46entitlement to accept what other people tell us.” fricker does not nd these prevalent views favourable to her project. she opines that our uptake of testimony is more often immediate and non-inferential, even though it is informed and supported by the background beliefs we have. this claim poses an epistemological challenge, namely; how do we account for the fact that our uptake of testimony is immediate and non-inferential, and yet supported by background beliefs? according to fricker, virtue ethics provides the resolution to this challenge. virtue ethics expounds on how perception can deliver judgement. using the example of kindness, fricker argues that a kind person does not calculate or appeal to principles to determine which situation requires her kindness. she (kind person) is reliably sensitive to the situational features, which provide her the reasons to be kind. the kind person perceives the situational features as her reasons to judge what she ought to do in any given situation. therefore, to resolve the epistemological challenge, the receiver of testimony only needs a testimonial sensibility that cognises the features of the testimonial situation which enables the receiver to see that a piece of testimony is trustworthy or not trustworthy. according to fricker, “the main idea is that where a hearer gives a suitable critical 43kallestrup and pritchard, “robust virtue epistemology and epistemic antiindividualism,” 86. 44faulkner, “a virtue theory of testimony,” 190. 45faulkner, “a virtue theory of testimony,” 190. 46faulkner, “a virtue theory of testimony,” 190. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 173 reception to an interlocutor's words without making any inference, she does so in virtue of the perceptual deliverances of a well-trained 47testimonial sensibility.” fricker draws the following closely related parallel between “the virtuous agent's moral perceptual capacity and the virtuous 48 hearer's testimonial capacity,” i. that in the testimonial as in the moral sphere, the judgement model is perceptual, and so non-inferential. ii. in both spheres, good judgement is uncodiable. iii. in both spheres, the judgement is intrinsically motivating. iv. intrinsically reason-giving v. in both spheres the judgement typically contains an 49 emotional aspect that is a proper part of the cognition. as faulkner emphasises, the rst two points of parallel – (i) and (ii), dene the operation of sensibility, while (iii) to (v) are considerations 50 on the nature of the judgement output. for fricker, these ve points of parallel are consistent with “the spontaneous, unreective phenomenology of the testimony [which provides] so much impetus 51 for non-inferentialism.” therefore, they explicate how our testimonial sensibility provide the spontaneous judgement about the trustworthiness of a bit of testimony. concerning whether, and how epistemic virtues impact on testimonial justication, our take is that cognitive faculties as intellectual virtues require character traits as intellectual virtues, to serve as indicators for the intellectual grasp of truth. as such, for testimonial information to be justied there is a need to establish that neither the virtue reliabilist cognitive faculties nor the virtue responsibilist character traits are indispensable. to this extent, we can talk about a virtuous hearer or a virtuous speaker; both of them have 47miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing, 71. 48miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing, 71. 49miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing, 72. 50faulkner, “a virtue theory of testimony,” 192. 51miranda fricker, epistemic injustice; power and the ethics of knowing, 80. 174 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 an important role to play in testimonial justication. here, pritchard's quasi-reductionist approach is applicable – the synthesis of the reliability (trustworthiness) of the testier/speaker and some innate natural tendencies (credulity) of the receiver/believer. this is a twoway justicatory process, which brings together the reliability of the virtuous testier as indicated by her rened character traits (which mark an intellectual grasp of truth) and receiver's cognitive faculties – innate natural tendencies (which properly positions her to pursue truth). almost all hearers access testimony for credibility. according to fricker, the virtuous hearer does not arrive at her credibility judgment of testimony through principles that are pre-set because such pre-set principles are usually not precise or 52comprehensive enough to do the job. on the other hand, fricker argues that the speaker arrives at her credibility judgment through the aid of cues, which indicate her moral attitude towards the hearer. based on this, we argue that there are cases where the speaker may have a positive moral attitude without having the right information that will lead to truth in her testimony. more so, moral attitudes may not be as stable as epistemic attitudes can be, especially because of their emotional content. as such, we argue that the speaker's moral attitude towards the hearer may not be sufcient in aiding the hearer to arrive at a proper credibility judgment of testimonial information. the two-way justicatory process, we propose, for testimonial justication is characterised by the following features: (i) the indispensability of cognitive faculties and character traits. (ii) the reliability of the virtuous testier. and (iii) the sensitivity of the virtuous hearer to the epistemic salience of the testier, based on epistemic empathy. this model is both perceptual and inferential because it involves the speaker's reliability and the hearer's perceptual capacity. the idea of testimonial justication being both perceptual and inferential implies an interconnection between the reliability of the testier (as some form of non-testimonial supporting 52miranda fricker, epistemic injustice, power and the ethics of knowing, 75. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 175 ground for justication) and the innate natural tendencies of the hearer through which she apprehends the speaker's reliability, as a 53basis for justication. the reliability of the speaker goes beyond what is established beforehand, it includes what is to be established in the present through the epistemic virtues of the speaker. this interconnection stimulates the justicatory process both internally and externally. when a testier gives a testimony on a particular incidence, the hearer does not access the credibility of the testimony solely by relying on the testier's reliability, the hearer relies also on her perceptual capacity to access the credibility of the testimony. the wide-ranging advantage of this kind of interconnection is that it allows us to understand that an epistemic agent's reliability is not merely pre-established but has to be re-established at every point. our analysis above establishes that testimonial judgement is both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. this further implies that testimonial justication entails the cognitive abilities of both the hearer and the speaker because the virtuous hearer is motivated to accept what the speaker says, not just based on her cognitive capacities, but also based on the cognitive character traits of the speaker. the idea here is that an agent with excellent cognitive faculties has what it takes to apprehend cognitive traits because they seem to be two sides of the coin. herein is a uniformity of cognitive situation identied above as epistemic empathy. it is an approach to testimonial justication that follows the paradigm of pritchard's quasi-reductionist thesis. a possible objection to this model would be on the grounds of its sufciency to resolve the question of testimonial justication. for instance, we could ask: does this model provide general justication for testimonial beliefs? that is to ask if testimonial information is sufciently justied when the hearer and speaker are involved in the justicatory process on the grounds of epistemic virtues? this is the point where we align with laurence bonjour who argues that the problem of justifying testimonial knowledge has persisted because of our inability to provide general justication for testimonial beliefs. 53duncan pritchard, “the epistemology of testimony,” 327. 176 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 according to him, because we cannot successfully distinguish all the 54 different kinds of cases of testimonial uptake, we cannot adequately assess the justication of testimonial beliefs. therefore, we cannot begin to provide 55 a general justication for testimonial beliefs. given that bonjour is correct, which we think he is, our concern is whether the two-way model we have proposed sufciently takes care of most cases of testimonial uptake? our response to this is afrmative. conclusion this paper aims to establish the source of justication of testimonial knowledge. given the vastness and practical indispensability of testimony as a source of knowledge, we embarked on the project of analysing if testimony is a basic or generative epistemic source. this project brought to the fore the discourse on reductionism and antireductionism theories of testimony. the failure of both theories to satisfactorily resolve the nature of testimony as a basic epistemic source gave way to pritchard's project to synthesize the plausible claims of both theories in his quasi-reductionism thesis. pritchard's project provides the grounds to consider fricker's idea of the testimonial sensitivity of the hearer. the application of fricker's idea permits us to explore the role of epistemic virtues in testimonial justication, a permission that necessitated that we briey but critically analyse the literature on virtue epistemology. based on our various analyses, we argued that testimonial justication or the justication of testimonial knowledge lies in the reliability of the testier as a trustworthy cognitive agent and the perceptual capacity of the hearer to access the credibility of the testimony. this provides us a justicatory process that is both perceptual, from the perspective of the testier, and inferential from the perspective of the hearer. the entire breadth of this paper is couched in the attempt to establish a proper way of justifying testimonial beliefs as knowledge. we have 54laurence bonjour, epistemology: classical problems and contemporary responses, 164. 55lawrence bonjour, epistemology: classic problems and contemporary responses, 158. ttestimony, justication, and virtue | 177 argued in this paper that a general justication for testimonial beliefs rest, not solely on either the testier or the hearer, but on both players – the testier and the hearer, in the epistemic transaction involving testimony. this is because a testimonial belief is justied as knowledge based on the intellectual virtues by the testier's cognitive character traits and the hearer's cognitive faculties and excellences. 178 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 abstract this article focuses on the parable of the pounds as it is found in the gospel of luke (19:11-28), which constitutes the conclusion of the lukan 'journey narrative' (jn). it provides a literary-critical exegesis of the parable in order to understand and explain its signicance within the context of the lucan 'journey narrative' in particular and the gospel of luke in general. the study holds that the nobleman who goes on a long journey and returns a king is not archelaus as many exegetes and commentators tend to claim, but jesus christ himself, who goes to his heavenly abode, entrusting the missiological endeavour to his followers. the parable of the pounds is, therefore, an allegorical reference to the mission entrusted by jesus to the apostles and their successors. it accentuates the seless, committed and relentless service required of christ's disciples, especially those who have received the vocation to partake of the ministerial mandate of the church. at the end of his earthly ministry, jesus goes on the journey of his return to the father, and he leaves behind on earth, servants (disciples and believers) of various degrees of merit, and enemies as well. each of these servants and enemies will be rewarded or punished according to his the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey narrative and the rhetoric of kerygma: a paradigmatic analysis of lk 19:11-28 stan-william o. ede ponticium institutum biblicum, rome stanwilly@yhoo.com deeds; and the rewards are larger opportunities of service. highly signicant is the lesson that there is not to be, as the disciples fancied, immediate triumph and joy for all; but, rst a long time of probation, and then at last, triumph and joy for those only who have earned them, and in exact proportion to their merits. the paper therefore recommends commitment to a life of obedience and service for all followers of jesus, albeit the trials and sacrices that accompany the task of true discipleship. keywords: journey, travel, pounds, talents, service, kerygma, reward. introduction a careful study of the gospel of luke reveals a purposeful collection and strategic incorporation of parables within the corpus. majority of these parables are clustered in the central section of the gospel which is generally referred to as the journey narrative (cf. 9:51-19:44). one of these parables which catches our attention is the 'parable of the 1pounds' (cf. 19:11-28). the parable of the ten pounds (19:11-27) constitutes a core part of the concluding section of the lukan journey narrative (19:144) which begins in 9:51. its pivotal role within the narrative is cast in a shining light not only by the fact that it is placed within an inclusio formed by two “journey notices” (19:11 and 19:28), but also by the 1the number of parables is counted differently depending on how one denes the parable. however, the bulk of parables in luke's gospel are concentrated within this section of the journey narrative, and at least fourteen of the parables are unique to luke. the parable of the pounds which is our focus in this paper has its parallel in matthew in the parable of the talent (matt 25:14-30). though it is not unique to luke, but it is carefully arranged and inserted within journey narrative material as we shall be discussing in this paper. 2 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 2fact that it brings together several themes contained in that narrative. this study which will be taken from a redaction-critical point of view, serves to show that this parable of the pounds was carefully incorporated by the author into the journey narrative material, weaving up a literary and rhetorical connection between it and other key sections of the narrative, especially the beginning part (9:51-62) in rendering its pertinent message which is itself characterized by various key themes. among these themes however, the two-fold motif of mission and discipleship is explicit, and shall be the focus of this paper. by way of procedure, we shall begin by presenting some of the unique textual features that distinguish this journey section of luke's gospel from its matthean and markan parallels. this will be followed by textual criticism and delimitation of the text. we shall then proceed in the third section to consider the 'synoptic parallels', and in the fourth by an analysis of the 'literary and narrative context of the parable of the pounds' in the fourth section. after this, we shall, in the fth section carry out a verse-by-verse 'analysis of the text', though the latter bulk of the parable will be analyzed in one group. taking all these into consideration, we shall proceed in the sixth section to discuss the 'function of the parable of the pounds within the journey narrative and its message'. this will be followed by the conclusion. 2luke is fond of employing the literary device ofinclusio to create prominence around issues which he intends to invest with special meaning and emphasis. a clear example in the signicance of faith in god, which is shown in the persistence in prayer, illustrated with the inclusio created with the lord's prayer towards with beginning of the journey narrative (lk 11:1-13) and the story of the unjust judge towards the end of the journey narrative (lk 18:1-8). cf. marianus pale hera, “the lucan lord's prayer: the prayer of the disciples”, journal of the nanzan academic society – humanities and natural sciences 17 (2019) 82. it is worthy of mention that despite the inner delimitation within the gospel of luke which is the focus of this paper, the lucan 'journey narrative' has a structure that allows for tracing it along a thread that extends from the onset of jesus' ministry and culminates with paul's missionary journey to the capital of the roman empire. cf. eddie germiquet, “luke's journey narrative: a literary gateway of the missionary church in acts”, scriptura 103 (2010) 16. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 3 preliminary observations: distinctive features of the text the parable of the pounds (lk 19:11-27) evinces a unique set of literary and rhetorical features and it behooves us to highlight some of them here to guide our approach to this paper. of note is the observation that lk 18:15-19:40 follows the order of mk 10:1311:10, a sort of return by luke to the markan order or material after departing from about the point where the jn begins. the markan order of events is again interrupted by the insertion of the zacchaeus incident and of the parable of the pounds. one can understand the presence of the zacchaeus narrative based on geographical considerations, since mark also tells that jesus travelled through jericho where the incident that luke narrated took place. but why did luke include the parable of the pounds at this point? the question is even more pertinent when we consider the fact that matthew has a similar parable, that of the talents (25:14-30) which reveals a number of differences from that of luke, showing luke to entertain a signicant number of peculiarities in the parable of the pounds. � as we shall observe when we present the synoptic parallels in comparing the lukan parable of the pounds with the matthean parable of the talent, luke uses μνᾶ (mina) while matthew uses τάλαντον (talent). the terminological choice is hypothetically not arbitrary, but ordered towards specic rhetorical ends. likewise is the intentionality of the plot. as has been identied by many scholars, the plot of this parable of the pounds bears a very close parallel with the true historical situation of the tyrannical judean ethnarch, archelaus who on his journey to rome to seek conrmation as king in 4 bc, had a delegation sent after him to protest his appointment. nevertheless, he was conrmed as king, and when he returned with 3 royal power, he exacted judgment on his enemies. considering that the parable also has a christological dimension to it, a keen reader would wonder why a christian redactor should choose a ruthless and murderous judean ethnarch as a type of the messiah. from a cursory 3brianschultz, “jesus as archelaus in the parable of the pounds (lk. 19:11-27)”, novum testamentum 47 (2007) 105. 4 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 consideration, one could say that the connection of the parable of the pounds with archelaus is problematic. yet from a closer look, the true rhetorical underpinning of the parabolic representation is evident. in essence, the real master of the parable is a “god” gure – the messiah who bestows generous gifts and expects a just accounting of their service. � textual criticism and delimitation of the text it must be here acknowledged that the various greek texts and witnesses to this lukan parable of the pounds present a number of variant readings within some of the verses of the pericope. because of the huge number of verses involved in this pericope and the amount of space it will require to analyze the textual issues, we shall leave out this section concerning the textual analysis, especially due to the fact that we consider most of the variant readings as word/morphological adjustments which do not make much signicant impact on the 4 interpretation of the text in the nal analysis. on the delimitation of the text, lk 19:1-10 narrates the arrival of jesus in jericho and the story of his encounter with zacchaeus. and then 19:29-44 whose beginning is marked by a change of location (near bethphage and bethany, and no longer in jericho) narrates a series of activities and conversations that culminated in the entry of jesus into jerusalem (19:45-46). in between, we have 19:11-28 which tells of the parable of the pounds.� scholars have often debated whether the lukan parable of the pounds is one parable or two parables woven into one by luke. this is because the matthean version of the parable (of the talents) does not contain the issue of the 'throne claimant', the story of the nobleman who went to receive a βασιλεία (kingdom) amid 4it would be fair not to categorically maintain that the textual issues involved in the pericope do not make any real impact in the strict sense of the word. however, based on the scope of this paper and the trajectory of our analysis, we wish to assume the minimalization of such impact and rely fully on the text we have taken as the basis of this paper. our textual basis therefore for this paper is: eberhard and erwin nestle andbarbara and kurt aland et al. (eds.), novum testamentum graece. 28th edition(stuttgart: deutsche bibelgesellschaft, 2012). the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 5 opposition, as contained in luke. while some argue that this strand is 5a lukan addition to the material in q, some argue that it was already 6 combined in the version which luke inherited, and some others argue that two of jesus' parables have been combined into one parable 7 by luke. the circumstances regarding its construction 8 notwithstanding, lk 19:11-28 presents a number of features in its form and structure that impels the reader to approach it as a single narrative unit. the unit begins in 19:11 which intimates the reader that jesus goes on to tell a παραβολή (parable) – one parable and not two – and the story ows until v.27 and then in v.28, the narrator informs the reader what jesus does after he had said these things. further, we also note that 19:28 appears to function not only as a transitional verse that concludes the preceding parable, καὶεἰπὼνταῦτα(“and having said these things”),but also initiates a new section of the narrative in which jesus' activities in and around jerusalem will be recounted. at the same time, 19:29 marks the beginning of a new narrative situation that will unfold in three discreet phases: entry into the temple (19:2944), cleansing of the temple (19:45-46), and teaching in the temple 9precincts (19:47-21:38). this point that 19:29 marks the beginning of a new narrative unit is also corroborated by the introductory function by which the account of jesus' entry into the temple (19:29:46) shifts the perspective of the narrative to what is about to 10 occur in the story. given the foregoing considerations, lk 19:11-28 can be delimited as a narrative unit. 5joseph a. fitzmyer, the gospel according to luke i-ix (ancb 28; garden city, ny: doubleday & co., 1981) 63-97; luke timothy johnson, the gospel of luke (collegeville, mn: michael glazier, 1991) 6. 6jan lambrecht, “the parable of the throne claimant (luke 19:11-27)”, in veronica koperski (ed.), understanding what one reads: new testament essays (leuven: peeters, 2003) 113.\ 7joachim jeremias, the parables of jesus (london: scm press, 1972) 59. 8nolland presents a beautiful summary of the debate: cf. john nolland, luke 18:35-24:53 (dallas, tx: word books publishers 2002) 910-911. 9cf. dean béchard, “the journey narrative: preliminary considerations” (unpublished lecture notes i on the gospel of luke at the pontical biblical institute, rome 2013) 7. 10cf. béchard, “the journey narrative”, 7-8. 6 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 lk 19:11-28matt 25:14-30 mk 13:34 14“for it will be like a m a n g o i n g o n a journey, who called h is servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 to one he gave ve talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. then he went away. 16 he who had received the ve talents went at once and traded with 34it is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 1 1 as they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he w a s n e a r t o j e r u s a l e m , a n d b e c a u s e t h e y supposed that the kingdom of god w a s t o a p p e a r immediately. 12 he said therefore, “a nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return. 13 calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, `trade with these till i come.' 14 but his citizens hated him and sent synoptic parallels &comparison a tabular representation of the synoptic comparison would be helpful 11 here: 11our comparison in this section is made much easier with the greek and english edition of the well-tabulated synopsis done by the american bible society on the four gospels. cf. kurtaland (ed.), synopsis of the four gospels (new york: american bible society 1982). the english translation presented here are from the revised standard version (rsv) and the english standard version (esv). this however applies only to this tabular presentation of the synoptic parallels, while we shall continue to use our own personal translation all through the paper. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 7 them, and he made ve talents more. 17 so also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20and he who had received the ve talents came forward, bringing ve talents m o r e , s a y i n g , ' m a s t e r , y o u delivered to me ve talents; here i have made ve talents more.' 21 his master said to h im, 'wel l done, good and faithful servant. you have been faithful over a little; i will set you over much. enter into t h e j o y o f y o u r master.' an embassy after him, saying, 'we do not want this man to reign over us.' 1 5 w h e n h e returned, having r e c e i v e d t h e k i n g d o m , h e commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. 16 the rst came b e f o r e h i m , saying, 'lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.' 17 and he said to him, 'well done, g o o d s e r v a n t ! because you have been faithful in a very lit t le, you 8 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 22 and he also who had the two talents c a m e f o r w a r d , saying, 'master, you delivered to me two talents; here i have made two talents more.' 23 his master said to him, 'well done, good and faithful servant. you have been faithful over a little; i will set you over much. enter into the joy of your master.' 24 he also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'master, i knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so i was afraid, and i went and hid your talent in the ground. here you have what is yours.' 2 6 but his master answered him, 'you wicked and slothful servant! you knew that i reap where i have not sown and shall have authority over ten cities.' 18 and the second came, saying, 'lord, your pound has made ve pounds.' 19 and he said to him, 'and you are to be over ve cities.' 2 0 then ano the r c a m e , s a y i n g , `lord, here is your pound, which i kept l a i d a w a y i n a napkin; 21 for i was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' 22 he said to him, 'i will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! you knew that i was a severe man, taking up what i did not lay down and reaping what i the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 9 g a t h e r w h e r e i scattered no seed? 27 then you ought to have invested my m o n e y w i t h t h e bankers, and at my coming i should have received what was my own with interest. 28 so take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 for to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 3 0 a n d c a s t t h e worthless servant i n t o t h e o u t e r darkness. in that place there will be w e e p i n g a n d gnashing of teeth.' did not sow? 23 why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming i should have collected it with interest?' 24 and he said to those who stood by, `take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.' 25 (and they said to him, 'lord, he has ten pounds!') 26 'i tell you, that to everyone who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 but as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'” 28 and when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to jerusalem. 10 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 though mark does not have any version of the parable, but in the context of making comparison with the kingdom of heaven as matthew does, mark engenders the “journey motif”, and that becomes a common feature in the three synoptic gospels. but on the parable itself, we shall deal with the comparison between matthew and luke. what is the relation of the parables in matthew and luke? can the earliest version be determined? comparing both versions from all possible perspectives, there are opinions that if the two versions of the parable derive from the same original source, then the traditions on which matthew and luke depend must have diverged 12very early. we need to analyze the features of the parable to be able to ascertain or refute such a position. a close reading of each of the two versions given in matthew and luke reveals some obvious parallelisms making up the bulk of the two versions which make many scholars in modern critical scholarship regard the two versions as derived from the same source, or one derived from the other. at the same time, it reveals a number of divergent details which are also very signicant. on the parallel details, we could compare: also there are a number of common phrases such as: “good ... faithful servant” (lk 19:17; cf. matt 25:21); “i was afraid” (lk 19:21; cf. matt 25:25); “because you are a hard man” (lk 19:21; cf. matt 25:24); “you reap what you did not sow”, (lk 19:21; cf. matt 25:24); “wicked servant” (lk 19:22; cf. matt 25:26); “deposit my money with the bankers” (lk 19:23; cf. matt 25:27); “with interest on my return” (lk 19:23; cf. matt 25:27); “take the pound from him” (lk 19:24; cf. matt 25:28); “give it to him who has the ten pounds” (lk 19:24; cf. matt 25:27); “everyone who has will be given more” (lk 19:26; cf. lk 19:12, 13, 15b-23, 24b-26 matt 25:14, 15, 19-27, 28, 29 12klyne r.snodgrass, stories with intent:a comprehensive guide to the parables of jesus (grand rapids, mi: eerdmans publishers, 2008) 525. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 11 matt 25:29); “from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (lk 19:26; cf. matt 25:29). beyond the wording and in terms of the content of the parable, common also to both matthew and luke is that the responsibility assigned the servants gives them an obligation, and there is the device of dialogue between a master who entrusts the obligation and a subordinate in the wrong. in both parables, the master is addressed with κύριε, the vocative case of the term κύριος (master). besides the fact that κύριος is the right word to use for a human master, it is also used with reference to god or later in the church, the exalted christ. hence, the exibility of the word has also attracted much attention. whereas no other word is suitable for a servant in both versions of the parable to use for master, in matt 25:37, 44, the son of man as judge is addressed as κύριε, and in lk 19:33-34, οἱκύριοι is used for the owners of the colt jesus will ride and ὁκύριος is used for jesus himself, the colt's true master. in both parables, the 'money' of the third servant who did not invest is taken from him and given to the servant with the most money. both parables also contain the saying, “to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (matt 15:29; lk 1319:26). there is however a catalogue of signicant differences between the two versions. we can picture the 'delay motif' in the matthean story whereby the master returns after a long time. while this 'delay motif' and the settling of accounts when the master returns (matt 25:19) has been interpreted to support a reading which sees the 13in both parables, a man entrusts an obligation ('money' as it were, following the more general interpretation rendered to matthew's τάλαντονand luke's μνᾶ) to his servants before he goes away. on his return, the servants give an account of what they have done with the money. two servants have increased their money while a third returns only what he was given. the master rewards the rst two servants but criticizes the third for not investing the money so that the master could receive back his money with interest. cf. elizabeth v. dowling, taking away the pound: women, theology and the parable of the pounds in the gospel of luke (london: t & t clark, 2007) 72; cf. snodgrass, stories with intent, 526. 12 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 14parable as being about the last judgment, the lukan story does not indicate any such delay in return. in the matthean story, the number of servants the master called is n o t e x a c t l y s p e c i  e d , a s w e  n d i n m a t t 2 5 : 1 4 , ἐκάλεσεντοὺςἰδίουςδούλους (“he called his very servants”); but according to the distribution of the amount and their returns, there are three servants (matt 25:15-18), and the master in the matthean story gives different amount of the τάλαντον to each servant. in the lukan s t o r y , t h e r e a r e t e n s e r v a n t s ( c f . l k 1 9 : 1 3 ) : καλέσαςδὲδέκαδούλουςἑαυτοῦ (“having called ten servants of his own”); and they all received equal amount, aμνᾶ each, but like matthew, only three of them are treated at the time of delivering the returns. the rst two servants in the matthean version each doubled their money in the master's absence (matt 25:20,22) while the rst two servants in the lukan story respectively made 1000% and 500% prots (lk 19:16, 18). the third servant in the matthean parable dug the ground and hid the money of his master (matt. 25:18), while the third servant in the lukan version (lk 19:20) wraps his money ἐνσουδαρίῳ (“in a piece of cloth”). where the rst two slaves in matthew are praised and told that they will be put in positions of authority, the rst two slaves in luke are given authority over cities in 15 the present rather than at some future time (lk 19:17,19). in the lukan version, the master repeats the description of himself as a harsh man. matthew's version does not have such a qualication. 14daniel j. harrington, the gospel of matthew (collegeville, mn: the liturgical press, 1991) 352. 15the matthean case of the reward presents a future dimension, and in the context of the injunction to 'enter into the joy of your master', the eschatological element in the reading of matthew's version stands out. this is further corroborated by the order in the matthean story that the third slave be thrown 'into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth' (mt. 25:30; cf. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). the 'outer darkness' which suggests condemnation at the last judgment contrasts with entering 'into the joy of the master' which alludes to a positive at the judgment. no corresponding punishment is given to the third slave in the lukan version. cf. harrington, matthew, 352-353; dowling, taking away the pound¸ 74. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 13 1� τάλαντον vs. μνᾶ as we mentioned earlier, one of the very prominent distinctive features in the two versions of the parable is the monetary unit employed. matthew uses the word τάλαντον (“talent”) for the object of the business while luke uses the word μνᾶ, which many english translations render as 'pound'. a μνᾶ is a monetary unit equivalent to hundred drachmas or 16 denarii. the word is a semitic loanword from the akkadian word manû, and it made its appearance in greek as early as the period of the 17attic greek. it is a considerable, though not an enormous, sum of money. in the new testament, it is used only by luke and appears 18 only in the parable of the pounds (lk 19:13, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25). we shall consider its ot usage later in our verse-by-verse analysis of the text. τάλαντονwas originally a measure of weight varying in size from about 26 to 36 kg, and then became a unit of coinage whose value differed considerably in various times and places, but was always comparatively high. it varied also with the metal involved which might be gold, silver, or copper. in the nt, the word is found only in 19matt 18:24; 25:15 (2x), 20, 22, 24 (2x), 28. while there is a variety of understanding of the precise value of the τάλαντον, it is considerably more valuable than the μνᾶ, that is, of much larger 16cf. james hope moulton andgeorge milligan, the vocabulary of the greek testament: illustrated from the papyri and other non-literary sources (london: hodder and stoughton, 1930), 414. the drachma itself can be considered the same value as the denarius, the usual daily wage for a labourer. 17frederick william danker and walter bauer, a greek-english lexicon of the new testament and other christian literature (chicago and london: the university of chicago press, 2000) 654. 18alfredschmoller, handkonkordanz zum griechischen neuen testament (stuttgart: deutsche biblegesellschaft, 1989) 339; dankerand bauer, a greek-english lexicon, 654. 19danker andbauer, a greek-english lexicon, 988; schmoller, handkonkordanz 479. 14 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 20denomination with each talent equalling sixty minas. from the above analysis, it is clear that each evangelist uses a term peculiar to him as the monetary unit of the task, and signicant is the fact that matthew's word applies somewhere else outside the parable of the talents in his gospel (cf. 18:24). 2� the matthean story and the lukan story: source primacy considered the pressing questions: whose version of the parable is older? did matthew copy from luke or did luke copy from matthew? and which of them adapted certain features of an existing tradition and reworked them to suit his purpose? the typical scholarly approach to these parables as presented by 21 matthew and by luke amounts to the following three points: i.) that the two versions are divergent accounts of a single original, though it is difcult to trace the similarities in both accounts to quelle (i.e. the q source); ii.) that matthew's account is closer to the original, but matthew shaped the parable allegorically to reect a concern for eschatology and the delay of the parousia by placing it in his eschatological discourse, by several additions some of which may be due to the tradition, and by the change from minas to talents; and, iii.) that luke has somewhat ineffectively joined two parables, that of 22the minas and that of the throne claimant. on the basis of an overall critical analysis, we are caught between tradition and redaction, and also in the web of the arguments 20it is pertinent to note that the value of the talent also varies considerably, depending on times and places. some scholars evaluate a talent as equivalent to sixty minas, while some others understand the talent to be one hundred times more valuable than the pound. cf. eduard schweizer, the good news according to matthew (transl. david e. green) (london: s.p.c.k., 1975) 470; johnson, the gospel of luke, 289-290. 21cf. snodgrass, stories with intent, 529-530. 22scholars also believe that luke has also shaped the result of the parable eschatologically by placing it just before the entryto jerusalem, by his introduction in v.11, and by the direct order to “do business in v.13). but our focus in the paper is the orientation of the parable to the two-fold theme of mission and discipleship, owing to the fact of 'calling' and 'entrusting a task' which is expected to yield due fruits with the passage of time. this mission-disciple theme is also evident in the form and 'shape' of the parable. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 15 23 between single tradition and double tradition. both past and contemporary critical scholarship is divided between a single original source tradition adapted independently by matthew and luke, and the view that one depended on the other. many scholars agree that the bulk of similarities between the two accounts is due to 24 the fact that they emerged from a single teaching occasion of jesus or from different occasions of teaching in which jesus repeated the 25parable. two main explanations are given as to how the dissimilarities crept into the accounts: (1.) that the original parable is preserved independently in the matthean tradition (m) and in the lukan tradition (l), and that it is these traditions which are responsible for the discrepancies between the two accounts. (2.) that the parable was preserved in a source common to both evangelists, such as q, and that the evangelists themselves or various editors 26 before them are responsible for the differences. either of these two positions however raises a further question: which of the two evangelists preserves the most original form of the parable? the vast majority of commentators opine that whatever the 'original' teaching looked like, it would have been more similar to matthew's version 23cf. richard l. rohrbaugh, “a peasant reading of the parable of the talents/pounds: a text of terror?” biblical theological bulletin23 (1993) 32-39; r. q. ford, the parables of jesus. recovering the art of listening (minneapolis 1997). 32-46; snodgrass, stories with intent, 530-531. the scope of this work does not avail us of the opportunity to analyse as many scholarly divides and arguments as possible in this regard. but we shall limit ourselves to a few details that have bearing on the trajectory of this paper. 24cf. adelbert denaux, “the parable of the talents/pounds (q 19,12-27) – a reconstruction of the q text”, in andreas lindemann (ed.), the saying source q and the historical jesus (leuven: leuven university press, 2001) 430. 25cf. alfred plummer, a critical and exegetical commentary on the gospel according to luke (edinburgh: t & t clark, 1922) 437 26this debate has really received considerable attention in critical scholarship. cf. arland j. hultgren, the parables of jesus:a commentary (grand rapids, mi: eerdmans, 2000) 278-279; william d. davies – dale c. allison, a critical and exegetical commentary on the gospel according tosaint matthew, vol iii (edinburgh: t & t clark international 1997) 376; edgarhennecke, new testament apocrypha (ed. &transl. wilhelm schneemelcher and r. mclwilsonet al.) (london: lutterworth press, 1965) 149 ff. 16 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 27than to luke's. a counter position is held by just a few, one of whom is marie-joseph lagrange who argues that it is luke who preserves the most original form, and that matthew (or his source) is the one 28 guilty of the most redactional work. more appealing to me is the view that each of the two evangelists based their versions of the parable on the teaching of jesus, either a single teaching which experienced variation in form as passed from one period to another, or various occasions of teaching where the same story had to be told with different nuances, contextualized according the peculiarities of the audience or kerygmatic purpose, in terms of the intended message of each occasion. alfred plummer suggests that it is more likely that both of them reect two separate, albeit similar, teachings of jesus, given on different occasions, rather than stipulating that the gospel writers confused the details of the 29 teachings as well as its context. it is like someone telling the same story twice on different occasions, each time adapting not only the presentation but also the details of the story in order to better t the audience before us. a very tenable view in our consideration that gives credence to the possibility of plummer's suggestion is given by n. t. wright: “it is highly likely that jesus used such stories on 27they mostly base their argument upon the supposition that there is no adequate not tentative reason why matthew or his source would have removed certain elements from the parable which are preserved in luke, all the more so since these elements were particularly tting for mathew's context. cf. joseph a. fitzmyer, the gospel according to luke x-xxvi (ancb 28a; garden city, ny: doubleday & co., 1985) 1230. on this point, we nd it difcult to agree with these scholars that matthew would nd everything preserved in the l tradition useful for his context. matthew's eschatological context is enough reason why adaptations could be set in, if he were to really have the l or q source to rework. the view that lukan version was expanded from the original which is said to have been preserved by matthew may not be outrightly tenable, in our view. 28marie-josephlagrange, évangile selon saint luc (paris : j. gabalda 1921& 1948) 490-492.i also nd it a sort of over-assumption the claim that matthew did the redactional work on the original which luke preserves. rather, i believe that both of them independently retold an existing story which has its source in the historical jesus, and then applied vocabulary and context that would be more comprehensible to their respective audience. 29plummer, gospel according to luke, 437. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 17 numerous occasions (not just 'twice', as cautious conservative exegetes used to suggest). there is no reason to suggest that either matthew or luke's version was derived from the other, or both from a 30 single original. klyne snodgrass observes that at least three parables beside these two deal with the same themes of entrusted possessions, a master's absence, and a later reckoning: the faithful or unfaithful servant (matt 24:45-51), the man going on a journey (mk 13:34-36), and the wicked tenants (matt 21:33-45; mk 12:1-12; lk 20:9-18). given that such stories were told often and given the lack of common language between matthew and luke, he argues that matthew's parable of the talents and luke's parable of the pounds do not render 31the same parable or have any genetic relation. lending support to these latter views also impels us to acknowledge that it is not impossible, and in fact it must have been that case, that each of the two evangelists, without necessarily depending on each other, in adapting the parable whose source is the teaching of jesus, included their own redactional input to the story in order to render more apt the overriding message as it connects and ows with its overall context. there is a very strong indication of luke's ingenuity in this parable to prove this point. let us consider the parables in luke's gospel that are completely lukan, that is, found only in luke. on an interesting note, g. sellin divides the introductory formulas of the lukan parables into a three-fold categorization such as ἄνθρωπός-τις(anthrōpos-tis), τίς-ἐξ-ὑμῶν(tis30nicholas t. wright, jesus and the victory of god (minneapolis: fortress press, 1996) 632-633. 31with all the efforts made by scholars to determine the original source(s) of the parable(s) as contained in matthew and luke, klyne sondgrass comes to the conclusion that the signicant differences between the two accounts make three options possible: (i.) we have two independent parables developing the same plot with the throne claimant being original to luke's parable; (ii.) we have two independent parables, but luke (or his tradition) added the throne claimant elements; (iii.) we have a common original which developed in two directions and which luke (or his tradition) altered by merging the throne claimant elements. according to him, one of the rst two options is more likely. cf. snodgrass, stories with intent, 531. 18 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 ex-hymōn) and ὅμοιος(homoios) parables. by examining the introductory formulas of the parables, he states the important fact that luke has a preponderance of τίς-ἐξ-ὑμῶν and ἄνθρωπός-τις parables, while mark and material peculiar to matthew's gospel contain exclusively ὅμοιος parables. on the basis of this, he attempts to establish the contention that they come entirely from the hand of 32 luke and not from the jesus tradition. following such an observation, we can see the uniqueness of the parable of the pound, in the sense that while also having enough other characteristics to qualify it as a parable of the jesus tradition which both luke and matthew share, the lukan introductory formula (cf. 19:13) and many other unique lukan characteristics that it possesses, shows it to be a piece of ingeniously arranged material by luke and strategically tted into its context in the gospel to convey some pertinent message. literary and narrative context of the parable the context preceding the parable deals with jesus' activities near jericho and inside jericho while still on his way to jerusalem (18:3543; 19:1-10). the narrator tells us that as he draws near jericho (18:35) he encounters a blind man and restores his sight. and then he enters jericho (19:1) and eats with zacchaeus (a story unique to luke). the parable of the pounds is given immediately after the zacchaeus incident and immediately before jesus' entry into jerusalem. since 9:51, jesus has been on a journey to jerusalem, such that through the intervening ten chapters the reader has been anticipating his arrival. as a matter of fact therefore, the parable is placed at a crucial stage within the journey narrative, a sort of climax in a series of activities and conversations during the nal lap of that journey to jerusalem. while on the journey and prior to the telling of the parable, jesus converses with a rich ruler and invites him to 32g. sellin's analysis is found in the phd dissertation of c. i. blomberg, “tradition history of the parables peculiar to luke's central section” (university of aberdeen, 1982), 248-258. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 19 distribute his wealth to the poor, but he would not yield, and jesus dec lares how di fcul t i t i s for the weal thy to en ter εἰςτὴνβασιλείαντοῦθεου (“into the kingdom of god” – 18:18-25). then jesus makes the third prediction of his passion and states clearly that jerusalem, to which he is going, is the place where he would be killed (18:31-33). drawing near jericho, jesus cures a blind beggar who then follows him (18:35-43). and then in jericho, jesus encounters the tax collector, zacchaeus who welcomes him into his house (19:1-10). signicant in this latter encounter is that, in contrast to the rich ruler mentioned in 18:18-25, zacchaeus voluntarily decides to give half his possessions to the poor, and becomes intent on not defrauding anyone (19:8); and then jesus pronounces salvation 33 upon zacchaeus and his household (19:9). in the analysis of many scholars, the introductory clause of 19:11, ἀκουόντωνδὲαὐτῶνταῦταπροσθεὶςεἶπενπαραβολὴν (“as they were hearing these things, he proceeded to tell a parable”), somewhat indicates the linking of the following story the parable of the pounds with the zacchaeus narrative, and they conclude from it that it is the same audience which hears jesus' pronouncement in 19:9-10 that will hear the parable jesus tells. after this particular introductory clause, verse 11 gives two narrative reasons for the parable being here. as the narrator indicates, jesus tells the parable because 'he was near jerusalem' and because “they” thought the βασιλείατοῦθεοῦ would appear immediately (19:11). in this, we see that placing the parable after the zacchaeus story and before the triumphal entry deserves c lose a t ten t ion . the s ta tement to zacchaeus i 19 :9 , 33in this whole narrative contextup to the followership and resolve of zacchaeus, the discipleship-mission motif and its connection with the journey jesus makes to jerusalem where he would die, is already brought out clearly, setting the stage for deepening of the message via an allegorical rendering in the parable of the pounds that follow immediately after. in obeying the command to come down from the tree, zacchaeus answers the call to discipleship. he then invites jesus to dine with him and his closer encounter with jesus leads him to μετάνοια. the nal result is that zacchaeus gains salvation (cf. lk 19:1-10), the reward that awaits every true disciple. 20 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 σήμερονσωτηρίατῷοἴκῳτούτῳἐγένετο (“today salvation has come to 34this house”) provides the reason within the narrative why “they” thought the kingdom was immediately to appear, whereas the situation makes evident their lack of understanding that jerusalem would be the place of death for jesus. jesus goes on to tell the parable. after the parable, the narrator 35 tells us that jesus continues his journey to jerusalem (19:28). signicant to note also is that several features of luke's narrative of the last days in jerusalem connect the features of the parable. in the account of the triumphant entry which follows, jesus is acclaimed as “king” (19:38), a nuance which is found in only luke's account of the 36 triumphant entry, a reminder that the βασιλεία is present. within its larger narrative context, there are also some other signicant features which scholars have identied both inside the parable and in its seams as stylistic techniques employed by luke to highlight the message of the parable. amongst these is the feature of opposition and destruction as identied by guy. he links the opposition of the citizens in 19:14 with the opposition by the pharisees in 19:39, and also links the slaughter of the citizens in 19:27 with the slaughter of 19:44. guy describes these connections as 'a textual web of interrelationship' between the parable and the 37 following pericope. the connection i would prefer to make in this regard of connecting the parable with the pericope that comes after is 34the identity of this “they” who are expecting the kingdom of god raises further questions. who exactly does the “they” refer to? some think it is the crowd who complains in 19:7 – cf. james m.dawsey, the lukan voice: confusion and irony in the gospel of luke (macon, ga: mercer university press 1986) 95; others point to the disciples – cf. sharon h. ringe, luke (louisville, ky: westminster john knox 1995) 234. according to dowling, since it is unlikely that opponents of jesus would be expecting the kingdom of god to appear once jesus arrives in jerusalem, it is more likely that “they” refers to supporters, including the disciples – cf. dowling, taking away the pound, 76. 35snodgrass, stories with intent, 527. 36dowling, taking away the pound, 77. 37dowling, taking away the pound, 77. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 21 that, as the fate of the opposing citizens (cf. 19:14) seems to be an allegorical allusion to the fate that awaits the opposing pharisees, so does reward as bequeathed upon the faithful servants awaits the “multitude of disciples” who welcomed him, rejoicing and praising god (cf. 19:37-38), a strong enough reason to make the stones themselves protest if the disciples were to be deterred (cf. 19:39-40) from trailing the path marked for them by the master. � closer analysis of the text 19:11 the introduction (v.11) leading into the parable holds a lot of information and draws a lot of questions as well. what is the meaning of this verse? did jesus tell this parable to prevent eschatological excitement among his followers or to announce the reality of the kingdom for which preparations must be made? most commentators 3 8agree that i t is a lukan creat ion, and the effect of ἀκουόντωνδὲαὐτῶνταῦταis to tie the parable closely to the preceding scene (cf. ἀκούω – 16:14; 20:45) with its audience as the followers of jesus (5:27-39). this is further corroborated by the use of προσθεὶςεἶπενπαραβολὴν (“he proceeded to tell a parable), which implies an addition to what they have been hearing. luke distinctively uses προστίθημι(cf. 3:20; 12:25, 31; 17:5; 20:11-12; acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 11:24; 12:3; 13:36). the main organizing device of the central portion of luke's gospel is the journey of jesus to jerusalem with numerous travel notices rubbing through the narrative (9:31, 51, 53; 13:22, 33-34; 17:11; 18:31). now, it is nearing its climax as he gets closer to 3 9jerusalem. the causal clause in 19:11 is signicant: διὰτὸἐγγὺςεἶναιἰερουσαλὴμαὐτὸν (“because he was near to jerusalem”).with these words, the narrator noties us that he added this parable because he was getting close to jerusalem? what then is the connection between this parable and his journey to jerusalem? 38jeremias, parables, 99 n40 gives a list of lukan and pre-lukan characteristics. 39johnson, luke, 289. 22 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 many commentators would like to nd the answer in the second reason given for the parable, “… and because they supposed that the kingdom of god was to appear immediately” (19:11). the natural antecedent for the implied subject (“they”) is the accompanying crowd made up of followers, opponents, and the “rest”. the verb δοκέω is sometimes used to express false opinion, but in fact, luke uses it neutrally (1:3; 10:36; 22:24; acts 15:22, 25, 28, 34; 25:27; 26:9) as often as to designate erroneous perceptions (8:18; 12:40, 51; 13:2-4; acts 12:9; 17:18). yet the verb itself does not tell us whether we are to take the parable as a correction or conrmation of their 40opinion. the two points that i would like to emphasize in this verse however, for the purpose of our paper are:(i.) the journey notice, and (ii.) the presence of the disciples amongst those who make up the audience. we shall discuss them further in the section that treats the function of the text in the lukan jn. 19:12 this verse like the preceding one, contains numerous indications of lukan compositional activity such that one can say that whatever may have been his original source for the story, it involves a lukan revision inserted into this lukan context for a particular purpose. as with this verse in which the jesus' story really begins, evidence of lukan characteristic within this parable would also be seen all over the text. the adverb, οὖν (“therefore”) is used here in a responsive sense, being that their expectation has generated this response, which is the parable. the closest parallels to this usage are in lk 3:7, 18; 7:31.the term, εὐγενὴς is an adjective which literarily means “noble birth” (cf. acts 17:11; 1 cor 1:26). the word ἐπορεύθη (“he journeyed”) is part of luke's journey vocabulary and would recall for the hearer jesus' journey to his destiny in jerusalem. it is used again in luke's travel notice at 19:28. and earlier in 9:51, as part of luke's journey vocabulary, το ῦπορεύεσθαι signals jesus' movement toward 40johnson, luke, 289. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 23 41his goal of death and resurrection. another catch-word in this verse is ὑποστρέψαι (“to return”), for the entire parable is dependent on the return of the king, who will require his servants to give an account. the allegorical meaning of these details is that jesus is the “man of noble birth” and that the χώρανμακρὰν (“distant country”) refers to his being in heaven awaiting his return. his servants are to do his 42work until he comes back. 19:13 the δέκαμνᾶς(“ten minas) are central to this verse. a “mina” was an ot measure of weight consisting of fty shekels (ezek 45:12), used for gold and silver (1 ki 10:17; ezra 2:69; neh 7:71–72). it was “a sixtieth of a talent or about one hundred drachmas, i.e., about three months' wages”. even though a mina is a much smaller sum than the ve talents in mt 25:15 (which represent a sizable fortune), three months' wages is still a considerable sum of money. the nobleman makes his expectation concerning the money clear with the use of πραγματεύσασθε the imperative of πραγματεύομαι, meaning “to engage in business. the phrase, ἐνᾧἔρχομαιpresents a sense of construction that is somewhat ambiguous. most translators simply render it as “until i come”, while some others would see it as “while i go”. this latter nuance which could also mean “while i am travelling” captures the context of the journey information that keeps being highlighted by the author. 41j. fitzmyer calls this luke's “pregnant use of the verb πορεύεσθαι … [where] the context is one of opposition and hostility, and the implication is that his destiny is to be reached despite such opposition. further noteworthy instances of it are to be found in the travel account in particular (9:51, 52, 53, 56, 57; 10:38; 13:33; 17:11; 19:12) though its use is not conned to this section”, cf. fitzmyer, luke i-ix, 164-171; a. arthur, luke 9:51-24:53 (concom; st. louis 1998) 426; johnson, luke, 289. 42m. c. black, luke (joplin, mo 1996). 43danker and bauer, a greek-english lexicon of the new testament. 24 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 19:14-27 luke continues the thread of the parable. we would just highlight a few of the various lukan characteristics to buttress our point that this parable is a purposeful lukan insertion into the journey narrative for a signicant purpose. in 19:14,τοῦτονis a derogatory reference with the nuances of “this guy” or “this fellow” and βασιλεῦσαιis an ingressive aorist, “to 43become king.” the bidding of some of the nobleman's fellow citizens who sought to upset his conrmation as king was clearly unsuccessful and he returns with full royal authority. here the opposition to jesus, perhaps especially that which culminates in his death, is in view. in the larger lukan perspective, the journey is a journey through death and to god (see acts 2:33–36), and the return is the anticipated coming of the son of man (see luke 21:27–28). the case in point is that as he journeys (to god), jesus would entrust the task for the continuation of his mission to his followers, as envisioned in the parable where the noble man entrusts talents to his servants. the term, γνοῖin 19:15 is also an ingressive aorist, “come to know.” probably a large part of the reason they did not want him to be king is that they did not want to be held accountable – to him or to 44anyone. the success achieved by the rst two servants may seem extraordinary to us, but in the ancient world huge risks went with huge returns. they have done well in their trial and are given an important share in the rule of their monarch (cf. 22:29–30). the expression, ὅτιἐνἐλαχίστῳπιστὸςἐγένου (“because you have been faithful in very little”) in 19:17 re-echoes 16:10 which is the parable 45 of the unrighteous steward. the third servant, however (note that luke seems to lose sight of the rest of the ten who were entrusted with money), returns the money, carefully preserved, but has made absolutely no use of it. the man explains his action as provoked by fear, based on his understanding of the exacting nature of his master: 44a. arthur, luke 9:51-24:53 (st. louis: 1998) 725 ff. 45cf. arthur, luke 9:51-24:53, 291; also, howard i. marshal, the gospel of luke: a commentary on the greek text (grand rapids, mi: william b. eerdmanspublishing company, 1978) 707. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 25 this man withdraws from the bank what he has not deposited and claims the harvest that represents the effort of somebody else's 46 sowing. in marked contrast to the other two, the third servant loses his stake in his master's affairs precisely when his master has become the undisputed ruler of the realm. here too the proverb in 19:26, παντὶτῷἔχοντιδοθήσεται,ἀπὸδὲτοῦμὴἔχοντοςκαὶὃἔχειἀρθήσεται (“to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away”) proves true that winners win yet more and losers lose all that they have. but this slave is not the only loser in our story. his loss suddenly appears modest when it can be compared to that of the fellow citizens who opposed the coming to power of this ruler. they are guilty of treason, and they will pay the 47 ultimate penalty. but who made the statement is not exactly clear whether it is the king in the story, or an interjection by jesus into the parable. this pronouncement is found also in matt 25:29; 13:12; mk 4:25. 19:28 this verse is a lukan link with the preceding section. the phrase, εἰπὼνταῦτα (“having said these things”) is meant to emphasize that jesus has removed any basis for misunderstanding of the present incident. this verse which comes soon after the parable, doubles as the conclusion of the parable of the pounds and the conclusion of the journey narrative, and it goes on to give the nal travel notice: ἐπορεύετοἔμπροσθενἀναβαίνωνεἰςἱεροσόλυμα (“he went on ahead, going up to jerusalem”). indeed, ἔμπροσθενmeans that jesus went in front of his followers (cf. mk 10:32 for the motif). while ἀναβαίνωεἰςἱεροσόλυμα recalls lk 2:42, invoking jesus' pilgrimage to jerusalem at the age of twelve in the company of his parents, it also recalls lk 18:31 which signals his nal earthly destination where 46nolland, luke 18:35-24:53, 917-918 47nolland, luke 18:35-24:53, 918; j. b. green, the gospel of luke (grand rapids, mi 1997) 679ff. 26 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 everything that is written about the son of man will be accomplished. in a similar vein, εἰςἱεροσόλυμαis drawn from mk 11:1 with an eye to the triumphant entry of jesus into jerusalem to begin his ultimate journey to the cross. it puts jesus' journey to jerusalem at the center stage. the hearer is alerted 'one more time' to pay attention to what is about to transpire in the holy city of jesus' destiny. the hearer's response to the events that take place there will be signicant for his eternal salvation. � the 'journey notice' in this nal verse of the pericope combines with the preceding one in v.11 for a specic function. these last two 'journey notices' (v.11 and v.28) in the lukan journey narrative t the parable of the pounds within an inclusio, and renders it a lot signicant in the broader context of the journey narrative that begins from lk 9:51. the function of the parable in the journey narrative and its message obviously, as we said in the introduction, the parable of the pound was carefully incorporated by luke into the journey narrative material to weave up a literary and rhetorical connection of all the themes present in the discourses and actions of jesus throughout the entire journey narrative. the parable brings the ideational purpose to 48bear on the overarching message of the jn as it approaches its end. the linguistic choices and pragmatic undertones of the parable convey the writer's perspective on, and experience of, 'what is happening' in the ministry of jesus. whenever we talk about events, we represent them in a certain way. luke uses the parable of the pounds to represent what the departure of jesus after his earthly ministry implies for his followers to whom he is entrusting the continuation of the ministry on earth. 48in presenting a number of arguments that have been advanced in support of the theory that lk 19:28 should mark the end of the jn, dean béchard points out that amongst other elements, there is rst some indication that luke intents the parable of the pound (19:11-27) as an “interpretive pause” that not only comments on the preceding zacchaeus episode (19:1-10), but also offers a recapitulation of the major themes of the entire jn. cf. béchard, “the journey narrative”, 7. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 27 in v.11, luke provides his audience with an interpretive frame by which to make sense of the parable laying emphasis on their 'erroneous' thinking concerning the imminence of the parousia: “he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of god was to appear immediately” (19:11), although the presence of σήμερον (“today”) in 49 vv.5, 9 raises the question of the eschatological timetable. going on to tell the parable gives enough clarication on the issue, providing that, rather than set eyes on the “when” of the appearance on the kingdom, attention should focus on how we use our time and given resources to prepare ourselves and others for admittance into the 50kingdom (cf. acts 1:6-11). therefore, of the various themes it engenders, and the various possible functions that the parable of the pound play in the entire context of the journey narrative – christological, theological, ecclesiological, missiological, etc. – our focus on this paper is to take on the missiological function, that is, the motifs of “discipleship” and “mission”. david gill's apt description very well captures our purpose: “the parable of the pound, coming as it does at the close of the travel narrative, has special signicance; and it is comforting for our interpretation of the whole that it contains the two themes of 49scholars have interpreted this view in a variety of ways. while conzelman emphasized luke's concern with “readiness”, maddox thinks that luke's primary concern is not when the kingdom will come but with who will qualify to be admitted to it. cf. hansconzelman, the theology of luke (transl. geoffreybuswell) (london: faber, 1960) 113; robert maddox, the purpose of luke-acts(göttingen: vandenhoeck & ruprecht, 1982) 49-50;105106.this latter view challenges us to search for other dimensions intentions in the message, which brings us to the question of true discipleship as an 'ingredient' that can truly qualify one for admittance into the kingdom. 50cf. this is actually a strong statement and reminder of the seriousness of the call to discipleship and mission. everything has its own time. the journey of jesus which culminates with his entry into jerusalem leads to the fulllment of his earthly destiny, to suffer and to die in jerusalem, and to rise again. but his death and the end of his earthly ministry does not mark the end of his mission, and until the time of the eschatological fulllment which is certainly not so imminent (cf. lk 19:11), the disciples are to 'engage in business', the business of making god's salvation reach the ends of the earth. 28 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 proper discipleship and mission. one might almost say that it identies them, i.e., missionary activity is the work of the good 51 disciple.” looking at this two-fold theme (mission and discipleship) again from the context of the entire journey narrative, we would come to see that it constitutes the framing structures of the narrative (cf. 9:51-62; lk. 19:11-28, 29ff), in which verbs of “sending” and “entrusting” 52some tasks are signicantly employed. some important elements connecting the beginning of the lukan journey narrative with the end part, specically the parable of the pounds can therefore be briey be highlighted. first it must been noted that like the case with 19:11-28, a number of themes and motifs extend through the narrative of 9:51-62, and most prominently the 'journey notices' and 53 the theme of discipleship. following the element of necessity seen in jesus' journey and his determination in taking it (19:51), he 'sends' messengers ahead of him, to make 'ready' for him (9:52). the 'sending' of the disciples surfaces also in the parable of the pounds where the nobleman charges his servants with the task of 'engaging in business' (service) until he comes (cf. 19:13). also present is the 'motif' of rejection – the samaritans would not receive him (9:53) just as the citizens of the nobleman sent an embassy after him to accentuate their rejection of him (19:15), but despite the rejection however, the mission is not abandoned and in each case the determination takes them on (9:56; 19:12, 15a). the theme of discipleship is then clearly taken up and expanded in 9:57-62, and the nal statement of jesus in v.62 ts well into comparison with the rendering of accounts situation of 19:15-27 given that the nobleman's servants, by answering the call and accepting the task entrusted to them, they thereby put their hands on the plough and the one who 51david gill, “observations on the lukan travel narrative and some related passages”, harvard theological review 63 (1970) 212. 52with a collection of such verbs, we can say therefore, that lk 19:11-28, 29-44 forms an inclusio with lk 9:51-62, and upon this basis, we can develop out theme of discipleship which is found in the parable of the pounds. 53cf. deanbéchard, “exegesis of the travel narrative” (unpublishedlecture notes ii on luke's gospel at the pontical biblical institute, rome 2013) 2 the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 29 looks back (cf. the third servant – 19:20-26) is not t for the master's reward (kingdom of god – cf. 19:62). we can, in fact, notice from the foregoing that the 'journey notices' on the outer frames of the parable – v.11 (being near to jerusalem) and v.28 (going up to jerusalem) together set the parable within an inclusio characterized by the 'journey motif'. this is in effect, a signicant standpoint in the overall connection of the parable with its predominant theme. the narrator's introduction and conclusion to the parable therefore, reinforce the focus on jerusalem (the place where jesus would die to rise again after three days – 18:31-33). it is a sort of κήρυγμα (kerygma, i.e. “proclamation”), an important and signicant rhetorical device applied to this parable which has the 'journey motif', used by the author to teach his audience and readers the right way to respond to the task charged by the 'master', whose going away after being rejected (cf. 19:14) by the elders and scribes, does not end there, but will receive his exaltation and return in glory to demand the rendering of accounts by all the servants he left behind (cf. 19:15-27 vis-à-vis the totality of the gospel message). luke's editing and use of the parable therefore offers a lot of signicance. the point in the parable is that jerusalem in vv.11 and 28 is not about the establishment of the βασιλεία and the parousia, rather it is a place for the passion and resurrection of jesus. it is a key place 54 but not the place for the end. luke has therefore used the parable of the pound to correct a false notion of discipleship. the fact that jesus has gone to take his βασιλεία does not mean that the disciples can relax and simply wait around until he returns. the author points out that the time while he is away is a time for “trading” (19:15), i.e. for 55the hard work of the christian life. that this work includes missionary activity and relentless service is shown by the parallel passage in acts 1:10-11 – “and while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 54gill, “observations”, 211; darrell l. bock, luke (downers grove, il: intervarsity, 1994). 55gill, “lukan journey narrative” 212. 30 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 'men of galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? this jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven'”. this very scene points back more or less to the conversation between jesus and his disciples in acts 1:6-8 and the mandate jesus gives to them just before he ascended into 56 heaven. to give the μνᾶς and entrust them with a duty to accomplish, is tantamount to the details of the call to discipleship. with the giving of the 'minas', the nal parable of the jerusalem journey highlights the disciple's stewardship in the interim between jesus' death and return. it continues the theme of his preparation of the disciples for life after his departure. his servants must recognize that the consummation of the kingdom is yet in the future and they are accountable for their service in the meantime. those who would not serve and those who reject jesus' kingship face judgment, whether they reject that kingship directly or view the king as harsh rather than gracious (cf. lk 19:24-27). it is pertinent to note also that patristic exegesis is fraught with emphasis on the 'discipleship' and 'mission' motifs with regard to this parable of the minas. one clear example is cyril of alexandria who states that, “we should see in the parable of the pounds an allegorical 57 reference to the mission given to the apostles and their successors. therefore, in our nal analysis, the nobleman who goes on a long journey and returns a king is not archelaus as many exegetes and commentators tend to claim, but jesus christ himself. at the end of his earthly ministry, jesus goes on the journey of his return to the father and he leaves behind him servants (disciples and believers) of various degrees of merit, and enemies as well. each of these servants and enemies will be rewarded or punished according to his deeds; and the rewards are larger opportunities of service. it is clear therefore 56before then the disciples had asked if jesus were going to restore the βασιλείαto israel now. he answers that it is not for them to know the time (acts 1:7-8); he promises them the holy spirit and predicts, “you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth. cf. gill, “lukan journey narrative” 212. 57arthur a.just, luke (downers grove, il: intervarsity 2003) 294. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 31 that the main lesson of the parable of the pounds is the long period of christ's absence, during which there will be abundant time for both service and rebellion, time to fulll the mission and call to service and be rewarded at last, or to neglect the given opportunity and face the judgment (cf. lk 19:13-27). therefore, there is not to be, as the disciples fancied, immediate triumph and joy for all; but, rst a long time of probation, and triumph and joy at last for those only who have 58earned them, and in exact proportion to their merits. � � conclusion we have examined the parable of the pounds as a kerygmatic rhetoric employed by luke to establish the climactic standpoint of the journey narrative (jn), which is to recall and make emphatic all the themes and motifs that constitute the entire jn itself. our particular emphasis has been on the preponderant two-fold theme of discipleship and mission. the parable of the pounds (lk 19:11-28) analysed through the prism of its allegorical referent accentuates luke's ingenuity, the rhetoric of kerygma with which he is able to reach far with his message. the kingdom will not appear immediately (19:11). disciples therefore are called to be trustworthy and proceed diligently with the mission entrusted to them while they wait for the second coming of christ the king. this in effect invites hearers and readers not just merely to stand near the beginning of the narrative but to stand with courage and joyful hope at the end of the narrative, at that crucial and pivotal point when the account of stewardship is rendered to the master. following our analysis and discussion, this paper proposes a three-fold set of recommendations: (i.) that all followers of jesus, indeed all christians, should engage in “purposeful action” of putting their god-given μνᾶς to good use so as to yield good fruits – beatitudes; (ii.) that modern disciples should follow jesus dutifully 58included also in this overarching message is the point that to neglect opportunities is to lose them; andto make the most of opportunities is to gain in felicitous strides. cf. plummer, gospel according to luke, 443. 32 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 on the journey to bring about the reign of the βασιλείατοῦθεοῦ, viz by a life of seless service to the needs of others and wholehearted commitment to the promotion of brotherhood, justice and peace in the society; and (iii.) that those entrusted with ministerial and missionary vocations should relate themselves appropriately to the spiritual signicance of the “journey towards jerusalem”, viz. the sacricial import and self-giving dimension of their calling. the parable of the pounds in the lukan journey ... | 33 219 16 catholic social teaching on immigration and the movement of peoples prof. ikechukwu anthony kanu department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & mike boni bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com & immaculata olu omojola (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile, osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk abstract this paper interrogates the catholic social teaching on immigration and the movements of peoples. the discourse does this, by first of all stating that, the rights of migrants (refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and internally displaced persons-idps) begin with the foundation of catholic social teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity of the human person. the paper submits that right to life and the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root causes, give rise to the right to migrate. it argues that unity in diversity is firmly grounded in the church's social teaching and understanding and appreciating this helps us to put our faith into action. this paper, further evaluates the principles of catholic social teaching using specific quotes from church documents that address the most common misperceptions about church teachings. the purpose of this discussion therefore, is to provide a brief, 220 formation of the human person in the 21st century concise, and useful compilation of information on authentic roman catholic teaching regarding the areas of immigration and the movements of peoples that currently concern most christians. the body of this work consists of quotes from documents and statements originating only from those men who are authorized to speak for the catholic church, namely, the popes and those bishops and theologians in union with them. thus, following this methodology, these quotes are extracted from encyclicals, pastoral letters, and addresses by these representatives of the magisterium (teaching authority) of the catholic church. keywords: migration, catholic social teaching, magisterium, church documents introduction in advocating on behalf of migrants, immigrants, and refugees, it is important to understand that the catholic position is based on catholic social teaching, which is derived from the gospels and the words of christ; statements and encyclicals of the popes; and statements and pastoral letters of bishops around the world. the rights of migrants (refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and internally displaced persons-idps) begin with the foundation of catholic social teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity of the human person. the right to life and the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root causes, give rise to the right to migrate.1 as pope john xxiii explained: every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the confines of his own country; and, when there are just reasons for it, the right to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there. the fact that one is a citizen of a particular state does not detract in any way from his membership in the human family as a whole, nor from his citizenship in the world community.2 this is a right to both emigrate from one’s own country and immigrate into another country. in 2003 for example, the catholic bishops of the united states and mexico named five principles3 that have emerged from the “rich tradition of church teachings with regard to migration”: first principle: persons have a right to find opportunities in their own homeland this principle reflects the responsibilities of all citizens and governments for the common good, creating the political, economic, and social section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 221 conditions for persons to live in dignity, raise their families, use their god-given gifts, and find employment that provides a living family wage a fundamental principle of catholic social teaching (cst) dating back to the 19th century. wealthy and powerful nations are obliged to assist less developed nations in creating the conditions for people to live dignified lives. second principle: persons have the right to migrate to support themselves and their families pope pius xii declared in 1952 that both natural law and devotion to humanity required that international migration be opened to people forced from their countries by revolutions, unemployment, or hunger. he explained: “for the creator of the universe made all good things primarily for the good of all.”4 when people cannot find adequate work, they have a natural right to work elsewhere to attain the means of survival for themselves and their families. third principle: sovereign nations have the right to control their borders our tradition recognizes the right of nations to control their territories, a right arising from their responsibility for the common good. however, as pope pius indicated, this right is not absolute. state sovereignty “cannot be exaggerated to the point that access to this land is, for inadequate or unjustified reasons, denied to needy and decent people from other nations….” balancing rights then becomes critical. in fact, according to the bishops, individual rights and state responsibility for the common good are complementary. while the sovereign state may impose reasonable limits on immigration, the common good is not served when the basic human rights of the individual are violated. in the current condition of the world, in which global poverty and persecution are rampant, the presumption is that persons must migrate in order to support and protect themselves and that nations who are able to receive them should do so whenever possible.5 in 2000, the bishops, reflecting on the tension between border control and the individual right to fundamental dignity, declared the latter to “give rise to a more compelling claim to the conditions worthy of human life.”6 fourth principle: refugees and asylum seekers should be afforded protection those who flee wars and persecution have a greater claim for protection from the global community. as the fathers of the church would urge: 222 formation of the human person in the 21st century “this requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee status without incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by a competent authority.”7 fifth principle: the human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected according to the bishops, it is noteworthy that: “regardless of their legal status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent dignity that should be respected.”8 this applies to punitive laws, enforcement practices, detention conditions, abuse and neglect, and policies that tear families apart. even undocumented workers, often subject to inadequate wages and demeaning conditions in a shadow economy, are entitled to basic human rights in terms of wages and working conditions. immigrant workers, even ones without documents, do not lose their status as human persons made in god’s image. demeaning wages, inhuman conditions, and the denial of workers’ natural rights assault the dignity and sanctity of the human person. biblical vision of love for strangers both the old and new testaments tell compelling stories of refugees forced to flee because of oppression. exodus tells the story of the chosen people, israel, who were victims of bitter slavery in egypt. they were utterly helpless by themselves, but with god's powerful intervention they were able to escape and take refuge in the desert. for forty years they lived as wanderers with no homeland of their own. finally, god fulfilled his ancient promise and settled them on the land that they could finally call home. the israelites' experience of living as homeless aliens was so painful and frightening that god ordered his people for all time to have special care for the alien: "you shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of egypt” (lv. 19:33-34). the new testament begins with matthew's story of joseph and mary's escape to egypt with their newborn son, jesus, because the paranoid and jealous king herod wanted to kill the infant. our savior himself lived as a refugee because his own land was not safe. jesus reiterates the old testament command to love and care for the stranger, a criterion by which we shall be judged: “for i was hungry and you gave me food, i was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” (mt. 25:35). the apostle paul asserts the absolute equality of all people before god: "there is neither jew nor greek . . . for you are all one in christ jesus" (gal 3:28). in christ, the human race is one before god, equal in section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 223 dignity and rights. in addition to the five principles articulated by the catholic bishops of the united states and mexico in 2003 as mentioned above, three other basic principles of catholic social teaching on immigration is given due attention here. although catholic theology has always promoted human rights rooted in natural law and god's revelation, it was the encyclical rerum novarum (on the condition of labor) in 1891 that developed a systematic presentation of principles of the rights and responsibilities of people.9 rerum novarum commented on the situation of immigrants; in later documents, popes and bishops' conferences have synthesized the catholic theological tradition to articulate three basic principles on immigration. first principle: people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. at the end of world war ii, with the fall of the nazi empire and the subsequent creation of the soviet "iron curtain," europe faced an unprecedented migration of millions of people seeking safety, food, and freedom. at that time, pope pius xii wrote exsul familia (the emigre family), placing the church squarely on the side of those seeking a better life by fleeing their homes. when there is a massive movement of people such as during a war, natural disaster, or famine, the lands that receive these displaced people may be threatened. the influx may make it impossible for the native population to live securely, as the land may not have enough resources to support both. even in more orderly migrations, such as in the united states, citizens and residents of the land may fear that newcomers will take jobs, land, and resources, impoverishing the people already present.10 because of the belief that newcomers compete for scarce resources, immigrants and refugees are at times driven away, resented, or despised. nevertheless, the first principle of catholic social teaching regarding immigrants is that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. this is based on biblical and ancient christian teaching that the goods of the earth belong to all people. while the right to private property is defended in catholic social teaching, individuals do not have the right to use private property without regard for common good. every person has an equal right to receive from the earth what is necessary for life: food, clothing, shelter. moreover, every person has the right to education, medical care, religion, and the expression of one's culture. in many places people live in fear, danger, or dehumanizing poverty. clearly, it is not god's will that some of his children live in luxury while others have nothing. in luke’s gospel, the rich man was condemned for living well while the poor man starved at his doorstep (lk. 16:19-31). the native does not have superior rights over the immigrant. before god all are equal; the earth was given by god 224 formation of the human person in the 21st century to all. when a person cannot achieve a meaningful life in his or her own land, that person has the right to move. second principle: a country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration. the overriding principle of all catholic social teaching is that individuals must make economic, political, and social decisions not out of shortsighted self-interest, but with regard for the common good. that means that a moral person cannot consider only what is good for his or her own self and family, but must act with the good of all people as his or her guiding principle. while individuals have the right to move in search of a safe and humane life, no country is bound to accept all those who wish to resettle there.11by this principle the church recognizes that most immigration is ultimately not something to celebrate. ordinarily, people do not leave the security of their own land and culture just to seek adventure in a new place or merely to enhance their standard of living. instead, they migrate because they are desperate and the opportunity for a safe and secure life does not exist in their own land. immigrants and refugees endure many hardships and often long for the homes they left behind. as human beings, we should cherish and celebrate the contributions of immigrants and their cultures; however, we should work to make it unnecessary for people to leave their own land. because there seems to be no end to poverty, war, and misery in the world, developed nations will continue to experience pressure from many peoples who desire to resettle in their lands.12the catholic social teaching is realistic, thus, while people have the right to move, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life is jeopardized. for this reason, catholics should not view the work of the federal government and its immigration control as negative or evil. those who work to enforce our nation's immigration laws often do so out of a sense of loyalty to the common good and compassion for poor people seeking a better life. in an ideal world, there would be no need for immigration control. the church recognizes that this ideal world has not yet been achieved. third principle: a country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy. the second principle of catholic social teaching may seem to negate the first principle. however, principles one and two must be understood in the context of principle three. and all catholic social teaching must be understood in light of absolute equality of all people and the commitment to common good.13 a country's regulation of borders and control of immigration must be governed by concern for all people and by mercy and justice. a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 225 nation may not simply decide that it wants to provide for its own people and no others. a sincere commitment to the needs of all must prevail. in our modern world where communication and travel are much easier, the burden of emergencies cannot be placed solely on nations immediately adjacent to the crises. justice dictates that the world community contributes resources toward shelter, food, medical services and basic welfare. even in the case of less urgent migrations, a developed nation's right to limit immigration must be based on justice, mercy, and the common good, not on self-interest. moreover, immigration policy ought to take into account other important values such as the right of families to live together.14a merciful immigration policy will not force married couples or children to live separated from their families for long periods. undocumented immigrants present a special concern. often their presence is considered criminal since they arrive without legal permission. under the harshest view, undocumented people may be regarded as undeserving of rights or services. this is not the view of catholic social teaching. the catholic church teaches that every person has basic human rights and is entitled to have basic human needs met: food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care. undocumented persons are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by employers, and they are not able to complain because of the fear of discovery and deportation. current immigration policy that criminalizes the mere attempt to immigrate and imprisons immigrants who have committed no crime or who have already served a just sentence for a crime is immoral. in the bible, god promises that our judgment will be based on our treatment of the most vulnerable. before god we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given by the creator. conclusion finally, immigration policy that allows people to live here and contribute to society for years but refuses to offer them the opportunity to achieve legal status does not serve the common good. the presence of millions of people living without easy access to basic human rights and necessities is a great injustice. it is the position of the catholic church that pastoral, educational, medical, and social services provided by the church are never conditioned on legal status. all persons are invited to participate in their parishes, attend our schools, and receive other services offered by their institutions and programs. in the course of this discourse thus far, this paper has successfully interrogated, examined and evaluated the principles of catholic social teaching on migration and movements of peoples. using specific quotes from church documents that address the most common 226 formation of the human person in the 21st century misperceptions about church teachings in areas immigration, it was noted that the excerpts quoted in this work focus on the dignity of human person. as such, they are most suited for use to educate those who are ignorant of the church’s social teachings on the movements of people as a whole. in order to comprehend the beauty, richness, and wisdom of the quoted church documents, we conclude by saying: it is necessary for the reader to take the time to sit down, read them, and contemplate their messages. endnotes 1. catholic bishops of mexico and the united states, strangers no longer: together on the journey of hope, joint pastoral letter concerning migration, january 2003, nos. 28-29. 2. pope john xxiii, pacem in terris, 1963, no. 25. 3. strangers no longer, op. cit., nos. 33-39. 4. pope pius xii, exsul familia, apostolic constitution, vatican city, 1952. 5. strangers no longer, op. cit., no. 39. 6. u.s. conference of catholic bishops, welcoming the stranger among us: unity in diversity, washington, d.c., 2000, p. 11. 7. strangers no longer, op. cit., no. 37. 8. ibid., no. 38. 9. this resource was written by fr. thomas betz, ofc, director of immigration and refugee services for the archdiocese of philadelphia, and is used with permission. scripture texts used in this work are taken from the new american bible, copyright © 1991, 1986, and 1970 by the confraternity of christian doctrine, washington, d.c. 20017, and are used by permission of copyright owner. all rights reserved. 10. pope pius xi, acta apostilicae sedis, xliii, 1951, p. 843. 11. pope john xxiii, mater et magistra no. 193, may 15, 1961. 12. fr. thomas betz, ofc, op. cit. 13. ibid. 14. pope john paul ii in his address on responsible procreation, september 17, 1983. " the wanderer, september 29, 1983, pp. 1-3. introduction: the salvation of souls the church in her infinite wisdom gives ample opportunities for the proper reconciliation of souls in situations of danger of death. the last canon of the 1983 code 1 of canon law while specifically dealing on the need to exercise clemency in the act of transferring a pastor from the church he has governed well for some time, remarked wonderfully that nobody should forget the salient fact that 2 “the salvation of soul is the supreme law” (canon 1752). this mode of often placing last the most significant word of a sentence is typical of the latin language from which the present code is derived. even though the fonts of canon 1752 attribute the source of this maxim to latter christian authors of th ththe 12 and 13 centuries a.d. like saints ivo of chartres, raymond of peñaforte and thomas of aquinas, deeper historical investigation reveals that the axiom was already thcited in the twelve tables of the roman law of the 5 century 3 b.c. in this roman law, cicero posits thus: “the salvation 4(safety/welfare) of the people shall be the supreme law”. at the end of it all, it is the salvation, nor damnation, of souls that 204 souls in danger of death while in some irregularity paul i. abhulimen gives god the greatest glory. it would mean, ultimately, that the precious blood, suffering, crucifixion and death of christ did not end in vain for such souls most dear to the incarnate son of god. if there is a great joy among the angels over the initial repentance of a sinner, then there is undoubtedly a greater or immense joy in heaven when souls are saved. the paradigm of the good thief from scriptural basis the event of the crucifixion of christ on calvary in between two thieves, one on his right and the other on his left (lk 23: 32-34, 39-43), offers us a wonderful lesson in the possibility of the miraculous opportunities for souls in situations of danger of death to be reconciled to god. the bad thief crucified along with jesus failed to utilize the grace of the moment for his salvation; but rather, remarked sarcastically: “are you not the messiah, save yourself and save us” (v. 39). the good thief, conversely, profited from his proximity to the saviour of humankind. this latter, having rebuked the erring bad thief while acknowledging his own faults as well, asked humanely, “jesus remember me when you come to your kingdom” (vv. 40-42). william barclay highlights the fact that: surely this story tells us above all that it is never too late to turn to christ. there are other things of which we must say, “the time for that is past. i am grown too old now”. but we can never say that of turning to jesus christ. so long as a man's heart 5 beats, the invitation of christ still stands. the verdict of jesus was instantaneous; “truly i tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). commenting further on this occurrence, g. b. caird opined succinctly that: the one criminal, lacking any sense of guilt, was ready to blame anyone for what he regarded as a vindictive twist of fate. the other, whatever else may be said of him, at least knew that he was guilty and jesus innocent. but did he really believe that, beyond the present travesty of justice, the future held for jesus the royal triumph of the messiah? if so, the approach of death must have given him an acuteness of vision denied as yet to jesus' closest friends. perhaps he simply wanted to be kind to this innocent enthusiast who had fallen victim to passion and intrigue, and seized upon the words of the placard over his head as a means of saying 205 something to offset the taunts of his companion. in this case, his was the cup of cold water that did not go without its reward. whatever he expected, the promise of jesus was out of all proportion to his request. not in some far-off assize but now he is acquitted before the divine tribunal, and his reward is not in some age to come but today and in 6paradise. thus, the salvation of the good thief is made manifest after his sincere admittance, confession and contrition for his sins. we cannot be certain about the fate of the bad thief who wasted the golden opportunity for conversion and salvation. the good thief is commonly believed to have stolen heaven at his final moment. he must have led a very contrary life, according to the roman-jewish expectations of the time, to the extent that he was given the maximum penalty of execution by crucifixion. nevertheless, he won salvation in the final hour by his acceptance of the fact that he had been condemned to death justly for his deeds, unlike the innocent christ (v. 41). the foregoing biblical incidence offers us a foundation in the understanding of the church's insistence on the need to reconcile souls in danger of death. faithful in situations of danger of death while also in irregularity ordinarily, the church makes it very obligatory for pastors of souls not to hesitate to come to the aid of the souls in danger of death since this is of the greatest advantage for the salvation of such souls which is the supreme law. to this effect, canonical legislation prescribes thus: §1. the christian faithful who are in danger of death from any cause are to be nourished by holy communion in the form of viaticum. §2. even if they have been nourished by holy communion on the same day, however, those in danger of death are strongly urged to receive communion again. §3. while the danger of death lasts, it is not to be delayed too long; it is recommended that holy communion be administered often, but on 7separate days. unfortunate incidences, however, do occur along the line whereby souls of the faithful who are in danger of death who must be given holy communion without delay are also in the 206 category of those prohibited by canon 915: “those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion”. accurate understanding of the foregoing canon reveals that those considered for exclusion from holy communion are the formally excommunicated or interdicted persons (cf. canons 1331 and 1332) and those who glaringly contradict in grave manner the sound practices of the church. persons who are divorced and remarried find themselves in 8 this situation. canonical prescriptions, under normal circumstances in the foregoing cases, recommend deferring the reception of holy communion in such situations in order to avoid scandal and unworthy communication that could be unfruitful to the soul of the recipient. this holds true until requisite dispositions are attained before fruitful communication can be made. moreover, “of its very nature celebration of the eucharist signifies the fullness of profession of faith and the 9fullness of ecclesial communion”. laudable as the foregoing might be, the unusual occasions of danger of death and irregularity for the reception of the sacraments especially that of the eucharist, may engender great conflict against the perennial doctrine of salvation of souls as uppermost in the church's consideration. these may call for special application of the law and adjustments by way of dispensations in order to meet up with the supreme law of salvation of souls in the church. the law forbidding communication of canon 915 may therefore need to be reconciled with that of the salvation of souls of canon 1752 whenever there is danger of death of canon 921. summarily put: there is obvious conflicts between canon 915 prohibiting communication in the eucharist for souls in some irregularity and canon 921 which encourages prompt ministration of holy communion as viaticum for souls in danger of death. sacraments of healing: penance, anointing of the sick and the eucharist there is a general relaxation of the law prohibiting reception of the last rites of penance, anointing of the sick, and the holy eucharist in certain situations of peril, in order 10 to help the soul towards attainment of salvation. the code 11does not define the meaning of danger of death and this is 207 therefore left to the prudential judgment of the sacred ministers. danger of death or periculum mortis in latin, maybe considered as such conditions in which the soul of an individual is relatively more prone to death than ordinarily the case. this may be the case at the advent of illnesses or severe sicknesses, accidents or during emergencies like war times. souls are considered to be in danger of death when they are scheduled to undergo certain surgical operations, be it major or minor. such dangers are also discernable even when they take some means of transportation like aeroplanes or vehicles in some risky terrains. in general, when there is danger of death and pending the duration of such situation of danger of death, the law is usually relapsed to allow penitential reconciliation, anointing of the sick and the reception of holy communion. due to the wide range of applications of the term 'danger of death' it has occasioned great doubts in the hearts of ministers and people alike, as to the precise manner of knowing when souls are in danger of death. the prudent judgment is left to the ministers of souls and in some cases too, to the faithful themselves, to discern when there is danger of death. the canonical understanding however recommends that in situations of doubt, in any of the cases at hand, the benefit of doubt should be given to the soul of the recipient of the sacramental grace. that is, if one entertains doubt whether there is actual situation of danger of death in a particular case, that one should, nevertheless, go on to administer the particular sacraments required, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, confession, anointing of the sick, as long as the basic requirement of right intention is melt. more good would be done than harm if one administers in error than if one abstains from acting and then later discovers that one may have jeopardized the salvation of a soul due to negligence or over-scrupulosity. the canonical term 'danger of death' or periculum mortis has a very wide range of prudential or subjective applications and it is to be distinguished from the previously used term 'point of death' or articulum mortis. this latter term in the old legislation was required for the administration of the so called 'extreme unction'. due to the nonrepeatability of extreme unction then it was therefore highly emphasized that ministers of souls must be very certain that souls were actually at the final hour or point of death before its administration. it was then given along with the still popular 208 practice of viaticum, otherwise known as “the last sacrament of christian life, holy communion given to those at or near 12death”. one may not be certain therefore that it is a viaticum until after the subsequent occurrence of death and so it is wise to simply refer to it as holy communion to the sick until the advent of death thereafter. these days in the light of recent understanding, 'extreme unction' has been replaced by the new doctrinal terminology of anointing of the sick as a sacrament. no emphasis is laid anymore on 'point of death' or articulum mortis and the consideration is now rather given to danger of death or periculum mortis. while viaticum remains but is generally now intended as communion to the sick who need this all-important nourishment to sustain them in this life and in eternity. the problem with the old practice was that many incidences of deaths occurred without the administrations of the required last sacramental aids of 'extreme unction' because no one could be actually sure of when it was 'point of death' or articulum mortis. even several souls at the dawn of such critical points of death could not receive the scrupulously-reserved-for-final-moment sacrament and viaticum. a relaxation of the law in danger of death canon 844 § 4 actually prescribes that: if there is a danger of death or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or of the bishops' conference, there is some grave danger and pressing need, catholic ministers may lawfully administer these same sacraments [of penance, anointing of the sick and the eucharist] to other christians not in full communion with the catholic church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who spontaneously ask for them, provided that they demonstrate the catholic faith in respect to these sacraments 13 and are properly disposed. the foregoing section of the canon is intended for other christians mainly of the western extraction such as the protestants who do have the required catholic faith regarding the recommended sacraments who in danger of death, in the absence of their own minister, have spontaneously asked 14them for them and are well disposed. if these sacraments of 209 healing could be administered to non-catholics, how much more should they be given to repentant catholics in danger of death even though they have being in some irregularity such as, those living in concubinage, mere customary or civil marriages, and the divorced and remarried. at least, it is recommended that “sacramental absolution is not to be denied to those who, repentant after having gravely sinned against conjugal chastity, demonstrate the desire to strive 15 from sinning again, notwithstanding relapses”. this latter recommendation is irrespective of whether there is danger of death or not; it regards ordinary daily practice of giving room to these christians in suchlike irregularities. wider margin for reconciliation through the reception of the sacraments of penance, anointing and the eucharist is given to the faithful when there is danger of death. by christ's faithful or christifideles, it is meant those who have been incorporated through baptism into the church, or those formally received into the church with valid baptism of other ecclesial bodies, and who have not by a formal act of the will separated themselves (cf. canon 1117) and who have not incurred the maximum sanction of excommunication officially declared or irrogated by the competent ecclesiastical authority (cf. canon 96). while the holy mother church hardly inflicts officially the maximum penalty of excommunication but if done, separates one from the communion of the faithful until remission of it is received (cf. canon 1331). the sole actual known case to me of a faithful who has been officially excommunicated from the church is archbishop milingo, former archbishop of lusaka in zambia. moreover, canon 915 states categorically that, “those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion”. the reason for such restriction is obvious, since worthy external communication at the eucharist can only be fruitful if the inner channel of grace has not been ruptured in the soul. it would therefore amount to an absolute contradiction to feign external communion through participation at the eucharist when such act harms the soul internally due to non-disposition for worthy reception. therefore, let everyone examines his conscience thoroughly before partaking of the body of christ, lest he eats damnation unto himself (1 cor 11:27-29). 210 however, according to canon 1352 § 1, if a penalty prohibits the reception of the sacraments or sacramentals, the prohibition is suspended for as long as the offender is in danger of death. thus, in danger of death, there is a general suspension of the law in order to minister sacramentally to the souls of the faithful irrespective of their spiritual condition in the preservation of the obligation of communion: of the bond of faith, sacraments and ecclesiastically discipline (cf. canon 205). in danger of death, a baptised person who in whatever irregularity: be it concubinage, polygamy, occultism, censures, lapsed practise of the faith or even notorious abandonment of the faith, is allowed, as long as the danger lasts and as long as such soul is willing to embrace the part of reconciliation, to the sacramental life of confession, anointing of the sick and even communion. the reason given such relaxation of law is understandable since the supreme law of the church is the salvation of souls (cf. canon 1752) and the purpose of penalties or disciplinary restrictions is to reform the offender and to repair the damages done by the scandal caused, the law therefore wisely foresees some circumstances like during danger of death in which a suspension or relaxation of the law becomes preferable in order to guarantee the ultimate end of the church for 16salvation. however, due caution is to be observed to avoid putting in jeopardy the veritable beliefs of the faithful and as such the admittance to sacramental life while the danger of death lasts is to be done discretely and most probably in private. specific dispensations for sacramental reconciliations during danger of death admittance to the sacrament of reconciliation in danger of death any of christ's faithful can be fully reconciled sacramentally when and as long as there is danger of death by any priest even though officially excommunicated. this canonical regulation shows the largesse of ecclesiastical practice at the service of the supreme law of salvation of souls. in this regard, canon 976 emphatically and extensively declares that 211 any priest, even though he lacks the faculty to hear confessions, can validly absolve any penitents who are in danger of death, from any censures and sins, even if an approved priest is present. in the same way, canon 977 asserts that “the absolution of a partner in a sin against the sixth commandment of the decalogue is invalid, except in danger of death”. previously, in the old legal disposition of canon 882 of the 1917 code of canon law allowance was given for the valid absolution of all sins and censures when there was danger of death except for the absolution of one's partner in the sin against the sixth commandment of the decalogue which was still retained as illicit under some circumstances (canon 2367 of the cic/17). unlike the code of the old dispensation, canon 976 of the new code places no restrictions on the confessor or on the penitent and so any priest may absolve, validly and licitly, of any sin or censure, of any penitent in danger of death even if such is an 17accomplice in a sin against the sixth commandment. however, the obligation remains to make recourse within one month of recovery from danger of death to the competent if one had been absolved from officially declared censures 18reserved to the holy see according to canon 1357. moreover, the faculty to hear confession is usually restrictive but “in danger of death, every priest is obliged” (canon 986 § 2) to hear the confession of christ's faithful. this includes priests who may be under the sanction of excommunication since the urgency of the salvation of soul relapses such extant prohibition (cf. 1352 § 1). ordinarily, “for valid absolution of sins, it is required that in addition to the power of order, the minister has the faculty to exercise that power in respect of the faithful to whom he gives absolution” (canon 966). though integral and individual confession of one's sins is obviously the norm, in situation of death, general absolution may be carried out in so far the penitents are recommended to first make an act of contrition as long as time permits (canon 962). the individual confession and integral confession of sins constitute the only ordinary way for the reconciliation of the faithful but when the conditions required by canonical discipline of grave necessity occurs such as danger of death the extraordinary form of general confession 19and absolution is allowed. 212 anointing of the sick in danger of death the sacrament of the anointing of the sick is properly meant for those in danger death due to illness. so it not presupposed general cases of danger of death but only for the sick, and especially those sick and in danger of death. thus canon 998 declares that the anointing of the sick, by which the church commends to the suffering and glorified lord the faithful who are dangerously ill so that he may support and save them, is conferred by anointing them with oil and pronouncing the words prescribed in the liturgical books. even in the event of doubt as to whether the sick person has the use of reason or is dead, the sacrament is still to be administered (canon 1005). however, there is a particular prohibition which deviates from the general suspension of the law in danger of death since “the anointing of the sick is not to be conferred upon those who obstinately persist in a manifestly grave sin” (canon 1007). thus the anointing of the sick requires a disposition of conversion which may be guaranteed if the sick person is penitent and accepts first to undergo confession of sins with perfect contrition and sincere resolution for amendment henceforth. admittance to the holy eucharist as viaticum in danger of death canon 921 states succinctly and has been elucidated on earlier that, christ's faithful who are in danger of death, from whatever cause, are to be strengthened by holy communion as viaticum (§1). while the danger of death persists, it is recommended that holy communion be administered a number of times, but on separate days (§3). the ordinary ministers of viaticum, that is, holy communion to the sick is the parish priests, assistant parish priests and the superiors of a clerical religious community with regard to those who are members therein (canon 911 §1). however, in case of necessity, that is, there is need to give holy communion to a sick member of the faithful, the permission 213 of the proper parish priest, assistant parish priest or religious superior of such faithful is presumed as long as one is able to notify any of them of the occurred act (canon 911 §2). ordinarily, holy communion is administered to children who have reached the age of reason, have sufficient knowledge, have been carefully prepared and do have the requisite faith and devotion to participate worthily therein (canon 913 §1). however, canonical prescription allows that infants in danger of death, having earlier received baptism may be admitted to holy communion as long as they can distinguish it from ordinary food (canon 913 §2). confirmation in danger of death ordinarily, unless there is a grave reason to the contrary, an adult who is baptised is to be confirmed immediately after baptism and is to participate in the eucharistic celebration also by receiving holy communion (canon 866). this is the standard practice of the church as regard full christian initiation. the legitimate age for the reception of the sacrament of confirmation therefore is from when persons have reached the age of discretion, otherwise known as the age of reason, which is presumed at the attainment of seven years of age, having first received baptism, suitable instruction and being properly disposed. dispensation may be given for the use of reason, proper instruction and renewal of baptismal promises in the event of danger of death (cf. canon 889 § 2). the bishop's conference may decide on a different age for the reception of the sacrament of confirmation. whenever there is a danger of death, confirmation may be conferred according to the prudent judgment of the minister to those about the age of discretion (canon 891) who have not previously been confirmed. canon 883 outlines those having the faculty to confirm: 1° the diocesan bishop and his equivalents within the confines of their jurisdiction; 2° the priest by virtue of his office or mandate may do so too when he baptises one who is no longer an infant or admits a person already baptised into full communion with the catholic church; and 3° “in respect of those in danger of death, the parish priest or indeed any priest”. consequently confirmation can be administered to the baptised (faithful) who are in danger of death by any priest (canon 883 n 3°). be that as it may it remains the special function of the parish 214 priest to administer the sacrament of confirmation to those who are in danger of death (canon 530 n. 2°). apart from the foregoing considerations made for the faithful in danger of death while also in some situations of irregularity, the church is also desirous of the proper incorporation or integration of the non-baptised persons and catechumens. this latter category could be similarly helped in order to facilitate the salvation of soul. special consideration is given to the non-baptised who is also in some form of polygamous relation. dispensation from ecclesiastical impediments and form to celebrate marriage in danger of death there are two basic ways regarding dispensations of matrimonial impediments of ecclesiastical origin and of canonical form during danger of death: through the official process of the local ordinary, parish priest, or confessor (canon 1079 §§ 1, 2, or 3); and secondly through the sworn declaration of couples that they have no impediments (canon 1068). canon 1079 § 1 states categorically that, “when danger of death threatens, the local ordinary can dispense his own subjects, wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, both from the form to be observed in the celebration of marriage, and from each and every impediment of ecclesiastical law, whether public or occult, with the exception of the impediment arising from the sacred order of priesthood”. the same faculty of dispensation in similar circumstances as the foregoing is given to parish priest, a properly delegated sacred minister, or any available priest or deacon even though may not possess the relevant faculty through delegation (canons 1079 § 2 and 1116 § 2). the dispensing power of confessors within or outside the internal-sacramental forum in the said circumstances regards only occult impediments (canon 1079 § 3). the second mode of personal dispensation concerns where there is “danger of death and if other proofs cannot be obtained, the affirmation of the contracting parties, even sworn if the case warrants it, that they are baptised and are not prevented by no impediment is sufficient unless there are indications to the contrary (canon 1068). the canonical form that is being referred to here is, the requirement by ecclesiastical law that valid marriages can only be contracted by the catholic faithful when done in the presence of the local ordinary or parish priest or the priest or 215 the deacon delegated by either the first two (that is, local ordinary or parish priest) as official representative in the name of the church who ask the parties to manifest their consent, and in the presence also of two witnesses (canon 1108 §§ 1 & 2). furthermore, such marriages have to be celebrated in the parish which either parties has a domicile or quasi-domicile or a month's residence or, if there is a question of vagi (or nomads), in the parish in which they are actually residing (canon 1115). thus with the permission of the local ordinary or the parish priest, marriages may be celebrated elsewhere within or outside territory (canon 1115). canonical form is therefore dispensable in some circumstances and danger of death by the competent authority so that undue delay will not be caused by the inability of the official representative of the church of the sacred orders to be reached. when dispensation is granted, the marriage may be celebrated without observing the usual canonical form of an official assistant in the name of the church, or of domiciliarity (canon 1118 §§ 1, 2 & 3) or the use of rites of the liturgical books (canon 1119). canon 1116 § 1 which concerns extraordinary form of celebration of marriage still retains the aspects of two or common witnesses even when the competent or official assistant, domiciliary forum and liturgical rites are dispensed with. thus, “as far as the two common witnesses are concerned, nothing specific is established for them ... any person (laypersons, clerics or religious; baptized or not, blood relations, et cetera) may undertake this commitment, provided that they have use of 20reason and can give witness to the celebration of marriage”. mere civil, customary, or similar marriages within the expected canonical framework of any two witnesses who have the use of reason to testify about its occurrence become valid and ipso facto it is sacramental according to the norm of canon 1055 § 2. reserved dispensation of impediment of holy orders to apostolic see even in danger of death canonical regulations allow for wide dispensations by the local ordinary of sins, censures and impediments, including that of the perpetual vow of chastity in religious institute of pontifical right and that of crime, whenever there is danger of death in order to coherently uphold the axiom of the supreme law of salvation of souls in the church. nevertheless, the 216 impediment of holy orders remains reserved to the holy see. this means that even if the subject concerned is reconciled temporarily during danger of death and given useful sacraments penance, anointing of the sick and the eucharist, there still cannot be the granting of dispensation from the vow of celibacy by the local ordinary thereby allowing him valid celebration of matrimony but strictly reserved to holy see. thus, those who are bound by the vow of sacred orders invalidly contracts marriage, be it civil or otherwise (canon 1087). on this margin of dispensability of impediments during danger of death by the local ordinary, canon 1078 elucidates the following facts that § 1 the local ordinary can dispense his own subjects wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, from all impediments of ecclesiastical law, except for those whose dispensation is reserved to the apostolic see. § 2 the impediments whose dispensation is reserved to the apostolic see are: 1° the impediment arising from sacred orders or from a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute of pontifical right; 2° the impediment of crime mentioned in cann. 1090. the impediment of public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute of pontifical right is ordinarily not dispensable by the local ordinary as attested to by subsection one of section two of the foregoing canon. but when there is danger of death according to the proceeding canon 1079 § 1, the ordinary can dispense from all impediments in order for to allow proper celebration of marriage except from the impediment holy orders which therefore remains reserved. the foregoing canon gives the local ordinary who may not necessary be of episcopal character the faculty to dispense from the impediments even of public perpetual vows of religious institutes of pontifical right given the temporary incidence of danger of death in the life of such religious in order to have valid matrimony. if the religious institute is of diocesan right, the local ordinary can dispense from perpetual vow anytime even when there is no danger of death. this impediment requiring dispensation does not in any way bind 217 anybody, be it of society of apostolic life or secular institute who is under private vow. the local ordinary therefore can dispense from all impediments of ecclesiastical law, except 21 only that arising from the priesthood. equally, the impediment of crime as defined by canon 1090 § 1 is the intentional killing of one's partner in marriage or that of another in order to contract marriage thereof with the intended spouse is not dispensable according to the norm of canon 1078 § 2 n° 2. dispensation from the foregoing impediment of crime is under normal circumstances reserved to the holy see. be that as it may, a dispensation could be given by the local ordinary under situation of danger of death in order to validly contract a marriage. nevertheless, care should be taken to exercise refrain where the murder is publicly known or likely to be known since it borders now on civil law or a criminal case. in suchlike situations, simple reconciliation, where possible, of the faithful in danger of death while also in irregularity could be given thereby allowing the three sacraments of penance, anointing of the sick and the viaticum. indispensable impediments of divine or natural law even in danger of death there are no dispensations for impediments of divine or natural order. the impediment of age of sixteen for males and fourteen for females in order to contract marriage being a human law allows for the possibility of dispensation, usually not more than one year (canon 1083 § 1). in fact, higher age of eighteen for either sex in order to contract matrimony validly is in force according to the canonization of civil prescription in nigeria. canon law gives this counsel to national episcopal conferences to establish the required age for matrimony as it discourages except in necessity and with the permission of the local ordinary any marriage that cannot be recognized by civil law of the place of celebration (canon 1071 n. 2°). impotency, be it of natural or accidental cause, cannot be dispensed with in order to have legitimate validation of marriage (canon 1083 § 1). antecedent and perpetual impotence contradict the very essence of the end of marriage. with impotency, a ratified marriage cannot be consummated. the roman pontiff using his petrine privilege or vicarious power can thus dispense with a ratified but not consummated matrimony due to the foregoing or any other cause (cf. canon 218 1142). this is not so with sterility which does not invalidate marriage (canon 1083 § 3). impediment of a previous bond of marriage, that is, a ratified and consummated marriage being of a divine law cannot be dispensed by any human power (canon 1085 § 1). this fact is true even if the marriage was only ratified and not consummated. dissolution of a previous bond of marriage can only be by death (canon 1141), or must be subjected to the decision of the ecclesiastical tribunal to resolve when suspected of nullity and no presumption is to be taken by anyone in this regard (canon 1085 § 2). divine law is very lucid on especially from the teaching of jesus christ himself that from the beginning god made them male and female and so man leaves his father and mother and becomes joined to his wife; thus what god has joined together no one must divide (mt 19:6). it is not quite clear whether the impediment of consanguinity be considered of natural law but with more of human specification. the impediment is certainly of natural divine law when it is of the direct line, that is between parents and children and similarly likely to be so between brothers and sisters. so canonical regulation declares the impediment of consanguinity not dispensable in all degrees of the direct lines; though it considers marriage invalid in the collateral line up to the fourth degree, it is never dispensable in the second degree collateral (canon 1091 §§ 1, 2, 3 and 4). thus, canon 1079 § 3 highlights the fact that “a dispensation is never given from the impediment of consanguinity in the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line”. generally, those who lack good use of reason (usus rationis) are unable to carry out any juridical act acceptable as valid by the law (canons 99, 124 § 1, 97 § 2). so insanity is an irregularity for the receptions of sacred orders (1041 n. 1°) while it is also incapability for the contracting of marriage (canon 1095). the impediment of insanity cannot be dispensed. the baptism of the non-baptised and the catechumen in danger of death, the conditions required for the baptism of the non-baptised adults are: if such persons have some knowledge of the principal truths of the faith together with the manifestation, in some manner, of the intention to receive baptism (canon 865§ 2). a catechumen obviously qualify to be baptised ipso facto since the preparation for baptism 219 already begun is an eloquent testimony of the manifest intention to be baptised. the principal truths of the faith are such general doctrinal knowledge of the trinity, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and so on. most people living in christian environments may be presumed to have some basic awareness of such truths. even in doubt, that is, if the minister has no certainty of the contrary being the case, the soul in danger may be given baptism. accurate documentations of the event are to the forwarded to the parish records where the candidate is domiciled. in the event of recovery from the situation of the danger of death, the candidate should be encouraged to undergo further instructions and be admitted fully to the sacramental life of the eucharist and the other sacraments. infants, that is, children below the age of reason of seven years, are usually baptised through the consent of their parents or guardian within the first few weeks of birth (canon 867 § 1 ). if infants are in danger of death, the code prescribes that they should be baptised without any delay (867 § 2). the reason for the foregoing prescription is based on the supreme law of the salvation of soul which supersedes any legal barriers in such situations of emergencies. in fact, “an infant of catholic parents, indeed even of non-catholic parents, is lawfully baptised in danger of death, even if the parents are opposed to it” (canon 868 § 2). the law of due process in such situation is ipso facto dispensed by the superior need of salvation in the mind of the church. similarly, “an abandoned infant or a foundling is to be baptised unless diligent inquiry establishes that it has already been baptised” (canon 870). moreover, “aborted foetuses, if they are alive, are to be baptised, in so far as this is possible” (canon 871). holy communion is usually allowed to baptised children who have been formally admitted to it having reached the age of reason. canon 913 § 2 states that “the blessed eucharist may, however, be administered to children in danger of death if they can distinguish the body of christ from ordinary food and receive communion with reverence”. the foregoing presupposes baptised children. it is a christian obligation to ensure that souls in danger of death are duly baptised if need be but, in emergency or “in case of necessity, any person can baptise provided that he has the intention of doing that which the church does and provided that he pours water on the candidate's head while saying: 'i baptise you in the name of the father, and of the son, 220 and of the holy spirit” (ccc, 1284). due record of event should always be made in each case and forwarded to the relevant parish of the candidate. if the non-baptised in danger of death is in an irregular union of concubinage or polygamy, he or she is still to be baptised as long as he or she, along with the basic demands already mentioned previously, accepts to regularize invalid unions as soon as possible. this is the case if such souls are conscious and are able to respond; otherwise, they are given baptism in hope of their reconciliation when recovered. if the non-baptised candidates along with the non-baptised spouse(s) accept to ratify their invalid unions then they can thus be allowed to the sacraments of full christian initiation of baptism, confirmation and the holy eucharist. however, in the case of polygamy, he or she may retain one of them while the extra spouses are to be sent away (canon 1148 § 1) except if the permission of the local ordinary is given for the extra spouses to live together as 'brother and sister' under the same roof. conclusion indeed, the salvation of souls is the supreme law of the church (cf. canon 1752). to re-echo christ, the son of man is lord even of the sabbath. what the lord wants is the merciful application of the law. that is, it should be done with a human face. nevertheless, this is not an invitation to lawlessness, liberalism or anarchy. it only calls for a matured christian obedience to the law since the son of man has not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them. and so every dot of the law needs respect and compliance within the limits of human possibility. any subscription to the law that leads to the destruction of the soul of man is meaningless and futile. law is indeed supposed to be a guide to human development, freedom and salvation. thus, god is maximally glorified over the salvation of a soul, for whom his precious son, jesus christ, became incarnated in the human flesh, suffered severely the ignominious passion, crucified with great outpouring of blood, died forsaken on the shameful cross, rose again to sit at the right hand of the father in the glory of heaven, and poured forth graciously on the church the living spring of his life giving holy spirit. 221 endnotes 1. pope john paul ii, the code of canon law, new revised english translation, theological publication in india, bangalore, 1983. 2. cf. eduardo labandeira, “commentary on canon 1752” in code of canon law annotated edited by ernest caparros, michael theriault thand jean thorn, second edition revised and updated of the 6 spanish language edition, wilson & lafleur limitée, montréal (canada), 2004, p. 1374: “in order to bring the cic/83 to a close, nothing is more appropriate than to remember that canonical equity the spirit of the gospel in dealing with particular subjective situations can and should be applied in harmony with the supreme law of the church which is the salvation of souls”. 3. j. p. beal, james a. coriden and thomas j. green (eds.), new commentary on the code of canon law commissioned by canon law society of america, paulist press, new york, 2000, p. 1847. 4. cicero, de legalibus 3.3.8: salus populi suprema lex esto, cf. loeb classical library, 1977, pp. 466-467. cf. also b. nicholas, an introduction to roman law, clarendon, oxford, 1962, p. 15. 5. william barclay, the gospel of luke, revised edition, the daily study bible series, the westminster press, philadelphia (usa), p. 287. 6. g. b. caird, saint luke, the pelican new testament commentaries, penguin books, london, 1963, pp. 251-252. 7. pope john paul ii, the code of canon law, op. cit., canon 921. 8. cf. committee on the revision of the code of canon law, communicationes 15 (1983) 194 at canon 867, vatican city, 1969-. 9. secretariat for promoting christian unity, instruction “in quibus rerum circumstantiis” iv 1 in acta apostolicae sedis 64 (1972) 518-525 [cf. austin flannery (ed.), vatican council ii, vol. i, revised edition, dublin, 1988, p. 557]. 10. cf. ecumenical second vatican council, constitution on the sacred liturgy sacrosanctum concilium, n. 74. 11. j. p. beal et alii (eds.), new commentary on the code of canon law, op. cit., p. 1115. 12. ibid. 13. cf. pope john ii, the catechism of the catholic church, paulines, nairobi (kenya), 1994, no. 1401: “when, in the ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, catholic ministers may give the sacraments of eucharist, penance, and anointing of the sick to other christians not in full communion with the catholic church, who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding the catholic faith regarding these sacraments, and possess the required dispositions. 14. cf. pope john paul, encyclical letter ecclesia de eucharistia, libreria editrice vaticana, vatican city, no. 46: “these conditions from which no dispensation can be given, must be carefully respected, even though they deal with specific individual cases, because the denial of one or more truths of the faith regarding these sacraments and, among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial priesthood for their validity, renders the person asking improperly disposed to legitimately receive them”. 15. pontifical council for the family, the pastoral care of the divorced and remarried and vademecum for confessors concerning some aspects of the moral conjugal life, pauline books & media, boston 222 (u.s.a.), 1997, n. 11. 16. cf. “commentary on canon 1352 § 1” in gerard sheehy et alii (eds.), the canon law letter & spirit a practical guide to the code of canon law, georffrey chapman, london, 1995, p. 776. 17. tomás rincón, “commentary on canon 976” in code of canon law annotated edited by ernest caparros et alii (eds.), op. cit., p. 753. 18. pope john paul ii, the code of canon law, op. cit., canon 1357: “§ 1 without prejudice to the provisions of cann. 508 and 976, a confessor can in the internal sacramental forum remit latae sententiae censure of excommunication or interdict which has not been declared, if it is difficult for the penitent to remain in a state of grave sin for the time necessary for the competent superior to provide. § 2 in granting the remission, the confessor is to impose upon the penitent, under pain of again incurring the censure, the obligation to have recourse within one month to the competent superior or to a priest having the requisite faculty, and to abide by his instructions. in the meantime, the confessor is to impose an appropriate penance and, to the extent demanded, require reparation of scandal and damage. the recourse, however, may be made even through the confessor without mention of a name. § 3 the same duty of recourse, when they have recovered, binds those who in accordance with can. 976 have had remitted an imposed or declared censure or one reserved to the apostolic see”. 19. pope john paul ii, post-synodal apostolic exhortation on reconciliation and penance in the mission of the church today reconciliatio et paenitentia, pauline boods & media, boston (u.s.a.), 2 december 1984, no. 33. 20. rafael navarro valls, “commentary on canon 1116” in code of canon law annotated edited by ernest caparros et alii (eds.), op. cit., p. 872. 21. “commentary on canon 1079 § 1” in gerard sheehy et alii (eds.), the canon law letter & spirit, op. cit., p. 594. 223 138 introduction the place of adequate definition on any subject of discussion cannot be overemphasized. a proper definition of an idea is a true path way to better understanding and appreciation of its components, from the main topic to the minutest parts. hence, a good definition of an academic subject tele-guides those who have interest in the subject to know what the subject holds, its concerns and what distinguishes it from other related subjects. a definition that involves all these concerns will help participants in the discussion at stake to avoid misconceptions and misgivings in one sense and overcome ambiguities and equivocations in another sense. as a matter of fact, a justified definition is necessary for african philosophy to determine its scope, to illustrate its characteristics, to identify its concerns and inherent problems. this attempt will make anybody in an academic environment to have a clearer picture of what is african philosophy. there is no doubt that countless definitions of an appraisal of the challenges confronting the nature of african philosophy williams o. aso african philosophy may come up as a result of diverse impulses from the background, the school, the culture and appreciated methodology of each philosopher. however, a notable parameter is necessary to judge if a particular definition of african philosophy is credible and acceptable. what count most in the definition of african philosophy is not as important as the relationship that such definition must have with african worldview. therefore, any definition of african philosophy that reflects on african perspective either by an african or non-african is relevant for the understanding of african philosophy. this paper tends to survey why african philosophy is facing challenges of recognition and acceptance in academic arena unlike european, arabic and chinese philosophies. the write up demonstrates some problems involved in an attempt by some scholars to provide a definition of african philosophy. a good number of identified problems in the definition of african philosophy clearly show some misconceptions and misrepresentations of african sociocultural experience. for instance, some of the definitions provided by some philosophers illustrate different approaches that limit the scope and relevance of african philosophy as evident in this paper. by and large, the paper highlights the criteria for the definition of african philosophy that is more standard and attracts barest minimum of criticism. it is pertinent to note also that this paper identifies, emphasizes and recommends the necessary features that can make the identity and contents of african philosophy less doubtful and more intellectual. the work depends strongly on the articles that g. e. azenabor articulated in his book, understanding the problems of african philosophy, published in 2002, to demonstrate the challenges that limit the growth and development of african philosophy and the way forward. nevertheless, the works of other relevant scholars on african philosophy are examined to give more credence to this paper. as a matter of fact, evaluation and the recommendation for the way forward conclude the write up. the necessity for a definition of african philosophy any standard definition of philosophy is expected to 139 focus on the love of wisdom, the desire and quest to know what, why and how of all the realities in human experience, both physical and metaphysical. but definition of african philosophy will give a leeway to the contents, the frontiers and the relationship of its contents to the experience of africans and their society. an acceptable definition of african philosophy will show that their quest for knowledge is closely connected to every aspect of their existential realities: god and the gods, the land, the community and the ancestral world. the awareness of these peculiarities will put any scholar in a better position to understand the characteristics of african philosophy and the reason behind each of them. this implies that a typical definition of african philosophy ought to be an emblematic expression of what african philosophy is all about. the moment a scholar grasps the meaning and definition of african philosophy he can easily make connection with its contents and relevance to the african society. in other words, a good definition of african philosophy becomes a key for scholars to get access to its concerns and essential problems. african philosophy will never get acceptance in academic world if its definition and meaning of its terms are shrouded in oral tradition and ethnography. why the definition of african philosophy is difficult in spite of the need to get a credible definition of african philosophy, there is no universal definition that covers all its characteristics. scholars pitched their tents in different camps to give a definition of african philosophy according to the world-view of their background and eager to criticise 1different definitions coming from the other camps. this insurmountable disposition renders any definition of african philosophy subjective. in spite of this, no definition of african philosophy is totally alienated from the issues associated with the philosophy. as we have it below, c.s. momoh identified some factors behind the diverse definitions of african philosophy. it is pertinent to examine these factors to judge how relevant they are in the definition of african philosophy. 140 geographical location africa is the only continent where you have the largest number of black people living together with some whites and arabs especially in the northern part of africa. they all have similar culture, history, tradition, colonial experience but 2have diverse cultures and languages. the attempt to get an acceptable definition of african philosophy leads to the challenge of determining the source of a credible definition of african philosophy. all scholars of african philosophy are not limited to african continent, some non-africans are found in europe like placide temples and in the united states of america like barry hallen. besides, there are african scholars in diaspora like william amo in germany, anthony appiah in canada, molefi asante in the us, geoffrey onah in 3 italy and a host of others in other parts of the world. again, we cannot fail to acknowledge the african scholars in places like brazil and caribbean islands as part of african community. as noted by j. i. ebeh, geographical location can easily affect one's perception of certain realities of life. for instance, apart from basic relevance of water to man, the perception of water and its relationship with those living in riverine areas of africa tend to be different from those located in the tropical and the savannah regions of africa. the world and life experience of those in the riverine areas revolves around water while those that populatetropical region centres on forest and in the savannah is incomplete without reference to drought and dryness. hence, the geographical location of african philosophers influences them to have diverse definitions of african philosophy. the definition of african philosophy traceable to any of the scholars outside the confined of africa are sometimes viewed as less important to the ones given by the scholars within the continent. this claim sounds absurd because geographical location of a scholar does not count as much as the content of his definition of african philosophy. as moses oke rightly posits, “it is by the content of a philosopher's work, and not by either his/her nationality or domicile, that an african is to be identified. in this connection, barry hallen is a good example of a non-african (an american national) african philosopher. on the other hand, though he is an african and a philosopher, j. t. bedu-ado (an akan 141 142 colleague of wiredu) does not qualify to be called a 4substantive african philosopher.” one can easily deduce from this position of oke that the primary concern in the definition of african philosophy is the identity of african philosophy while the background, tradition, language and the name of the philosopher that identified the identity is insignificant. influence of cultural background there is no doubt that every man is a product of his culture and environment. the culture determines the values appreciated, the frontiers of belief and accumulated knowledge. no man can be easily alienated from the influence of his cultural milieu; he speaks, thinks and writes 5 through his culture and vice versa. as momoh succinctly asserts, “a philosopher, like any other professional or individual, is a child of his culture and a culture often influences a philosopher's definition and perception of his 6 subject-matter.” in addition to this claim of momoh, lucius outlaw believes that appreciated african philosophical ideas and ideals are associated with particular african communities. as he maintains, “philosophizing is inherently grounded in socially shared practices, not in transcendental rules. when we view philosophical practices historically, sociologically, and comparatively, we are led inescapably to conclude that 'philosophical practice is inherently pluralistic', and philosophical ideals are local to communities of 7 thinkers.” if this is indisputable, one cannot be surprised if cultural influence makes many scholars of african philosophy to generate diverse definitions of african philosophy. there is no need for people of different cultures to condemn the definition of african philosophy that are not based on their cultural roots. this is one of the reason why african philosophy seems to be stagnant and difficult to grow. it is obvious that we do not have one language and culture in africa which is part of african uniqueness. this reality makes it difficult for african philosophy to have a universal definition. therefore, it is reasonable to accept any definition of african philosophy that captures the common african world-view and appreciates realities no matter the cultural background of the definition. after all, an attempt to accept the cultural in-put of diverse peoples in africa will enriched african philosophy and make it holistic. influence from the school of thought as the cultural background often manifests and determines the perspective of any scholars on academic issue, the school of thought that an african philosopher belongs also influences his reasoning disposition on african philosophy. this implies that an african philosopher is a representative of the school of philosophy that nurtured him to maturity. as a matter of fact, he is expected to think and write according to the principles and values appreciated and projected by his school. basically, there are some prominent philosophical schools of thought that contemplate on the subject matters of philosophy like metaphysics, epistemology, logic and ethics. we have philosophers that belongs to analytic school, some are trained in speculative school and there are others notable for logical positivism and practical philosophy. it is understandable if the school background of each philosopher tends to influence the way he defines african philosophy. hence, it should not be a surprise to see that we have many subjective definitions of african philosophy. personal ambition of scholars it is apparent that every philosopher has an inner force that determines his philosophical orientation. it could be a disposition towards innovation and transformation of existential realities in his society or the desire to protect and promote the status quo. the passion involved often consumes each scholar that he invests his rational ability and available material resources to fulfil his goal. hence, he often has sleepless nights to write articles, books and preparing for academic seminars where he can define, defend and expatiate on his personal opinion on fundamental issues that form the subject matter of philosophy. for instance, in the process of defining and promoting his views and understanding of african philosophy, he can come up with personal definition of african philosophy. in most cases, such definition of african philosophy is traceable to the perspective and school of philosophy that fostered the scholar. in other words, no personal ambition of a philosopher that has no affinity to a 143 particular way of doing philosophy. therefore, every philosopher with his cherished ideas and world-view is a product of his school of thought. influence of the era there is a common saying that idea rule the world and ideas that dictate how existential realities in the world affect man are not static. they change from time to time and man and his environment cannot resist this fundamental transformation. the periodic changes in human consciousness about dominant issues in the world also affect 8 the disposition and the subject of concern for philosophers. the history of philosophy is characterised with different philosophical concerns of philosophers like the periods of idealistic and rationalistic philosophy, the scientific and the humanistic philosophy, the ideological and the feminist 9philosophy. all these diverse era and changes in the understanding of philosophy determines different interpretations and meanings of african philosophy. the constant change in the existential experience of man also makes it difficult for african philosophy to have a definition that covers all time and season. as d. a. masolo asserts, “philosophy is invariably tied to social reality…the mode of doing philosophy, e.g. its methods, dominant issues, 10 questions, and schools of thought vary as society changes.” as social change and transformation is indispensable, african philosophy cannot have a dogmatic definition. and as joseph omoregbe would say, the way traditional african philosophy of the past can be defined is quite different from the meaning and definition of the contemporary african philosophy. religious background as cultural and scholarship backgrounds exercise dominance in the writing and thinking of any scholar, religion also has indispensable influence over a scholar that is rooted in a particular religion. although, c. momoh paid less attention to this type of influence in the definition of african philosophy but i think it deserves our consideration. it is observable that religious education often imparts some basic values and principles that characterised a particular religion. 144 a scholar that is exposed and educated with the values and principles cherished by a religious group cannot avoid its sway in his writings and approach to philosophical issues. in africa context, there are many scholars like placide temples, pauline hountondji, peter bodunrin, moses makinde, c. b. okolo, pantaleon iroegbu, francis ogunmodede and similar others that have christian background. it would not be a surprise if any of them give a definition of african philosophy that has relationship to the religious context in which they live, think and write. however, the likes of c. momoh of islamic religious setting and j. s. mbiti of traditional religious milieu may not be totally at home with the definition of african philosophy that gives attention to christian dogma and general worldview. the reality of diverse religious beliefs and appreciated values makes the possibility of getting a universal definition of african philosophy always difficult if not an impossible task. at this point, it is relevant to examine some definitions of african philosophy from notable philosophers that recognised african philosophy. some notable definitions of african philosophy it is necessary to have a cursory look at some of the definitions of african philosophy provided by those that believe there is an african perspective of philosophy. the examination of these definitions will give credence to the fact that we can have as many definitions of african philosophy as the number of interested scholars. any dogmatic definition of african philosophy has the potential to cause controversy among philosophers in the past and even more provocative today. every interested philosopher will like to give a definition of african philosophy that is supported with the values and worldview that characterised his socio-cultural background. at the end, one would see what ought to be the criteria for giving a definition of african philosophy that may attract negligible degree of criticism. it would be an utopia for anyone to think he can provide a definition of african philosophy that all scholars of various contextual roots will accept without any modification. in the opinion of j. s. mbiti, an african philosopher of religion, african philosophy “is the understanding, attitude of mind, logic, and perception behind the manner in which 145 african people think, act or speak in different situations of 11life.” it is ostensible that mbiti's definition of african philosophy does not take written documentation into consideration. hence, african philosophers like bodunrin and wiredu will find problem with this type of definition of african philosophy. in a different approach to the definition of african philosophy, olusegun oladipo gathers from k. c. anyanwu that african philosophy is embedded in african socio-cultural way of thinking and acting about issues that 12relate with african social concerns. in addition to anyanwu's perspective of african philosophy, pantaleon iroegbu, asserts that “african philosophy is the reflective inquiry into the marvels and problems that confronts one in the african world in view of producing systematic 13explanation and sustained responses to them.” the same view is evident in francis ogunmodede's assertion that, “african philosophy is the articulated doctrines and theories 14based on african cultural experience.” the definition of ogunmodede implies that african philosophy is a contemplative activity based on the historical, cultural, religious and technological experiences of africans in relationship with the divine, nature and harmonious society. it is obvious from the three scholars that african philosophy is concerned with reflection on african cultural realities observable in their day to day activities. nevertheless, oladipo in his own view does not appreciate any definition of african philosophy that fails to enhance creativity and transformation capable of improving human existence. he is strongly opposed to any definition of african philosophy that lay much emphasis on static tradition, doctrines and culture. in the opinion of okolo, african philosophy like other philosophies is a logical, rational and systematic inquiry into the existential realities in 15 africa society. for him, the contents of african philosophy are universal issues and concerns of peoples in other cultures of the world. the manner of approach to interpretation and expression of existential realities may differ from culture to culture. kwasi wiredu in his own approach to the definition and understanding of african philosophy identified three-way to the definition and understanding of african philosophy. the 146 first one he describes as collective bold assertions that are 16rooted in “what our ancestors said” without adequate justification. this type of african philosophy is not written but inherited from one generation to the other in the 17community. this first category of african philosophy forms the body of communal thoughts and appreciated values that no particular individual can lay claim to them. he defined the second category of african philosophy as that, in which one might refer to the thought of a class of individuals in traditional african societies who, though unaffected by modern intellectual influences, are capable of critical and original philosophical reflection as distinct as from repetitions of folk ideas of their peoples. because the fruits of such reflections are generally not perpetuated in prints, they tend to be swamped in the pool of communal thought leaving it, 18 if anything at all, only faint traces. this is a peculiar way of generating definition for african philosophy as evidenced in the dialogue between two 19 legends, grianule and ogotemmelli as wiredu claimed. it is observed that the categories of african philosophy identified by wiredu are situated in ethno-philosophy. the third sense of african philosophy recognised by him is “the results of the work of individual africans using the intellectual resources of 20 the modern world to grapple with philosophical problems.” the intellectual resources he meant includes written documentation with supportive arguments. for him, therefore, a credible definition of african philosophy must be based on the last category of african philosophy where scholars are expected, “to philosophise in a manner that takes account of development in logic, mathematics, science and 21humanities.” nonetheless, wiredu did not condemn ethnophilosophy in its entirety but recommended a kind of reconstruction with intellectual tools to determine its originality and justify its relevance to the contemporary world. from the aforesaid, one can see that it is hard to have a universal definition of african philosophy because of the strong influence coming from diverse affinities that are peculiar to every african scholar. criteria for a credible definition of african philosophy 147 it is generally believed that philosophy anywhere and anytime is the love and quest for knowledge about the physical and metaphysical realities recognised by man and 22 how to bring growth and development to the society. what is african is anything that shares the characteristics that set africans apart from people of different continents. hence, what can be defined as african philosophy needs to illustrate african perspective of the desire for knowledge about all the existential realities in their daily experience and how they affect their social life. according to c.s. momoh, “it is difficult, if not impossible to draw a sharp line between 23 world-view and philosophy” of any group of people in africa. hence, one cannot easily make a clear cut distinction between the world view, existential realities and the meaning of philosophy for any community. there is need to note that the definition of african philosophy that goes along the above line of thought can come either from african or non-african philosophers located anywhere in the world. this implies that as we have african philosophers whose works are based on european perspective of the quest for wisdom and knowledge, there are also non-african scholars who are experts in african 24perception of philosophy. the language of writing must not necessarily be african for any definition of african philosophy to be credible. as we have different stages in the history and meaning of western philosophy, the same standard is applicable in african philosophy. the approach may be different but the experience and the desire to get involve in philosophical activities is the same. evaluation and conclusion a guarded look at the history of african philosophy shows that the challenges against the recognition and acceptance of african philosophy are derived largely from early european bias of mind as evidenced in the denial of africans' ability to engage in intellectual endeavours. as a matter of fact, they do not believe that africans have any history and peculiar approach to the understanding of realities of life. it is popularly known that “european scholars and historians, until recently, had approached the question of african history with racial prejudice, just as it is being done to 148 african philosophy today.” therefore, it is not a surprise that african philosophy is going through a difficult time to imprint herself into the consciousness of all that care for its contents. there is no gain saying that the heroic goal of many european scholars is to deny the historical contributions of the african continent to the growth and development of greek philosophy described as the origin of philosophical enterprise. as a matter of fact, it has been imparted into the perception of an average european many years ago that every african philosophical creativity is not better than materials meant for refuse dump. as maurice m. makumba highlights, “genuine african (philosophical) contribution is dismissed by some (european scholars) as unphilosophical on the basis that it is unwritten, as if literacy was a condition for logical or 26 philosophical thinking.” after all, the great historian, herodotus, was clear in his writings that many notable ideas in human history and icons of history have their roots in 27african civilization. this was possible because egyptian cities like memphis, thebes, hermopolis and heliopolis were described as the centres of learning before ionia and 28other greek cities. but today many european scholars are not ready to acknowledge this these evidences and are even trying to frustrate any attempt to bring them to the lime light, perhaps because of their national pride or superiority complex. it is incontrovertible that africans are capable of rational thinking and to hold any contrary view to what is real and evident is to be unphilosophical. according to placide tempels, “anyone who claims that primitive peoples possess no system of thought, excludes them thereby from the 29category of men.” this implies that anthropological enquiry has established the fact that every human being, including africans, is capable of intellectual activities. the scholars of every culture, black or white, contribute to the universal pool of knowledge that helps man to have a better understanding of the realities that constitute his existential experience in a particular society. it is the contributions of every culture to the contents of philosophy that is known as african or european, american or arabic, indian or chinese philosophy. if history of african society provides supportive evidence to show that she makes reasonable contributions to the concerns of 149 philosophy then african philosophy deserves its rightful place in the academic world. now that the problems confronting the growth, development and acceptance of african philosophy have been identified, it is the responsibility of every contemporary african philosopher to resolve the problems that are holding back her progress and position in the world. contemporary african philosophers are duty-bound to put into writing the diverse ethno-philosophical ideas that are identified in african cultural society as the wisdom of the elders. the same obligation is required of them for any philosophical thought traceable through oral history to an african personality. after all, that was how some philosophical ideas in greek culture were later written down and circulated to the whole world. for instance, plato and xenophon put together in writing a lot of socrates' philosophical thoughts. plato actually developed 30 and taught them to his pupils in the academy he established. this is one of the ways that traditional african philosophy can be salvaged from oblivion. when it comes to the problem of language in african philosophy, it is not feasible now to have a single language for expressing african philosophy because african continent has the largest diversity of languages in the world. this paper subscribes to the view that african philosophy needs to be written in african language of the author as much as it is possible. this is because the essence of a philosophical idea and concept can only be expressed in the language of the author. nonetheless, efforts must be made to get a good translation of such african philosophy in relevant languages for wider audience. this is how western philosophy made herself domiciliary nearly everywhere in the world. but where this ideal is not possible, the work could be written in any language of the author's choice. besides, african ethno-philosophy and philosophical sagacity may sometimes replete of questionable evidence, logic and methodology because of the characteristics of their origin. as evident, they are the thought patterns of the ancestors of a community or intellectual acuity of an outspoken individual in a particular african society. therefore, contemporary african philosophers are to rise up to the challenge of making any aspect of african philosophy 150 to have a standard methodology, scientific evidence and logical presentation. all these, including the definition of african philosophy, must be done to reflect african world view and understanding of the perceived realities that are part and parcel of their social lives. by the time african scholars consider the demands and recommendations of this paper, african philosophy will then attain her rightful place in the world philosophies. endnotes 1. as g. e. azenabor puts it, “understanding the concept or nature of anything is a formidable task, especially in an academic circle. this is because academicians, more than any other group of people, are intellectually cantankerous and ideologically unyielding.” second edition of his book titled: understanding the problems in african philosophy, (lagos: first academic publishers, 2002), p. 1. 2. ibid. p. 9. 3. ibid. p. 18. 4. olusegun oladipo ed., the third way in african philosophy: essays in honour of kwasi wiredu, (ibadan: hope publications ltd., 2002), p. 27. 5. g.e. azenabor, p. 8. 6. ibid. p. 2. 7. emmanuel chukwudi eze, ed., african philosophy: an anthology, (massachusetts: blackwell publishers ltd, 1998), p. 29. 8. g.e. azenabor, p. 8. 9. ibid. pp. 8-9. 10. d. a. masolo, african philosophy in search of identity, (bloomington: indiana university press, 1994), p. 43. 11. j. s. mbiti, african religions and philosophies, (london: heinemann educational books ltd. 1969), p. 2. he also sees african philosophy “in the religion, proverbs, oral traditions, ethics and morals of the society concerned.” p. 2. 12. olusegun oladipo, the idea of african philosophy, (ibadan: molecular publishers, 1992), p. 4. 13. pantaleon iroegbu, enwisdomization and african philosophy, international university press, 1994, p. 116. 14. francis ogunmodede, unpublished class hand notes on african philosophy given at saints peter and paul major seminary, bodija, ibadan, 1993, p. 12. 15. chukwudum b. okolo, african social and political philosophy selected essays, (nsukka: fulladu publishing company, 1993), pp. 45. 16. kwasi wiredu, philosophy and an african culture, (london: cambridge university press, 1980), p. 47. 17. ibid. 451 18. ibid. p.37. 19. ibid. 20. ibid. 21. ibid. 22. “etymologically speaking, therefore, philosophy connotes “love for wisdom” or knowledge”. in g. e. azenabor, understanding the problems of african philosophy, (lagos: first academic publishers, 2002), p. 3. 23. c.s. momoh, “african philosophy: past, present and future” in the nigerian journal of philosophy, vol. 11, nos. 1 and 2, 1991), p. 13. 24. ibid. p. 18. 25. ibid. p. 18. 26. maurice m. makumba, introduction to philosophy, (nairobi: paulines publications africa, 2005), p. 133. 27. ibid. 28. as quoted in the book of makumba, africanus horton was credited to say that “pilgrimages were made to africa in search of knowledge by such men as solon, plato, pythagoras; and several came to listen to the instructions of the african euclid, who was at the head of the most celebrated mathematical school in the world and flourished 300 years before the birth of christ…origen, tertullian, augustine, clemens, alexandrius, and cyril, who were fathers and writers of the primitive church, were tawny african bishops of apostolic renown.” p. 133. this quotation is cited by m.m. makumba in the work of james africanus horton, west african centuries and peoples, (edinburgh: edinburgh university press, 1868), p.59. 29. placides tempels, bantu philosophy, trans. colin king, (paris: presence africaine, 1969), p. 21. 30. 30“like buddha in the east, socrates left no writings, for he wrote nothing. but his life and teaching made such a deep impression on his friends and disciples that two of them wrote books about him. xenophon and especially plato wrote about his life and teaching.” cited in joseph omoregbe, knowing philosophy, second edition, (lagos: joja press ltd., 2005), p. 91. 152 120 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching of an epistemology of otherness abstract this paper argues for an epistemology of otherness; an epistemology which pursues knowledge not just from the knower’s perspective, but also from the known or object of knowledge or in a particular way, from the other person’s view which is referred to in this paper as the other. it develops this thesis from the ethical alterity of emmanuel levinas, which privileges the other over the self. this mirrors the postmodernist efforts which react against the linear and the objectivist outlook of traditional and classical philosophy. the outlook of traditional philosophy was largely individualistic. the implication of this according to levinas is a philosophy shrouded in egoism and for epistemology, our grounds for knowledge claims could be partial or incomplete. an epistemology of otherness, therefore, argues for an intersubjectivist epistemology as an option that can produce a wholesome epistemic situation. it argues that deference to the other both as a source of knowledge and justification of our beliefs would produce more warranted grounds for knowledge. this paper concludes that this option would help diminish all forms of epistemic injustices and imbalances to our knowledge claims. this essay adopts an expository-analytical method in both shedding light on the ethics of intersubjectivity of emmanuel levinas and against this backdrop, advance an epistemology of otherness which this paper argues and levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 121 concludes can lead to knowing the other better and consequently, having a more inclusive epistemic situation. keywords: otherness, intersubjective epistemology, the other, alterity, levinas introduction in book iv, chapter 1 of fyodor dostoevsky’s epic novel, the brothers karamazov, published in 1880, the russian philosopher and existentialist writes “know, dear ones, that every one of us is undoubtedly responsible for all men and everything on earth, not merely through the general sinfulness of creation, but each one personally for all mankind and every individual man. this knowledge is the crown of life for the monk and for every man”1 these talismanic lines mirror a philosophical tradition which characterizes the ethical philosophy of emmanuel levinas. the philosophical tradition it represents is postmodernism. in philosophical terms, “postmodernism shares something with the critique of enlightenment values and truth-claims mounted by thinkers of a liberal-communitarian persuasion; also with neopragmatists like richard rorty, who welcome the end of philosophy’s presumptive role as a privileged, truth-telling discourse.”2 postmodernism came as a “reactionary” philosophy and maintains that there can be newer ways of doing things rather a linear pattern. as a movement, it is characterized by pluralism, scepticism, subjectivism or relativism and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology. this is in contrast to the linear way of doing philosophy in the era prior to it. with postmodernism, western philosophy moved its frontiers from an individualized pattern of philosophy to newer ways that favour the social or ‘the other’ dimension. by a direct reference, it reacts to the individualism of modern western philosophy. from the cartesian tradition, individualism characterized philosophical outlook. it is the individual that knows, thinks and acts. hence, rene descartes’ famous cliché, cogito ergo sum (i think, therefore i am). for a long time in philosophy, ‘other minds’ constituted a problem, because of this individual 122 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 characterization of philosophy. from descartes to locke, berkeley to hume, kant to hegel, the subject of any philosophy was an individual. individualism characterized modern philosophy. individualism refers to the political, social or moral outlook which emphasizes individual interests, independence and freedom as opposed to statism, communitarianism or collectivism that stresses the interests and goals of the state, group or community.3 the cultural context of the modern period was a reaction to the dogmatism and dominance of religion and the church in the medieval period. with the copernican revolution and the new science in the modern period, the focus shifted from the church or institutions to the individual. thus, there was an elaborate emphasis on the individual and this influenced philosophical discourses. dostoevsky’ works are precursory to this era with his leaning on the “other”, responsibility and ethics. thus, with postmodernism philosophy moved from the “individual” to the “collective”, from the “i” to the “other” and from the “ego” to the “alter ego”. the aim of this paper is an attempt to sketch out an epistemology of otherness using the alterity of emmanuel levinas as a critical departure point. epistemology investigates the scope and limits of human knowledge. it questions whether we can know everything about our world and if not, what can we know and what can we not know how much of what we claim to know can be ascertained to be true?4 this essay, therefore, pursues an epistemology that seeks to know from the other person’s perspective rather from the knower’s perspective. it is believed engaging the other in its proper context would provide more evidence for belief formation or knowledge. levinas’ original contribution is that ethics precedes metaphysics, that ethics is the true prote philosophia5 or first philosophy. the thrust of his contribution is premised or grounded on his claim that all traditional ethics and philosophy is grounded on egoism, which understands my relation to myself as the primary relation6. this again mirrors the individualism which characterized modern philosophy. levinas argues that against this egoism, my responsibility to the other is the fundamental structure upon which all other structure rests. levinas’ philosophy deconstructs the previous foundation for philosophy and levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 123 reconstructs a new one. it is this ethical substructure that we shall leverage upon to advance an epistemology of otherness. philosophical understanding of otherness the notion of the “other” is an eclectic theme that regained prominence in a great deal with 20th century french philosophy. it means different things in different fields. in philosophy, however, it is primarily understood as the other human being in his or her differences.7 sisay mengstie explains it as “the way of defining one’s own “self” or one’s own “identity” in relation to others”8. by this interpretation, the other refers to the special qualities of each group that makes them different or unique in relation to another.9 the other does not, therefore, designate just an individual, but a broad way of understanding “difference” and “identity”. it can, therefore, stand for an individual, for a race, a social-economic class, physical ability, gender group, sexual orientation or even a nation. in the field of sociology and cultural studies, the term “other” is often used conterminously with the word, “difference”. the concept of the other in philosophy, first featured clearly in the works of john stuart mill in his examination of the problem of other minds. the problem of other minds is the problem of justifying the commonsensical belief that others besides oneself possess minds. antecedents of this position are, however, found in the works of descartes. in mill’s discussion, it was in reference to the consciousness of the self or mind. edmund husserl's on the fifth of the cartesian meditation picks up the notion of the other which he refers to as the alter ego. husserl’s discussion of the other was in reference to the phenomenology of consciousness. however, it was with levinas that this notion of the other was freed from these phenomenological and epistemic problems. levinas criticized the abstraction associated with the other, especially in the work of husserl. he criticized husserl for reducing the other to an object of consciousness alone, which is more like an isolated ego. with levinas, the other was then explained in terms of the ethical relation than a mere abstraction. the other of levinas is, rather, another individual that is largely unknowable to the interpreting self but demands responsibility. in his totality and 124 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 infinity, levinas speaks of the other as “that which calls to me, calls for a response from me, is the very source of all language and culture, and hence is a source of instruction”10. the other is another person who demands responsibility. in husserl, the other is defined by the self and is faceless, in levinas; the other is understood differently from the self and has a face. another french scholar with a similar ethical account on the other is paul ricoeur which he developed in his major work on intersubjectivity, oneself as another, (1992)11. while ricoeur’s thought on the other squares with levinas on responsibility, ricoeur’s other is reductive. he reduces the other to the self, an account that has been largely criticized. dermot moran explains that levinas’s chief target in his discussion of the other is in reply to husserl’s fifth cartesian meditation. levinas is critical of husserl’s account of the other, because, for levinas, husserl reduces the alterity of the other to the sameness of myself, that is to say, i experience the other as same as myself.12 the difference between husserl and ricoeur is ricoeur’s emphasis on a responsibility which is a furtherance of levinas’ ethical alterity.13 conversely, simeone de beauvoir introduces the other as “difference” in her book, the second sex (1949) in which she criticizes the dominance of patriarchy and the stereotyping of women. in this work, the woman is the other. it is from this notion, othering as a philosophical term takes on the notion of prejudice, inequality, marginality14 and an inferior contrast of one to the other. this notion of the other in de beauvoir’s work was influenced by hegel’s dialectic of identification and distantiation in the encounter of the self with some other in his “master-slave dialectic.15 16 the historical and political dimension of this master-slave dialectic concerns the relationship between the feudal lords and the serfs and from the psychological dimension, brons lajos explains involves self-consciousness. from the political and historical dimension, the other involves an “inferiorization” or marginalization”, while from the psychological dimension hegel refers to the other as not-self. it is on this view simeone de beauvoir builds on to develop the theme of the other as a marginalized or unequal second. from this philosophical construct, lajos explains othering, thus: levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 125 a process through which identities are set up in an unequal relationship. [it] is the simultaneous construction of the self or in-group and the other or out-group in mutual and unequal opposition through the identification of some desirable characteristic that the self/in group has and the other/ out-group lacks and/or some undesirable characteristic that the other/out-group has and the self/in-group lacks. othering thus sets up a superior self/in group in contrast to an inferior other /out-group, but this superiority/inferiority is nearly always left implicit.17 from de beauvoir’s construction of the other, othering now describes the reductive action of labelling a person as someone who belongs to a subordinate social category defined as the other. the practice of othering is the exclusion of persons who do not fit the norm of the social group, which is a version of the self.18 this is different from the notion of otherness which refers to the characteristics of the other. there is yet another notion of the other that is fostered in the works of the jacques lacan, sometimes referred to as the “french freud”. brons describes this account as a much more abstract notion, he explains: “the other” as something (more than someone) outside of and/or in some way opposed to the self this is (part or aspect of) lacan’s “big other”. building on freud, but also influenced by kojeve’s interpretation of hegel, lacan distinguished little other and big other, which he represented in pseudomathematical notation as a and a (the first letter of “autre”, french for “other”). little other or a is a reflection and projection of the self (of the “ego” in particular); big other or a is radically other and includes both other subjects and the (institutionalized) relationships between the self and those others.19 126 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 lacan’s idea brings two important points to the fore: (i) the central role of language in constituting identity and (ii) the fact that identity is fundamentally gained in the gaze of the powerful.20 the different notions of the other make it a polymorphous theme in philosophy, nevertheless with slight nuances. otherness as an adjective of the noun ‘other’ refers to the characteristics of the other, the state of being different from an alien to the social identity of a person and to the identity of the self.21 otherness as a philosophical discourse deals with the characteristic of “who?” and “what?” of the other which is different from the self. the concept of otherness in philosophy is also known as alterity, which means the “other of two” from the latin alter which means “the other (and not the one)”. the term alterity is an encounter with “the other”. in philosophical phenomenology, the term alterity can be said to gain modern conception and consummation in the works of emmanuel levinas. peter fenves explains this conception thusly: “while studying the work of husserl and heidegger, levinas came to realize that the phenomenology of the other cannot be accomplished in the same manner as the phenomenology of consciousness or the hermeneutics of existence.”22 levinas refutes the grounding of philosophy on the cogito (consciousness or thinking), rather, he gave primacy to the other. levinas returns to the idea of subjectivity which he presents as ‘welcoming the other’, as hospitality and in it, the idea of infinity is consummated. the idea of infinity in philosophy means that which is irreducible or that which constitutes the smallest unit of anything. the problem of infinity goes back to zeno of elea23 and anaxagoras.24 from descartes methodic doubt and deconstruction of all philosophies, that which is irreducible is the cogito or consciousness, but for levinas, it is the other. levinas argues that “infinity overflows the thought that thinks it”.25 infinity is not to be understood subjectively as “an incidental notion forged by subjectivity to reflect the case of an entity encountering on the outside nothing that limits it, overflowing every limit, and thereby infinite”.26 levinas attributes infinity to that which remains outside the subject, for the infinity of the other is alterity.27 otherness or alterity in levinas is not just the alter ego. in husserl’s levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 127 phenomenology, the alter ego would just be another like i am or would be the other. for levinas, the other is a step beyond, one moment in the future.28 he also argues that the other can never be reduced to the same – not to the identity of the cogito (epistemology) nor to the sameness of being (ontology) – and so ethics becomes, for levinas, ‘first philosophy’. otherness as alterity takes on a radical version with levinas and other scholars have taken a moderate position in other scholars like paul ricoeur. levinas’ theory of alterity levinas was born in 1906 in lithuania which was part of prerevolutionary russia. he was born into an orthodox jewish family. the surrounding culture in russia then tolerated jews. in 1914, the first world war broke out and the family moved to ukraine. there he immersed himself in russian literature, especially the works of nikola gogol, fyodor dostoevsky and leo tolstoy where he experienced some ideological influence from their works. in 1923, he proceeded to strasbourg university in france, where he gained his licence in philosophy. in strasbourg, he was introduced to a number of works and scholars, particularly husserl’s phenomenology. he later bagged his doctorate from the same university and was a naturalized citizen of france in 1931. when france declared war on germany, he was ordered to report for military duty. during the german invasion of france in 1940, his military unit was surrounded and forced to surrender. levinas spent the rest of world war ii as a prisoner of war in a camp near hannover in germany. levinas was assigned to a special barrack for jewish prisoners, who were forbidden to practice any form of religious worship. life in the camp was difficult, but his status as a prisoner of war protected him from victim to the holocaust. many members of levinas’ family were killed in the holocaust29, however, and the impact of this large-scale massacre left its mark on levinas, both personally and philosophically. his best-known work is totality and infinity an essay on exteriority (1961). the effect of the wars, the killing of jews and the living conditions of people gave rise to his philosophy of consideration for the other, which is a philosophy of 128 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 intersubjectivity; that is, how we relate to the other subject and the need to deconstruct philosophy from metaphysics is the first philosophy to ethics. alterity is central to levinas’ philosophy. in his, time and the other, he explains alterity as that which: appears as a non-reciprocal relationship – that is, as contrasting strongly with contemporaneousness. the other as other is not only an alter ego: the other is what i myself am not… it can be said that the intersubjective space is not symmetrical. the exteriority of the other is not simply due to the space that separates what remains identical through the concept, nor is it due to any difference the concept manifest through spatial exteriority. the relationship with alterity is neither spatial nor conceptual.30 levinas’ equation of the alter ego with sameness can be misleading. i can never really make the other fully present in myself and that is the meaning of alterity. levinas is trying to safeguard the other from violation, oppression and inferiorization, hence, his use of alterity begins with a sense of responsibility to the other. consequently, upon the earlier established constitution of the other, levinas holds that it is superior to the self. levinas’s refusal to equate alter ego with alterity is to reject any possibility of synchronicity and reciprocity, wherein, for instance, the self does not do good to him or herself, he projects the same on the other. in his attempt to make the other absolutely distinct, levinas comes to his specific use of alterity. levinas explicitly argues: to be sure, the other that is announced does not possess this existing as the subject possesses it; its hold over my existing is mysterious. it is not unknown but unknowable, refractory to all light. but this precisely indicates that the other is in no way another myself, participating with me in common existence. the relationship with the other is not an idyllic and levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 129 harmonious relationship of communion or sympathy through which we put ourselves in the other’s place.31 it suffices to mention that levinas’ critique of husserl makes him refute the alter ego with the self; this marks a relationship with the future, wherein husserl it marks a relationship with the present. alterity marking a relationship with the future means a prescriptive obligation of the self to the other. with levinas, otherness takes on radical alterity which is a responsibility and an encounter with the other’s “face”. by “face”, levinas does not mean the literal perception of the face consisting of the eyes, forehead, ears, lips, etc., but rather in the manner the other presents him or herself as the other, that is, his/her irreducibility and transcendence.32 levinas remarks that “the relation with the face can surely be dominated by perception, but what is specifically the face cannot be reduced to that”.33 the face is not merely an appearance. it does not entail mere perception or description of what we know. but in the face-to-face encounter, i am not facing a thing merely of perceptual comprehension, but of responsibility. the other by virtue of its appearance commands a response different from knowledge. arnel palado argues that “although i inevitably have knowledge of the other’s manifestation and the demands put on me, the epiphany needs a response beyond my pre-theoretical perspective. hence by the other’s appearance, he also gives commands”.34 the command that comes from the epiphany of the other is ethical and not a compelling manipulation. in the words of levinas: the first word of the face is the “thou shall not kill”. it is an order. there is a commandment in the appearance of the face as if a master spoke to me. however, at the same time, the face of the other is destitute; it is poor for whom i can do all and to whom i owe all. and me, whoever i may be, but as a “first-person”, i am he who finds the resources to respond to the call.35 in levinas, the other’s command implies a challenge and a responsibility. this command does not appeal to my goodness but 130 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 to my responsibility. further, the appeal does not change with a third other. the command is irrespective of perception. this does not also diminish the freedom of the self or ego. the challenge of moral responsibility is akin to immanuel kant’s categorical imperative. kant describes the moral command as categorical because, this imperative cannot be split into means and ends, it commands an action which is good in itself and which is thus necessary to a will that orients itself on reason. it is not a hypothetical imperative. william lawhead clearly corroborates this explanation, "the moral law is presented to us as a categorical imperative. it tells you what you ought, should, or must do, but it does not depend on any prior conditions, or subjective wants and wishes, and it contains no qualifications. it takes the form, "do x!" it is not preceded by an “if clause”, for it tells you what you are morally commanded to do under all conditions and at all times”.36 levinas like kant believes that the imperative springs from reason alone and is rationally consistent. kant expresses the first formulation of his categorical imperative thus: “there is, therefore, only one categorical imperative. it is: “act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”.37 the second formulation of his categorical imperative is, “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only”.38 kant's formulation is similar to the biblical so-called golden rule, “do unto others what you want to be done to you” (matt 7:12). there is however a lot of pregreek bible texts referring to this principle like herodotus’s. nevertheless, kant explicitly warns his readers to understand his second formulation as a version of the golden rule. kant considers the golden rule as trivial because it does not refer to the foundations of obligations towards oneself and others. later scholars, of course, fought kant on this assumption, but kant himself despised the golden rule. although both kant and levinas can be dubbed examples of deontological ethics (from the greek word, deon, meaning duty or obligation) in contrast to teleological ethics(a theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved), there are, however, some differences in them. whereas, kant calls his levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 131 proposition “metaphysics of morals”, levinas calls his, the “ethics of ethics”. nevertheless, levinas does not believe, our duty to the other should be as we would treat ourselves; rather, we should treat the other in a superior manner. in levinas’ alterity which begins from responsibility, he argues that it does not diminish freedom, rather, it commits our responsibility to the other in a strong way. for levinas, responsibility precedes freedom. he says, “i am responsible for him without even having taken on responsibilities in his regard; his responsibility is incumbent on me”.39 this responsibility of care is the tie between me and the other, whether we accept or refuse to accept, whether we do know of it or not know, whether we are able to or unable to do something concrete for the other.40 what levinas attempts to do with this i-other relationship of care and responsibility is to withdraw philosophy from the egoism that according to him has shrouded it. he argues that most philosophy understands the relation to oneself as the primary relation. this is clearly mirrored in the works of descartes, hobbes, locke and freud. he argues, therefore, that my responsibility to the other is the fundamental structure of upon which all other social structures rest.41 for levinas, the first question of philosophy is not ontological, why is there something rather than nothing, but ethical: how can my being justify itself? he argues that ethics is foundational for all other issues since human being already lives in the midst of others. dermont moran interprets levinas’s philosophy as “a kind of humanism; a “humanism of the other man”, one which wants to speak of the other, not objectively in the third person, but addressing the other directly, in the vocative case, invoking his or her proper name”.42 the ethical outlook of levinas’ philosophy makes him describe philosophy from its greek etymological roots, philos and sophia, not understood as ‘love of wisdom’, but he understood as the ‘wisdom of love’. with this interpretation, levinas disrupts and repositions the foundations of philosophy from the domain of ontology to that of ethics. the discourse on levinas’ alterity opens up a number of considerations for ethics, epistemology and even ontology. one point is clear; levinas withdraws philosophy from 132 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 individualism to otherness and from objectification of knowledge to subjectivity of knowledge claims. alterity and epistemology: towards an epistemology of otherness levinas’ thoughts on alterity leave a lot of epistemological questions open. epistemology which concerns itself with how we know what we know and what we can know is an open-ended discipline. the fact that human knowledge is really finite makes epistemology dynamic. philosophy deals with knowledge not only as a first-order activity of producing knowledge but, also as a second order enterprise of criticizing and justifying the grounds of knowledge produced in other disciplines.43 the activity of justifying the grounds of knowledge is the focus of epistemology. the epistemological questions provoked by levinas’s alterity begins with a question like: how can we really know the other person? in the kantian-hegelian tradition, truth is made relative to the subject. can we really know the other without a relationship? relationship? does the pre-reflective self-consciousness mind really know? are there not forms of othering, in which we base knowledge of the other on the perceptual conditions and terms, and do not seek the other’s position or perspective? are there not claims of epistemic injustice to the other, when the claims and beliefs are based only on the subject alone without comprehending all the circumstances of the other? these are the questions an epistemology of otherness asks. an epistemology of otherness is socially-oriented. by the token, it falls into the domain of epistemology known as social epistemology. social epistemology departs from traditional epistemology by critiquing its foundational assumption that only individuals can know. social epistemology, on the contrary, argues that there are social sources of knowledge and consideration outside an individual domain to the other enters into a social domain. when we talk about the testimony of the other as a source of knowledge rather than my individual perception alone, then we are talking of social epistemology. the other becomes an epistemic agent, who knows and can be relied upon in forming beliefs. social epistemology which is a program epistemologists have engaged in, levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 133 in the last thirty years more vigorously seeks to address the epistemic imbalances from individual epistemology by dealing with social conditions, relations within a social system. this is, precisely, what alterity pursues, seeking the perspective of the other. in an epistemology of otherness, the other becomes a source of knowledge. thus, knowledge is no longer determined from the perceiver’s perspective alone, but also from the “object”, which levinas calls the other. since levinas gives primacy to the other before the self, an epistemology of otherness becomes a variant of social epistemology, and it investigates truth from the social conditions and relations of the other. an epistemology of otherness is normative in its approach. steve fuller, who is a prominent figure of a variant of social epistemology argues that his vision of social epistemology is committed to normativity. the normative approach is committed to organizing the means available to bring about or maintain a desirable state of affairs.44 this approach keeps opening the scope of the norms. traditional epistemology arguably seeks the objectification of knowledge. it means there are objective and linear paradigms for judging truth and knowledge. however, edmund gettier with his epochal paper, “is justified true belief knowledge?”45 published in 1963, contested the dogmatism of objective paradigms. since then, there have been new philosophies that favoured new ways and methods of searching for truth and knowledge. these are reflected in the philosophies of richard rorty with his epistemological behaviourism, thomas kuhn’s thought on scientific revolution and even paul feyerabend’s methodical pluralism. it is this similar idea of normativity that is mirrored in levinas’s alterity. from levinas’s critique of traditional philosophy, he saw western metaphysics as a grand project of totalization, of reducing everything to the sphere of the ego, the self and thereby eliding the difference between being and thought. it means whatever is thought of or represented in thought we take alone to be true. the weakness of this approach is that it limits being to self-conception or selfknowledge. for levinas, philosophy must always be an attempt to defend the priority of the other and resist its reduction to the sphere 134 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 of sameness. the philosophy of the same is what has grounded all knowledge to involve objectification with a violation of the object. this can create an epistemic injustice and imbalance with regards to knowledge production. in contrast, an epistemology of otherness argues for an intersubjective epistemology. this is in contrast with epistemic relativism. epistemological relativism may be defined as the view that knowledge (and/or truth) is relative – to time, to place, to society, to culture, to historical epoch, to conceptual scheme or framework, or to personal training or conviction – so that what counts as valid knowledge depends upon these variables.46 an intersubjective epistemology in this sense would imply one that takes what a subject or a group of subjects holds to be true as being true on the basis of valid reasons for such beliefs. in this case, knowledge is not just a function of the subject’s epistemic virtue(s), but also those of the object. justification of beliefs in intersubjective epistemology involves factors beyond the internal faculty of the subject (internalism) but also external (externalism) to it. justification theory for intersubjective epistemology is primarily context-dependent. thus, intersubjectivism can come in either an individualistic form or a social form. in the former, this theory relies on the object which is the other, while in the latter, the other takes on a collective nature beyond an atomic individual. this can help to understand that what happens in the social sphere is not just independent of the subject. for instance, when you are talking to me and i appear to be expressionless, you may conclude that i am bored by what you are saying. it may be that as you spoke, my mind went to a bad experience which changed my feeling. an intersubjectivist epistemology would investigate into what made my feelings change, rather than relying on the justification that was taken from my expression. levinas’ alterity is premised on a defense of intersubjectivity. in levinas, the other is everything which resists such totalizations and which resists violence. the other means that which cannot be objectified. intersubjectivity is contrary to totality. this is explained by levinas in his major work, totality and infinity as a defense of intersubjectivity. an epistemology of otherness seeks to address the problem of epistemic injustice from perceptual understanding and othering. levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 135 epistemic injustice refers to “those forms of unfair treatment that relate to issues of knowledge, understanding and participation in communicative practice”47. this term was coined by miranda fricker in 2007. the term, othering, on the other hand is the process of treating someone as different, inferior, prejudiced or lookeddown than oneself. it is a form of inferiorization and prejudicing. allie bunch48 categorizes three different forms of epistemic injustice in the process of othering as (1) discriminatory epistemic injustice which involves the dehumanization of the other or outgroup, (2) testimonial epistemic injustice which comes as reduced credibility and silencing. silencing comes from non-reciprocity (3) distributive epistemic injustice which refers to the refusal of resources for the other or group. an epistemology of otherness offers non-oppressive ways of knowing. an epistemology of otherness involves epistemic responsibility. epistemic responsibility involves taking responsibility for our individual beliefs. responsibility is at the heart of levinas’s alterity. an epistemology of otherness would not be totalizing but prioritizing the other in forming a judgment about him/her. conclusion the ethical alterity of emmanuel levinas has been examined in this paper as a template for developing an epistemology of otherness. differences in social relations have brought to light imbalances and sometimes even forms of injustice. the search for knowledge is a herculean task and scepticism of different kinds has challenged what we can know from different sides. thus, the task of epistemology is to secure what we know from errors and make our knowledge claims warranted. in the light of a self-absorbed and the individualistic nature traditional objectivist epistemology has been shrouded in, the human epistemic situation can be said to be incomplete. the desire to have a wholesome epistemic situation opened the threshold for social epistemology. the focus of social epistemology is assessing new pathways we can know. one of such, is how we can know from not just from the knower’s perspective but also from the objects. this is an intersubjective epistemology which this work has described as an epistemology of otherness. this 136 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 paper has argued that it is in knowing the other better, that we can well relate with him/her and not see him/her as an object to be violated. the epistemology of otherness prescribed in this paper seeks to eliminate the possibility of epistemic injustice and false claims. the aim is to achieve truth of the other, his/her appreciation. without claiming to be a perfect agenda, the epistemology of otherness is a step towards knowing the other better. endnotes 1 dostoevsky fyodor, the brothers karamazov. transl. from the russian by constance garnett, new york: the lowell press, 2009. p 202. 2 docherty thomas, “postmodernism” in honderich ted (ed), the oxford companion to philosophy, second edition, oxford: oxford university press, 2005 3 fidelis chuka aghamelu & emeka cyril ejike, “hegel’s contributions to modern individualism and totalitarianism” in http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/og.v13i 1.12 4 jimoh anselm, certitude and doubt a study guide in epistemology, second edition, benin: floreat publication, 2017, p. 8. 5 the term, “prote philoophia”, was coined by aristotle for metaphysics. it is the most general abstract science and thus conceived as the foundation of philosophy itself. see, aristotle, metaphysics, iv, 1, 1003 a21. levinas on the other hand, declared that rather than metaphysics, ethics is the first philosophy. 6 dermon doran, introduction to phenomenology, london: routledge taylor and francis group, 2000. pp 320-321. 7 derrida jacques, “other” in honderich ted (ed), ibid. 8 mengstie sisay, “ constructions of “otherness” and the role of education: the case of ethiopia” in journal of education culture and society, no. 2, 2011, p. 7 9 ibid 10 levinas emmanuel, totality and infinity an essay on exteriority, translated by alphonso lingis, boston: martinus nijhoff publishers 1979. p. 46 11 paul ricoeur, oneself as another, trans. k. blamey (chicago & london: the university of chicago press, 1992). 12 moran dermot, introduction to phenomenology, london: routledge taylor and francis group, 2000. pp. 337-338 13 see dierckxsens geoffrey’s “otherness and desire in paul ricoeur’s hermeneutics of the self” in https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docman/irua/d34db6/d606e14f.pdf 14 jimoh anselm “justice and the othered minority lessons from african communalism” in elvis imafidon (ed), handbook of african philosophy of difference: switzerland: springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-03004941-6_12-1 15 brons lajos, “othering an analysis” in transcience, 6 (1), 2015, p. 69 levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching… | 137 16 see also, g.w.f. hegel, phenomenology of spirit, translated by a.v. miller with analysis of the text and foreword by j. n. findlay (oxford: clarendon press, 1977). 17 lajos, p. 70. 18 “othering", the new fontana dictionary of modern thought, third edition (1999), p. 620. 19 brons, p. 74. 20 jimoh, “justice and the othered minority: lessons from african communalism”, ibid. 21 miller, j. "otherness". the sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. 2008, pp. 588–591. 22 fenves peter, “alterity and identity, post modern theories of” in routledge encyclopedia of philosophy, version 1.0, london and new york: routledge, 1998. 23 zeno opens up the problem of infinity with his paradoxes on infinity. he argues against the pythagorean theory of the plurality of things. according to the pythagoreans, everything in the universe is made up of units. now, these units, says, zeno, are either with size or without size. if they are, they can always be divided up which means they are infinitely divisible. and since they are infinitely divisible they must be made up of infinite units. in other words, everything in the universe is made up of an infinite number of units. but whatever is made up of infinite number of units must be infinitely great. it follows therefore that everything in the universe is infinitely great. now, let us take the second alternative and say that these units are without size. in that case, says, zeno, they must be infinitely small. and if everything in the universe is made up of infinitely small units, it follows that everything in the universe is infinitely small. see, omoregbe joseph, a simplified history of western philosophy, vol. one ancient and medieval philosophy, lagos: joja educational research and publishers limited, 1999. p. 16. 24 anaxagoras’ philosophy begins by wading into the ultimate stuff of reality by attempting to reconcile the theories of heraclitus and parmenides. empedocles had proposed four elements as the constitutive of all reality. anaxagoras leveraging on empedocles’ thought, argues that each of these four elements are themselves a combination of several different particles. in other words, there are particles of all things in everything. this is how anaxagoras describes his notion of the infinite. see, omoregbe, joseph, a simplified history of western philosophy, ibid. p. 20. 25 levinas emmanuel, totality and infinity: an essay on exteriority, trans. alphonso lingis (pittsburgh duquesne university press, 1969, p. 25. 26 ibid. p. 26. 27 friedman randy, “alterity and asymmetry in levinas’s ethical phenomenology”, the journal of scriptural reasoning, vol. 13, number 1, 2014, p. 6. 28 ibid, p. 11. 138 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 29 holocaust refers to the genocide during world war ii in which nazi germany, aided by its collaborators, murdered over six million jews. this is an estimate of over two-third of the jewish population of europe between 1941 and 1945. 30 levinas emmanuel, time and the other. translated by richard a. cohen. pittsburgh: duquesne university press, 1987. p.84. 31 levinas, time and the other, p. 74. 32 arnel palado, “emmanuel levinas on the other and the third party” in https://ustedu.academia.edu/arnelpalado. 33 levinas emmanuel, ethics and infinity: conversation with philippe nemo, translated by richard cohen, pittsburgh: duquesne university press, 1985, pp 85-86. 34 arnel palado, “emmanuel levinas on the other and the third party”, ibid. 35 levinas, ethics and infinity: conversation with philippe nemo, p. 89. 36 lawhead william, the voyage of discovery, a historical introduction to philosophy, second edition, london: wadsworth group, 2002. p. 342. 37 immanuel kant, foundations of the metaphysics of morals, translated by lewis white beck, indianapolis: bobbs-merill, library of liberal arts, 1959, 39. 38 kant, foundations of the metaphysics of morals, p. 47. 39 levinas, ethics and infinity: conversation with philippe nemo, p. 96. 40 ibid, p. 97. 41 levinas, totality and infinity, p. 79; 51 42 dermont, introduction to phenomenology, p. 321. 43 owolabi kolawole, “the nature and problems of knowledge” in owolabi kolawole (ed) issues and problems in philosophy, ibadan: grovacs network, 2000. p. 49. 44 fuller steve, “ a sense of epistemic agency fit for social epistemology” in reider patrick, social epistemology and epistemic agency decentralizing epistemic agency, new york: rowman and littlefield, 2016. p. 21. 45 gettier edmund, “is justified true belief knowledge?” in analysis, vol. 23, no. 6. june 1963. pp. 121-123. 46 harvey siegel, “relativism” in jonathan dancy and ernest sosa (eds), a companion to epistemology, oxford: blackwell, 1992. pp 428-429. 47 kidd, ian james; medina, josé; pohlhaus jr., gaile (2017). "introduction to the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice". in kidd, ian james; medina, josé; pohlhaus jr., gaile (eds.). routledge handbook of epistemic injustice. routledge. p. 1. doi:10.4324/9781315212043 48 bunch allie, “epistemic violence in the process of othering: real world applications and moving forward”, in scholarly undergraduate research journal at clark: vol. 1, article retrieved from https://commons.clarku.edu/surj/vol1/iss1/2/ abstract the problem of suffering which is connected with the problem of theodicy, has to do with why a good god would permit humans to undergo physical, mental and spiritual afictions. human suffering, which is an indisputable fact of human existence that raises many questions, remains a mystery. why is there suffering and what is the purpose of suffering? what should be the attitude of man to suffering? kierkegaard sees suffering as essential in the life of man in order for him to actualize his potential. his treatment of suffering is of great importance in understanding the role of suffering in human existence. this essay attempts to approach suffering from the thkierkegaardian perspective. kierkegaard, a 19 century danish philosopher and existentialist thinker, sees suffering as the essential expression of the existential pathos which the religious individual understands as something essential. suffering, which is a dying to immediacy, is an essential expression of the relationship to the absolute. the religious person is one who is reected inward and understands suffering as essential and is ready to confront it in all its ramications. this approach to suffering has the capacity of encouraging an individual to face all of life's dangers, to embark joyfully exploring the theme of suffering in soren kierkegaard's philosophy benedict egbuchunam department of philosophy seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. emechunam@yahoo.com upon the necessary challenges of life and to cultivate a positive attitude to suffering. keywords: suffering, immediacy, essential, absolute, existential, pathos. introduction suffering is an unavoidable mystery of human existence. it is seen by some as something evil that comes to those who have 'bad luck' or to bad people. it is natural that human beings should shy away from suffering and from anything that will cause pain. however, it is an undisputable fact that suffering is a part and parcel of human existence. but the question is: why is there suffering? what is its purpose? what should be the attitude of humans to suffering? a proper and adequate knowledge of what suffering is and its role has the capacity of encouraging an individual to face all of life's dangers, to embark joyfully upon the necessary challenges of life and to derive benets from a positive approach to suffering. to this end, kierkegaard's treatment of suffering is of great importance in understanding the role of suffering in our lives. this essay, therefore, attempts to expose kierkegaard's view on suffering as the essential expression for existential pathos; as an expression of a religious view of life in contradistinction to fortune and misfortune as the expression of an aesthetic view of life. to achieve this, this essay would have an overview of suffering. then, kierkegaard's view on existence and the stages of life after which his treatment on suffering would follow and the bulk of what kierkegaard says on suffering would be taken from his work, concluding unscientic postscript. an overview of suffering the term suffering is sometimes used in the narrow sense of physical pain, but more often it refers to mental or emotional pain, or more to pain in the broad sense, that is, to any unpleasant feeling, emotion or sensation. the term pain usually refers to physical pain, but it is also a common synonym of suffering. the terms pain and suffering are exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 35 sometimes used together in different ways. for instance, they may either be used as interchangeable synonyms or they may be used in contradistinction to one another as in "pain is physical, suffering is mental", or "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional". sometimes, they are used to dene each other, as in "pain is physical suffering", or 1 "suffering is severe physical or mental pain" suffering occurs commonly in the lives of sentient beings in diverse manners. it is the presence of pain, displeasure, and other forms of anguish: physical or spiritual, in a given person or sentient 2 being. one thing is clear and that is the fact that it is the subject – the human person – who suffers. of course, the lower animals do undergo suffering (physical pain) but what differentiates the human person from lower animals is on the level of consciousness. only the 3suffering human being knows that he is suffering and wonders why; and he suffers in a humanly speaking still deeper way if he does not 4 nd a satisfactory answer. it has been said that the high-level capacities of memory, anticipation, and conscience, which gives rise to the human experience of suffering as distinct from the experience of physical pain, is lacking in lower animals, which live wholly in the 5 present. the eld of human suffering is much wider, more varied, and multi-dimensional. man suffers in a variety of ways not always considered by medicine, not even in its most advanced specializations. suffering is something which is still wider than sickness, more complex and at the same time still more deeply rooted 6in humanity itself. in day-to-day human experience, we are faced with various types of suffering and evil. pantaleon iroegbu makes a 1 “suffering”, in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/suffering, 2010. 2pantaleon iroegbu, kpim of predicaments, ibadan: hope publications, 2004, 31. 3the terms ‘man’, ‘he’, ‘him’ and so on is used here occasionally in a generic sense to avoid making the work cumbersome. it does not, in any way, denote disrespect or disregard for the female gender. 4john paul ii, the christian meaning of human suffering (salvici doloris, thapostolic letter), 11 february, 1984. no. 9. 5j. bukovsky, “suffering”, the new catholic encyclopedia, vol. 13, ed. rev. w. j. mcdonald et al, washington: the catholic university, 1967, 775. 6john paul ii, salvici doloris . . . , no. 5. 36 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 difference between evil and suffering. he says that evil is generally a lack of being or acting that should be there in a being while suffering involves some anguish, pain or displeasure on the part of the victim. while all suffering is evil, not all evil is suffering in the strict sense of the presence of pain, anguish or displeasure. in other words, there are various types of evil some of which may entail suffering and others 7not. according to etienne borne, suffering is not 'immediately given' in human consciousness. it does not have the simple character of sensation or pleasure. it raises questions as soon as it is present in the one suffering and feeds that self-reection peculiar to the human mind. he says that there is a distinction between the different forms of suffering. the rst kind of suffering could be called work or labour (suffering in work). this is when pain is the means to a worthwhile end, that is, it has meaning beyond it. it creates a kind of division or alienation within the human person. this is the most fundamental dimension of interiority and it is at the origin of technical activity and properly human actions. in “suffering in work”, suffering assumes a mediating role; it can be seen in the light of a comforting truth. here the pain of the road is incurable and is part of the journeying. but its 8justication lies in the destination and in the happiness of arriving. there is also suffering of anguish, which occurs in the meeting point with absolute misfortune when one must bear the unbearable. for example, the death of a loved one, the triumphant persecution of the innocent etc. in this type of suffering, which natural reason cannot give a 'means-end' explanation, we are inicted with 'obtuse evidence' of their meaninglessness. suffering, which comes from our own faults, has two faces. at one time, a moral and intelligent action may mediatize the suffering, that is, the evil, which makes one evil, is changed by the person into repentance, which puries. at other times, the evil is irreparable and the remorse, which turns into anguish, is unconquerable by heroism and wisdom natural 7iroegbu, op.cit., p. 32-33. 8etienne borne, “the meaning and meaninglessness of suffering”, philosophy today, vol. 1, (june, 1957), no. 2/4, 100. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 37 9 to man. relative suffering, in which the search for meaning is rewarded, and absolute suffering, whose meaning escapes us, inuence one another with the latter infecting the former. there is an undened area between the two where the hope of nding meaning is always mingled with fear of meaninglessness. there is an obtuseness, the lling of shadows even when it is evident that pain is necessary for humans and can serve a good purpose. it would seem that suffering of any kind destroys something of goodness and truth such that it becomes subject to reason by 'constraint and violence'. in suffering, there seems to be a sure sign of death and both seem impossible to mediatize, that is, it seem impossible to nd meaning in 10 both. in whatever form it takes, suffering is indeed a passion for humans. it is “an ordeal, imposed by fate or circumstances, which neither will nor reason can completely dominate and conquer” and it brings to the heart of an individual “a mixture of exaltation and 11blindness and bafing light.” a question that comes to mind is: if god is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why is there evil and suffering in the world? the problem of suffering is connected with the problem of theodicy, or why the just god allows evil in the world. why would a good god permit man to undergo physical, mental and spiritual afictions? this constitutes on one hand, the objection to god's existence by atheists like david hume, who gives positive reasons for rejecting a theistic deity, and on the other hand, a challenge to the believer whose faith in 12 god is severely tested by trials. at a deep human level, human suffering is a mystery before which scientic and most philosophical systems are either silent or without adequate answers. the mystery of suffering lies not in its existence which is obvious, nor in the fact that it can be painful and that we seek to avoid it nor does it lie in the fact that it can be 9ibid. 10ibid. 11ibid. 12bukovsky, “suffering”, the new catholic encyclopedia, vol. 13 . . . , 775. 38 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 necessary and even redemptive for our experience may show this to 13 be true. our persistent which shows that we are staring at a mystery. according to pope john paul ii: “within each form of suffering endured by man, and at the same time at the basis of the whole world of suffering, there inevitably arises the question: why? it is a question about the cause, the reason, and equally, about the purpose of suffering, and, in brief, a question about its meaning. not only does it accompany human suffering, but it seems even to determine its human content, what 14 makes suffering precisely human suffering.” in considering suffering, it would be discovered that it reveals the polarity existing between the exterior and interior self, the puzzled way in which one is stretched between the world of nature and spirit. substantial unity becomes so difcult to understand that one can only 15call it a mystery. suffering is an enigmatic fact which challenges every world view. no suffering is a simple physical reality. there is always that resistance, the effort to ignore or scape, to discover its causes. man tries as much as possible to seek solutions to human suffering or nd ways of doing away with it. but it ends up being a futile exercise. this is not to discredit those who seek ways to reduce human suffering or to say that we should not seek solutions to human problems. but as pope john paul ii says: “seeking new and effective ways to alleviate suffering is a valid quest, but suffering nevertheless remains a fundamental fact of human life. in a way, it is as deep as man himself and touches upon his very essence. medical 13h. c. bradley, the mystery of suffering, http://www.sju:edu/campus_ministry/ newsletter/cnl033003.htm. 14pope john paul ii, salvici doloris . . . , no. 9. 15borne, art.cit., 100. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 39 research and treatment neither wholly explains nor fully overcomes suffering. in its depth and its so many forms it needs to be considered from a perspective, which 16transcends the merely physical.” suffering as suffering is obviously an evil. suffering for the sake of suffering is an antithesis of goodness and to that extent it is 17 existentially a hollow in the order of reality. but what is the source of evil? if there is evil, then something is missing that ought to be there, in god or in the world and that is perfection. why would a perfect god make an imperfect world a world in which there is suffering and death? it is at this point that we now turn to kierkegaard whose view on suffering would be understood in the light of his idea on existence and the stages of life. the concept of existence in kierkegaard's philosophy the term existence constitutes the foundational structure of kierkegaard's philosophy. his career was a self-conscious revolt against abstract thought which hegel's system was noted for. for kierkegaard, existence, which is a specically human category, can have two senses. he made a distinction between the spectator and the actor. he says that the spectator can be said to exist in the sense of inert or inactive things. but the term existence does not apply properly to these whether they are spectators or stones. it is only the actor that is involved in existence. the act of existing, which is a striving, is both pathetic and comic. existence, for kierkegaard, is the “child that is born of the innite and the nite, the eternal and the 18 temporal, and is therefore a constant striving.” according to kierkegaard, the self is the conscious synthesis of innitude 16pope john paul ii, the christian response to suffering (message of the holy father for the world day of the sick for the year 2002), cf., http://www.wff.org/02-1-christian suffering.html. emphasis is mine. 17iroegbu,, op.cit., 43. 18soren, kierkegaard, concluding unscientic postscript, princeton: princeton university press, 1941, 84. 40 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 and nitude, which relates itself to itself, whose task is to become itself, a task which can be performed only by means of a relationship to god. but to become oneself is to become concrete. but to become concrete means neither to become nite nor innite, for that which is to become 19concrete is a synthesis. for kierkegaard, the search for truth may be pursued either in an objective or in a subjective manner. objective reection consists in an abstraction from the subject and his subjective interest such that truth becomes subjectively indifferent. while in subjective reection, the task is to interpenetrate the subjectivity of the inquirer with thought that the inwardness thus developed may be a truth that is relevant to existing human beings. the highest task that is proposed to every human being is the task of becoming subjective just as the highest reward, which is an eternal happiness, exists only for those who are subjective or rather, comes into being for the individual who becomes subjective. the subjective thinker is a dialectician dealing with the existential and he has the passion of thought requisite for holding fast to the qualitative disjunction for the existential dialectic, which moves within three spheres of life: aesthetic, ethical and religious, is a movement in the direction of decisive choice and fullness of life and is relevant to an individual who confronts the 20future as an active participant in life. kierkegaard makes a distinction between what man now is, that is, his existential condition and what he ought to be, that is, his essential condition. he says that there is a movement in the life of man from his essential to existential condition; a movement from essence to existence. according to kierkegaard, man's anxiety over his nitude is the cause of his estrangement from his essential being. 19soren, kierkegaard, fear and trembling, princeton: princeton university press, 1954, 162-163. 20d. f. swenson, something about kierkegaard, minneapolis: augsburg publishing house, 1941, 117-119. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 41 man's essential nature entails his relation to god, the innite being. his existential condition is a consequence of his alienation from god. and a person's alienation and despair is further compounded if his actions drive him further from god. there is in man a dynamic drive, which this alienation creates, to recover his essential self. and it is in describing this dynamic movement that kierkegaard speaks of the 21stages on life's way. kierkegaard builds his theory of the stages, which he believes “embraces all possibilities of human existence,” on the fact that man is a synthesis of the nite and innite, the eternal and the temporal. he used the concept of a stage either because he holds that each higher stage is constituted not by abolishing the lower but by subordinating it. he posited three stages: the aesthetic, ethical and religious. the aesthetic stage can be exemplied in the poet who transmutes the world into an imaginary realm and in the romantic. the essential features of this stage are the absence of xed universal moral standards and of determinate religious faith as well as the presence of a desire to enjoy the whole range of emotive and sense experience. an individual can exist inasmuch as he chooses to be an aesthetic man. although existence can be achieved at this level, kierkegaard injects the element of quality into the matter of existence. ultimately, 22“authentic existence” cannot be achieved at this level. the ethical stage constitutes the sphere of duty, of universal rules, of unconscious demands and tasks. like socrates, whom kierkegaard considers to be the best and famous example of the ethical mode of existence, the ethical man, through the act of choosing, learns to know himself by turning towards the inwardness of his own self and thus reaches a decision to live a life that has meaning. the act of choosing is essentially a proper and stringent 23expression of the ethical. inasmuch as the ethical stage is an improvement on the aesthetic stage, it is nevertheless still 21 ths. stumpf, philosophy: history and problems (4 ed), new york: mcgraw-hill publishing co., 1971, 113-114. 22ibid. 481. 23robert, bretall, ed. either/or in a kierkegaard anthology, new york: the modern library, 1946, 105. 42 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 incomplete. the individual realizes that he is incapable of fullling the moral law, and becomes conscious of his guilt through deliberately going against the law. this guilt or the sense of sin becomes the dialectic element, the anti-thesis, which is that of estrangement or alienation from god which he belongs and from 24 whom he must derive strength. with sorrow in his heart, the ethical man asks divine forgiveness and it is at this point that he moves onto the religious stage. kierkegaard believes that the religious sphere is an embodiment of a truly authentic existence. it is seen as the culminating point of existential dialectic for in it can be found and obtained the authentic approach to life that has been so desired by the individual in both the aesthetic and ethical spheres. this religious stage is by acknowledging god, openly confessing one's sinfulness, choosing oneself as guilty and hoping for divine forgiveness. in this stage, an individual makes a choice, a personal commitment, which involves a passionate, non-rational “leap of faith.” kierkegaard makes a distinction between two forms of the religious stage: religiousness a and religiousness b. the former, which is not specically christian religiousness, can exist in paganism and in christianity; that is, it can be the religiousness of everyone who is not decisively christian, whether he be baptized or not. while the latter is precisely christian religiousness, is discriminative, selective, polemical and is closely dened by sin consciousness, the possibility 25of offence and the smart of sympathy. kierkegaardian perspective on suffering as a prelude to kierkegaard's discourse on suffering, it would be necessary to point out that for kierkegaard, the task of the individual consists in the simultaneous maintenance of an absolute relationship to the absolute telos and a relative relationship to relative ends. kierkegaard says that in order for the individual to be able to relate 24stumpf, op.cit., 481, 482. 25f. j. lescoe, existentialism: with or without god, new york: the society of st. paul, 1974, 4. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 43 absolutely to the absolute telos, he must begin by exercising himself in the absolute relationship through renunciation. this renunciation involves freeing oneself from relative ends. and it is when the individual is able to free himself from relative ends that he can now begin to think of the ideal task, which is the simultaneous maintenance of an absolute relationship to the absolute and a relative 26relationship to the relative. kierkegaard would say that even when the individual has brought his immediacy to subjection, he is still in existence, and is thereby prevented from expressing absolutely the absolute relationship to an absolute telos. unlike aesthetic pathos, which keeps itself at a distance from existence, or is in existence in a state of illusion, existential pathos dedicates itself more and more profoundly to the task of existing. it is able to penetrate all illusions, through the consciousness of what existence is, thereby becoming more and more concrete through reconstructing existence in action. suffering as the essential expression for existential pathos kierkegaard says that action may be seen as the precise opposite of suffering, which is the essential expression for existential pathos – the pathos of action. this is apparently the case as is evident from the fact that the positive is the index of the negative: “a revelation is signalized by mystery, happiness by suffering, the certainty of faith by uncertainty, the ease of the paradoxical – religious life by its 27difculty, the truth by absurdity …”. for kierkegaard, the distinguishing mark of religious action, which is directed towards eternal happiness, is suffering. action here does not mean outward activity for this does not transform the individual's own existence. rather, it can transform existence in the sense of an emperor conquering the world and enslaving people. but kierkegaard would say that such action is aesthetic pathos. the aesthetic individual transforms the world while he himself remains untransformed. this is because he has the dialectical outside of him 26kierkegaard, postcript, 386. 27ibid., 387. 44 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 instead of within him. kierkegaard says that suffering is the highest action in inwardness. this is because “essential existential pathos is essentially related to existence; and to exist essentially is inwardness, 28and action in inwardness is suffering. suffering, which is essentially the expression of existential pathos, is rooted in the fact that the individual is from his happiness. but this also signies that he is in relationship to this happiness and 29 consequently, to be without suffering is to be without religion. it should be pointed out that kierkegaard does not teach that all suffering is religious although all suffering may become religious by being incorporated into a god-relationship. if suffering ceases, the religious life is also abolished for all religious life involves suffering. swenson says that this suffering is due to the necessity of a reformation of the individual for religious suffering is the sign of transformation in the personality of the individual by which it is in the process of becoming better. the individual needs the transforming 30 discipline of suffering for its imperfection is at the bottom of guilt. from what swenson says, guilt lies at the bottom of our suffering. according to garelick, the suffering of the subjective individual lies in the fact that “he carries with him at all times in his search for eternal happiness, the awareness of the disproportion he has created between his existence and the demands of subjectivity.” the individual suffers because he bears the burden of guilt consciousness as a consequence 31 of his guilt consciousness. kierkegaard says that in transforming his entire existence, which is a dying away from immediacy, the religious individual would feel himself conned within the absolute conception of god; for the absolute conception of god consists in having it at every moment. the religious individual is so conned since absoluteness is not directly the element of a nite creature. kierkegaard says that inasmuch as the conception of god is the absolute help, it is also the 28ibid., 388. 29ibid., 406. 30swenson, op.cit., 174. 31h. m. garelick, the anti-christianity of kierkegaard, the hague: martinus nijhoff, 1965, 26. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 45 only help, which is also capable of revealing to man his own helplessness. the religious man, who lies in the nite as a helpless child, desires to hold fast to the conception of god and it is this that annihilates him. he desires to do everything he can to express this religious absoluteness, but as it were, he is unable to make the “nite 32 commensurable therefore.” kierkegaard says that although there is this absolute difference between god and man, the principle of equality in love expresses itself by means of the absolute difference whose form is humility – the humility that frankly admits its human lowliness with humble cheerfulness before god, trusting that god knows all this better than himself. it is here that the profound suffering of true religiosity lies – the deepest and unthinkable, namely, to stand related to god in an absolutely decisive manner, and be unable to nd any decisive expression for this. this inability is rooted in the necessary relativity of the most decisive expression, in its being too much because it involves a certain presumptuousness against other men 33and too little because it is a worldly expression. suffering as dying from immediacy kierkegaard says that immediacy is fortune; for there is no contradiction in the immediate consciousness. the view of life natural to immediacy is one based on fortune and as such, the immediate individual is essentially seen as a fortunate one. the contradiction comes from without and takes the form of misfortune. the immediate individual is unable to understand misfortune. this is because he never becomes dialectical in himself. due to his inability to grasp misfortune, the individual may despair; for the immediate individual expects the difculty to stop since it is a foreign element. kierkegaard says that the despair of the individual, which comes because the difculty does not cease, makes the transition to another understanding of misfortune possible for the individual's immediacy ceases as a result of despair. unlike the immediate individual who 32kierkegaard, postcript, 431-432. 33ibid., 439. 46 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 lacks the dialectical in himself, the inwardness that is the core of the ethical and ethico-religious individual understands suffering as something essential. for the aesthetic (immediate) individual “suffering must come from without, be visible, not having its origin 34 and expression in the individual himself.” but the religious individual has suffering constantly with him. just as the immediate individual requires fortune, the religious individual requires suffering and has it even in the absence of external misfortune. it is not misfortune that the religious individual requires for that would mean that the relationship would be aesthetic and he would remain essentially undialectical in himself. according to kierkegaard, just as immediacy pins its faith to fortune, the religious man believes that it is precisely in suffering that life is to be found. immediacy expires in suffering and it is in suffering that the religious man begins to breathe; the religious man comes to life in suffering. in other words, all men are sufferers. but the problem is to share fully in the suffering, and not to get away from misfortune. sharing fully in suffering is not by plunging oneself into 35it but by discovering that it is there. for kierkegaard, religiosity is inwardness, which is the “relationship of the individual to himself before god, his reection into himself.” and it is from this that suffering derives, this being the ground of its essential pertinence to the religious life such that its absence means the absence of religiosity. this is why kierkegaard approves of pascal's statement which he says came out of pascal's own experience as a christian, that “suffering is the natural state of the christian just as health is that 36 of the 'natural' man.” and as such, religiosity is not to serve as a place of refuge from suffering. 34kierkegaard, stages on life’s way, (princeton: princeton university press, 1945), 413. 35kierkegaard, postcript, 391. 36kierkegaard, stages…, 416. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 47 suffering as the mark of the relationship of the exister to the absolute telos kierkegaard asks the question: is it possible for an existing individual, at the same that he expresses precisely by means of suffering his relationship to an eternal happiness as the absolute telos, is it possible for him at the same time, on the basis of his knowledge about this relationship, to place himself beyond the 37suffering? he says that in such a case, it is not suffering, which is the essential expression for the relationship, but the rejoicing, naturally not a direct joy, but a joy grounded in the consciousness that the suffering signies the relationship. in discussing which was the highest (that is, either suffering or joy as the essential expression for the relationship), kierkegaard says that although there is no suffering in the eternal happiness itself, a relationship with the absolute telos, which is established by an existing individual, rightly expresses itself through suffering. if an individual were able to elevate himself above the suffering, knowing that it means the relationship, then he would also be able to transform his status from that of an existing individual to that of an eternal being, which for kierkegaard, is impossible. since it is impossible, the individual nds himself again in the situation of suffering, because the knowledge that suffering means the relationship with the absolute telos must be held fast in the medium of existence. the perfection of that individual's joy would fail of being complete and the pain of this circumstance is again the essential expression for the 38relationship. kierkegaard points out that when an individual is secure in his god-relationship and suffers only outwardly, that it is not religious suffering; for such suffering is subject to an aesthetic 37kierkegard, postcript…, p. 404. 38ibid., 405. 48 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 dialectic, like misfortune to the immediate consciousness. the fact that an individual is without misfortune does not mean that he is without suffering if he is religious. an individual who suffers, cannot in his joy over the signicance of this suffering, as a mark of the relationship, transcend the suffering. this is because the suffering is rooted in the fact that he is separated from his happiness but also signies that he has a relationship to this happiness. hence, to be without suffering is to be without religion. the religious individual is reected inward, is conscious of being existentially in the process of becoming and yet maintains a relationship to an eternal happiness. he says that if religious suffering ceased and the individual became secure, such that, he stands in relationship only to fortune and misfortune, then, he is an aesthetic person who has mistakenly 39strayed into the religious sphere. the category of anfechtung according to kierkegaard, there lies within the sphere of religious suffering, a special type of religious conict, which the germans call anfechtung. it is a type of temptation, which is within the sphere of the god-relationship. it ceases as soon as an individual fails to maintain a relationship with the absolute telos. he makes a distinction between temptation and anfechtung. in temptation, it is the lower that tempts and allures while in anfechtung, it is the higher that tempts and as if jealous of the individual, has to frighten him back. temptation exists in the ethical sphere and constitutes the greatest danger when the ethical relationship to reality is at its maximum for the individual. anfechtung, on the other hand, originates rst in the essentially religious sphere and occurs there only in the nal stage. as the intensity of the religiosity of the individual increases, anfechtung increases in proportion too. this is because the individual has discovered the limit and anfechtung 40 expresses the reaction of the limit against the nite individual. according to swenson: 39ibid., 406. 40ibid., 4 exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 49 it is only when the individual has been developed ethically and religiously to the point where there can be some question of his submitting himself to the divine in order to be radically transformed by the discipline of the relationship that the paradoxical makes its appearance. in this conict, the individual's strength consists in his 41weakness and his victory in his defeat. for kierkegaard, anfechtung becomes an expression for the limit which the individual discovers the moment he is able to relate himself to the absolute. in this type of temptation, the individual is innocent but the suffering is however fearful. it is only the religious man who will be exposed to anfechtung, for it is “precisely the reaction to the absolute expression for the absolute relationship.” an individual is tempted in his weak moments, while anfechtung is the nemesis upon the strong moment in the absolute relationship. “temptation therefore stands in connection with the individual's ethical habitus, while anfechtung, on the contrary, is without continuity, and is the 42opposition of the absolute itself.” kierkegaard says that it is in this manner that religious suffering has its essential persistence and reality. even in the most highly developed religious personality, who has succeeded in ghting his way through the suffering, which is involved in the dying away of immediacy, this suffering does not cease. and it is only a rare individual who succeeds in ghting his way through to the end, or in overcoming it for long, for this conict is so persistent and relapse into it so frequent. that is why the religious individual must understand that he is nothing before god or to become wholly nothing and to exist before god. he requires and should constantly have this consciousness of impotence for if it were to cease, 43 religiosity automatically ceases too. 41swenson, op.cit., 184. 42kierkegard, postscript…, 411. 43ibid., 412. 50 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 humor as an incognito for religiosity kierkegaard says that there are two boundary zones that correspond to the three spheres of existence: irony constitutes the boundary between the aesthetic and the ethical; humor, as the boundary that separates the ethical from the religious. when a religious individual, a knight of hidden inwardness, is set in the medium of existence, there emerges a contradiction in relating himself to the environment. this contradiction consists in the fact that with all this inwardness hidden within him, with his pregnancy of suffering and blessing in his soul, his appearance is exactly like that of other men. he looks like other men despite the fact that his inwardness is concealed. there is something comical here for where there is a contradiction there the comical is present. this comical aspect exists, not for others, but for the religious individual himself, when humor is his incognito, that is, 44he uses it as a disguise. the religious individual sets up a screen between himself and men, in order to safeguard and insure the inwardness of his suffering and his god-relationship, lest he be infected with worldliness. he does this because he feels compelled by the environment to do what the dialectical process of producing inwardness demands of him. for kierkegaard, as long as conict and suffering persist in his inwardness, the religious individual will not succeed in wholly concealing it. but he will not express himself directly and he will negatively prevent such a direct expression with the assistance of the humoristic. an observer who goes out to discover the religious individual would follow the rule of making everyone in whom he found humoristic, the object of his attention. but he may be deceived 45 for a religious individual is only a humorist in outward appearance. kierkegaard points out that a humorist presents the closest approximation to the religious individual and as such, he also has an essential conception of the suffering in which life is involved. he does not see existence as one thing, and fortune and misfortune as something happening to the existing individual, but exists so that 44ibid., 412. 45ibid., 451. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 51 suffering is for him relevant to existence. the humorist comprehends suffering as relevant to existence, but he does not comprehend the signicance of suffering itself; he understands that it belongs to existence but does not understand its signicance except through the principle that suffering belongs. it is at this point that the humorist differs from the religious individual. the humorist and the religious individual apprehend suffering in intimate conjunction with existence; but while the humorist revokes its essential signicance for the existing individual, the religious individual sees suffering as 46essential for the pathetic relationship to an eternal happiness. the humorist constantly sets the god-idea into conjunction with other things and evokes the contradiction. but in terms of religious passion, he does not maintain a relationship to god. instead, he transforms himself into a jesting and yet profound exchangecentre for all these transactions, but he does not himself stand related to god. the religious man, on the other hand, does the same as the humorist, that is, he places the god-idea side by side with everything and sees the contradiction, but he is related to god in his inmost consciousness. religiosity with humor as its incognito is a synthesis of absolute religious passion – the inwardness being dialectically produced – with a maturity of spirit, which withdraws the religiosity away from all externality back into inwardness, where again it is 47 absolute religious passion (kierkegaard postscript 452). relevance of kierkegaard's positive idea of suffering this essay has attempted to present the basic issues on suffering by kierkegaard. for kierkegaard, suffering is the essential expression of the existential pathos which is essentially related to existence; and to exist essentially is inwardness, and action in inwardness is suffering which a religious individual understands as something essential. this suffering is rooted in the fact that the religious individual is separated from his happiness and is conned within the absolute conception of god. he also says that suffering is a dying 46ibid., 396, 404. 47ibid., 452. 52 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 away from immediacy in which the religious individual, who is reected inward and is conscious of being existentially in the process of becoming, sustains a relationship to an eternal happiness, and the sign of this relationship is suffering, which is its essential expression. kierkegaard also points out that there is a higher sphere of suffering called anfechtung, which is precisely the reaction to the absolute relationship and that the religious individual uses humor as his incognito in order to safeguard and insure the inwardness of his suffering and his god-relationship. kierkegaard, in his thoughts, has certainly pointed out the consequence of trying to exist authentically and what suffering should be not only to the christian but any person who wants to live religiously. however, there are some inconsistencies in his thoughts. firstly, for kierkegaard, the humorist, who lies in the boundary between the ethical and religious sphere, apprehends suffering as something essential, and belonging to existence but does not understand its signicance. although, the suffering kierkegaard talks about is essentially inner suffering, which the religious man always has with him whether he suffers from without or not, he seems to refer to suffering from without (fortune and misfortune) when discussing about the humorist who presents the closest approximation to the religious. he does not seem to be consistent between suffering that belongs to inwardness and external suffering even though he claims to refer to the suffering that comes with inwardness. it is important to note that kierkegaard does not deny the fact that the religious individual could suffer from without. but for him, the suffering that comes with inwardness is more important for it is a sign of the god-relationship. the main problem in kierkegaard's view on suffering is his over-emphasis on subjectivity to the detriment of interpersonal relations. for kierkegaard, subjectivity is suffering. but the problem with subjectivity is that when taken to its logical conclusion, it denies objectivity. if subjectivity is suffering, then, suffering is reduced to a personal level – to the 'i', such that neither suffering in others nor the fact that humanity suffers is acknowledged. according to garelick, “subjectivity cannot allow a fraternity of subjectivists to gain exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 53 inspiration from shared experiences.” brotherhood may be a sign of 48 lack of subjectivity for in subjectivity, a man has to do with himself. macquarrie says that this is the substance of martin buber's critique of kierkegaard. buber (and some christian theologians) disagree with kierkegaard saying whether we relate to god by turning from the other person or do we relate to god precisely by turning toward the other and nding the 'eternal thou' through the nite? as macquarrie points out, a fruitful way to god is through the relation to other persons and through involvement in the life of the human 49community. in spite of this limitation, kierkegaard's view on suffering is of great importance to man and particularly, in our contemporary society where mediocrity reigns and suffering abounds; where the religious attitude (especially the christian attitude) to suffering is obviously disowned and vigorously denied by the world in which pleasure and comfort is absolutised. it is important to point out that apart from the pain and suffering caused by diseases, earthquakes, ood, drought and natural disasters which built into the structure of the world itself, much of human suffering is traceable to human wrong doing – man's inhumanity to man. all humans to a certain extent endure agonies of loneliness, frustration and emotional and spiritual starvation. these pains are somehow connected to failures in love. the essential sadness of pain is such that it not only magnetizes the focus of our attention, but it also preoccupies us with ourselves and consequently, such self –preoccupation is an absolute obstacle to a life of love and inwardness. people then turn to religion as they try to nd meaning in their lives in the midst of so much suffering and as a way of eeing from their pains believing that through religion, their sufferings will cease. the numerous prayer houses and churches are testimonies to this. obviously, what obtains today is an external type of religiosity. kierkegaard's thoughts are relevant in our situation in making us understand that religion is not to serve as an escape from suffering. 48garelick, op.cit., 24. 49macquarrie, existentialism, harmondsworth: penguin books ltd, 1972, 83-84. 54 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 we would approach it from three perspectives: suffering from within, which is essentially kierkegaard's position, accepting suffering from beyond and suffering with others, which is part of the critique against kierkegaard. as aquinas is said to have baptized aristotle's philosophy in the sense that aristotle didn't know the christian god, so we would do to kierkegaard's view on suffering by extending inward suffering to suffering with others. from the perspective of suffering from within, the religious individual understands suffering as something essential for it is the highest action in inwardness, which is the relationship of the individual to himself before god who is his reection into himself. therefore, complete inwardness, which is the mark of the religious stage, has suffering as its criterion. the going into oneself is marked by suffering for interiorization is a struggle, an interrupted becoming 50which is marked by qualitative leaps and crises. unfortunately, not many people are willing to face the struggle of the interior life and undergo the pain of inwardness through which a person realizes himself. the greatest fear of people is not something external but themselves. people are afraid of going down deep into themselves, not only because of the suffering and struggle involved, but because of what they will nd there. that is why john powell says that “the longest journey is the journey inward” and not many people are willing to undertake this long journey of inwardness. this accounts for the increasing mediocrity in life, depression, emotional imbalance and so on because people lack the courage and will to embark joyfully upon the challenges of life of 51 which journeying into oneself is one. hence, the socratic maxim: the unreected life is not worth living. maintaining an in-depth relationship with the absolute necessarily involves purgation and it is only when a person realizes himself through this interior struggle that he/she begins to live a true life which involves active acceptance of 52 the human condition with its demands for creative perfection. 50regis, jolivet, introduction to kierkegaard, new york: p. j. kennedy & sons, 1963, 118. 51ignace, lepp, the challenges of life, new york: society of st. paul, 1969, 11. 52ibid., 9. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 55 active acceptance of the human condition means accepting suffering with a conscious intentionality from the perspective of suffering from beyond. living a true life means actively accepting pain and suffering. bernard lonergan distinguishes between the different levels of consciousness and intentionality. there is the empirical level in which we sense, perceive, feel; the intellectual level in which we inquire to understand, express what we have understood and workout presuppositions and implications of our expression; rational level in which we reect, marshal the evidence, pass judgement on the truth or falsity, certainty or probability of a statement; and responsible level on which we are concerned with ourselves, our own operations,, goals and so deliberate on possible courses of action, evaluate them and put our decisions into actions. according to lonergan, inasmuch as operations on these four levels are intentional and conscious, intentionality and consciousness differ from level to level. what is conscious can be intended and it is a fourfold matter to apply the operations as intentional to the operations of the conscious: one has to experience one's experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding; one has to understand the unity and relations of one's experienced experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding; one has to afrm the reality of one's experienced and understood experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding; and one decides to operate in accord with the norms immanent in the spontaneous relatedness of one's experienced, understood, afrmed experiencing, 53 understanding, judging and deciding. in applying this to suffering and pain, there is rst the experience of one's suffering. one seeks to understand the cause of his suffering and the meaning though it may be beyond his understanding. one afrms in reality that he/she is passing through suffering rather than deny it. and one responsibly accepts his suffering. in applying the operations as intentional to these operations as conscious, one experiences one's experiencing, understanding, judging and decision on suffering; one tries to understand the unity and relations of one's experienced experiencing, 53bernard, lonergan, method in theology, new york: herder and herder, 1972, 9. 56 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 understanding, judging and decision on suffering; one afrms the reality of one's experienced and understood experiencing, understanding, judging and decision on suffering; and one decides to operate in accord with the norms immanent in the spontaneous relatedness of one's experienced, understood, afrmed experiencing, understanding, judging and decision on suffering. this constitutes an active acceptance of the human condition (our limitations, failures, pains and sufferings). it is in this active acceptance of the human condition that one begins to live a true life. but this is not possible without inwardness, which understands suffering as essential. for it is only a person who has achieved interiority that can fully face the exigencies of human existence. from the perspective of suffering with others, it is only a person who has not only journeyed inward and discovered himself, but has experienced pain and suffering, that can reach out to others in their pain. the discovery of our limitations and helplessness enables us to understand the limitations and helplessness of others – it pushes us out of our comfort zones to truly share with others in their pain. it is this sharing of experiences that leads to growth. a truly religious person dedicated himself to the task before him/her without seeking to avoid the inevitable struggle and such acceptance of “existential risk forces man to emerge from his egotistic and narcissistic 54absorption in his own private world.” such a person who has experienced the pain of long-suffering understands others in similar positions, is sensitive to their problems and doubts that come from experiencing suffering. such attitude and disposition is necessary in our society of today that is plagued by 'man's inhumanity to man'. conclusion from the foregoing, suffering is part of human existence and is an essential expression of the religious state, that is, a truly religious individual sees suffering as something essential. kierkegaard has made an invaluable contribution to the problem of suffering. his view is of great importance in our world 54lepp, op.cit., 44. exploring the theme of suffering in soren ... | 57 where the religious attitude, especially the christian attitude is disowned and vigorously denied by the world we live in. his view is also of practical value to various religions especially the christian religion that maintaining a relationship with the absolute requires whole and undivided attention and such a relationship necessarily entails suffering. the religious person is one who is reected inward and such a person understands suffering as essential and is thus ready to confront it in all its ramications. suffering is an essential part of human existence such that it could be said that to be human is to suffer. suffering is the means through which the highest nature of man is to be disciplined and developed. the works of the greatest of men had been done amidst suffering, trial and difculty. that character, in its highest forms, is disciplined by trial and “made perfect through suffering” is 55 something that cannot be denied. a wholesome attitude is thus necessary to confront pain and suffering and according to kierkegaard, it is the religious attitude, in which a man is reected inward, and relates absolutely with the absolute and sees suffering as essential, that is needed to face the pain of human existence and to embark joyfully upon the challenges of life. 55s., smiles, character, (mumbai: the bombay saint paul society, 1987), 157 & 159. 58 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 74 6 the relevance of experiential knowledge of jesus in seminary formation in the light of john 14:1-14 vincent ojo, ph.d head, department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma ovbpres@yahoo.com abstract the formation of the human person has always been a herculean labour as a result of the complex nature of human beings. the human specie has similarities with other animal species but some other features radically distinguish human beings from other living beings. outstanding of these features is the power of reasoning and freewill. the human person can make decisions based on the level of reasoning and disposition. the formation of the human person can never be imposed as a result of the freewill. this means the human person can be impervious to formation passing through the person. john 14:1-14 presents a conversation between jesus and his disciples about his imminent return to his father. in this pericope, jesus takes up both thomas and philip over their shallow knowledge of him in spite of their closeness to him. thomas did not know that jesus is the way and philip failed to see god in jesus. their familiarity with jesus did not simply afford them this experiential knowledge. this paper opines that it is a possibility for seminarians to spend years in the seminary learning about jesus without actually knowing him. experiential knowledge of jesus is different from academic knowledge. academic knowledge is necessary in as much as it leads to the experiential knowledge. the danger, however, comes when the knowledge the seminarian has of jesus during his seminary formation is limited to the academic knowledge. this can hamper his effectiveness as a priest in the 21st century. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 75 keywords: experiential knowledge, jesus, seminary formation, john introduction seminary formation is the process young men aspiring to become catholic priests pass through in order to become priests in the catholic church. seminary formation affords the candidates for the priesthood to acquaint themselves with the essential doctrines of the church which have their basis in the scriptures. seminarians, in the course of their seminary training, are given formation in four crucial areas namely human, pastoral, spiritual and academic. they are to be well-grounded in these four areas so as to be effective ministers of both the word and sacraments after their ordination. these areas are integral to the wholistic formation of candidates for the priesthood. they are thus to immerse themselves in formation and not lag behind in any of these four areas. however, experiences have shown that it is possible to go through the entire seminary formation without necessarily allowing the formation to permeate one’s life. in other words, one may pass through the seminary without the seminary passing through the person. we may, therefore, have intelligent and hardworking priests who act only like functionaries. they know a lot about jesus and can talk so much about him too. however, in all their dealings as priests, something still seems to be missing. they lack that inner touch that only someone with a personal knowledge of jesus and an intimate relationship with him can have. this is what this write-up is all aboutexperiential knowledge of jesus. the bone of contention is: how can the academic knowledge of jesus be transformed into experiential knowledge? it is the stance of this writer that if the candidates for the priesthood are able to have the experiential knowledge of jesus before leaving the seminary, they would be in a better position to “bring all to christ and christ to all”. definition of terms for an easy understanding of this work, some terms that are operational are clarified and their use explained. the words are experiential knowledge and seminary formation. experiential knowledge according to the new international webster”s comprehensive dictionary of the english language, experience is “knowledge derived from one’s own action, practice, perception, enjoyment, or suffering”1. this means that experience is something personal to the individual and must come from one’s perception of reality. experiential too has been defined as “pertaining to or acquired by experience; empirical”2. this also suggests that experiential emanates from experience. it is empirical 76 formation of the human person in the 21st century and not abstract. knowledge on the other hand is defined as “a result or product of knowing; information or understanding acquired through experience”.3 there is another aspect of knowledge which the dictionary points out namely that it is “information; learning; specifically, the cumulative culture of the human race”.4 knowledge, therefore, is the accumulation of all that is learnt either through learning or experience. bearing the foregoing in mind, experiential knowledge as used in this work refers to that knowledge that is gotten from experience rather than one that is gotten from mere learning through academics. seminary formation seminary formation refers to that process whereby young and interested men are trained towards becoming priests in the catholic church. they undergo some rigorous training in both philosophy and theology and thus become mature intellectually and otherwise to be able to proceed to the priesthood. seminary formation spans some few years of aspirancy, spiritual year, philosophical studies, pastoral year and theological studies. it also involves the work of discernment on the part of the formators who together with the rector have the responsibility to recommend candidates to the bishops for ordination at the end of their training. seminary formation, therefore, as used in this paper refers to the training of young men for the catholic celibate priesthood. john 14:1-14: the conversation between jesus and his disciples in this passage, jesus engages hi disciples in a conversation during which he tells them that he is about to leave them and return to his father. he assures them that he would not abandon them but would go and prepare a place for them so that where he is going, they too would follow later. this is because they know the way to the place. it was at this point that the first scandal occurred. thomas, one of the disciples listening to jesus betrayed his ignorance about the way. he says: “lord, we do not know where you are going. how can we know the way?” (v.5). at this culpable ignorance of thomas, jesus does not hide his disappointment. however, he seizes the opportunity to teach them that he is the way (ego eimi he hodos), the truth (kai he aletheia) and the life (kai he zoe) (v.6). he continues by saying “no one comes to the father except through me”. this means that the knowledge of the father is in the son and that of the son is in the father. so, if the disciples truly know jesus, they have known his father as well (v.7). in the words of teresa okure, “a most consoling message for the disciples is that they know the way to where jesus is going (v. 6). jesus is the way to god: they need to walk along it and have no fear of stumbling. he is the truth: they need to hold on to him and rely on him without fear of being failed by him. he is the life: section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 77 they need to live it, live in him, and have no fear of death.”5 this knowledge is necessary for a continued relationship between jesus and his disciples. jesus reveals the identity of the father to the disciples and through this revelation, they are able to sustain a relationship with jesus. “the link between jesus’ words and those of the father who sent him”, says pheme perkins, “is grounded in the picture of jesus as the agent of the father (e,g. 3:34; 7:17-18; 8:28,47; 12:47-49)”6 jesus makes the knowledge of him and his father a joint one so that anyone who has the knowledge of one also has the knowledge of the other. there are two key words used in this passage to express this namely  and . these two verbs denote knowing with  and  meaning “i know”.  means to perceive, gain knowledge of, know, learn, understand, judge, determine, decide, think and to resolve.7 it follows from this that  has a wider meaning than . these two words are key in this passage. the use of in the perfect here means knowledge already attained.8however, this knowledge is not perfect yet as it becomes obvious from the question philip asked afterwards. in v. 8, philip cuts in to the discourse of jesus by asking jesus to show them the father so as to quench their doubt, ignorance and curiosity. jesus is once again taken aback by this display of ignorance by philip. what philip is actually asking for here is not that clear. is it like one of the great theophanies that moses and elijah enjoyed or the visions of the heavenly court enjoyed by the prophets? hence, brown concludes thus: “in the context of the evangelist’s own time, perhaps philip is made the innocent spokesman of those heretical christians who seek after or claim a mystical vision of god.”9 jesus reprimands him and continues his teaching regarding the unity that exists between the father and himself. this knowledge is open to only those who are close to jesus. they are the ones expected to have a first-hand knowledge of who jesus is and what he stands for. however, in spite of their close affinity to jesus, the disciples, thomas and philip, could not fathom the real personality of their master. thus, “the disciples are ignorant of truths that are fundamental for an understanding of who jesus is, what he is doing, and where he is going.”10it must be noted that this reprimand was not meant for only thomas and philip but for all the disciples as it is evident in the use of the plurals in v. 7 ,  and  and in v. 11 with the use of and  . these plural verbs suggest that even though thomas and philip were the disciples who displayed publicly this ignorance about jesus, the teaching that followed was not meant just for the two of them but for all the disciples.11 78 formation of the human person in the 21st century this discourse regarding the relationship between jesus and his father continues till v. 14. here, jesus makes it abundantly clear to his disciples that he is god’s representation on earth. to have seen him is to have seen his father too. seeing and knowing jesus is tantamount to seeing and knowing the father. the fact that the disciples have not yet arrived at this level in their knowledge does not make them a failure but in the words of moloney, “the disciples have not failed completely to know jesus (as “the jews” had done: viii 19); yet their questions indicate that they do not know him perfectly.”12 jesus seizes this opportunity to enlighten and educate them on his real identity, where he comes from and where he is returning to. he also tells them that even if they do not believe on account of his words to them, his works are there as outward manifestations of his personality and his relationship with god the father. “real belief in the works”, according to moloney, “involves the ability to understand their role as signsthe ability to see through them to what they reveal, namely, that they are the work both of the father and of the son who are one, and thus that the father is in jesus and jesus is in the father.”13 the discourse ends with the invitation to the disciples to ask for anything in the name of jesus which he would grant (v. 14). the point at issue in this pericope is not so much the discourse of jesus with his disciples as the interventions of the disciples to jesus’ words. the betrayal of their shallow knowledge of him and his father points to the fact that it is possible to know many things about someone without really knowing the person. this fact is made clearer by the immediate response of jesus to the request of philip (“lord, show us the father, and we shall be satisfied.” v. 8) namely, “have i been with you all this time, philip, and you still do not know me? (v. 9). this response must have been worsened because of the ignorance displayed earlier on by thomas who did not know that jesus was the way to the father. it was as if the disciples of jesus did not actually know the true identity of their master even though they were very close to him listening to his words and seeing his marvelous deeds. the truth of the matter is that if his disciples did not know him well enough, how would they be able to make him known to the people around them who were not close to him, that is, the pagan world? nevertheless, the point must be made that this is not an indictment on the part of the two disciples, thomas and philip, as their requests were not ridiculous or outrageous. it only shows how imperfect they were in their understanding of the person and mission of jesus on earth. seminary formation in perspective the task of the seminary is to train and form men who would be ordained as priests to minister to the needs of the church. to facilitate section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 79 this task, priests are chosen and sent as formators to the seminary to accompany the candidates on their journey to the priesthood. seminary formation is thus divided into different stages with studies in philosophy and theology. there are four major areas of seminary formation which are spiritual, pastoral, intellectual and human. these run through the different stages of seminary formation. the seminarians are expected to develop in the four areas of formation without leaving any one behind. to achieve this end, auto formation is highly encouraged but with the formators accompanying the seminarians to be able to reach the requisite maturity for ordination. the formators by their words and examples accompany them to respond positively to god’s call. philosophical studies as part of the prerequisites for ordination, seminarians are to undergo studies in philosophy to sharpen their power of reasoning and enable them to make mature decisions resulting from critical analysis. through the study of ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary philosophical thoughts of philosophers, they arrive at a moment when they are disposed to receiving different thoughts and opinions with the aim of sifting out the truth. philosophy enables the candidates to have an open mind towards the opinions of others and to approach issues with equanimity. with the aid of studies in logic, metaphysics and epistemology and other related disciplines, they learn to articulate their thoughts in a convincing way to win people over and are also circumspect regarding what they hear. the knowledge acquired in philosophy serves as a preparatory ground for theology which is “faith seeking understanding”. also within the years in philosophy some theological courses are taken by the candidates to balance up their study in philosophy before they proceed on the pastoral year. theological studies on the return of the seminarians from their one year pastoral year, they begin their theological studies in earnest. in the course of the years in theology, they undergo studies in scriptures, dogma, canon law, liturgy and morality. it must be noted that the essence of these courses is to acquaint the candidates with the knowledge of jesus christ as revealed to us in the old and new testaments, in the fathers of the church and in the teaching office of the church. with this requisite knowledge it is believed that the seminarians have reached an appreciable level of maturity to advance to ordination. the rector and the entire formation team do not come to this conclusion without first examining and assessing the candidates. this process is called evaluation. first, they are assessed on the basis of their academic performance which the various 80 formation of the human person in the 21st century examinations they do reveal. before the reception of any ministry, the candidates are also tested and evaluated to ascertain their readiness to advance towards the priesthood. in the final year of their priestly formation, candidates who have been judged worthy and suitable are recommended to their bishops for diaconate ordination. those who are ordained serve as deacons for six months till the close of the session. they are then further recommended for priestly ordination after a thorough evaluation has been done by the rector and the formators. lack of in-depth knowledge of christ by the seminarian it has been observed by many people that there seems to be a great dichotomy between the seminary and the parish. the seminary is the house of formation for future priests while the parish is where the ordained minister functions. due to the nature and function of the seminary, seminarians do all in their power to abide by the rules and regulations of the seminary. this, more often than not, is as a result of the saying that “if you keep the seminary rules, the seminary would keep you”. therefore, seminarians often put on their best behaviour while in the seminary so as not to be expelled but to be recommended for ordination in due course. sometimes, this attitude leads to a lot of pretence such that the true colour of seminarians does not come out until after ordination. the seminarians in this category pass through the seminary formation and even excel in the various aspects. to the formators these seminarians have met the requirements to be admitted to ordination into the catholic priesthood. however and quite unfortunately, immediately after ordination, the newly ordained priest begins to act in a way that is incongruous with the training he has just received. he begins to behave in a way that is at variance with the examples of jesus christ whose herald he has now become according to the words of ordination. he feels and acts as being on top of the world with the whole world answerable to him forgetting christ who says: “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (mark 9:33). one finds some situations in the parishes that make people to ask if a particular priest ever passed through a seminary. they do things in ways that show that they only passed through a seminary without the seminary passing through them. there seems to be a general belief that there is a contradiction between seminary life and parish life. this perhaps accounts for words like “do you think i’m still a seminarian? do you think we are still in the seminary? i am no longer a seminarian etc. some believe that there is no consensus between the theory in the seminary and the practical in the parish. therefore, for such priests, once the seminary formation is ended, so also is anything that has to do with section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 81 it. as such, some practices in the seminary are the immediate victims of this kind of attitude like praying the office of the hours, doing adoration and benediction, praying the rosary and so on. the pertinent question is this: why is there such a dichotomy between the life of the seminarian while in the seminary and the life of the priest after ordination? it is the opinion of this writer that the lack of an in-depth knowledge of jesus is responsible for this dichotomy. the relevance of experiential knowledge of jesus for the seminarian in the 21st century experience, they say, is the best teacher. the dictionary defines experience as “knowledge derived from one’s one action, practice, perception, enjoyment or suffering.”14 experiential i also defined as “pertaining to or acquired by experience.”15 experiential knowledge, therefore, refers to the knowledge acquired through experience. it is quite different from mere theoretical knowledge which is a knowledge acquired through learning alone. with theoretical knowledge one learns with the head alone without necessarily involving the heart. this is why one can learn something and forget it thereafter. it is not the case with experiential knowledge. more often than not, whatever one learns through experience does not depart from the person. it rather becomes part and parcel of that person. in the episode of john 14:1-14 discussed earlier in this piece, thomas and philip were among the disciples of jesus who have been with him for some time listening to him and learning from him. they seem to know so much about their master except his real identity as the visible image of god on earth. this accounts for their questions to jesus while he was discussing with them. thomas asked for the way jesus was going while philip asked to see the father so as to be satisfied. the amazement of jesus at these questions reflected in his response tells the whole story. as his close friends and companions, they were expected to have known him through and through having listened to him and seen all his marvelous deeds. however, their lack of this in-depth knowledge of him surprised him and he seized the opportunity to educate all the disciples on his real nature and personality. this does not in any way put these disciples in a bad light but only exposes their imperfection. they still had so much to learn from jesus who even after his death and resurrection promised to send them the holy spirit who would lead them to the complete truth (john 16:13). the seminarian in the 21st century, in order to be true to his calling to be a priest after the heart of jesus, must not only have the theoretical knowledge of jesus but also the experiential knowledge. this will enable him to live out more concretely the values of the priesthood 82 formation of the human person in the 21st century in a world that is hostile to the gospel. this experiential knowledge is relevant today because it helps the seminarian to see continuity between life in the seminary and life in the parish. the seminary training is to enable the seminarian when ordained to become a good and holy priest. he must not see the discipline he received in the seminary only as a means to become a priest but as a discipline for life. this is one of the benefits of experiential knowledge that the seminarian is able to see the seminary formation not just as a means to an end but a way of life that must be lived out in the priesthood. another way that experiential knowledge can impart positively the life of the 21st century seminarian is that having embraced the life of christ as his own, the things of this world are not his immediate priority after ordination but to do the will of god just as jesus said in john 4:34, “my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work”. this is quite different from what we observe today among newly ordained priests. even before ordination, the preoccupation of the deacon preparing for ordination is on the material acquisition like the kind of car(s), latest gadgets in town, large sum of money in his bank account and a host of others. this is not to suggest by any means that these things are not necessary for the ministry. it is rather the inordinate desire for them at any cost that calls our preparedness for service to question. after all, the master, jesus, when he was sending out his disciples on their mission said: “as you go, proclaim the good news, ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. you received without payment; give without payment. take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or staff; for laborers deserve their food” (matt. 10:7-10). hardly can we find today disciples who are ready to plunge themselves into the ministry without first looking for comfort and conveniences. i once heard of a deacon preparing for his priestly ordination who came up with a list of things needed for the ordination and commencement of priestly service. the total cost of all the items on the list runs into several millions of naira. it is not a bad thing for the disciples to be comfortable in the course of their work but the truth of the matter is that comfort and conveniences should not be the conditio sine qua non for service or what the disciples would be pursuing. otherwise, these things could act as encumbrances to the carrying out of our duties as priests. an experiential knowledge of jesus who had nowhere to lay his head would help achieve this (matt. 8:20). section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 83 the difference between mere functionaries and real pastors of souls there is a vast difference between functionaries and ministers of the gospel. functionaries can be likened to hirelings who feel nothing for the sheep but only carrying out the task they are being paid for. these are the people jesus refers to in john 10:11-13 when he says “i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. the hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs awayand the wolf snatches them and scatters them. the hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep”. it can be said then that any minister of the word and sacraments who pursues only his own interest and not that of the sheep entrusted to him is only a hireling. such a person does not possess the experiential knowledge of jesus. we find so many of such hirelings in the ministry today. they are not ready to dive into the deep for a catch of fish but are busy pursuing their own selfish interests and ambitions and whenever and wherever these are not satisfied, there is trouble and discontentment. thus, they could be referred to as mere functionaries, performers and artistes. real pastors, on the other hand, having experienced jesus as one who has come to serve and not to be served, are always ready to go in search of souls to be won for christ. they are prepared to be sent anywhere to minister to people as long as human beings are there. they do not pick and choose where they are going to work. wherever their bishop or superior sends them, they are happy to go there. on resuming there, they do not put their own needs first. rather, their preoccupation is to elevate the life of the people and make them better than they met them. they try to imitate the good shepherd himself who knows his sheep just as his sheep know him too (john 10:14). they identify with the people not only when things are going on well for them but also and more importantly in their moments of crisis and suffering. the role of the seminary and diocese in imparting experiential knowledge to the seminarians there is no gainsaying the fact that both the seminary and the diocese play important roles in the formation of seminarians. theirs, therefore, is a collaborative ministry and to succeed in this, all hands must be on deck. the seminary. among all the other functions that it performs, must ensure that seminarians are given sufficient time and space to really discover themselves. while in the seminary, everything must not be subjected to a matter of horarium. if everything is about horarium the seminarians would always abide by it and participate in all the programs of the seminary even when they are not convinced or disposed towards 84 formation of the human person in the 21st century it. however, if some of the programs in the seminary are presented as private which by no means indicates optional, they are better able to make up their minds on what to attend and for how long. though this idea may seem to subject seminary formation to the whims and caprices of the seminarians, the intention behind it is to prevent the mechanical obedience to seminary programs. in this way seminarians would be better known and those having challenges can be better helped. the diocese of the seminarians has a role to play too in giving to them the experiential knowledge of jesus. seminarians go on pastoral work every year and they are sent to work in parishes. it must be ensured that they are well guided to carry out real pastoral works and not just some menial or domestic assignments in the parish or rectory. besides, since examples are better than precepts, priests must always show them good examples for them to emulate. it is often counterproductive when they hear one thing from priests and yet observe another. also, more often than not, people learn bad things faster than good ones. seminarians must see priests do the right things so that they can learn them and be able to put them into practice when they eventually become priests themselves. conclusion the encounter of jesus with his disciples, thomas and philip, as enunciated in this work has opened up the discussion on the meaning of experiential knowledge as distinct from mere theoretical knowledge. these disciples as well as others have been with jesus for a while and yet their knowledge of him has been somewhat shallow. they know him well in the flesh but their knowledge of him as a divine being is inadequate. they still had doubts regarding his divinity. that accounts for why these disciples questioned jesus the way they did. f. moloney’s words are apt here when he says “to know jesus is to know the father, and philip is exasperatingly ignorant in asking jesus to show the father (v.9). the problem lies in the disciples’ lack of faith.”16 it is the opinion of this piece that the same thing happens to seminarians who only have theoretical knowledge of jesus without advancing to the experiential knowledge. they know so much about jesus but jesus himself they do not know. this is a clarion call on all those responsible for the formation of future priests and the seminarians themselves to interiorize whatever theoretical knowledge they have about jesus so as to make jesus more real to the 21st century world. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 85 endnote 1 the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language. typhoon media corporation, 2010. p.447. 2 ibid 3 ibid 706 4 ibid 5 teresa okure, “john” in the international bible dictionary. bangalore: theological publications in india, 2004. p. 1562 6 pheme perkins, “the gospel according to john” in the new jerome biblical commentary. bangalore: theological publications in india, 1995. p. 974 7 james morwood, john taylor (eds), pocket oxford classical greek dictionary. new york: oxford university press, 2002. p. 70. 8 max zerwick, mary grosvenor, a grammatical analysis of the greek new testament. roma: editrice pontificio istituto biblico, 1996. p. 330 9 raymond e. brown, the gospel according to john x111-xx1. new york: doubleday, 1970. p. 632 10 francis moloney sacra pagina: the gospel of john. minnesota: the liturgical press, 1998. pp 395-396 11 raymond e. brown, the gospel according to john x111-xx1. new york: doubleday, 1970. pp. 621-622 12 ibid p. 631 13 ibid 633 14 the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language. p. 447 15 ibid. p. 447 16 francis moloney, sacra pagina: the gospel of john. p. 396 abstract: stthe 21 century has been bombarded with different types of ideologies, from relativism to secularism and one of the most pressing of them today is the wave of feminism, although feminist ideology is not alien to humanity, or to the nigerian society particularly through neocolonialism and the advancement of social media, while africans are intertwined with their cultural practices and traditions, which assigns to every individual their roles in the society, feminism tends to reshape their pattern of thought and history specically in a male-dominated world, from politics to business and even religion. hence, plato postulates his idea of women from the background of an athenian civilization which relegates the signicance of women in the polis, as an athenian, he argues alongside the trend of the city, by showing the difference in the nature, role and prociency of women in the development of the society on the one hand, while on the other hand, he argues against the waves of trend on gender by endorsing a complementary society between men and women. therefore, this paper seeks to promote the role of women in the nigerian society, in the limelight of plato's advocacy for gender equality and women rights, it seeks to maintain that women have a role in the exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context gregory ebalu ogbenika, ph.d. department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele – ekpoma, edo state, nigeria. oshokwe67@gmail.com growth and development of the nation and these roles must be nurtured and not subjugated, and these tasks go hand in hand with their role in the formation of the family, aimed towards creating a peaceful family and an ordered society. keywords: plato, feminism, women, nigerian society, genital mutilation. introduction the ability of a nation to harness every facet of human resource at its disposal is an index to its growth and development, it is clear that women in most part of the world today enjoy the freedom and rights that many dreamed of particularly in the political representation and exercise of universal adult suffrage. this is because in the past, women were relegated to the background in political representation in the world, and the outcry of some feminists, has contributed to some of the preferential treatments women enjoy today. but, there are areas where we still experience women marginalization, particularly in africa where our culture is predicated on the premise of patriarchy and other patrilineal ideologies which has also become the bane for women's representation. this paper, therefore, seeks to examine plato's view of women and how women can be empowered in nigeria, it also condemns discriminatory practices on the female gender as experienced in some tribes in nigeria, which tend to hamper the physiological and social status of women and in the long run cripples development. it seeks to proffer a philosophy of complementarity in governance, economic and social sphere between both sexes, particularly in areas where women are neglected. it, however, warns against gender wars and struggles that seek superiority of one gender over another. the methodological framework of this paper begins by exposing plato's views on the origin of the sexes which gives a background of his appraisal for women as equal with men. it also questions and explicates plato as being a feminists due to his exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 121 contrasting views about them, after which the paper proceeds to aligns its view of women and its relevance to the nigerian society particularly in the areas where women are marginalized and treated inhumanely. the key point of this paper is the philosophy of complementarity, which emphasizes the harmonizing role between men and women in the development of the society. plato's origin of sexes the origin of mankind has created a perpetual divide among scholars and philosophers, while evolution ascribes the origin of man to apes, christianity on the other hand, attributes the origin of mankind, from the creative power of god, who made them male and female. meanwhile, plato in his account of the origin of humanity presents a mythic account, he opines that male and female were like hermaphrodites with both sexes before the gods (zeus) split each person in half way. there are two basic reasons why the gods cause this separation. the rst reason is to moderate or restraint the excess in these hermaphrodites (the rst humans) that sometimes run contrary to the will of the gods. the second, however, is to make these hermaphrodites procreate as male and female. this is clearly expressed in the symposium: ...they were dying out when in pity for them zeus devised a new plan: he turned their genitals around to the front, for this had not always been their position, and they sowed their seed no longer, as hitherto, like grasshoppers in the ground, but inside one another; and he effected this transposition, and caused male to generate in the female, in order that their mutual embraces might be procreative, in this case of man joining woman, and that thus the race be continued,...so ancient is the desire for one another that is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, trying to make one of two and healing the state of man. each of us, sliced in two like a at sh, is but half of a human form 122 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 1 one, two. and each is looking for his other half. plato, therefore, believes that male and females are from the same source. this, therefore, gives a background to plato's view of women and stretches to the point of the advocacy for equal treatment of both sexes against any form of discrimination and marginalization. the concept of feminism one of the most talked about issues in the world today is feminism which is rooted in the belief that women are subjugated, oppressed and marginalized in the society. george ukagba expresses that feminism is both a theoretical concept and a practical movement or 2 view of life, as a movement feminism has a history, which can be traced to france, while as a theoretical concept popular nigerian novelist and feminist, chimamanda ngozi adichie, sees feminism as 3 a belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. in the same vein, the new international webster's comprehensive dictionary, denes feminism as a doctrine which supports and encourages the equality of gender (male and female) and advocates 4 equal social, political, religious and economical right of women. meanwhile, feminism on one hand aims specically at addressing issues of gender inequality. gender inequality centers on the idea that men and women are not equal. this distinction stems from socially constructed beliefs that permeate through cultural and religious lines. on the other hand, feminism champions gender equality of which dickson ekpe, refers to as a situation where women and men having equal conditions for realizing their full rights and potentials, are able to contribute equally to national, political, 1plato, symposium, in benjamin jowett (transl.) selected dialogues of plato. new york: modern library paperback publication, 2001, 191c.d. 2george ukagba, “feminism in historicism: a critical perspective”, in george ukagba et al. (eds.), the kpim of feminism: issues and women in a changing world. victoria: trafford publishing, 2010, 29. 3chimamanda ngozi adichie, we should all be feminists, new york: anchor books, 2012, 47. 4the new international webster's comprehensive dictionary of the english language, chicago: deluxe, encyclopedic edition, 1971, 456. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 123 economic, social and cultural development and benet equally from 5 the results. further, william lawhead, exposes two categories of feminism, namely the liberal feminists and radical feminists, the former do not advocate for the elimination of the current social structures, but aims at full intellectual and political participation of women in the society, while the latter seek an abolition of the current 6social structure which they perceive is controlled by men. however, the categorization of feminist does not only involves the female gender, rather male individuals have indicated to be feminist, because feminism as is an embracing concept of both sexes, aims at removing the excesses of one gender over another. is a plato feminist? plato creates a divide in his thought on women, which generates a dispute whether he is a feminist or not, taking into cognizance his dicey views about women, whereas, same cannot be said about aristotle, who considers women to be both biologically and intellectually inferior to men. for instance, in the republic, plato 7asserts “that a woman is inferior to a man.” he further stated that women can be involved in music, poetry, training and even war, but the lighter part must be assigned to them because of the weakness of 8their sex. also, plato agreed that a woman by nature is very different from a man, as a result he agreed that different work should be 9 assigned to a man and a woman each in accordance with its nature. plato's suggestion that a good and a brave man should have more marriages available to him and should be selected for such things more frequently than the others and that he will beget as many 5dickson ekpe, et al, “women, gender equality in nigeria: a critical analysis of socio-economic and political gender issues”, in journal of research in peace, gender and development (jrpgd), 2014, vol. 4 (1), 16. 6william f. lawhead, the voyage of discovery. belmont: wadsworth thomson learning, 2002, 564. 7plato, “the republic”, book v, b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, new york: macmillan publication, 1937, 451e 8plato, “republic”, 452a 9plato, “republic”, 453b 124 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 10 children as possible, depicts his inconsistency in his view on women. another major reason why the above question is imminent is his seemingly contradictory view on the origin of women. according to him, all male-born humans who lived lives of cowardice and injustice were reborn in the second generation as women. and this explains why at that time the gods fashioned the desire for sexual union by constructing one ensouled 11living thing in us as well as another one in women. but in the symposium, plato claimed that the male and female are from the same origin and that they are equal half searching for the 12other. placing his earlier statement on the origin of women side-byside with the latter brings to bare the inconsistency in his view about women. for aristotle in his politics, “the relation of male to female 13is by nature a relation of superior to inferior and ruler to ruled”. in contrast to this aristotelian view, plato in the republic, book v, has strong feminist views about women as evident from his educational theory where he advocated equality between men and women suggesting that women should be educated for their roles in the 14 society. meanwhile, this marginalization of the female gender can be beautifully traced to the golden age of philosophy. the athenian society was premised on male superiority, of which plato made attempts to swim against the currents, as elon vanheerst notes, “torn by tradition that told him women were not people by the same 10plato, “republic”, 468c 11plato, “timaeus”, book v, b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, new york: macmillan publication, 1937, 90e 12cf. plato, “symposium”, book v, b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, new york: macmillan publication, 1937, 190-192 13aristotle, the politics. translated by c.d.c. reeve. indianapolis: hackett publishing, 1998, p. 1245,b12 14plato, “republic”, book v, b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, new york: macmillan publication, 1937, 451e. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 125 standards as men, and logic and reason that told him otherwise, plato 15 spoke for those who, at the time, had a very quiet voice”. plato juxtaposes the masculine superiority, and creates an avenue for complementarity in the affairs of the states between the sexes. although, plato's position on women and his feminist philosophy is not very lucid, he argues as an athenian, inuenced by the activities of the polis and neglects the role of women in the open society, while also, as a philosopher, in tackling the issues prevalent in the city as regarding women and their representation gives them a bit of voice, he tends to argue in the position where other philosophers argued against, which gives him credit for his philosophical instinct. however, a clear understanding of plato's philosophy as evident in his republic book v, will be of great importance in ascertaining whether plato was a feminist or not. plato's inquiry of the nature of women is buttressed in his conversation with glaucon; the beginning of the conversation is on what women can do. in the republic, although, he is of the opinion that women are weaker physically, however, they should be given the same education as the men, since 16they are capable of doing the same thing as the men. � in response to the above question that women are generally weaker in comparison with men. plato responded to the view of glaucon about the inferiority of women when he opined: you are quite right, glaucon in maintaining the general inferiority of the female sex: although many women are in many things superior to men, yet on the whole what you say is true. and if so, my friend, i said, there is no special faculty of administration in a state which a woman has because she is a woman, or which a man has by virtue of his sex, but the gifts of nature are diffused in both; all the 15elon vanheerst (1999), 'feminism and plato', http://facstaff.elon.edu/ sullivan/femplato.htm accessed on march, 3rd, 2019 16plato, republic (book v), b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, 451d&e 126 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 pursuits of male are the pursuits of women also, but in all 17 of them a woman is inferior to a man. this inferiority of female mentioned by plato above is only about their physical weakness. however, this does not mean that plato was not fully aware of the inequality that exists between men and women of his age. in fact, plato saw this inequality as a violation of nature when he asserts. the law which we then enacted was agreeable to nature, and therefore not impossibility or mere aspiration; and the contrary practice, which prevails present, is in reality a 18 violation of nature. he also opines that women can be involved in music, poetry, physical training and even war but the lighter part must be assigned to them because of the weakness of their sex. one aspect of his view on the physical training that looks awkward was his recommendation that women should be stripped before involvement. this further shows the inuence of his society on him although; he desires that both men and women should go through the same process of growth � therefore, alison mary jaggar, appraised the above position of plato by noting that even though plato seem sometimes inconsistencies in his representation of women; his views are ahead of his age. also, plato seems to be saying that the ultimate goal for any person is manliness, but it is possible for a soul in a female body to achieve it through a philosophy that is brought about by 19 education. also, looking at the appellation given to plato by most of the feminist in contrast to aristotle whom the writers view as an antifeminist and a critical examination of the ontological status of plato wanting to speak for women, one cannot just but conclude that plato 17ibid, 455d &e. 18ibid, 456c. 19alison m. jaggar, feminist politics and human nature, lanham: rowman & allanheld publishers, 1983, 5. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 127 does not just have feminist tendencies but above all, feminism is found in plato's philosophy. in a nutshell, what is signicant in plato as against other athenian thinkers is his advocacy for the equality of sexes in the affairs of the society, which is also encouraged in our world today. hence, in the next section, this paper shall examine its relevance to the nigerian society, and how women can help curb out backwardness in development if given the same opportunity and treated the same way as their male counterpart. plato's views and the nigerian society it is glaring that in nigeria today, women are treated as second class citizens, they do not equal their male counterparts in the area of social and economic activities and most of all in politics. these various areas of women under-representation are detrimental to the growth of the nation. meanwhile, what appears to be more striking are the barbaric and inhumane discrimination of women. olu awofeso, notes that many have unveiled the travail of the female gender humiliation, manipulation, and marginalization through a number of culturally biased norms and gender practices which have culminated into systematic institutionalization of male superiority over the 20female. consequently, this paper elaborates on the effect of plato's philosophy on women and how it can be benecial in promoting the dignity of the women in nigeria and placing them on the same pedestal with their male counterparts. women empowerment and education: women empowerment is one of the most talked about issues in our contemporary era, particularly in africa and nigeria alike. this stems from the important and signicant role empowered women have been able to contribute to the society. in nigeria for example, women such as ngozi okonjo-iweala, and her exploits as the rst female nance minister of nigeria and coordinating minister reafrms the abilities 20olu awofeso, et al, “gender and political participation in nigeria: a cultural perspective”, in journal research in peace, gender and development (jrpgd). vol 4, september, 2014, 105. 128 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 of women. iweala went on to become the managing director of the world bank (2007-2011) and she was also named an independent non-executive director at the standard chartered plc in the united kingdom. dora nkem akunyili, who redened the face of nafdac, (national agency for food and drugs admistration and control), prof grace alele willims mariam ciroma, obiageli ezekwesili, and et cetera, have shown that women can be at the fore front of all round nation building, transformation and growth. � many nigerians believe that educating the girl-child is a waste of resources, when they will be married and their expertise not put into use, or they will become over less concerned about marriage. adichie, wrote in we should all be feminists that: we say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. you should aim to be successful, but not too successful. otherwise, you would threaten the man. because i am female, i am expected to aspire to marriage. i am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't teach boys the same? we raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which i think can be a 21good thing, but for the attention of men. � one of the rights to life is the right to education, it is also one of the fundamental human rights of every individual, but experience has shown that some people have been infringed of this right, therefore, they lack not just educational qualication, but also the ability to compete with their peers in major facets of mankind. this subjugation is mostly, tended towards the female gender, which has given rise to the “education for the girl-child” advocacy. � meanwhile, the whole idea of women empowerment stems 21chimamanda ngozi adichie, we should all be feminists, 18. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 129 st from the education of the girl-child. it is appalling that in the 21 century, there are still arguments of the right of the girl-child to education, which was an argument prevalent in the greek city state, which plato advocates for in his educational theory. buttressing this further, anne dickson notes that plato showed the fact that both men and women have the same essential nature and worth; thus, they 22should receive equal education. education is paramount to development and growth of any sort, the educational theory of plato is very relevant to nigeria since it was emphasized by plato that all citizens, irrespective of their sexes, be educated. � while plato views that some women have the capacity to become philosophers, it is important to note that every individual including the woman has something to offer to the societal development if given good education and equal opportunities to display their potentials, as an anonymous author states “if you educate a man, you educate an individual. but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation,” this indicates therefore, that women have the potentialities to develop not just their family, but the entire community which can be best realized if empowered with the sufcient aid and most importantly the opportunity to sound education. political participation and representation in governance: nigerian political scene has not been gender neutral, and her politics is characterized by patriarchism which in the words of heywood 23 generally connotes the rule by men. therefore, olu awofeso, notes that although women were politically active and relatively less exclusive in decision making process in many pre-colonial societies, the advent of colonial administration with its anti-woman policies, gradually transformed a hitherto politically gender unbiased to a 22anne dickson, “anatomy and destiny: the role of biology in plato's views of women” as quoted in carol c. gould and marx w. wartofsky, eds., women and philosophy: toward a theory of liberation. new york: putnam's publication, 1980, 45-46. 23a. heywood, politics, new york: palgrave mcmillan, 2007, 98. 130 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 24 predominantly male dominated political scene. women today are almost withdrawn to the spectatorship roles in politicking, which includes wearing of party badges, caps, uniforms, or emblems, running errands for political leaders, voting at elections, et cetera. in all of these activities, women have been considerably subdued in nigeria's political affairs, therefore, several factors and strategies need to be in place to correct this anomaly. these includes funding women perception of politics in nigeria, political violence during election, lack of self-condence on the part of women, women's marginalization in party leadership, illiteracy and low educational status of women, as well as cultural and religious discrimination have been identied by scholars as inhibitory factors to women political 25 representation. as such women “have been castigated and calculatedly kept away from the course of civilization, even much 26farther from their roles in government”. also, while plato views that “women could be equally suited 27 to the position of guardian as their male counterparts.” . the nigerian constitution reveals some deciency in the electoral processes entrenched therein which are gender insensitive. hence, adichie succinctly expresses that in the world we live in today, as against the world in earliest times, the person more qualied to lead is not the person who is most physically strong. she notes also that the persons more qualied to lead should be the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more creative, the more innovative, and 28there are no hormones for these attributes. therefore, the major strategies, that would be effective in ensuring that there is improved 24olu awofeso, et al, “gender and political participation in nigeria: a cultural perspective”, 105. 25a. a. terwase, (ed.), “women in politics and decision making in nigeria: challenges and prospects”, in european journal of business and social science. vol. 2, no. 8, november, 2013, 52. 26i. a. okpanachi, “a philosophical case for proportionate representation of women in governance in africa: the nigerian example” in enwisdomization journal. vol. 5, no. 3. 2013, 183-184. 27m. adair, “plato's view of the wandering uterus” in classical journal, 91.2, 1995, pp.153-164 28chimamanda ngozi adichie, we should all be feminists, 10. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 131 participation of women in politics and leadership positions in line with what plato advocates for is to review the nigeria constitution and revisit the electoral processes and the positions allotted to women and also removing the ills of violence that militate against women in politics. more so, in nigeria the overwhelming percentage of the upper hierarchical positioning in politics and the high rate of corruption is the virtual exclusion of women from key institutions of 29 government, coupled with the difculties in their abilities to get into power. hence, eguavoen, suggests that to achieve better representation of women in nigeria's politics. “nigeria should consider seriously the use of quota to help integrate the women into policy/decision making process of the country. this quota system 30will aim at giving more powers to women”, not just in politics but also in other areas of the nigerian society. the abolition of some gender-specic traditional practices aimed at women: there still exist some traditional views and customary practices, some of which are unwritten, that impedes the involvement of women in nigeria in the social sphere and are even an infringement to sttheir human dignity. thus, nigerians cannot be said to live in the 21 century and champion cultural ideas that are barbaric and inhumane, practices which are discriminatory and create marginalization, example of which is the obnoxious widowhood practices. emeka martins uchendu commenting on it states the following: there are places in the nigerian society that take delight in seeing women suffer. you can imagine that after the demise of a man, his wife is kicked out as a chicken and everything she ever worked with her husband is taken, 29i. a. okpanachi, “a philosophical case for proportionate representation of women in governance in africa: the nigerian example” 187-188. 30agatha eguavoen, tension and contentions in gender debates: natured or nurtured, ekpoma: ambrose alli university press, 2017, 48. 132 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 whether she had children or not is not the issue… widows are denied of the rights of the property of their husband when the man dies. some widows die in silence not knowing what to do or not having the wherewithal to go to court. in some areas women who lost their husband are 31 made to mourn for a long time. agatha eguavoen adds that “women are even forced to eat with the dead body of her spouse or drink the water used in washing the corpse 32just to prove her innocence, whereas, when a man loses his wife, he is not made to go through such suffering and in some cases, does not even mourn his wife for a reasonable period before contracting another marriage. thus the act of widowhood discrimination should be jettisoned in whatever manner, the government has a role to play in curbing it from the society, by enacting laws which will protect widows and charge the traditional rulers in safeguarding such laws, such local practices impede on the dignity of the human person and women in particular. � also, in the traditional african setting, men were made to marry so many wives and give birth to many children, indeed having a large family was seen as a blessing and it also had an agricultural advantage, whereby a large area of land can be cultivated within a short time, which will increase their agricultural output. while it was the husband's duty to provide what was needed in the family, it was the wife's (wives) duty to ensure the welfare of their children. but today, polygamy in some places in nigeria has taken another form, women now serve as baby machines, ensure the provision of social amenities in the family and provide for their children's needs. in some polygamous families, the women work tirelessly, while the man does nothing to support the family even when they are physically able to do different jobs, but rather rely on the output of his 31emeka martin uchedu, “societal discrimination against women in the south east zone in nigeria”, in george ukagba et al. (eds.), the kpim of feminism: issues and women in a changing world. victoria: trafford publishing, 2010, 150. 32agatha eguavoen, tension and contentions in gender debates: natured or nurtured. p.27 exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 133 wives, with the conception that they own their wives (wife) and command them at will. men who are involved in such act should be corrected by the society, it behooves on both the man and woman to take care of the family particularly in cases of polygamy. one other obnoxious practice is the issue of child marriage, which many writers have considered to be pseudo marriage or rape marriage. this is widely practiced in the northern part of nigeria. a child is any person under the age of 18 years of age, while child 33 marriage is dened as any marriage to an underage girl eguavoen went on to assert that section 29(4)(b) of the 1999 nigeria constitution which deems a married underage girl as an adult has not been abrogated, the consequence is that a man can marry an underage and seek refuge in that section of the law, opining that the girl is an 34 adult. child marriage is not different from raping a child, it has increased the rate of vesicovaginal fistula (vvf) in nigeria, with most percentage in the north and also increase maternal mortality rate (mmr) because the physiological and phsycological make up of a child is not compatible to the hormonal changes which occurs in the body. the government need to repeal section 29(4)(b) of the constitution and punish those who practice such act. this also leads to the end of the education of such a child in most cases, while the decision to enter into marriage is not by consent, but by force or in some cases as gift, reward or even as means of debt servicing. curbing violence against women: violence is an ambiguous concept, according to hannah skoda, “violence encompasses an enormous range of phenomena, from subtle structural exclusion or moulding of particular groups, to verbal manipulation, to physical damage done by one human being to 35another” it means the behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. the cambridge 33ibid, 70. 34ibid. 35h. skoda, medieval violence: physical brutality in northern france 1270–1330.united kingdom: oxford university press, 2013, 2. 134 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 dictionary of philosophy, distinguishes two forms of violence: physical and psychological violence. physical violence is the use of force to cause harm or destruction. psychological violence is the causing of severe mental or emotional harm, as through humiliation 36 or deprivation whether using force or not. violence against women is an issue that is prevalent in the nigerian society, while violence is condemned on one hand as inhumane it is also carried out simultaneously on the other hand. men violence against woman is so common in nigeria thus, eguavoen explicates four ways in which violence against women takes place, which are physical, physiological, economic and social violence. firstly, physical violence involves a physical harm on a woman such as wife battering, sexual abuse of any form, female genital mutilation 37rites and widowhood obnoxious practices. secondly, psychological violence, which affect the psyche of the woman as a result of dehumanizing act such as wife inheritance, preference of the male 38 over female children, intimidation and trafcking of women. thirdly, economic violence which occurs when a woman has no means of livelihood and as such she is treated by her husband as a slave or deprived of funds particularly when she has no male (or any) 39child. lastly, social and sexual violence, which deprives women from reproductive right as men dictates the family size and makes 40 decision. thus, these violent conducts against women should be stopped, it is not just dehumanizing but has also led to the death of many women. female genital mutilation (fgm) is one of the most unreported crimes against women in nigeria. the world health organization denes fgm as any female procedure involving partial or total removal of female genitalia or other injury to the female 36r. l holmes, “violence”, in robert audi (ed.), the cambridge dictionary of philosophy, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1995, 829. 37agatha eguavoen, tension and contentions in gender debates: natured or nurtured. 27. 38ibid, 28. 39ibid, 28-29. 40ibid, 29. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 135 genital organs for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reason (2008). genital cutting according to patrick iroegbu, arise from social, religious and bodily point of view to preserve virginity, enhance femininity, mark ethic boundaries, and limit women 41 excessive drive. it is regarded as a vehicle for gender indoctrination. while fgm is believed to curb promiscuity among females by reducing their desire for sex, nothing of such is done to reduce male sexual pleasure, therefore, this practice should be completely eradicated, for the female reproductive physiology is not appropriate for circumcision, hence, it is a mutilation and not circumcision as 42compared to the male organ. the person involved is also prone to contracting blood transmitted diseases. in all, fgm should be abrogated and jettisoned because it is a crime against women and it disgures their bodily composition. evaluation to understand plato's argument on the complementary roles between male and female in the society, one needs to have a background of his origin of sexes, on which he argues that both spring from a divided unit and thus are equal, not minding their strength or biological make up. plato further advocates for equality in education between both sexes and women as guardian in the society. the anti-feminist aspect of plato's view on women is his argument that the brave man is to have more wives than others. this is because, plato was inuenced by the trend in his society, this anti-feminist view of plato is today conceived as archaic in our society, although it is practiced in some cultures in nigeria, but it is dehumanizing to present a human person as a gift, because it reduces the dignity of the person. meanwhile, plato's advocacy for equality of sexes is laudable particularly in 41patrick iroegbu, “genital culture and circumcision law: issue of representation in global centres”, in george ukagba et al. (eds.), the kpim of feminism: issues and women in a changing world, victoria: trafford publishing, 2010, 547. 42agatha eguavoen, tension and contentions in gender debates: natured or nurtured. 77. 136 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 nigeria social-political and economic situation, but their functions in the state and the society should be complementary and not competitive. this understanding that we are made to complement each other would quell to a large extent the unnecessary, gender wars that plagues society and seeks superiority. there are areas were women are better in than the men. there are also areas were men ourish more than women, for instance the area of military might where physical strength is needed. harnessing these differences for the good of all, will be of invaluable help to national growth. the saying therefore, that the best man for the job is a woman, will therefore assume a healthy meaning when viewed through the lenses of complementarity and unity. similarly, arthurs conari dayler summarized this when he opines: nature made women and men very different from each other in the way they think, act, and reason. these differences were designed to be complementary and not devise... i have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman can be more valuable than the 43 conclusion of an analytical reasoning moreso, in as much as this paper advocates for the equality of both sexes, and the education of women as parallel to that of men, it does not champion the neglect of their specic duties, particularly in the area of the family. robert sarah expresses that many women now have access to education… it is important that women should be able 44to have a job that is compatible with motherhood. while the duties of tending their children, performing household chores and their roles as mothers in the family are been conceived by the radical feminist as oppression of women, elvis imadon, argues against that, he views that the african women in the real sense do not see these functions as oppression, rather they see it as their role in the family, which 43m. munroe, understanding the purpose and power of women. usa: library of congress cataloging-in-publication, 2001, 143. 44robert sarah, god or nothing: a conversation with nicolas diat, san francsico: ignatius press, 2015, 115. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 137 complements the role of others in the society. he argues also that it is the westerners that conceive it as oppression all with the aim of removing the institution of marriage and family in the society. hence, the african woman should not jettison the beauty of complementarity in the family in performing their duties alongside that of their husbands, as this aspect of family role is also evident in plato, who does not see the bearing of children as a problem in the 45 education of women, nor is it a prevention to their role as guardian. meanwhile, obioma dies, also argues against radical feminism, he expresses that it tends to create an articial things or situation that makes women act un-natural in order to t well into their own society, they need no sort of liberation, what they need is a sort of recognition of what they can offer to the family, society and 46nation. for him, women should not abandon their natural 47motherhood, while giving their best to development. it is pertinent to restate that the obnoxious cultural practice that are detrimental to women should be abolished and laws should not just be created but enforced and whosoever is found wanting should face the consequences. conclusion issues of gender inequality or equality will continue to be a debate if both sexes do not recognize that they are from the same source as explicated by plato and shown in this paper. more so, the origin of humanity as plato conceives gives a background towards the need for both sexes to complement each other. this advocacy for complementation is more pressing in our world today. this paper also advocates for the elimination of barbaric and inhumane practices imposed on women in the nigerian society which are detrimental to the dignity of the human person, it also promotes the call for the eradication of such acts and that women be empowered politically, 45plato, republic (book v), b. jowett (trans.), in the dialogues of plato. vol. 1, 451d &e. 46dies obi, “the role of african women in nation building”, in george ukagba et al. (eds.), the kpim of feminism: issues and women in a changing world. victoria: trafford publishing, 2010, 173. 47ibid. 138 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 socially and economically, while at the center of this empowerment is the education of the girl-child which has the potency to curb the ills associated with women in the society. this paper subscribes to moderate feminism that creates a harmonious balance between liberal feminism and radical feminism. moderate feminism favours complementarity and the elimination of many of the obnoxious and anachronistic practices that tend to dehumanize the status of women in the nigerian society. one pertinent problem faced in the society today is the incessant call by the radical feminists to create a new order in gender, which has led to some abhorrent act in the society. in as much as this paper champions the abolition of inhumane conditions on the female gender by their male counterpart, it is also important to express that this paper condemns the self-inicted violence some females inict on themselves. many young girls now conceive a negative conception of the ownership of their body, it has now become as means for pleasure and livelihood, they feel that they can do whatever they want with their bodies and this has given rise to prostitution, high rate of contraceptives and abortion. they use popular phrases such as “your money, my body” “small girl, with a big god” etc., which promotes immorality and it is due to the unfavourable call for the emancipation of women backed by the negative conception of what feminism stand for, this emancipation should rather strive towards complementarity. in conclusion, this paper proposes a philosophy of complementarity where the women in society complement the men by providing their own quota of intelligence, organizational skills and competence in social, economic, moral, governance and leadership sphere. the areas where women have fared and has done well must be highlighted and more women should be drafted into those positions. this philosophy of complementarity seeks to reasserts that a man is not better than a woman and a woman is not better than the man, but rather they complement each other as a result of the differences in their individual, logical, physiological and psychological structure tailored and made so that the one realizes that there is need for the other. exploring plato's idea of women in the nigerian context | 139 abstract as philosophy of economics investigates the foundational concepts and methods of economics: the rational choice, the appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes, and the ontology of economic phenomena and the possibilities of acquiring knowledge of them, this research raises the question of why is there continuing economic underdevelopment in africa? how to explain africa, the world's second-largest continent, with 1.4 billion people in 54 countries and with plenty of human and natural resources, but still lacking in development over 60 years after its independence? by phenomenological and structural methods, the author critically evaluates the economic theories, particularly on the views of african scholars after independence, that have been proposed for this continuing problem that affects the human condition of so many people. this study nds that among post-colonial african scholars, the path to african development has been debated between the internalist and externalist schools of development. while the internalist tends to blame inside forces (local corruption, tyranny, bad governance), and with the view that africa alone has the responsibility of bailing itself out of its present state of underdevelopment. the externalist school contends that africa alone cannot attain any level an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment evarestus igwe-alufo, ph.d. st albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria. eigwedumogu@gmail.com of development because of historical constraints, such as the slave trade, imperialism, colonialism, and the power structure of the modern world. the integrationist school, which nds the polarizing african development experts ridiculous, as they blame both internal and external forces for the causes of africa's underdevelopment, holds that africa's underdevelopment is solved by the integration of forces both from within and outside africa. however, and philosophically speaking, the author nds that africa's development is possible only with an appreciation of what is original and authentically african, which is dependent on the culture and consciousness of african people. keywords: africa's underdevelopment, internalists, externalists, integrationists, culture and consciousness. � introduction as philosophy of economics investigates the foundational concepts and methods of economics, and philosophers of history, not only ponder on the past and the future of western civilization, they also reect seriously upon the experiences of other societies in hopes of 1 understanding the larger dynamics of world history; the question of why is there continuing economic underdevelopment in africa comes to mind. how do we explain the fact that africa, the world's secondlargest continent, with 1.4 billion people in 54 countries and with plenty of human and natural resources, is still lacking development over 60 years after its independence? by lack of development, i mean a nation's inability to provide its citizens with food, clothing, shelter, education, decent health care, good road, and employment, while 2 also attending to environmental sustainability. 1jerry h. bentley, shapes of world history in twentieth century scholarship, washington dc: american historical association, 2003, 3. 2jeffrey sachs, the end of poverty: economic possibilities of our time, london: penguin books, 2005, 23. 60 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 the more puzzling issue is that despite over 60 years of independence and after receiving 600 billion us dollars of external 3aid, africa continues to be underdeveloped. the consensus is that the 4money has had a little long effect. it is more disturbing to see that the region's extreme poverty has increased during the reign of “globalization” in the 1990s when the modern world experienced great economic growth. moreover, as of january 2020, 91% of african countries had a gdp (gross domestic product) of less than the net-worth of the world's richest personjeff bezos (an american internet and aerospace entrepreneur, media proprietor, and investor). only south africa, nigeria, egypt, angola, sudan, and algeria have a gdp of 5 above us$115 billion. why such continuing underdevelopment after a lot might have been put in place? could poverty and underdevelopment be the destiny or lot of a people? what is the cause of persistent poverty in african land? could this persistent underdevelopment and poverty be socially constructed or the design of the maker of the world? where is this curse of underdevelopment and poverty upon africa coming from? however, to philosophically enquire into this existential issue, a multi-dimensional approach has to be employed. such as a phenomenological, structural, and historical method may enable us do the evaluation analysis. first, we will briey glance over the western theories proposed to explain the lack of development in africa. secondly, we will critique the views of african experts on the issue. lastly, we will propose that sustainable development in africa 3cornelius p. cacho, "confronting the main causes of african underdevelopment" in foreign policy association (resource library, 2008). adam lerrick, "aid to africa at risk: covering up corruption" in international economics report, december 2005. http://www.house.gov/jec/publications/109/12-09-05galliotcorruption.pdf. 4james a. robinson and daron acemoglu, "why foreign aid failsand how to really help africa" in the spectator, 2017. retrieved jan 30, 2020, from https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/9824422. 5shephard dube, "jeff bezos richer than 130 countries" in shepharddube.com, retrieved jan 30, 2020. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 61 must be based on the culture and consciousness of the african people. highlighting theories of underdevelopment in africa going through the available data, we can see that questions continue to arise as to why the situation of africa's development continues to deteriorate? attempting a solution, three main western theories tend to explain why the continent is still lacking in development half a century after its independence. they are modernization theory, dependency theory, and world system theory. during the 1950s, some western economists tied the idea of development to the idea of modernization. in searching for a model of development for third world nations, including africa, modernization analysts studied the political, social, economic, and cultural history of western nations to identify policies that led to their material prosperity. among some prominent economic modernization analysts include walter whitman rostow (19162003), w. arthur lewis (1915-1990), and cyril e. black (19161989). "they assumed that underdeveloped africa could adopt 6similar policies and follow the same path to prosperity." � walt w. rostow, an american economic historian, for instance, described the development of the first world as the result of ve sequential stages: traditional society, preconditions of development, industrial take-off, full industrialization, and, nally, high mass consumption. rostow states the possibility of identifying all societies in their economic dimension as lying within one of the ve stages and suggests that underdeveloped countries pass through 7 the same stages of development. however, in the late 1960s, against rostow and modernization theorists, dependency theory holds that it is not internal factors that impede the development of the third world, including africa, but rather their relations of dependence on western powers. dependency theorists, such as raul prebisch (19011986), 6jerry h. bentley, shapes of world history in twentieth-century scholarship, washington dc; american historical association, 2003, 8. 7. walt w. rostow, the stages of economic growth: a non-communist manifesto new york: cambridge university press, 1960, 1-105. 62 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 andre gunder frank (1929 2005) and theotonio dos santos (b. 1937), viewed africa as a continent which has become underdeveloped because it was an integral part of the modernization process of the western industrial nations, but in a subordinate and exploited position. andre gunder frank has strongly attacked the stages of economic growth by arguing that rostow ignored the exploitation of the third world by the capitalist economy of the united states, which presents free-market policy as a panacea for the development of backward economies. but the policy was only a ploy to perpetuate 8american hegemony. frank contends that it is not internal factors that impede the development of africa, as posited by rostow, but 9 rather their relations of dependence on western powers. yet, during the 1970s, one of the popular founders of the world systems theory, immanuel maurice wallerstein believed, like dependency theorists, that world economies are integrated into one market system, the capitalist system, in which the surplus is transferred from the periphery to the core. wallerstein (b. 1930), an american sociologist and an expert on post-colonial african affairs, analysed that the core states are administratively well organized and militarily powerful. wallerstein observed a third economic zone (semi-periphery) to the core and the periphery of dependency theory, and this addition accounts for the experiences of countries that moved up or down in the economy of the world-system. he argues that africa's lack of development is a result of the continent's peripheral position in the international division of labour mediated through trade exchanges 10 without a unied political structure. he advocates for a truly 8 andre gunder frank, “sociology of development and underdevelopment of sociology,” catalyst 3, in (new york: monthly review, summer 1967); also in, mcx.sagapub.com/cgi/content/refs/4/3/341 9 a. g. frank, “dependency theory” in capitalism and understanding in latin american: historical studies of chile and brazil new york: monthly review, 1969. 10 immanuel wallerstein, “the rise and future demise of the world capitalist system: concepts of comparative analysis,” comparative studies in society and history (1974), vol. 16, 390. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 63 democratic world in which all peripheral countries would unite against the system of world exploitation. summarily, no matter the differences, western theories of underdevelopment in africa are formulated in universalistic terms, implying that only by following their theories could resolve the situation of underdevelopment in africa. but, among other criticisms, a cultural anthropologist, franz boas (1858-1942) believes that local conditions force adaptations to the local environment, and, therefore, what is adaptive for one region might not be appropriate for another. the dependency-world system theorists have also been accused of some bias towards the west. so, neither western ethnocentrism nor bias toward the western capitalist economy fosters development in africa. more so, some critics have held that dependency and world system analysts have focused on the interests and activities of western capitalists, overlooking the roles played by peoples in the peripheral countries as active participants in the 11development of their world. thus, the issue of overlooking roles played by peoples in the peripheral countries has called to examine the opinions of african scholars on the continuing underdevelopment in africa, following frank boas' important admonition that local conditions force adaptations to the local environment. afrocentric theories of economic underdevelopment in africa: a critique the causes of underdevelopment in africa have always evoked a heated debate among post-colonial african elite. since the 1970s, three major schools of thought have emerged among post-colonial african development experts: the internalist school, the externalist 12school, and the integrationist school. the three schools of thought 11 bentley, shapes of world history in twentieth century scholarship, 13. 12 y fredua-kwarteng, “etiology of ghana underdevelopment,” in modern ghana news (thursday, august 4, 2005); h t tp : / /www.modernghana.com/pr in t /117675/1/e t io logy-of-ghanaunderdevelopment.html retrieved july 3, 2009. 64 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 tend to reect the “functional, conict, and interactionist theories of 13 inequality in sociology.” examination of these schools points to the thinking of african experts on a continuing lack of development in their continent. (a) the internalist school drawing from rostow's modernization theory and functional sociology of emile durkheim (1858-1917), the internalist school believes that the causes of africa's lack of development lie mostly within africa. especially the issues of local corruption, tyranny, and bad governance from the 'internal factor' which is the brain behind the continent's continuing underdevelopment. they hold that africa has the sole responsibility to bail itself from underdevelopment; especially as africa should have recovered from the scourge of 14 colonialism after more than half a century of independence. internalist scholars include george ayittey, moeletsi mbeki, thabo mbeki, and chinua achebe, to mention but a few. george ayittey (b. 1947), a prominent ghanaian economist, president of the free africa foundation, washington dc, and founder of internalist school, holds that africa has to seek internal 15solutions to its economic problems. in his africa unchained (2006), ayittey argues that africa is poor because it is not free and that the actual cause of african poverty is less of colonial oppression and 16 mismanagement than an oppressive native autocrat. he listed the ills of local autocrats including bad leadership, ineffective governance, rampant corruption, capital ight, military vandalism, political repression, economic mismanagement, and 17 destructive civil wars. to be replaced with a democratic government, a modernized infrastructure, debt reexamination, free13 vincent n. parrillo, understanding race and ethnic relations, second edition, boston: pearson education, 2005, 8-10. 14 tongkeh fowale, “the distant dream of african development”, 2009. 15 george ayittey, africa unchained: the blueprint for africa's future, hampshire: palgrave macmillan, 2006, 1-10. 16 ayittey, africa unchained, 2006, 1-10. 17 y fredua-kwarteng, “etiology of ghana underdevelopment”, 2005. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 65 market economies, and free trade as preconditions of development in 18 africa. ayittey narrated how the internalist scholarship evolved slowly in the 1970s; how infectious the euphoria was that gripped the continent during independence in the 1960s; how african nationalists were worshipped as gods and heroes, and how it was sacrilegious to criticize them. it did not take long before the heroes and governments began to outlaw opposition parties and declared themselves 19 presidents for life. there was no tolerance for dissent, no democratic freedom, but creeping despotism that sowed the seeds of internal revolt. the leaders put their own benets before people's needs, and they blamed the continent's problems on external factors alone, instead of looking 20at themselves as major contributors to the continent's woes. ayittey continued that not long after independence, namely in the 1960s, it became increasingly clear that africa had traded “white colonialists” for “black neo-colonialists,” and that the oppression and exploitation 21of the african people continued unabated. ayittey's analysis was corroborated by the former u.s. president barrack obama, when he visited ghana in july 2009. in his speech in accra, president obama urged african leaders to end tyranny, corruption, and get rid of violence to move the continent forward. that africa does not need strong men, but strong institutions; that no country can create wealth if its leaders are exploitative; no investment business can ourish where the government skims 20% off the top, and no one wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of bribery, 18 ayittey, africa unchained, 2006. 19ko akosah-sarpong, “special interview emerging african development thinking, ii”, in modern ghana news (october 7, 2008). 20. ko akosah-sarpong, “ghana's externalists and internalists (part 2)”, in patriotic vanguard (sierra leone: march 23, 2010); http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/article.php3?id_article=104 21. akosah-sarpong, “special interview with george ayittey: emerging african development thinking (2), in modern ghana news (september 30, 2009). http://www.modernghana.com/news/241260/1/special-interview-emergingafrica-development-thi.html 66 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 22 corruption, violence, and brutality. obama categorically concluded that africa's future lies with them, and their development depends on 23 good governance and strong institutions. in 2004, moeletsi mbeki (b. 1947), blames african underdevelopment on its political elite. moeletsi, a political economist argues that all modern political thoughts, from marx and lenin on the left to hayek and friedman on the right, are in agreement that the private sector is key to modern economic 24 development. moeletsi explains that africa arguably has one of the largest private sectors in the world because most africans live and work within private sectors as peasants and or in subsidiaries of foreign-owned multinational corporations. however, neither private nor the public has complete freedom to operate within the market in africa, hence the latter is controlled by the state. since private sectors in africa lacks political power, they are not free to operate in such a way as to maximize their objectives and to control their savings. the political elite prey on the 25peasants' vulnerability just as karl marx once observed. moeletsi concludes that african development needs a new type of democracy, that will empower the political elite as well as the private sector producers. also that africa should learn from china's agricultural reforms, which are today the core of its great economic 26 growth. � thabo mbeki (b. 1942), the former president of south africa (1999-2008) and the elder brother of moeletsi mbeki, belongs to internalist school when he popularized the african renaissance in 1998, with the slogan that “africa is for africans, africa's problems 22cf. barrack obama, "end tyranny and corruption for development" in hufngton post (september 5, 2009). 23. cf. barrack obama, “end tyranny and corruption for development” in hufngton post (sept. 5, 2009). 24. moeletsi mbeki, “south africa: the private sector, political elite and underdevelopment in sub-saharan africa” in allafrica.com (august 2, 2004). 25 karl marx, “the eighteen brumaire of louis bonaparte” in karl marx and fredrick engels: selected works london: 1970, vol. 1, pp.170-171. 26 moeletsi mbeki, “south africa: the private sector…” 2004. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 67 27 require african solutions.” mbeki's african renaissance is based on the concept that african people and nations must by themselves overcome the recurrent political, socio, and economic challenges facing the continent and achieve cultural, scientic, and economic 28 renewal. in 1997, thabo listed the elements that constitute the african renaissance, including social cohesion, democracy, economic rebuilding and growth, and the establishment of africa as a major contributor to world affairs. thabo's african renaissance encouraged education and attempted to reverse the issue of the “brain-drain syndrome” of many african intellectuals toward europe and america. but urged the africans and their intellectuals to be 29 proud of their heritage and to enhance it. chinua achebe (1930-2013), a prominent nigerian professor, novelist and social critic believed the internalist factor. in his archetypal novel things fall apart (1958), achebe admitted that the arrival of british colonialism deteriorated the traditional igbonigerian society, but the destruction of igbo society was the result of 30weaknesses within the native structure. achebe favoured the igbo-african culture of pre-western society, with its religion, government, a system of money, an artistic tradition, and its judicial system. he argued that prior to british colonization, the igbo people lived in a patriarchal collective political system which was democratic. they did not rule by monarchy nor single individual, as decisions were made by a council of male elders. religious leaders were also invited to settle cultural issues. achebe contradicted the biases of many british colonial writers who depicted 27 thabo mbeki, “the african renaissance statement”, from the ofce of the executive deputy president (august 5, 1998) http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mbeki/1998/tm0813.htm 28 ibid., “statement on behalf of the african national congress, on the occasion of the adoption of the constitutional assembly of 'the republic of south africa constitutional bill 1996”, in ofce of the president (august 5, 1996) http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mbeki/1996/sp960508html 29 w.a.j. okumu, the african renaissance, 2002, 12. 30chinua achebe, things fall apart, new york: first anchor books, 1994, 176206. 68 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 31 africans as ignorant and uncivilized. nevertheless, achebe's things fall apart faulted the native structure for the collapse of umuoa village. he placed no blame on the igbos for being subjected to colonialism but often criticized their 32 traditional customs, especially those customs that appeared “static.” achebe clearly endorsed the internalist position in his book the trouble with nigeria (1983), where he articulated the nigerian problem as unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to their responsibilities and challenges of providing a personal example, 33which, according to him, are the hallmarks of true leadership. � (b) the externalist school unlike the internalists, and perhaps more explicitly than the dependency and world system theorists, the externalists blame 34 “outside forces” for africa's continued lack of development. africa alone cannot attain any level of development because of historical constraints and the power structure of the modern world. the externalist scholars include macleans a. geo-jaja, moshood k.o. abiola, walter rodney, and cornelius p. cacho, to mention but a few. they hold that western colonialism and imperialism, the transatlantic slave trade, the unfair international trade system and practices, and the policies of the world bank and international monetary fund (imf), are the independent or remote causes of african underdevelopment. they chastise rampant corruption, ineffective governance, military vandalism, political oppression, civil war and violence, and 35 economic mismanagement as proximate causes of underdevelopment in africa. however, they believe that any credible healing must start from the root-sources. 31chinua achebe, things fall apart, ny: emc corporation, 2003, 177-207. 32jeffrey w. hunter, “things fall apart, chinua achebe: introduction.”(gale cengage, 2002) vol. 152. 33chinua achebe, the trouble with nigeria, uk: heinemann, 1984, 1 34tongkeh fowale, “the distant dream of african development”, 2009. 35 y fredua-kwarteng, “etiology of ghana underdevelopment” 2009. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 69 the externalists highly concur with dependency theorists in considering the global, political, and economic order in a coreperiphery context and in the relationship between the rich north and the poor south. moreover, they agree with the marxist exploitation thesis which claims that european industrialization was built on the 36 imperialist exploitation of africa. for instance, macleans a. geo-jaja (b. 1930), a prominent nigerian development economist and educationist, has asserted that african development has been deliberately held ransom by and to the advantage of some of the advanced nations. to prove his point, geojaja pointed out that nowhere in africa is there an indigenous education system designed to meet african needs because of the 37 conspiracy interests of some advanced nations. geo-jaja, who is also a former professor of economics in the university of utah, salt lake city, and, the chair of the national think-tank on the review of the nigerian constitution, has traced africa's lack of development to both the african slave dealers and the western industrialists. he thought that the scramble for raw materials and markets culminated in wars among european powers, which 38 enabled africans to play them off against each other. like walter rodney (1942-1980), a prominent guyanese political historian, who in his book: how europe underdeveloped africa (1972), supported the view that africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by the european colonial regime. geo-jaja argued that africa's greatest nightmare came in 1884-1885, when the colonial powers of england, france, germany, italy, spain, portugal, and belgium met in berlin and divided up the african continent. there was no consideration for pre-existing governmental structures, institutions, and tribal relations, but only for raw materials, surplus labour, and export opportunities. 36 tongkeh fowale, 2009. 37 macleans a. geo-jaja, “underdevelopment and education in africa” in africa economic analysis (april 11, 2008); http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/15/1/underdevelopment-andeducation-i 38 geo-jaja, “underdevelopment and education in africa”, 2008 70 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 geo-jaja revealed that one important weapon that destroyed africa during the colonial imperialism was “imported education systems”, which were designed to exalt the image of european societies to the detriment of africa. colonial powers trained africans into a cadre of low-level clerks and administrators, and they shielded them from any intellectual or skill development as the africans were 39 used as wage slaves in the farms and mines. prof. geo-jaja argued that there could be no true economic development in africa without the education of africans, by africans and for african purposes. there could be no democracy and peace without a population prepared to be self-governing committed to africanization, leaving behind the divide and conquer hatreds of 40 colonialism which are the source of so much current internal strife. geo-jaja concluded that beyond the inuence of family and religion, education is the key to stopping the continuing underdevelopment of africa and to prevent episodes of horrible ethnic violence, like the genocide in rwanda. after all these analyses of the causes of african underdevelopment, it is not difcult to see why alhaji moshood k.o. abiola (1937-1998) had to call for “reparations” for africa and its people. m.k.o. abiola was a popular yoruba nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician, who sponsored the campaign to win reparations for slavery and colonialism in africa and in the diasporas. “chief abiola personally rallied every african head of state and every head of state in the black diasporas to ensure that africans 41 would speak with one voice on reparations.” inspired by panafricanism, abiola in 1990 confronted the issue of african development by embracing the concept of reparation. “the basic idea of reparation is that africa does not owe the world, but above and beyond the cancellation of the debt issue, the world that has exploited 39ibid, 2008. 40ibid. 41moshood abiola, “on his philanthropyreparation” in http://eliesmith.blogspot.com/2008/senator-as-yarima-reparation-for-africa.html retrieved march 23, 2010 an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 71 africa for so long, owes africa the basic capital for development. such capital will enable africa to build roads, railways, hospitals, schools and the necessary communication infrastructure to support 42development.” in 1990, abiola got his concord press to organize an international conference on reparation in lagos, and persuaded the then president ibrahim babangida (ibb) of nigeria to endorse it at the organization of african unity (oau) in abuja in 1991. in 1992, the oau summit in dakar (senegal), created a “group of eminent persons” (gep) to pursue the issue of reparation through the united nations' (un) agenda. included in the campaign for reparation were 43 the blacks in the diasporas. abiola's reparation campaign helped african americans in the united states to demand reparations from corporations from their unjust enrichment through the immoral and inhuman institution of 44 slavery. the reparation drive is born out of a conviction that africa's lack of development is attributed to western colonization, unfair international trade systems and practices, and the adverse policies of the world bank and imf that multiplied debts in africa 45 and made cancellation of those debts difcult. (c) the integrationists' perspective there is also the integrationist school. this third group nds the polarizing african development experts ridiculous, as it blames both internal and external forces for the causes of africa's underdevelopment. the integrationist searches both within and outside africa for solutions to the continent's backwardness. this is because it realizes from both history and contemporary global events 42o. k. amuni, “arab enslavement of africans: the reparation caravan must reach arabia and middle east” (lagos: dept. of foreign languages, lagos state university, 2003), 45. 43.ibid. 44.ibid, 47 45. hakeem harunah, “criticisms of reparation” in amuni's arab enslavement of africans, 2003. 72 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 46 that enemies of african development abound everywhere. the integrationist scholars include y. fredua-kwarteng, wangari maathai, dambisa moyo, and chinweizu ibekwe, to mention but a few. the analysis of this school evokes ideas of panafricanism, traceable to symbolic interactionism of george hubert mead (1863-1931) and herbert blumer (1900-1987). symbolic interactionism examines the micro-social world of personal interaction patterns in everyday life and studies the shared symbols and denitions people use when communicating with one another. such that it shows how individuals create and interpret the 47life situation they experience. symbolic interactionism is very useful in understanding the integrationist theory because it assumes that african people are responsive and creative in the construction of their world and development, rather than being passive, as might have been suggested by the internalist and externalist schools of african development. � y. fredua-kwarteng is a prominent ghanaian scholar of the university of toronto who coined the term “integrationist school.” he stressed that in the realm of development, like any other domain in the social world, things are so interconnected that it is misleading to 48 separate variables neatly into external and internal causalities. kwarteng cautioned that “in solving underdevelopment problems, scholars need to understand that human beings are multifaceted being: they are cognitive, emotional, religious, social and 49behavioural.” therefore, a nonpositivist approach is needed. he argues that enemies of african development abound everywhere, both internally and externally. he cites african corrupt leadership for an illustration. he believes that the sources of african corrupt leadership include the institutions where the leaders received their education and training, the personal philosophy of the leaders, and the inuence of people around these leaders. kwarteng wonders how people could critically say that corruption and political 46y. fredua-kwarteng, “etiology of ghana underdevelopment” 2005. 47vincent parrillo, understanding race and ethnic relations, 2005. 48y. fredua-kwarteng, “etiology of ghana underdevelopment” 2005. 49ibid. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 73 oppression in ghana, for instance, have no colonial connections. � kwarteng believes that african development can be sought through ne arts, religion, philosophy, morality, and herbal medicine. he does not accept that african ethics and morality can be validated by the application of capitalist economic principles; but that african ethics and morality have their own internal logic, and that their 50 justication lies in an african worldview. � against the internalists, kwarteng criticized the idea of “import and implant foreign models” in africa to attempt to solve african problems. but rather than foreign models should be viewed with suspicion and skepticism rather than with the “europhilia 51 syndrome” found in africa today. � chinweizu ibekwe (b. 1943), a nigerian economic historian and cultural critic, observes that the pervasive mentality in twentiethcentury africa is one of europhilia an uncritical acceptance and high valuation of every bit of thing from the west. he calls for africa's 52decolonization and renaissance. chinweizu, the popular author of the west and the rest of us, is a contemporary afrocentric leader and a beacon of africanism. pan-africanism is a socio-political worldview, philosophy, and movement that seeks to unify native africans and those of african 53 heritage into a global african community. against europhilia, chinweizu attempts to reexamine african life and history from an african perspective and advocates a return to traditional african concepts about culture, society, and values. � he criticized the interpretation of african literature as a twentieth-century appendage to european literature, an 50ibid. 51ibid. 52chinweizu ibekwe, “nationalist values and political will: the mental health of the nigerian elite” (07 dec., 2005); http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/chinweizu/nationalist-values-andpolitical-will-18.html 53itibari m. zulu (editor), “sculpting a pan-african culture in the art of negritude: a model for african artist” in journal of pan african studies, 2006; http://www.jpanafrican.com/ 74 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 interpretation that was produced by those african writers who have digested a european tradition. he believed that the true african tradition extends back beyond the european and hellenic kinds of 54 literature and as far as the egyptian pyramid. chinweizu holds that for development in africa, there must be an appreciation of what is originally and authentically african and achievable by decolonizing the african mind by afrophilia. � the africanist goal of decolonization is to overthrow the authority of alien traditions. pan africanism calls for the dismantling of white supremacist beliefs and structures which superimpose themselves on every aspect of african life. it is not implied that africans must ignore foreign traditions, but simply a denial of the authority of foreign traditions and a withdrawal of allegiance to 55them. more so, the kenyan wangari maathai (b. 1940), an environmental and political activist, in her book the challenge for africa (2009), argues that there is no inherent trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection and that african leaders should pursue both. as an integrationist, she blames both western colonialism for devaluing african identity and culture and 56africa for its bloody attachment to fractured micro-nations. � maathai criticized foreign aid dependency as part of the problem of underdevelopment in africa. she believes in a change that will come through grassroots activism and suggests strongly that 57 africans must embrace their own traditions. among her africanist objectives include the need for visionary leadership and nation54chinweizu ibekwe, “chinweizu, rothenberg, duns scotus”, in towards the decolonization of african literature (united kingdom: howard university press, 1983); ... http://www.tomleonard.co.uk/online-poetry-a-prose/chinweizu-rothe 55chinweizu ibekwe, “decolonizing the african mind: further analysis and strategy” in (assata shakur forum, nov. 17, 2004); ... http://www.assatasakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/16 56francis fukuyama, “out of africa; foreign aid is part of the problem, but so is corrupt politics” in slate (may 4, 2009); http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2217394 57wangari maathai, the challenge for africa (pantheon: first edition, 2009), pp. 136. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 75 building through a central leadership. she cited, for instance the leadership of julius nyerere, who knit tanzania's multiple languages and ethnic groups together through the use of kiswahili as the 58national language. � however, the zambian dambisa moyo, a global economist at goldman sachs in london, argues in her dead aid (2009), that foreign-sponsored development is at the root of africa's 59 underdevelopment and calls for its cessation if africa is to progress. as a world-class economist, who has understood the “pros-and-cons” of the world bank and imf's consequences of the foreign aid for development in africa, moyo favours private sector development, no matter where it comes from and vehemently protests against the agricultural protectionism of the global north that prevents trade 60from becoming an engine of growth. embracing both the internalists' renaissance objectives and the externalists' reparation drive, we could see that the integrationists hold no ideological position, but rather seek from within and outside africa for ways to move the continent forward. (3) culture and consciousness: basis for a sustainable development in africa regrettably, the western development model for africa takes for granted the impact of culture and consciousness on the political and economic dimensions of development in africa. but the integrationist philosophy that seeks both within and outside africa for solutions to the continent's backwardness holds the way forward. the 'within' is africa's peculiarity, which includes african culture and consciousness. � kwarteng's warning that in solving underdevelopment problems, scholars need to understand that human beings are multifaceted beings and that they are cognitive, emotional, religious, 58ibid, 312-336. 59dambisa moyo, dead aid: why aid is not working and how there is a better way for africa new york: farrar, straus & giroux, 2009, 180-200. 60francis fukuyama, out of africa, 2009. 76 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 social, and behavioural, ought to be listened to. perhaps, a non positivist approach is needed in sustaining development in africa. according to the late afrobeat legend, fela anikulapo kuti, in one of his songs titled "teacher don't teach me nonsense" says: "who be government teacher? culture and tradition" (1986). � any model of development in africa that excludes a genuine historical role for consciousness, culture, and religion, functions for some set of economic or political interests. hence, i enjoin the calls to re-examine african life and history from an african perspective, and a re-switch to the traditional african concepts about culture, society and values, and that would be the way forward. to catalyst this fact, there is a need for an indigenous education system and philosophy that will serve exclusively for african purpose and worldview. � probably, many may ask, what has culture and consciousness got to do with africa's development? a lot, because the culture and consciousness of people carry them through all aspects of their life. it may look difcult to see that investment in ceremonies and social redistribution in african societies were part and parcel of the traditional balance between society and economies rather than just 61 waste of economic opportunities. according to battista mondin, man has always produced culture, because he is essentially a cultural, and not a natural, being. this is because the development of cultural anthropology as a science has brought to light the value and the function that culture has in the 62 development of civilization and in the characteristics of nations. he explains anthropologically, that culture signies the totality of customs, techniques, and values that distinguish a social group, a 63 tribe, a people, a nation... and the mode of living proper to a society. thus, man is essentially a cultural being. god has endowed man with nature, but it is man's to order nature for his progress and development. culture must not be done without. the catholic 61luigi solivetti, “w.w. rostow and his contribution to development studies: a note” 2005. 62 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology bangalore: theological publications in india, 2011, 145. 63ibid, 145-146. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 77 theology teaches that grace is built on nature, so as development, civilization is built on culture. � just in january 2020, when the us president donald trump threatened to bomb the iranian cultural center if iran continues to retaliate for his murdering of iran’s general suleiman, and the world (the un) including the us congress rose against him, and immediately trump rescinded his threat. colonization in africa was cultural, and that devalued african identity and culture. � how can africa be compared to china? had they the same form of colonization? today, china is the second-largest economies of the world, but without the benet of the “rule of law” and enforceable property rights. the beijing consensus proved that there could be market reform without democracy and that strong selfdetermination can prevent powerful international actors from unduly 64 inuencing its choices of development. china, instead, developed a variant socialist rule of law that is compatible with its cultural norms, its current form of government, and its level of institutional development. � shameful to read some development experts arguing that africa's cultural practices could be antithetical to socio-economic development, specically when dened exclusively in economic 65 terms, a self-sustaining rise in the gross national product (gnp), without the ndings of experts on the project. ambe j. njoh, a prominent nigerian development analyst, studied the link between cultural tradition and socio-economic development in africa. he discovered that there are clear differences between eurocentric cultures, which are rooted in capitalist ideology and protestant ethics, and traditional african culture, where ideas such as capital accumulation, entrepreneurial attitudes, and material 66 wealth are not top priorities. � njoh, like chinua achebe, argued that africa was not poor 64randal peerenboom, china modernizes: threat to the west or model for the rest? new york: oxford university press, 2007, 3. 65ambe j. njoh, tradition, culture, and development in africa, burlington: ashgate pub., 2006, 5. 66bid, 5. 78 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 before the coming of the white man. achebe favoured the africanigbo culture of the pre-western society, which he portrayed as having a religion, a government, a system of money, an artistic tradition, as well as a judicial system of its own. he explained further that before british colonization, the igbo people lived in a patriarchal collective political system that was democratic. they did not rule by monarchy or a single individual, as decisions were made by a council of male 67 elders. religious leaders were also invited to settle cultural issues. indeed, africa needs to get back to their essences (culture and consciousness), to that 'distinctness', that which marks them as africans, thus creating ways for its growth and development. � in summary, this article has raised the incredible question of a continuing economic underdevelopment in africa. by a phenomenological and structural approaches, it has briey reviewed and highlighted the theories of underdevelopment for africa, including modernization, dependency, and world systems theory. the article also reviewed and critiqued the afrocentric theories of economic underdevelopment in africa, namely the internalist, externalist, and integrationist schools. the study nds the african scholars on a deadlock on whether the cause of the problem is from africa or from outside africa. some school calls for all hands on deck to move the continent forward. however, it is the position of the article that, philosophically speaking, african development is possible only by appreciation of what is originally and authentically africa, which depends on the culture and consciousness of the african people. 67chinua achebe, things fall apart, new york: first anchor books, 1994, 176206. an afrocentric critique of africa's underdevelopment | 79 255 19 an ethical appraisal of the family as an agent of priestly formation in africa gregory ebalu ogbenika ph.d lecturer, seminary of all saints, uhiele ekpoma, edo state, nigeria. oshokwe67@gmail.com & mr gideon adeniji (ph.d cand.) university of benin, benin city etrophodon17@gmail.com abstract the family is the first unit of human formation among the various units of formation in every age. it is a unit that is indispensable in the grooming of the child. the way a child was brought up within a particular family can go a long way to influence his general attitude towards life. if the child was exposed to a good and favorable formation within family, the child is bound to be positively disposed toward others, because the child would not only have passed through the system, the system would have passed through the child. if it is the other way round, then it will manifest in the child’s general attitude towards life as a whole. it has been discovered that with the disengagement of moral and religious education in schools, the moral fabric of societal life is progressively depreciating at an alarming rate. a lot of children and young people are now living without the basic and rudimentary knowledge of morals and religion. the only emphasis on education in many developed countries is intellectual knowledge, devoid of human formation. most modern societies depend so much on the positive laws of the state to groom children and direct the affairs of their lives. this is having a toll on products of post primary schools, which are the raw materials for formation at the level of the seminary. it is against this backdrop that this paper attempts an ethical appraisal of the role of the family in the formation of the candidates for the priesthood. this paper adopts the analytical and hermeneutical methods of analysis. it concludes 256 formation of the human person in the 21st century that a proper attention to the role of the family, will produce better candidates for formation and reduce incidences of behavioural dysfunctions in priestly ministry within the society. keywords: family, formation, agent, seminary formation, and africa conceptual elucidation. family: the concept ‘family’ depicts a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.1 the family plays the role of development with the relationship of the parents and the children; it is basically the “original cell of social life”2, where values are transmitted, and the basic level of socialization from which the human person gets the first bits of education. the family is the key and basic unit of development, a key aspect of the family is the role of formation, the family serves to form the members of this social unit, a place or ideal situation where the more experienced members, the parents and over time, elder siblings pass on the necessary basic values and ideas that require proper and adequate cultivation. the family passes on the first form of education to the young ones,3 helping them form their primary and basic conceptions of the human life. “it is the most basic unit of the church”4 formation: the concept of ‘formation’ basically references development, in context, the process of shaping a person. further, formation basically is a series of holistic developmental strategies aimed at improving the human person in different and basic facets of life, as the advanced english dictionary would refer to formation as fabrication into a particular shape, this is the basis of the formation of the human person, forming the person into a particular and certain shape, a shape of primarily, all round brilliance. formation, as implicitly stated earlier is an all-round activity which implies that it covers varying aspects of the personality be it emotional, physical, moral, social, cognitive, behavioural etc. also, the instruments of formation are diverse, there are varying social groups that have a role to play in the formation of the human person, the family being the basic unit that helps forms the perception of the human person, that presents the lenses by which the person sees the world, it is as though the grassroots, as though the background from which the development process takes its root, the human person would always have other instruments and factors, the peer groups and other social institution but a pivotal agent would always remain the family. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 257 the seminary formation: the formation in the seminary is one that is structured to meet all areas that are necessary for a holistic human formation. the four cardinal areas of formation in the seminary are the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. these are areas that are sacrosanct and intrinsic to ensure a balanced and full grown man, ready for the priestly vocation. these areas of formation are very integral to the actualization of the goal of an authentic formation. the human formation: according to the synod fathers, “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.5 “this therefore reveals the importance of human formation, as it represents the foundation upon which every other formation is built. the young men are first human beings, and would in their vocation deal with human beings. the letter to the hebrews notes that “every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to god” (heb. 5:1). in order that his ministry may be humanly as credible and acceptable as possible, it is important that the priest should mold his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with jesus christ the redeemer of man.6 future priests should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry3. the seminary hand book adds that maturity in human formation entails a two-fold demand, namely, increasing knowledge of oneself in all humanness as a creature, with particular strengths and weaknesses and understanding this within the framework of the relationships which forms the context of the priests life.4 an understanding of humanity of an individual, and a conscious acceptance of the human nature, towards a conscious effort to be better, and to grow helps in undergoing a human formation devoid of pretense and hypocrisy, one that is open to learning. as the priest grows both in the knowledge of himself and in his relationship with others, he will be more deeply formed into his priesthood. the seminarian is therefore formed to work on himself and mold himself better into the image of christ, and by extension, work on his relations with men, so as to become a healthy and lovable conduit of god’s mercy and love for humanity. in pastores dabo vobis the holy father, st. john paul ii of blessed memory talks about “affective maturity”, which for him, is the result of an education in true and responsible love, and notes that it is a significant, and decisive factor in the formation of candidates to the priesthood.5 affective maturity presuppose an awareness that love has a central role in human life.6 in his encyclical, redemptor hominis, st. pope 258 formation of the human person in the 21st century john paul ii notes that man cannot leave without love. he remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is meaningless if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate innately in it.7 this therefore implies that the seminarian is groomed and grows in love in all its entirety, physical, psychic and spiritual, with a human maturity subsumed in clear training in freedom, expressed in heartfelt obedience to the truth of one’s own being, and to the meaning of one’s own existence.8 spiritual formation: the formation of the human person, finds its fullest expression in spiritual formation. when it is carried out in the context of an anthropology which is open to the full truth regarding the human person, it leads to and finds its completion in spiritual formation.9 the hand book of the seminary of all saints adds that spiritual formation sets the foundation for the attitudes, habits and practices of the spiritual life in a lifetime of priestly ministry especially as regards priestly celibacy.10 as a result of this, the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sarcedotalis, notes that initial admission to the seminary should be preceded by a spiritual and ecclesial programme, in which a serious discernment of the motivation in responding to a vocation can be undertaken.11 this programme which is referred to as the spiritual year is a programme that is set aside for the spiritual formation of aspirants to the priestly vocation. for one year, the aspirant is engaged in spiritual exercises that also help in his discernment of his vocation. the major seminary, however, continues in this spiritual grooming as the daily schedules of the seminary contain different spiritual activities that are a necessary ingredient of his vocation. the seminarian also has access to a spiritual director to whom he meets for guidance and counseling, on spiritual matters. the essential content of spiritual formation specifically leading towards the priesthood is well expressed in the vatican council’s decree optatam totius: spiritual formation (…) should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with god the father through his son, jesus christ in the holy spirit.12 those who are to take on the likeness of christ, priest by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives.13 prayers and study of the word of god and the attendance of holy mass are core spiritual activities for all seminarians and priests in formation. pastoral formation: the whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of christ the good shepherd. hence their formation in its section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 259 different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character.14 this means that one major aspect of formation in the seminary is the pastoral formation, where students are trained to be true shepherds of soul after the example of the lord jesus christ. therefore seminarians are engaged in evangelical activities and are also posted to parishes. the handbook of the seminary of all saints notes that seminarians are introduced to the apostolic life by hands-on-experience in areas such as parish and campus ministry, counseling, parish religious education programmes, diocesan tribunals, vocation offices, hospital ministry, serial ministry to the poor and the disadvantaged etc.15 through these field experiences the seminary is helped to understand the apostolate, and is prepared to make a more matured commitment to the priesthood of christ. intellectual formation: this aspect of formation is, perhaps, central to the whole project of formation in the church. this is a very vital aspect of the priestly formation that cannot be overemphasized. in pastores dabo vobis, st. pope john paul ii of blessed memory notes that “intellectual formation has its own characteristics but it is also deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation: it is a fundamental demand of human intelligence by which he participate in the light of god’s mind and seeks to acquire wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards knowing and adhering to god.16 the challenges of the rapidly developing world and the intellectual demand of a highly knowledgeable society makes it important for the priest to be a man of great intellectual fecundity and knowledge to meet the challenges of evangelism to highly intellectual people. the synod fathers notes that “if we expect every christian to be prepared to make a defense of the faith, and to account for the hope that is in us (cf 1 pet. 3:15), then all the more should candidates for the priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity. for the salvation of their brethren and sisters, they should seek an even deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.17 the seminary is not only a place for spiritual and human formation, but also a place where there is a rich investment in intellectual rigor and exercises. the peculiarity of the priestly vocation is one that demands that the seminarian is equipped with philosophical and theological knowledge. the young man in formation is exposed to the different schools and areas in philosophy that helps him delve into existential questions and rationalizations about the world and creation in general. the seminarian is exposed to a high level of education and academic activity befitting of every higher institution of learning, to learn 260 formation of the human person in the 21st century undergraduate courses in philosophy, so as to come out a philosopher of refinement, knowledge and understanding, balanced intrinsically by studies in theology, (knowledge of god) which is in fact the goal of his philosophical endeavor. therefore, like all other young men and women undergoing undergraduate studies in philosophy, the seminarian undergoes rigorous intellectual exercise in philosophy, but this rime with a purpose and a goal to be able to wither the storm that comes from a proliferation of knowledge that could pose a challenge to faith and learning in the knowledge of god. the holy father, john paul ii of blessed memory explains this further when he notes that “the theologian is first and foremost a man of faith. but he is a believer who asks himself question about his own faith (fides quarens intellectum), with the aim of reaching a deeper understanding of the faith itself.18 this is what philosophy helps to do, as it asks so many questions on existence and god. the need for philosophical studies geared and channeled towards a better understanding of the christ is of the essence, as the philosophical traditions of the seminary are studied up to the point of supplementing theology, through the inclusion of various christian philosophers and their philosophy that possesses a theological touch. theological formation is therefore very vital as it is the destination of all philosophical studies and the focal point of the intellectual studies of a seminarian. for john paul ii, theological formation is both complex and demanding. it should lead the candidate for the priesthood to a complete and united vision of the truths which god has revealed in jesus christ and of the church’s experience of faith.19 who are the agents of priestly formation? throughout the course of the formation of an intending priest, there are various persons, structures and institutions he comes in contact with which shape his personality and necessary qualities that place him in a better position to exercise his clerical responsibilities. the role of these agents cannot be treated with levity because in the long run, the impact of these agents go a long way to influence the candidate’s conception of what the priestly ministry entails and how he is to go about the exercise of the ministry. there are so many people involved in the work of formation. but for the purpose of this paper, we would like to identify the main agents or units involved in the work of priestly formation. they are the key instruments being used by the god and church to ensure the formation of future priests for the church. we shall examine some of these salient agents which shape and influence priestly formation and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 261 their respective roles in the whole formation process. these are as follows: the family as stated earlier, the family plays a pivotal role in the early upbringing of the child. it is the primary or primordial unit or agent of formation of the child. the attention paid by the family to the upbringing at the early stage of the growth of a child makes a lot of difference in the maturity of the child. the more attention given, the better for the child, the less attention given, goes a long way to affect the development of the child. this does not apply to the early stage alone, but at every stage of the development of the child. the whole gamut of formation should be wholistic. there is this tendency for some families to pay attention one or some aspect(s) of the child’s formation to the detriment of the others. a lot of parents pay particular attention to the intellectual formation at the expense of human and spiritual formation, which is so important in the life of the child. they do this by sending their wards to the best school that are famous for academic prowess in the society without minding what they are able to offer in the areas of values and their relationship with the creator. it is of paramount importance for the family to give priority to the wholistic formation of the child till the child attains the age of fending for himself or herself, which is the age of reason, the age at which they can now take complete responsibility for their actions: the fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. the role of parents is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. the right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable20. having enjoyed tutelage under the guidance of their parents in a wholistic manner, it is most likely that the child would take the path for which he has been brought up while growing up. this also applies to the seminarian who is in formation. while on holidays with the family, the onus is on the family to guide and support him as he undergoes formation. in the most of numerous distractions that could arise while on holidays, it behooves of parents to ensure that attention is paid to the seminarian’s well-being so that he may not be swallowed by the negative influences that abound all over our contemporary african society. the diocesan bishop/presbyterate: the diocesan bishop is first and foremost the one who discerns the vocation to the priesthood of any candidate. he is responsible for the seminarian from the beginning to the end of the formative process and ultimately decides if the candidate is fit 262 formation of the human person in the 21st century enough to be ordained and to exercise the priestly ministry.21 although, he may not directly carryout these functions, the bishop puts the necessary personnel and mechanisms in place to help him carryout this responsibility and that is where the role of the diocesan presbyterate (especially the vocations director) comes in. during the course of the seminarian’s formation, he is bound to come in contact with various priests in the diocese who through such encounters help to shape the personality of such seminarian.22 the vocations director is primarily saddled with the responsibility of formation of seminarians in the diocese whenever they are away from school (the seminary). under the overall supervision of the bishop, he monitors the growth of priestly qualities in aspiring candidates and inspires the blossoming of these necessary qualities. as an illustration, here in our nigerian clime, it is the practice to send seminarians on pastoral work during their holidays or break from the seminary in which the priests in question are required to observe the seminarian and write a report of what has been observed during the period of his work. it is also the responsibility of the priest to guide and direct the seminarian on what it entails to possess the necessary priestly qualities. this shows in no small measure the great responsibility placed on the shoulders of the diocesan presbyterate in the formation of candidates. the bishop also intervenes from time to time to examine the progress candidates are making in their formation in all aspects of their formative life. the seminary: the seminary, which is a place where seminarians are trained, plays a very crucial role in the formative process as an agent.23 the seminary which is not only an educational institution for the intellectual formation of priests also coordinates the various elements which culminate in a holistic priestly personality. in this sense, this means that even if the seminary is an educational institution where seminarians bag degrees in philosophy and divinity, it is not just all about that. if not, it would not be different from the secular institutions where people study for degrees. apart from the intellectual formation, the seminary also takes into cognizance, the spiritual, human and pastoral aspects of the candidate’s formation which are geared towards the effective exercise of the priestly ministry24 the seminary carries out its function through the instrumentality of formators (basically priests) and other lay members of the community, including the lecturers and other relevant persons who contribute to the day to day activities of the seminary. the formators, though, play a very crucial role as through their actions and encounter with the seminarians, ideas and conceptions about what the priesthood section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 263 entails are formed in the minds of the candidates. this is not exclusive of their encounter with other priests, such as those in their respective dioceses. the laity: the laity of the diocese from where the seminarians come also play a crucial role in the discernment process. during his formative years, the seminarian will be privileged to work with various segments of the laity in his diocese and beyond. he will be actively involved in the affairs of pious societies, associations, lay ministers and other lay ministries in the church. his encounter with these various categories of persons go a long way to help him stand better prepared to relate with these various segments of christ’s faithful by furnishing him with experience and concrete problem solving tools that will help him in the exercise of the ministry in the future. on the other hand, the laity also helps the seminarian to sustain himself and give an appropriate assent to the call of god’s work.25 they also serve as guardians and can be helpful in helping the seminarians to focus on their call. they can serve as advisers, dialogue partners and counselors to the seminarians which in the long run go a long way to shape the candidate’s disposition towards the priesthood. the subject of formation: apart from the aforementioned, kit is pertinent to note that the candidate is primarily responsible for his own formation, as other attempts to form him will result in futility if the candidate remains closed-in to himself and wrongly disposed to the whole process. this point is well expressed in where it states that: each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation, as he has already been mentioned and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospel.26 hence, the seminarian should develop what is referred to as “formative attitudes” such as availability, openness and docility to learn from the different circumstances he comes across in life and in various dimensions of his personality.27 the communitarian climate of the seminary also plays a crucial role in helping the candidate to internalize vocational values interwoven in inter-personal relationships. the family: the family’s role, which is sometimes downplayed, is of utmost importance in the shaping of a candidate’s personality. the 264 formation of the human person in the 21st century family serves as the foundation on which every other attempt at building a formidable priestly character springs. a christian family can truly assist candidates to discover and nurture a call to priestly vocation in the candidate.28 the spirituality of the family could either foster or mar a candidate’s desire for priestly service while a dysfunctional family or a family which pays little or no attention to spiritual matters can create a warped mindset in the consciousness of the candidate which further influences his disposition and openness to formation. while it is true that through the extra-ordinary grace of god, genuine vocation to the priesthood can spring from even the most despicable situations, we cannot overlook the influence of environment and family on character formation. if the foundation of the family is shaky, all other agents or institutions of formation will have a hell of a time molding the candidate to suite his call. the all important role of the family will be discussed in subsequent sessions. the holy spirit: while discussing the various inputs of human agents in the formation of a candidate, we must not leave out the necessity of grace and god’s intervention because the whole enterprise of priestly formation is controlled by god himself who chooses. this fact is all exemplified in christ’s admonition to his apostles “you did not choose me; i chose you…” (jn 15:16). hence, it is the holy spirit who forms the candidate through the instrumentality of these various mediators (patron wong, 2014). as a result, it is very necessary that all requisite agents of formation should teach the candidate the importance of openness and docility to the actions of the spirit which inflames the heart with sincerity and clarity of purpose. an assessment of the family as an agent of formation as earlier stated, the role of the family as an agent of priestly formation cannot be over-emphasized. this fact is re-echoed in prominent church documents on priestly formation. emphasizing the foundation-laying responsibility which accrues to the family, a second vatican document says: since the reality of the christian family is endangered nowadays, much importance should be given to pastoral work on behalf of the family, in order that the families themselves, generously accepting the gift of human life, may be ‘as it was a first seminary.29 in line with the above stand, and in consideration of all necessary elements which promote priestly vocation, another salient document on priestly formation states: a very special responsibility falls upon the christian family, which by virtue of the sacrament of matrimony, shares its own unique way in the section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 265 educational mission of the church, teacher and mother. families can become a first seminary in which children can acquire from the beginning, an awareness of piety and prayer and love for the church.30 the above statements from the church’s magisterium accentuate the importance of the family as an agent of priestly formation. the life of piety, the consciousness of the importance of prayer, the ability to learn submissiveness to god’s will and respect for the church and authorities all spring forth from the spiritual tradition of a family. if the father and mother in the home develop a culture of family prayers and devotion, the children do not need to be told of the importance of prayers in their lives as christians. other salient points that need to be examined are the vocation-friendly nature of the family, how they encourage members to open themselves to a life of service and tolerance by listening to the cares and needs of each member of the family, how much support members get from the family in pursuing a career or vocation which is in view of the happiness of such individual.31 all these elements combine to either foster or discourage the sprouting of the vocational seed in the hearts of aspiring candidates to the priesthood. as a way of diversion, it is pertinent to assess the concept of the family in our traditional african culture. the average african is always concerned with inculcating certain societal values and morals in members of his or her family basically for the preservation of the family’s integrity in the society which in turn fosters respect among society members for such family. african families do not joke with the moral formation of their wards which are often tied to the religious practices of the family and the communities at large because they recognize that such persons will someday go out as an ambassador of the family or cultural heritage. it is a common african saying to their wards that ‘they should know the child of whom they are wherever they go’. this goes a long way to demonstrate the importance attached by africans to the preservation of the family name which is only possible if the members of such family have a sound moral foundation. each individual in the family is considered as an ambassador of the family. hence, the family takes the duty upon itself to embark on extensive social, religious and cultural education of its members so as to avoid the situation where members become deviant in the society as a result of poor education. if families generally hold forth to this african model of the family, the task of formation of candidates to the priesthood will be much easier. not only will they be good priests but good christians and patriotic citizens for those who may eventually not make it to the priesthood. another important consideration is that the holy family of jesus, mary and joseph should continue to serve as a reference point to all families. 266 formation of the human person in the 21st century fathers and mothers should look up to joseph and mary in the upbringing of their wards. jesus christ, in his sovereignty, subjected himself to the headship of joseph his foster father and learned the dignity of labour as a carpenter. from his foster father, christ must have experienced how hardworking his foster father was, who provided for his family and lived in accordance with the commandments of god. in his human nature, christ learned the relevant skills and the use of the necessary tools in carrying out manual labour.32 as a result, st. joseph and his wife, mary should be honoured and invoked in the attempt to plant and cultivate the seed of vocation to the priesthood as he can truly become the head of our domestic churches which are ‘the family’. the role of the family in the formation of future priests it is worthy of note that the role of the family in the training and molding of a child’s character is un-negotiable irrespective of the vocation such child wishes to embrace. hence, we shall examine certain duties and responsibilities of the family in the training of their wards which could in the long run sow the seed of the vocation to the priesthood in their minds. religious education of children: the church’s teaching since the commencement of the second vatican council explicitly states that the duty of religious education of children is a shared responsibility between the ministers and parents. according to the code of canon law, the right and obligation of parents to procreate and educate their wards arise from the meaning and significance of marital union itself.33 since they have given life to their children, parents have a most grave obligation and possess the right to educate them. therefore, it is for christian parents particularly to take care of the christian education of their children according to the doctrine handed on by the church. the second vatican document, gaudium et spes, also emphasizes this point when it states that “parents are consecrated by the sacrament of marriage to a specific function: they are active co-workers in the salvific and evangelizing mission of the church, a service they perform by their educational duties towards their children.”34 these following documents all add up to the point that parents are responsible for the moral upbringing of their children which serve as foundations for their views about life and principles. a faulty moral upbringing will surely lead to a faulty personality so will a faulty personality lead to a faulty formation of the necessary priestly qualities in a candidate. the formators can hardly work on a candidate with a faulty personality due to a faulty moral foundation except by the extra-ordinary intervention of the holy spirit. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 267 assist in the process of discernment: it is the role of the family to ‘assist’ the candidate in the process of discernment and not to determine or enforce the vocation to the priesthood on the candidate or discourage him from embarking on such a journey. with prayer, advice, mentoring and counseling, the family can play a very important role of formation of the candidate’s attitude towards the priesthood. by the very fact that the candidate grew up in the midst of his family, it is expected that the parents, guardians and siblings understand his character, disposition, principles and attitudes better. this fact places the family in a very good position to help the candidate discern if truly the vocation to the priesthood is his calling. in the whole process, the family must be wary of imposing their wishes on the candidate as this in itself could backfire. it is common knowledge in nigeria that some candidates are answering the call of their parents or guardians and not their own call. in some places where the priesthood is regarded as a status symbol or some kind of reputation which brings dignity to the family, some candidates can be placed under unnecessary pressure to become priests without the family members bothering to understand the candidate’s true disposition towards the whole process. on the other hand, some families do not want some candidates to embrace the call to the priesthood and regard it as a wasted life. these perspectives are a misconception of the role of the family in the process of discernment. collaboration with other agents of formation: it is the responsibility of parents who have candidates aspiring towards the priesthood to cooperate and collaborate with other agents of formation such as the bishop, vocations director, seminary, parish priest, among others. this collaboration could be in form of material or spiritual support. it is the practice in many dioceses that the bishops are in charge of the financial responsibilities of the candidates. however, it is not out of place for parents of seminarians to come together once in a while and donate towards the training of seminarians in order to ease the burden on the diocese, especially in developing regions like ours in nigeria. apart from the material support, it is the duty of parents to pray for the candidates and all those in charge of their formation that the holy spirit will guide them in making the right decisions. in conclusion, parents can also play a crucial role in the encouragement of others, even if not their own children, who have expressed interest in the vocation or call to the priesthood, to embrace the vocation by being sources of testimony to others of the beauty and the dignity which comes with the service of god and his church. in nigeria where we have vocations committees saddled with the responsibility of fostering vocations in the diocese, parents of aspiring 268 formation of the human person in the 21st century candidates can volunteer to be a part of such initiatives, which in itself can be a sign of encouragement to others. endnotes 1 the new encyclopaedia brittannica ,vol 14, 15th edition, 1988, s,v, “family” 2 catechism of the catholic church, london, geoffrey chapman,1994, no. 2207 3 vatican council ii, decree on the apostolate of lay persons, apostolicam actuositatem, no. 11 4 mitch finley, “family” in richard mcbrien, ed,, encyclopedia of catholicism, 1st edition, new york, harper collins publishers, 1966, 5 message of the synod fathers to the people of god at viii ordinary general assembly on the “formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day” (september 30th 28 october, 1990) 6 i will give you shepherd, apostolic exhortation pastorers dabo vabis of john paul ii, no. 43, 1992, pp. 69. 7ibid. 8 handbook of the seminary of all saints, 2005, benin city: ava printers, p. 6. 9 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 43, 1992, pp. 70. 10 ibid. no. 44, 1992, p. 70. 11 encyclical letter redemptor hominis (4th march 1979), 10:aas71 (1979), 274. 12 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 44, 1992, pp. 70-71. 13 ibid, no. 45, p. 72. 14 handbook of the seminary of all saints. 2005, p. 6 15 the gift of the priestly vocation, new ratio fundamentalist institutions sacerdotalis, paulines publications african daughters of st. paul, nairobi, 2017, p. 27. 16 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 45, 1992, pp. 73. 17ibid., p. 73. 18 ibid. no 57, p. 88. 19handbook of the seminary of all saints 2005 – 2008, ava printers, benin city, p. 8. 20 catechism of the catholic church, no. 2221 21patron wong j.c. (2014) “foundations of priestly formation” conference on priestly vocation organized by the congregation for the clergy http://www.clerus.va (retrieved 18th march, 2020). 22 ibid, 23szczesny, w., (2015) families play important role in vocation, (article) http://www.wnycatholic.org/news/article/featured/2015/02/26/100511/familiesplay-important-role-in-vocation. 24 patron wong, 2014. 25patron wong, 2014. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 269 26 ratio fundamentalis in sacerdotalis, no. 130. 27 patron wong, 2014). 28 szczesny, 2015. 29 optatam totius no. 2 30pastores dabo vobis, no. 41. 31szczesny, 2015. 32fr. aytona, j., (2018) family life: the first seminary, (article) http://fathersof mercy.com/family-life-first-seminary/ 33the code of canon law, no 226 ⸹2. 34 gaudium et spes no. 6 57 5 priestly vocation and discernment: espousing the gamalian approach in spiritual formation. peter ajayi wojuaye seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma, edo state deogratiaswoju@gmail.com abstract the priestly vocation is a mystery and its discernment is metaphysical because the reality of the call to the roman catholic priesthood is ultimately divine, therefore it calls for proper discernment from both the formandee and the formators. the letter to the hebrews chapter five makes it clear that “no one takes the honour upon himself”. vocation to the priesthood which is a call as well as a precious gift from god “is the love of the heart of jesus” as congregation for the clergy reminds us in june 7, 2013, the world day of prayer for the sanctification of priests. in this light, gamalian spirituality is born out of the way of life, the reputation and the way in which gamaliel; a pharisee approached the issue of the conflict between the sanhedrin and the persecutions of the early church when peter and john were persecuted cf. act 5:34-40. gamaliel said, “so in the present case i tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fall; but if it is of god, you will not be able to overthrown them. you might even be found opposing god!” to this effect, in the formation and the discernment of priestly vocation, gamalian spirituality is very important. keywords: priestly vocation, seminary formation, spirituality, gamalian spirituality, discernment introduction priestly vocation is a mystery, life itself is a mystery and the task of discernment of the call itself is indeed a mystery. francis cardinal arinze 58 formation of the human person in the 21st century was once asked to explain his vocation to the priesthood he however, gave a brief history of his life how he was influenced by blessed michael i. tansi (his former parish priest who is now a blessed). cardinal arinze said, “only god can finally analyze the reason a person is attracted to the catholic priesthood.” in the book titled “saint john paul ii the story of my life gift and mystery”, our loving saint pope john paul ii gives the reality of this mystery!1 vocation to the catholic priesthood is a mystery. how can one know that he is called? how could this call be discerned by those in charge of forming candidates for the priesthood? in fact, formation could be defined as ‘deciding for god’ those whom he has chosen. this tells us that formation as a process or art is not an easy task. how can formators despite human limitations recommend young men whom “they may not know in totality” for the priesthood? this is also a mystery. to further this mysterious nature of this vocation we are led back to its discernment. the story of the way david was anointed readily comes to mind. before samuel could discerned that david was the one chosen by god after god rejected seven sons of jesse tells us the difficult task of discernment cf. i sam 16:1-13.2 it is on this note we shall look at some terms that need clarification as follows: priestly vocation, seminary’s formation, spirituality, gamalian spirituality, and discernment. priestly vocation the priestly vocation, is a mystery, it is a call to become another christ. vocation is from the latin word vocare which means to call. in the latin rite, it is to be a celibate. by the laying on of hands and the prayer of consecration the man that was in the seminary becomes another christ. this means that priestly vocation is a called to discipleship. in fact, the holy orders is a sacrament of service. in the latin rite, we have seven sacraments, three of these are sacrament of initiation while two are sacrament of healing, and the other two are sacrament of service namely: holy orders and matrimony. the priestly vocation as the sacrament of service, is a call to become another christ and a mystery. to this effect, because of who the priest is, the church as laid down through experiences ways in which young men are admitted to the seminary so that they could be formed and their calling to this great ministry discerned; this is why formation in the seminary is necessary. seminary’s formation the council of trent in the sixteenth century instituted seminary formation. the seminaries were given directive for the formation of men for the priesthood. it is imperative to know what is a seminary before going to the seminary’s formation. seminary is a nursery ground for the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 59 training of those preparing for the catholic priesthood. it is reserved to schools instituted, in accordance with a decree of the council of trent, for the training of the catholic priests.3 a theological seminary (grand séminaire) provides courses in holy scripture, philosophy, theology and so on to give young men immediate preparation for ordination.4 a priest is the representative of christ among men: his mission is to carry on christ's work for the salvation of souls; in christ's name and by his power, he teaches men what they ought to believe and what they ought to do: he forgives sins, and offers sacrifice of the body and blood of christ. he is another christ (sacerdos alter christus). his training, therefore, must be in harmony with this high office and consequently different in many ways from the preparation for secular professions. he must possess not only a liberal education, but also professional knowledge, and moreover, like an army or navy officer, he needs to acquire the manners and personal habits becoming his calling. to teach candidates for the priesthood what a priest ought to know and to make them what a priest ought to be is the purpose of seminary formation.5 it is to this effect that the seminary’s formation is divided into four major parts as it had been laid down by the church from experiences through the inspiration of the ‘finger of god’, the holy spirit who is going to lead the church to the complete truth (cf. jn 16:13) and in pastores dabo vobis of pope john paul ii numbers 42 to 59 the four areas of priestly formation as follows: (1) human formation, the basis of all priestly formation, (2) spiritual formation, in communion with god and search of christ, (3) intellectual formation, understanding the faith, and (4) pastoral formation, communion with the charity of jesus christ the good shepherd.6 these areas of formation is indeed good and useful for forming candidates for the priesthood in its synthesis and none of this parts should be neglected as if it were unimportant. for christ to be formed in an individual candidate, these areas of formation must as a matter fact, be united. in fact, i would like to call it “an indispensable tetra-formative process” and in parts they cannot formed but in their unity we see another christ, who is human, spiritual, a scholar and a pastor as well. to this end, we look at the spiritual formation of a candidate by examine spirituality. as noted by the fathers of the second vatican council, spiritual formation is a necessity for priestly formation. and just as religious institutes use the period of novitiate to introduce their candidates to their spiritualities, that is, (to the way in which connection with god is sought and established in their particular traditions) the spiritual year is a duration set apart for initial spiritual formation in view of the priestly life and ministry.7 and this 60 formation of the human person in the 21st century spiritual formation continues in major seminary or theological seminary. spirituality in order that the term spirituality might be understood in its entire dimension, it is necessary to explain what is meant by the term spirit. spirit is from the latin word, spiritus meaning breath, spirare to blow, breathe which is an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms, a supernatural being or essence.8 spirit is mysterious in nature and it is ascribed to a divine origin.9 in the bible, the spirit is called the creative, animating power or divine influence of god (cf. joel 2:28).10 so when we are talking about spirit, we refer to the activating or essential principle influencing a person, an inclination, impulse, or tendency of a specific kind and a special attitude or frame of mind.11however, in as much as there are different kinds of definition of spirituality this paper uses the definition provided by fagun when he was asked the meaning of spirituality. he says, spirituality is a core aspect of religion though some nonconformists try to create some spirituality in the air. spirituality is essentially based on religious practices. in fact it leads to the height of religious experience. it consists of a particular experience of what is divine. i say a particular experience because there are many sides to spirituality based on one’s faith and character. for according to my slogan, "a kìí ṣe ìgbàgbọ́ kọjá ìwà ẹni" one’s character is basic to one’s spiritual life, because character would dictate the level of cooperation with divine grace. authentic faith is a gift of god, and it is grace that inspired the spiritual person who freely cooperates.12 so, the context in which this paper shall adopt as regard spirituality is the influence of the spirit of god in an individual irrespective of the person involved and how this stimulus reflects in the individual day-today living and most importantly, noticing the spirit of god at work in a certain person or in a given situation most especially a particular way of experiencing the divine as noted by fagun. in the aspect of spirituality, spirituality means being spiritual, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit, incorporeal, connected with religious values, related or join in spirit.13relating to or affecting the human spirit as opposed to material or physical things, relating to religious belief.14 what then is spirituality? spirituality, therefore, means sensitivity or attachment to religious values, the quality of being spiritual.15 that is, a soul is acted upon by the holy spirit.16 the basic truism from this section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 61 definition is that spirituality has a transcendental dimension which goes beyond physical reality for it is a religious term. this implies that spirituality, as a concept is a broad concept. that is why we have different kinds of spirituality like african traditional spirituality, buddhist spirituality and christian spirituality. in christian spirituality, there are many kinds of spirituality. some words associated with spirituality are piety, devotion, godliness and holiness.17 the word “spirituality” and “mysticism” are somewhat used in an equivalent way.18 spirituality etymologically suggests “life”, and “dynamism” and “breathing”. and that is what the spiritual life aims to be: coming to life in all one’s dimensions.19 the word “spirituality” a word obviously “contaminated” by the “spirit”20often refers to a way of living in line with a particular way of life. to further this example, let us examine what donald dorr has to say about spirituality. now i prefer to begin at the other end to accept that the most privileged ‘place’ in which god speaks to me is my own spirituality. this means that i can no longer think of a person’s spirituality as something that comes from outside. rather it is that which is most deeply personal. my spirituality is me. not the ‘me’ that so often is distracted, scattered, and inauthentic; but the most genuine and profound ‘me’ that exists.21 this tells us how spirituality is personal and entails a communication of the divine to the human person. it is the sum total of religious or ethical values that govern a person’s life. spirituality is that which determines and directs one’s life.22 christian spirituality is therefore, a participation in the mystery of christ through the interior life of grace, actuated by faith, charity, and the other christian virtues. the life that the individual receives through participation in christ is the same life that animated the god-man, the life that the incarnate word shares with the father and the holy spirit; it is, therefore, the life of god in the august mystery of the trinity. through christ, the spiritual life of the christian is eminently trinitarian23 the difficulty in constructing a theology of the spiritual life consists in the fact that the spiritual life is at once a mystery and a problem. it is a mystery specifically since it is life, indeed divine life, a sharing in the christ-life. although one may experience this life in the depths of his being as a life of union with god, it is nevertheless ineffable because the supernatural and transcends human comprehension.24 however, living well is at the heart of all serious spirituality.25 this implies that no matter how secularized the word spirituality is we cannot remove religiosity from it if it is to be authentic. it is on this note we have different kinds of spirituality: like islamic spirituality, african traditional spirituality and christian spirituality which follows a doctrine or a way of life of a 62 formation of the human person in the 21st century particular religious figure. for example, jesus for the christians and muhammad for the islam and the practices with different gods in african traditional religion in relation to the supreme being (god). as noted earlier that spirituality is a broad term, and that its definition in particularity might be very difficult. this same difficulty is also apparent in christian spirituality that sometimes becomes difficult to define it with any specificity. in other words, christian spirituality manifests in different forms, and so, it is difficult to find one common form of christian spirituality.26 however, in the heart of any christian spirituality is jesus christ and the working of his spirit. fagun defines christian spirituality as imitation of christ when he was asked in an interview the question: “what is christian spirituality”? christian spirituality is a life of spiritual perfection in the imitation of the lifestyle of jesus christ as he taught his followers to be perfect (matthew 5:48). and this perfection requires placing spiritual values over and above the material in practice (cf. matthew 19:16-29).27 let us examine the definition of spirituality according to balthasar. the notion of spirituality is a modern one, found neither in the tradition of religious philosophy nor of biblical theology. it is therefore important to determine its content and bearing. in general (negative speaking) it may be said that there is no reason for the christian to limit spirituality to the context of christianity; just as christians speak of a “medieval” or a “carmelite” or a “lay” spirituality, so can we speak analogously of “buddhist” or a “sufi” spirituality. on the basis of the same common understanding of the idea, spirituality may be approximately defined as that basic practical or existential attitude of man which is the consequence of expression of the way in which he understands his religious or more generally, his ethically committed existence; the way in which he acts and reacts habitually throughout his life according to his objective and ultimate insights and decisions.28 gamalian spirituality the pharisees are one of the jewish religious sects in jesus’ time. this particular sect was always at loggerheads with jesus. in fact, jesus christ had confronted them with statements like: “woe to you pharisees”, “you hypocrites” and so many others unkind statements. in fact, there is no less than six woes for the pharisees and scribes in the gospel according to st. matthew (cf. 23:13-39) this is because of the ways in which the pharisees presented themselves and ultimately the way they organized and practiced the jewish religion. this statement by jesus to the pharisees was because of their external observance of law and religious practices that were not truly internalized or even practiced with the spirit of the law. hence, they followed the law (torah) to the latter as against section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 63 the spirit behind the law. another aspect of this pharisaic way of life is the trait of self-righteousness, which jesus christ was totally against when he gave the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee who were in the temple for prayer and the pharisee’s prayer was rejected because of the lack of humility which is an essential element of an authentic prayer to god (cf. lk 18:9-14). be that as it may, there exist questions that could be raised from the above and which need careful consideration. firstly, is everything wrong in being a pharisee on one hand? if this is yes, why would jesus christ recommended that people should observe and practice everything that the pharisees tell them? (cf. mt 23:3). but then, this recommendation has a clause and that is “what they do”. in other words, this recommendation by jesus excludes “what they do”. secondly, can anything good come from a pharisee? or are the pharisees totally bad? these are basic questions which this paper tries to address that despite the disputes that existed between jesus christ and the pharisees in the gospel we can have a spirituality that could be useful for christians which is named after the pharisee called gamaliel. the aim and objective of this work is to examine and expose gamalian spirituality and show how a christian spirituality may be gotten from a pharisee namely: gamaliel and how it can be applied to the discernment of priestly vocation. discernment discernment is the process of gaining insight into a situation in order to arrive at appropriate judgment, often times in view of taking or not taking a certain action. in spiritual direction, one analyzes how a person’s spirit is moved to determine whether or not the movement comes from the holy spirit. it is quite possible, even in what appears to be favorable inspiration that comes from the evil spirit or from the person himself.29 but in priestly vocation it means the process of recommending a candidate for the priesthood. of course, in the major seminary or the theological seminary it is the sole responsibility of the rector in conjunction with other formators to decide whether or not a candidate is suitable for the priesthood. the management of the seminary is in the hands of the rector, who alone under the bishop governs the seminary, calls to orders, admits and dismisses the students; a treasurer has full charge of temporal matters, while to a spiritual director is entrusted with the formation of the students in piety(which is the spiritual formation). the professors are merely teachers. however, all the formators have a share in the administration of the seminary; and all important matters are decided by a vote of the faculty. the spiritual directors and confessors of the students have no voice in the faculty meetings when one of their 64 formation of the human person in the 21st century penitents is concerned.30 to this end, discernment in spiritual matters as well as priestly vocation is not an easy task. since vocation to priesthood is a mystery so it discernment is demanding. for example, a seminarian was expelled in a minor seminary in view of priestly vocation upon the issue he honestly did not know anything about. but has providence would have it, this same rejected stone by the builder became the cornerstone not just a cornerstone but “a special-cornerstone”. it will interest you to know he became a deacon, a priest and a bishop who has ‘the fullness of priesthood’, ‘the successor of the apostles’ who was raised to the higher level greater than those who expelled him.31 when it comes to issue of vocation one need to trend with caution and that is why gamalian spirituality is paramount in this case. st. pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis no. 2 was aware of the difficulty in the discernment of priestly vocation when said: for this reason, the total trust in god's unconditional faithfulness to his promise is accompanied in the church by the grave responsibility to cooperate in the action of god who calls, and to contribute toward creating and preserving the conditions in which the good seed, sown by god, can take root and bring forth abundant fruit. the church must never cease to pray to the lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his harvest, (cf. mt. 9:38). she must propose clearly and courageously to each new generation the vocational call, help people to discern the authenticity of their call from god and to respond to it generously, and give particular care to the formation of candidates for the priesthood. the formation of future priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral commitment is considered by the church one of the most demanding and important tasks for the future of the evangelization of humanity. the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work, which the evangelist mark illustrates in these words: "and he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. and he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (mk. 3:1315).32 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 65 gamaliel to gamalian: a christian spirituality to this end, the major concern of this aspect most especially the different kinds of spirituality we have apart from christian spirituality and the christian (catholic) spirituality in particular had been exposed. this aspect is to attribute christian spirituality after gamaliel and that is, gamalian spirituality. it is a way of life lived after gamaliel, a pharisee, as recorded in acts of the apostles chapter five. hence, “gamaliel to gamalian” is the transposition of gamaliel’s way of life to a christian way of life in all its good aspects. furthermore, gamaliel, as a person belonged to a particular religious sect called the pharisees. so for better understanding of the background to which gamaliel belonged to at that time, it is very important to examine the spirituality of some religious sects of judaism. the working definition of spirituality that this paper adopts is the definition by fagun that had been cited earlier. in it, fagun gives credence to the fact that religion and spirituality are closely related when he says: “spirituality is essentially based on religious practices.”33 the sect we are going to examine is the pharisees since it is to this sect that gamaliel belongs. the pharisees the word pharisee is from the hebrew word 34ים רּושִׁ perusim meaningפְּ separated, separated ones, separators.35 they are called hasidim;36 as a continuation and development of hasidaeans the hebrew word pɞrûšίm; aram. pɞrίšayyā, from which the greek word φαρισαίοι is derived means those who had “separated themselves”37. the pharisee, ‘separate’ or ‘detach’ as the name connotes. in this regard, from whom did the pharisees separate themselves? from those, particularly priests or clerics, who interpreted the law in a different way than they; from the common people of the land or people of the earth am-ha-ares (cf. john 7:49 ); from gentiles or jews who embraced the hellenistic culture: from certain political groups? all these groups of people the pharisees would have been determined to avoid in their decision to separate themselves from any type of impurity proscribed by the levitical law — or, more specifically, their strict interpretation of it.38 they were an active, vocal religious jewish sect in the centuries before and after christ appeared on earth. they represented by and large the intellectual sector of their people, because they were passionate, continuous students and teachers of jewish religious law. their intensity and single-mindedness resulted in a harsh and uncharitable emphasis on the legal aspects of religion at the expense of charity and loving concern. jesus represented a threat to their intellectual security and leadership. they tempted him at every opportunity. they tried to trap him into wrong answers (mat 22:15-22). 66 formation of the human person in the 21st century they opposed questions, hoping to prove contradictions (mat 22:34-40). they criticized the company he kept. they objected to his sabbath activities (mk 2:15-17).39 these appellations were given to describe what the pharisees stood for at that time. but then, this does not mean that the pharisee do not have spirituality on which their religious practices are based. it is on this note that their spirituality shall be examined. the spirituality of the pharisees the teaching of the sect was based on the oral tradition as well as on the written law. the pharisees held such religious truths as the resurrection of the body and the existence of angels. since these doctrines were not clearly taught in the pentateuch (the only scripture accepted by the sadducees), the pharisees founded their belief in them upon later writings and oral traditions. in the field of morals, the pharisees taught a rigorous observance of the sabbath and insisted on legal purity and the payment of tithes. they offered various opinions on observance of these and other precepts degenerating into rigorism and casuistry. the result was frequently a sterile externalism destructive of a real religious spirit. after the destruction of the temple, and the overthrow of the jewish state, the pharisees, became practically the only influential group among the jews. they held the jewish people together. later rabbinical schools looked back with admiration upon the pharisees as the true upholders of israel’s law and traditions. the rabbis of the talmud40 were their spiritual descendants.41in order to join this spiritual association and be called a pharisee, it was necessary to have an exact knowledge of the mosaic commandments (the written torah) and the traditions of the ancients (the oral torah), to adhere with mind and heart to the teachings of the doctors of the party, and to distinguish oneself by the exact fulfillment of all their precepts. as josephus flavius points out, the pharisees concerned themselves with the strict interpretation and observance of the torah, and spared themselves no efforts to fulfill the law in every detail, earnestly and consistently striving to practice the ideal propounded by the torah scholars. in that sense, they were the classic representatives of the course adopted by judaism in its inner developments during the post-exilic period. juridical science of the pharisaic rabbis manifested itself particularly in three points: the observance of the sabbath, legal purity, and the payment of the sacred taxes.42many of the pharisees, like the essenes, believed in doctrines such as resurrection of the body, day of judgment, apocalyptic holy war and life in the world to come, while sadducees disagree with essenes and pharisees, over these doctrines. the pharisees hold only the written torah as authoritative 43 and they agree that the torah admitted of variation in applications, but jesus pressed the variation further than they section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 67 did.44with regards to the sabbath rest, they had multiplied prohibitions, going into even the smallest details. on the question of impurities, the most minute prescriptions had been added to the mosaic legislation regarding foods, diseases, corpses, apparatus in daily use, ablutions and purifying baths, contact with persons and things considered impure, and so on. as to the tithes to be paid to the priests and levites, the list of goods, revenues, and products affected had been considerably lengthened.45the rabbinical writings show that the problems raised by the observance of these traditions suggested refined casuistry. thus, with respect to the sabbath: was it permissible to eat an egg laid on such a day, or fruit plucked from the tree on that day? with regards to ablutions: which kind of water purified best, and how far must one throw one’s hands into that water? regarding taxes: was it lawful to eat vegetables or fruits bought at the market without knowing for certain whether the tithe had been paid on those products.46this is the religious sect which gamaliel belongs. to this effect, who is this gamaliel? a biography of gamaliel gamaliel, rabban gamaliel i, so called, to distinguish him from his grandson gamaliel ii who lived around 100 a. d. gamaliel is also called ‘the great’. he was a pharisee and a member of sanhedrin which judged peter and john. gamaliel intervened in favour of the apostles with prudent reasons. he intervened in their judgment noting that if the christian movement were merely human, it would of itself break-up but if it were from god then it would endure. he then admonished his colleagues to exercise caution (acts 5:34-39). in his address to the jews in jerusalem, paul claimed that he had studied under gamaliel (acts 22:3).47the word, gamaliel, is a greek form of the hebrew name meaning ‘reward of god’.48he had a son named simeon. he was of the city of jerusalem, and a noble family, of the sect of the pharisee, which were above others in the accurate knowledge of the laws of their country.49but it seems that he took a special interest in social reform, particularly in bettering the legal status of women.50 base on who gamaliel is, fagun has this to say when he was asked the question “do you know anything about gamaliel of acts 5:34-40?” gamaliel was a rabbinic scholar of the school of hillel, the liberal minded, as against the school of shammai, the far right in israel. he was one of the chief judges in the sanhedrin court at the time of the apostles of jesus christ, and paul would later boast of being his student (acts 22:23), because he was a highly esteemed and popular scholar (acts 5:34).51 from the above, we see clearly the personality of gamaliel and his reputation. his name designates in the new testament a pharisee 68 formation of the human person in the 21st century and celebrated doctor of the law. gamaliel is represented in act 5:34ff as advising his fellow-members of the sanhedrin not to put to death st. peter and the apostles, who, notwithstanding the prohibition of the jewish authorities, had continued to preach to the people. his advice, however unwelcome, was acted upon. so great was his authority with his contemporaries. gamalian spirituality: theological look at acts 5:34:40 in order that we may better understand acts 5:34-40 which shows gamaliel’s intervention or advocacy for the apostles during the persecutions in the early church at jerusalem, it is very important to recall what happened in the previous chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the acts of the apostles in order to understand what led to gamaliel’s intervention of which gamalian spirituality is solidly based. the holy spirit had just descended upon the apostles (cf. acts 2ff) and the apostles were able to preach with confidence without fear of the jews (cf. jn 20:19). as a result of sadducean jealousy at the apostles’ reputation for the healing of a man lame from birth (cf. acts 3:2) and many other signs and wonders, they had been arrested and put to jail, only to be released by an angel (cf. acts 5:12-20). when the sanhedrin convened, their captain and officers eventually tracked the apostles down in the temple, and brought them before the council (vv. 21-27). the high priest demanded to know why the apostles persisted, in spite of prior threatening, to teach in jesus’ name. they replied thus: “we must obey god rather than men.” they also accused the sanhedrin of murdering the saviour (vv 27-32). condemnation of death at that moment seemed certain (v 33).52 it is in this certainty that gamaliel gave the following admonitions to the council which is the foundation of gamalian spirituality: so in the present case i tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of god, you will not be able to overthrow them. you might even be found opposing god! (act 5:38-39) gamaliel intervened and cautioned against imprisonment and further persecutions. his standing in the sanhedrin is assumed to be great, in that he commands the apostles to be put outside for brief time (v 34). he, then, urges caution, and gave instances of theudas and judas the galilean which had come to nothing. the apostles also will fail, if their movement is of men (vv 35-38). if their movement is of god, gamaliel argues that the sanhedrin would be unable to prevail, and it will even be a fight against god (v 39). having been convinced by gamaliel’s arguments, the sanhedrin released the apostles after flogging them and repeated the old command, not to speak in jesus’ name (v 40, cf. 4:17). section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 69 however, the apostles were very happy to suffer for the sake of christ and they did not cease to talk about jesus. the second and last mention of gamaliel occurs in acts 22:3, during a speech of paul, in which the apostle claims to have been instructed at the feet of gamaliel with an exact knowledge of the ancestral law.53these passages give credence to the fact that gamaliel is a person with high integrity. to this end, gamaliel’s counsel to the council is the bases for the gamalian spirituality which calls all to a life of tolerance, respect for human dignity and being sensitive to the action of the holy spirit. gamaliel was able to be sensitive to the signs of time and his expression testifies truly he was a man of high repute as earlier described by the evangelist (cf. acts 5:34). an application of gamalian spirituality to priestly vocation and its discernment the priestly vocation is indeed a spiritual thing and through the application of gamalian spirituality to the spiritual formation and the entire process of formation there will definitely be a proper judgment, helping the seminarian to better appreciate his call, give him another opportunity this will definitely makes him to value the mystery of his call, a mystery that goes beyond the one who is called the letter to the hebrews 5:4 tells us: “and one does not take the honour upon himself, but he is called by god, just as aaron was.”pope john paul ii gives credence to this point in pastores dabo vobis when he says: the absolute primacy of grace in vocation is most perfectly proclaimed in the word of jesus: “you did not choose me, but i chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide (jn 15:16). if the priestly vocation bears unequivocal witness to the primacy of grace, god’s free and sovereign decision to call man calls for total respect. it cannot be forced in the slightest by any human ambition, and it cannot be replaced by any human decision. vocation is a gift of god’s grace and never a human right, such that “one can never consider priestly life as a simply human affair, nor the mission of the minister as a simply personal project” every claim or presumption on the part of those called is thus radically excluded (cf. heb 5:4ff). their entire heart and spirit should be filled with an amazed and deeply felt gratitude, an unshakeable trust and hope; because those who have been called know that they are rooted not in their own strength but in the unconditional faithfulness of god who calls.54 70 formation of the human person in the 21st century conclusion to end, the fact that priestly vocation is a mystery calls for a careful discernment of which gamalian spirituality is very important. fr. michael bunmi olofinlade, in his book “mystery of god’s call: a reflection on discipleship” reflecting on the mystery of vocation and the choice of the twelve by jesus out of many that he had called says: “thus, jesus christ is the one who determines the choice of his disciples, it is not a human choice despite human instrumentality in its discernment.”55this, therefore, is a pointer to the reality that seminarians are not to give up. if they do not become catholic priests they can still be useful in the church. they must not use it to alienate themselves from the church or become anti-catholics. if one becomes a catholic priest after one’s seminary training, we can only attribute it to the grace of god. the letter to the hebrews tells us, ‘no one takes this honour upon himself’. that is why vocation is a gift as well as mystery, says st. pope john paul ii.56 pope francis reminds us in his message for 2018 world day of vocation that: “the lord’s call – let it be said at the outset – is not as clear – cut as any of those things we hear, see or touch in our daily experience…”57. this tells us that both the formed and the formators are to tread with caution in this discernment there must not be harsh judgments base on sentiments. in fact, gamalian spirituality gives credence to probation by which the formators gives second chance to a given seminarian. as regards vocation, all that can be expected is not indeed certainty, but probability.58 and this is why the formators recommend candidates for the priesthood while dismissal from the seminary means no more than that the student is not considered fit for the priesthood. but then, gamalian spirituality will plead to give more chance(s) because if they have the call they will definitely be. just has the bishop who ordained me into catholic priesthood was expelled in the minor seminary but he later became a bishop! can we say the judgment was wrong or that was the path that god wants for him? but history proves he was expelled but later exalted. prof. plo lumumba says: “history is a fair judge, it is a judge that is able to identify the things that speak for themselves”. and if gamalian spirituality is applied in formation it will save many fruitful vocations. but then, gamalian spirtuality is not an advocate of seminary where anything goes! it is about a careful discernment. endnotes 1 cf. saint john paull ii, the story of my life: gift and mystery, (vatican; libreria editrice vaticana: 1996, in paulines publications africa, 2014 with a new title: the story of my life on the occasion of the canonization of pope john paul ii) it must be section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 71 noted that the title that was given to this book when it was first published in 1996 by libreria editrice vaticana was “grace and mystery” but on the occasion of his canonization in 2014 the paulines publication added the title “the story of my life”. 2the holy bible revised standard version, 1 samuel 16:1(rsv) says “ the lord said to samuel, ‘how long will you grieve over saul, seeing i have rejected him from being king over israel? fill your horn with oil, and go; i will send you to jesse the bethlehmite, for i have provided for myself a king among his sons” this explains that even before david was anointed had already been chosen by god. applying this to formation one could say that before a seminary formation a seminarian had been called by god himself. for example in the life of david, he was already a shepherd and the qualities of a leader has been inculcated one could say his formation was on the field he was called on the field. this could be applied to the story told by francis cardinal arinze that he was influenced by his former parish priest blessed michael i. tansi the influence that blessed tansi had on the lad, francis arinze provided a suitable ground for his seminary formation. this too is a mystery! 3 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm. 4 ibid. 5 ibid. 6 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) 42-59 7“the spiritual year” in ikenna henry okoroji, catholic seminaries directory nigeria, 1st edition (abuja: catholic secretariat of nigeria abuja, 2011) 67. 8 catherine soanes and angus stevenson, concise oxford english dictionary, 11th edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2004) 1391. 9 “spirit” in the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language (usa: deluxe encyclopedic edition, trident press, 1977) 1210. 10ibid. 11 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1203. 12michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. it worth noting that fagun is emeritus bishop of the catholic diocese of ekiti, he was ordained as a bishop on october 10, 1971 he is an historian and he had authored many books. 13 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1203-1204 14 catherine soanes and angus stevenson, concise oxford english dictionary, 11th edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2004) 1391. 15 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1204. 16the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language (usa: deluxe encyclopedic edition, trident press, 1977) 1210. 72 formation of the human person in the 21st century 17william m. thompson, christology and spirituality, (new york: crossroad publication, 1991) 4. 18 ibid, 5. 19ibid., 4. 20ibid., 5. 21donald dorr, spirituality and justice, (new york: macmillan, 1984) 19-20. 22abraham kadaplackal, the spirituality of the diocesan priest, (bandra: st paul’s publication, 2010) 15. 23 jordan aumann, spiritual theology, (london; sheed and ward stagbooks; 1980) 18. 24 ibid. 25richard s. briggs in kevin j. vanhoozer (et.al), dictionary for theological interpretation of the bible, (usa: baker academic publisher, 2001) 768. 26obi oguejiofor, “the world as summum bonum: impact of african idea of ultimate reality on christian spirituality” in marysylvia nwachukwu and augustine oburota, theological perspectives on spirituality and piety in nigeria, proceedings of the 19th conference of cathan(the catholic theological association of nigeria) held at st. augustine’s major seminary, jos 14-16th april, 2004,( enugu: 2005) 101. 27“what is christian spirituality?” michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 28 hans urs von balthasar, “the gospel as norms and test of all spirituality”, in christian duquoc and claude geffré et al, spirituality in church and world, vol. 9 (new york; concilium paulist press, 1965 ) 7. 29 theodore w. walters, a guide for spiritual direction (kenya: paulines publication africa, 2015) 48. 30 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm 31 it worth noting that this is a life story of the bishop who ordained me into catholic priesthood. cf. portrait of a servant of god: biography of bishop ayo-maria atoyebi, o.p. @ 70 (ilorin: published by catholic diocese of ilorin 70th birthday committee, 2014) 32 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) 2. 33 “what is spirituality?” michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 34 hebrew word for pharisees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pharisees accessed on 3 march, 2019 9:35 pm 35john a. hardon, pocket catholic dictionary: abridged edition of modern catholic dictionary, (new york: doubleday, 1985) 326-327. 36william bridgewater (et al.,) the columbia-viking desk encyclopedia, (london: macdonald, 1968) 843. 37new catholic encyclopedia, vol. xi (usa: catholic university of america, 1967) 252. 38“pharisees”https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/pharisees/(3/3/2019) 39 john a. hardon, pocket catholic dictionary: abridged edition of modern catholic dictionary, (new york: doubleday, 1985) 326-327. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 73 40the talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; hebrew: ְלמּוד talmūd) is the central text ofתַּ rabbinic judaism and the primary source of jewish religious law (halakha) and jewish theology. until the advent of modernity, in nearly all jewish communities, the talmud was the centrepiece of jewish cultural life and was foundational to ‘all jewish thought and aspirations’, serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of jews. cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/talmud (7/3/2019). 41new catholic encyclopedia, (london: catholic university of america, 1969) 252. 42 francis pereira,gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 24. 43 john t. pawlikowski and james a. wilde, when catholics speak about jews, (new york: liturgical training publications, 1987)24. 44 ibid.., 25 45francis pereira,gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 24. 46francis pereira, gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 25. 47the new world dictionary concordance to the new american bible, (usa: catholic world press, s.d,) 2000. 48 gigot, francis. "gamaliel."the catholic encyclopedia.vol. 6. new york: robert appleton company, 1909. 26 apr. 2010 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06374b.htm>. 49josephus flavius, the works of josephus, (usa: hendrickson publication, transl. by william whiston, 2006) 12. 50new catholic encyclopedia, vol. vi, (usa: catholic university of america, 1967) 275. 51michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 52bruce chilton in david freedman, anchor bible dictionary, vol. 2 (london: yale university press, 2008) 904. 53ibid. 54 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) no. 36 55 michael b. olofinlade, the mystery of god’s call: a reflection on discipleship, (ado-ekiti: afusco printing press, 2001, ) 24-25. 56 cf. st. john paul ii the story of my life: gift and mystery, (libreria editrice vaticana: 1969 in paulines publications africa 2014) 57 pope france message for the 2018 world day of vocation, vatican: 3 december, 2017. 58 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 139 st. augustine's epistemology and the education process abstract st. augustine's epistemology can be seen in his doctrine of divine illumination, where he distinguishes knowledge got through the senses, inferior reason, and superior reason. augustine was interested in education and he was a teacher very interested in how learners get the best knowledge from the teaching and learning process. he held that love of god, expressed through love of neighbour was to be the bedrock of the teacher-pupil relationship, but he did not clearly state the bridge or connecting link between the teaching and learning process. so, through critical analysis. this essay intends to explore augustine's divine illumination theory as the missing link between teaching and learning. it employs the method of exposition and critical analysis. keywords: st. augustine, epistemology, basis, teaching, learning, divine illumination introduction history has it that aurelius augustine, popularly known as saint augustine or augustine, the bishop of hippo, was born in a.d. 354 at thagaste, in north africa. thagaste was a town forty-five miles south of hippo in the roman province of numidia, which is the current algeria. augustine's father was patricius (a pagan), and his mother was monica (a christian). through his mother's persistence in pressuring augustine to become a christian, augustine ended up becoming a christian, and through his writings a rich intellectual 140 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 foundation of christianity was established in the west. augustine became enthused about philosophy through his reading of cicero's hortensius, when he went to carthage for further studies in his late teens. then he taught rhetoric in carthage and later in rome and milan. as a thinker, augustine was more of a restless seeker than a systematic thinker. he restlessly sought to unravel the problem of evil, which may be said to have characterized his intellectual and moral struggle in life. this restless search brought augustine to romance briefly with the dualistic philosophy of manichaeanism, and then dived headlong into the neoplatonic philosophy of plotinus. to bring a solution to his struggle with the problem of evil, augustine synthesized the ideas of neoplatonists with christianity; upholding the teachings of the bible but equally realizing that broad education was needed to maintain these teachings in the intellectual and political climate of his time.1 for augustine, the ultimate purpose for education is turning towards god, because in his analysis for the presence of evil, augustine notes that evil is not a being but human exercise of the free will in rejecting god who is the ultimate good.2 augustine believes that education helps save humans from the self destructive path of rejecting god in human's exercise of the free will, and he dedicated himself to delivering a good number of teaching and learning aid to facilitate the education of humans. this point is presented by raymond canning thus: augustine of hippo offers a rich resource for philosophical, theological and pastoral reflection on teaching and learning. already in december 386, four months or more before his baptism, he had proposed, in on order 2,7,24-19,51, a program for education in the liberal arts, the object of which was the vision of beauty, the vision of god. shortly afterwards, in his soliloquies, he had explored the epistemological foundations of such a program, focusing on the highest of the liberal arts, i.e., philosophy, the subject matter of which for him was god and the soul. then, in the late 380s, in the st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 141 dialogue with his son, adeodatus, called the teacher, he developed an accompanying theory of language and interpretation, a theory that would be further worked out and applied in his classic treatment of the interpretation of scripture in on christian doctrine dating from the mid to late 390s. it is not surprising, therefore, that in 415-418 as he explores different mental analogies in his work, on the trinity, he should draw attention also to the amor studentium, i.e., “the sort of love... that the studious have, that is people who do not yet know but still desire to know some branch of learning.... the more... the thing is known without being fully known, the more does the intelligence desire to know what remains.... the object of our inquiry is what it is that [someone] loves in that which he is studious to know.”3 augustine placed education within the realm of the search for love, and indicates that education comes through the instrumentality of teaching and learning. through teaching, the phenomenon to be known is exposed, while through learning, the exposed phenomenon is grasped. but a close consideration of the elements of teaching and learning in augustine's philosophy of education may leave one asking: “are the elements of teaching and learning in augustine's philosophy of education parallel to themselves or do they have a point of convergence?” this paper argues that there is a point of convergence for the elements: teaching and learning, in augustine's philosophy of education, and that point of convergence lies in augustine's epistemology. but before digging deep into this, let us consider two philosophical trends that influenced augustine. platonic and aristotelian influence on augustine augustine is ordinarily considered to be a platonist, and he even made allusion to the strong influence of neoplatonism on him thus: “in the regular course of study i came upon the book of a certain 142 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 cicero... that book of his contained an exhortation to philosophy. it was called hortensius. in fact that book changed my mental attitude, and changed the character of my prayers to thyself, o lord.”4 augustine held firmly to neoplatonism and was pleasantly surprised by its unexpected agreement with christian doctrine: therein i read, not, indeed, in these very words, but quite the same thing, supported by means of many and manifold reasons, that: in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god. furthermore, i read that the soul of man, though it gives testimony of the light, is not itself the light, but the word, god himself, is the true light, that enlightens every man who comes into the world.... again, i read there that the word, god, was born not of the flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of flesh, but of god.5 neoplatonism offered augustine the soft landing he needed to accept the christian faith, yet retain his pagan literary culture. so augustine belongs to the platonic school of thought, but robert c. trundle notes that “augustine is normally associated with plato's essentialism rather than aristotle's 'organismic' empiricism. but... both aristotle and plato presented paradigm metaphysical options. and an open-minded reading of augustine's philosophical theology belies some mediation between them.”6 the metaphysics of plato was attractive, especially to a thinker like augustine, for the fact that it made a distinction between two realities together with a soul that knew eternal ideas, just as the scripture made a distinction between unchanging spiritual reality and a changing corporeal reality. yet, plato's metaphysics loses its attractiveness in the face of the claim in the new testament that all things will pass away, and that includes knowledge, leaving only love (agape) that will endure forever. also, the new testament teaching of the resurrection of the body, which is ultimately connected to love, cannot find a place in platonism which regards the body as a 'dark' receptacle, obscuring st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 143 the cognitive 'light' of the soul. for these difficulties with plato's metaphysics, an alternative is found in aristotle's metaphysics, based on the fact that: ...it is easier for the later greeks as well as for augustine to embrace an aristotelian paradigm in which the mind, without recourse to a pre-existing soul, distinguished immutable universal ideas from mutable objects. for one thing, this was a simpler thesis. for another, this thesis would give an omniscient god some possible role in illuminating such objects. further, these objects qua unities of form and matter implied a unity of body and soul. though the later implied the death of soul and body alike, it rendered a personal resurrection viable and significant. [but].... the significance of the resurrection was tainted by an aristotelian view of a single reality that, while involving a cosmological principle of causation, proceeded ad infinitium into the past. besides an infinite past conflicting with creatio ex nihilo, it further anchored in otherwise transcendent god in a single reality.7 having pin-pointed the attractive and unattractive metaphysical options of platonism and aristotelianism, tundle submits that “it is reasonable to suppose that augustine limitedly embraced both. the platonic ontology of two realities explained the transcendence of god as well as both an inferiority of corporeal reality and sin-laden human condition;”8 which reveals the inherent fault in human knowledge and self deception in wanting to use just only human knowledge to solve moral and political problems, while doing away with god. the aristotelian epistemology explained the merciful immanence of god, despite its fruitless pursuits of godless utopias. it acknowledges the ordered and rationality at play in the world, and these tended towards empiricism, yet the medium of articulating them cannot solely be limited to bodily senses. this is in close 144 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 association with augustine's claim in the on free choice of the will, that persons “are forced to admit that the order and truth of numbers have nothing to do with the bodily senses;”9 a claim that is not meant to mean that the real mathematical ideas are to be found in another 'real world of ideas' but that mathematical ideas cannot just be merely explained out on the base of a materialist account of perception. to explain the fact that ideas cannot be limited to strict materialist account of perception, augustine in the city of god exhibits an aristotelian-like understanding of the 'infusion' of the material body of human beings with an inner light or intelligence;10 and with this persons are able to numerically articulate the various parts of mutable bodies that are said to constitute a body, no matter how small it may be. but then, augustine will count it as folly when human beings confuse the rational inner light, used both in nature science and mathematics, with the wisdom of god. this reveals augustine's leaning to platonic ontology of an unchanging (spiritual) realm that is not to be confused with cognitive knowledge. augustine notes this distinction in his on free choice of the will, when he identified in solomon's words in eccles. 7. 26, his futile search for wisdom: “i and my heart have gone round to know and to consider and to search out wisdom and number”11 to make a claim of having learnt something, would involve for augustine the dual understanding of one learning the rules of valid inference as being different from learning the truth of propositions. augustine portrays this difference when he said that one “who knows that there is a resurrection of the dead is better than another who knows that it follows from the proposition that there is no resurrection of the dead that 'then christ is not risen'”12 augustine acknowledges, from the above, that humans have knowledge claims that are based on inferences, yet he is of the opinion that learning a proposition's truth is better, especially a truth revealed by god. in this regard, augustine would opine that in secular reason lies an inner light which can be said to be a kind of lower wisdom, having its link and source in a higher wisdom, which may be supposed to be the light of god illuminating the lower wisdom of humans; this he expressed thus: st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 145 just as the objects which men see in the sunlight and choose to enjoy are many and varied, yet the light in which the sight of each man watching sees and holds what he enjoys is one; so even if the goods are many and varied from which each man may choose what he wishes […] nevertheless it is possible that the very light of wisdom […] is one wisdom common to all wise men.13 augustine notes that it is the sun that illumines the objects that humans see and enjoy; and no matter how many the objects are that are illuminated by the sun, it is the same one sun that illuminates them all. the illumination of the objects cannot and should not be equated to the illuminating act of the sun. bringing this analogy to the human act of cognition, augustine would reckon it foolishness for humans to elevate human cognitive inner light to an absolute light of god, and hence start perceiving themselves as gods. from the foregoing it can be see that augustine is principally influenced by the thoughts of plato, yet it cannot be said that he was not in any way influenced by aristotelian thoughts. augustine and the acquisition of knowledge in de magistro, augustine dealt with the issue of epistemology and the acquisition of knowledge. the style adopted by augustine in de magistro was to analyze language, its semantics and its semiotics, and the reason for adopting this style was for the reason that “knowledge acquisition implies learning, learning implies teaching, and teaching involves either the telling or the showing of something to someone;”14 and for augustine, the most obvious form of teaching would appear to involve telling something to someone. in this regard, meaning and concept are important to augustine, for the fact that something bears meaning and it is conveyed through concept. while not considering in this study augustine analysis of language as a medium for acquiring knowledge, it is to be noted that for learning to take place, there are some requirements to be met 146 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 according to augustine; and this he explained with the analogy of the birdcatcher. though augustine used the imagery of the birdcatcher in both de magistro and de animae quantitate in varying contexts, yet with regard to learning and the requirements needed for learning to take place, he used that imagery to show that, firstly, it is a nostalgic glance back to his youth which focuses upon the place of play and enjoyment in the learning process, the learner should be filled with wonder ('admirans' dm 32) and should want to know ('scire cupiebat' dm 32). secondly, and most significantly, there is the contrast, in the de animae quantitate passage, between the studious life of the young adult and the outdoor life of the young child. the contrast highlights learning through direct experience and learning through study.15 augustine used the imagery of the birdcatcher often in his writings, and this for him would interpret to mean that the birdcatcher is “...involved in the act of grasping discrete items of knowledge (as represented by birds) and is employing his equipment so as to gain this knowledge. the equipment is a metaphor for the practical tools which one is in possession of to this end, namely, reason and the practical tool of argumentation.”16 also, “the birdcatcher is instructing the spectator in the use of the equipment so as to capture the bird, or piece of knowledge, and in this sense is a teacher.”17 when a teacher wants learning to take place, he or she can teach through the form of telling or showing; two forms of teaching that are expressed in de magistro. these forms of teaching can serve to encourage or remind a listener to look and thereby learn. but if telling as a form of teaching is used in the learning process then it means that words must be involved, yet, augustine perceives words as empty signals except if they are already known; that is, a word taken alone signifies nothing if that thing is not already known. a problem that arises from this, is that if knowledge cannot be learned through words, then how can the words of a narrative, especially historical narrative, give some knowledge of certain occasion? to resolve this kind of problem, augustine considered a section of the narrative from the book of daniel (dan. 3), wherein ananias. azarias, and misahel were thrown into the furnace by st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 147 nebuchadnezzar because of their faith in the god of israel. it can be argued that the words of the narrative were already known, and so there meaning is conveyed. but what of the names of the young men thrown into the furnace, the words hardly convey the knowledge of these names? to respond to this, charles connaghan notes that, the story itself, which primarily demonstrates the power of belief, signals the response to the place of narrative within augustine's epistemology. testimony is, in itself, concerned with belief and not with knowledge. everything which one receives in historical testimony is most accurately described as something we believe (credere) rather than know (scire). this fact is observed by the authorities, upon whose testimony one must base one's belief (“...ipsi quibus credimus...ait enim propheta”), in scripture. for it is stated (isaiah 7:9), that unless one believes, one will not understand, which signals an awareness that these two items (belief and understanding) are distinct.... what one understands, one also believes, but one does not understand all that one believes. also, what one understands, one knows, but one does not know all that one believes – quod ergo intellego, id etiam credo; at non omne, quod credo, etiam intellego, omne autem, quod intellego, scio; non omne, quod credo, scio …. the conclusions provided by the above statements are that, although understanding entails knowledge and belief, belief does not entail understanding or knowledge. belief would then appear to be a prerequisite for knowledge and understanding, although not vice versa, and so belief is useful as a progression towards knowledge and understanding. this is to say, as knowledge and understanding require belief and belief does not require knowledge and understanding, then belief must be a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for knowledge and understanding.18 148 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 what can be seen as established from the foregoing is that by reason, one can affirm that it is useful to believe what is known, even when human knowledge is limited, because humans cannot know everything. no matter how close or necessary belief may be to knowledge, augustine makes a clear distinction between knowledge and belief in a passage from the retractationes (1.14.3) on the de utilitate credendi, because for him knowledge has some additional factor which the firm reasoning of the mind adds to true belief. so the distinguishing factor between knowledge and belief for augustine is reason, because by this the item in question is understood. “justified true belief cannot, in this sense, be equated with knowledge, for such belief does not provide an understanding of something. it is only the firm reasoning of the mind, leading to an understanding of the item under consideration, which can accurately be described as knowledge.”19 augustine's philosophy of education augustine was very interested in education and though selfeducation may have been possible during his time, yet, he believed that it was better to have an educated work-force of teachers, who through their education and combined force can match on equal grounds with the 'pagans' of his time who boast of the fact that they understand and explain the scripture without the aid of instructional directions from anyone. augustine would argue to the fact that such persons may rejoice in god's great gift in them, yet they must not forget that they learnt to read because they were first thought by human teachers.20 though augustine's philosophy of education centered on christianity, so he advocated that the core of the christian curriculum should be the bible. deducing from this, augustine was advocating that if any educational endeavour was to be meaningful, then it was to have a core of concentration; and this is to be conveyed with sound linguistic method. this idea is largely gaining increasing recognition in curriculum development in educational systems of the world. in holding the core of the christian curriculum to be the bible, augustine was of the opinion that all other branches of learning may be used to help in the correct interpretation of the st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 149 bible: “let every good and true christian understanding that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his master.”21 following from this, augustine indicates that discernment must not be played down while allowing other branches of learning to be used in properly moderating the core of concentration of a curriculum of an educational system. to the teacher, especially the christian communicator, augustine stresses that a teacher must understand the principles of language, knowing the meaning borne by ideas that are translated from one language into another, and appreciate how ideas are communicated to the learner: “through words we learn only words...the knowledge of words is completed only after the things they signify are understood.”22 in this regard, there should not be a passive spectator in augustine's philosophy of education, because both teacher and learner must be active in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. for augustine, the possession of virtue by a teacher was a principal requisite before a teacher can teach others: “do not look for an evil teacher; if a man is evil, then he is not a teacher; if he is a teacher, then he is not evil.”23 augustine was very particular about the teacher possessing virtue before teaching others because the teaching of the teacher will be more effective when the teacher practices what he or she teaches. augustine on teaching and learning in the teacher, augustine gave a more focused consideration on teaching and learning, especially in his discussion with his son, adeodatus, when he admonished him “to be discriminating about words, to question and test the assumptions underlying assertions, and to take delight in contemplating created truth;”24 and then there is the call on teachers to “introduce their students to the culture of the intellect,”25 because the student's intellect is central to the subject of education. this notion can be summarily seen in the teacher thus: do teachers advertise that they verbally transmit their own acts of understanding, or the truths of their disciplines, for students to receive and retain? what 150 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 father sends a child to school with the silly aim of finding out what the teacher's understanding is? rather, when all subjects, even those concerning virtue and wisdom, have been expounded by those who profess them, then, students, if they are really to be called that, investigate within themselves whether what they are hearing is true, strenuously putting it to test of their own interior truth. that is the point at which they learn. and when they reach an inner conviction of truth, they praise their teachers, not realizing that, even if the teachers knew what they were saying, the praise rightly belongs to the taught ones not the one who taught. men make the mistake of calling others their teachers when they are no such thing, since there is a near-simultaneity between what is said and what is understood, and where inner assent follows so quickly on outer discussion they think the latter caused the former.26 for augustine, learning takes place within the learner because of what is to be learnt and what that which is learnt is to the learner. in augustine's view, the purpose and goal of all learning exercise is to learn of god, that is, to learn that there is god and learn about god, because it is really the same god that is the learner's very life. this may go to explain why the teaching method that may be deduced from augustine's confessions is not strictly directed towards selftransformation in any classical sense of the term, but towards the total surrender to god alone who can transform, heal, and properly channel one's life away from self-destruction: “for what am i to myself without thee, but a guide to mine own downfall?”27 augustine’s concept of divine illumination: the bridge between teaching and learning the epistemology of augustine or his theory of knowledge is well laid out in his divine illumination theory, wherein he proposes three cognitive operations which are the senses, the inferior reason and the superior reason, and he noted that each operation has its own st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 151 unique and peculiar objective to attain. augustine held that knowledge of things like colour, odour, etc., are got through the use of the senses. inferior reason is used to obtain scientific knowledge because scientific knowledge occupies itself with the corporeal world and seeks to discover universal laws through the process of abstraction. and then, having knowledge of eternal truth comes by way of the superior reason, through divine illumination and not through reminiscence. espousing his theory of divine illumination in the confessions, augustine notes that the mind needs external enlightenment for it to participate in truth, because it is not itself the nature of truth. you will light my lamp, lord.28 with this view, he defines illumination as that which makes eternal truths visible. in this regard, ideas like truth, justice, etc., are made more visible, and the truth of judgment shown. in his theory of divine illuminations, augustine notes that the senses know only the qualities of the body because they are only concerned with the knowledge of this visible world. yet, he notes that the soul, which is part of the body, is not passive with regard to sense knowledge because “the soul is absolutely superior to the body and that it cannot depend on the body in any of its activities, not even sensible activities.”29 the soul may be superior to the body that bears it, yet the soul connects to the body because sensation is an activity exercised by the soul through the body; for the body receives sensation from other bodies, and the soul acquires knowledge of corporeal world through gleaning from the sensation received by the body. it is for this reason that augustine holds that it is through mediation that bodies are known: “the soul gathers the image, not the sense, of all the sensible objects.”30 this shows the pride of place that augustine accords to the soul, placing it as the engine room of human daily activities; and so it takes precedence over all other human activity. another way of acquiring knowledge that augustine spoke about in his elaborations of his theory of divine illumination was inferior reason (ratio inferior), which was the means of acquiring scientific knowledge. augustine claimed this to be so because of his notion that “scientific knowledge occupies itself with the corporeal 152 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 world and seeks to discover universal laws through the process of abstraction;”31 thereby making it an imperfect way of acquiring knowledge, since it is subject to human limitations and not reliable. the world is filled with a lot of imperfections, and since scientific knowledge preoccupies itself with the corporeal world that is bound by imperfections, then the knowledge characterized as scientific knowledge cannot but be imperfect and unreliable, and thus is obtained through inferior reason and cannot claim to be superior knowledge. augustine is not condemning scientific knowledge outright because science has done many positive things to improve the world and living conditions, yet because of the fact that scientists are human beings, who are imperfect beings, they are subject to failures and imperfections. scientific knowledge is imperfect because it is based only on the corporeal world, and denouncing any form of metaphysical knowledge. augustine holds that metaphysical knowledge is fundamental and vital for knowledge to be superior and reliable, and because this is lacking in scientific knowledge, it cannot claim to give reliable or superior knowledge. eternal truths are superior knowledge and they need superior reason to attain them. the central point in augustine’s theory of divine illuminations rests on the superior reason, and to this, augustine opines that it can attain eternal truth because of the contingency of the known object and the contingency of the knowing subject. augustine was not able to explain the knowledge of eternal truths with the doctrine of reminiscence, as plato did, because he rejected the notion of the pre-existence of the soul; rather he explained the knowledge of eternal truths with his doctrine of illumination. augustine acknowledges the corporeal world but also believed in realities that transcend the corporeal world, which are not attainable through scientific knowledge but through divine mediation. so for augustine, the attainment of real knowledge comes only through the light of reason grounded in divine illumination. since in augustine's consideration divine illumination is the need for one to attain real knowledge, and it has been established from the foregoing above that love of god through love of neighbour is to guide the teacher-pupil relationship, then it can be said that st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 153 augustine's divine illumination is the basis for the teaching-learning relationship. to teach means that the teacher has some form of acquired knowledge to be communicated to the learner. the starting point for the teacher will be to have love for acquiring the 'real' knowledge to be communicated, and then have the love to communicate the knowledge despite the human limitations and existential challenges that will befall the teacher. but the teacher, according to augustine, will not be able to acquire the 'real' knowledge to teach without divine illumination to enlighten the teacher's reasoning. with divine illumination, the teacher transcends beyond the knowledge of the corporeal realities which come to him or her through the senses or use of inferior reason, and is opened up to eternal truths or real knowledge through use of superior reason. from the foregoing, a teaching process guided by divine illumination is revealed by which the teacher can be said to be thought the real knowledge that he or she will communicate to the pupil or learner. in like manner, there is a learning process also guided by divine illumination that takes place with regard to the learner. in this case, the learner, moved by love for knowledge, surrenders him or herself in love to a teacher from who the learner reposes confidence of being led to the knowledge being sought. but the leaning process cannot take place if the learner does not allow or dispose him or herself to the guidance of divine illumination that carries the learner beyond the corporeal world realities that surround and may aid the teaching of the teacher, so as to transcend beyond these and with superior reason attain the real knowledge being sought. it therefore follows, that both teaching and learning are guided and directed by divine illumination, by which attainment of real knowledge is made possible in the process of teaching and learning. this can be perceived when augustine said: “truth, when did you ever fail to walk with me, teaching me what to avoid and what to seek.... without you i could discern none of these things;”32 154 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 for divine illumination guided the teaching of what augustine was to avoid, and the same divine illumination guided the learning of what augustine was to seek. evaluation augustine acknowledged that sensations of bodily qualities and the sensitive knowledge of colours, odour, etc., are obtainable through the use of the senses. the inferior reason can be used to obtain both the laws of the physical world and the scientific knowledge, while superior reason leads one to the knowledge of eternal truths that are obtainable through divine illumination. this in a nutshell presents a quick view of the epistemology of augustine. when augustine, in his theory of divine illumination, uses inferior reason and superior reason, he presents two functions in which knowledge takes on two opposing directions. superior reason tends toward the divine, the universal, the eternal and the immutable realities, while inferior reason tends towards the world, the contingent, the mutable realities. though both inferior and superior reasons are necessary to human beings, yet with respect to their hierarchical relations, we are faced with a choice involving the entire personality. in the process and act of teaching and learning, it is the whole personality of a person that is involved. a teacher cannot be teaching just with the mouth and other parts of the body are completely left out of it, nor can a learner be leaning with just the brain and other parts of the body are completely left out. so it involves making a choice to opt for the primacy of contemplation and hence orient all activity toward the divine and the eternal, or choose the exclusive exercise of science, and orient oneself toward the corporeal world. should there be a reduction of the human person to purely scientific dimension, then only self-affirmation will characterize the aim of human beings, just as the annulment of contemplation in the name of science has led people to use the whole in view of the particular. the vocation of pure science ought to tend towards contemplation, since through the senses it can have knowledge of the corporeal world, which should ordinarily lead it to contemplate beyond the corporeal world to get to wisdom, but because of the annulment of st. augustine's epistemology and the education process | 155 contemplation from science, it ends up in egoism, anarchy, individualism, etc. it may therefore be for such reason that augustine held that love of god, through love of neighbour, was to permeate the teacher-pupil relationship, and divine illumination guide the teaching and learning process. conclusion though augustine does not have a systematically treated document or writing on epistemology or theory of knowledge, yet it cannot be said that augustine did not have a theory of knowledge. to a great deal, augustine's theory of knowledge can be seen in his treatment of divine illumination, wherein he espoused that the use of inferior reason leads to the knowledge of the corporeal world, while the use of superior reason leads to eternal truths, knowable through divine illumination. in the teaching and learning process, characterized by the giving and reception of knowledge, the divine illumination cannot be discounted because it is by it that there is a basis between teaching and learning, for the fact that divine illumination is needed to attain the knowledge that will be taught, and the same divine illumination is needed by the receiver to understand that what is to be received is real knowledge. endnotes 1. cf. leonard, timothy. “st. augustine (354-430) – augustine and teaching, influence”, http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1778/augustine-st-354430.html [retrieved 29/09/2018]. 2. cf. ibid. 3. canning, raymond (2004). “teaching and learning: an augustinian perspective”, australian ejournal of theology 3(august), http://aejt.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/395647/aejt_3.4_canning.pdf [retrieved 29/09/2018]. 4. augustine. confessions, iii, v, 7, p. 54. 5. ibid. vii, ix, 13-14, pp. 177-178. 6. trundle, robert c. (1994). “st. augustine's epistemology: an ignored aristotelian theme and its intriguing anticipations”, laval theologique et philosophique, 50, 1 (fevrier), pp. 187-205. https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ltp/1994-v50-n1-ltp2148/400823ar.pdf [retrieved 30/09/2018]. 156 | ekpoma review, volume. 5 no. 1., 2019 7. ibid., p. 188. [but] added by me. 8. ibid. 9. st. augustine. on free choice of the will, tr. by a.s. benjamin and l.h. hackstaff, new york, macmillan publishing co., 1985, p. 36. 10. cf. st. augustine. city of god, tr. by g.g. walsh, s.j., d.b. zema, s.j., g. monahann, o.s.u., and d.j. homan, garden city (ny), doubleday & company inc., 1958, p. 516. 11. on free choice of the will, p. 57. 12. st. augustine. on christian doctrine, tr. by d. w. robertson, jr., new york: mamillan publishing co., 1988, p. 70. 13. on free choice of the will, p. 59-60. 14. connaghan, charles. signs, language, and knowledge in st. augustine's de magistro, [phd dissertation], http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445358/1/u592678.pdf [retrieved 07/10/2018]. 15. ibid. 16. ibid. 17. ibid. 18. ibid. 19. ibid. 20. cf. de doctrina christiana, pref., 4. 24. de magistro, 36. 26. st. augustine. de libero arbitrio, i, 3. introduction background of study the insight to write on this theme came while in rome on studies away from my land and people. listening to the news from nigeria both in the radio and on the television became a kind of nightmare as a result of the many atrocities being reported. some instances might suffice here. there were cases of misappropriation and mismanagement of public funds; misappropriation of justice; extrajudicial killings; armed robbery and ritual killings; kidnappings and assassinations, just to mention a few. it prompted the question: is the prophetic voice in nigeria being heard loud enough so as to effect any positive change in the society? this is what then forms the background for this study: to look at the prophetic consciousness of jeremiah, a consciousness that made him to give up everything for the sake of his prophetic ministry. one sees in nigeria today a great number of men and women who claim to have been called and sent by god. they 89 an exegetical understanding of jer. 26:12-15 and the challenges facing the prophetic ministry in nigeria today vincent b. ojo go about as god's messengers and emissaries enjoying all the privileges that pertain to the office of god's mouthpiece. in the same society, however, we find so many atrocities being committed in high and low places, and the prophetic voice is almost never heard or at the least never loud enough. in this paper, an exegesis of jer 26:12-15 is done to prove that jeremiah was a true prophet who was conscious of his calling and mission. it also underscores the fact that a true prophet must be resolute and determined to speak to the different situations of life irrespective of whose ox is gored. it is sad to submit that our society today is not yet blessed with many such prophets like jeremiah. historical background of jer 26:12-15 chap. 26 is dated in the accession year of king jehoiakim to underscore the fragility of the political situation at the time. king josiah initiated some reforms which were both religious and political to which jeremiah gave his succinct support initially until he realized that the reform failed to inspire personal repentance because it dealt more with the externals of religion. henri cazelles describes this period saying that judging by the possibilities offered by deuteronomy (17:6), jeremiah became prominent in jerusalem where he enjoyed the friendship of the reformed group that sustained him in the difficult moments (26:24) but he had only limited rights to worship in the temple such that he came in conflict with the priests of jerusalem (20:26, 28). what he then saw in jerusalem showed fullness of corruption (5:1) and the strength of the resistance to the politics of josiah (183). that is, jeremiah became discontented with the behaviour of the religious figures and the people in jerusalem even after the reforms of josiah. werner schmidt also believes that jeremiah was favourable to the reforms of josiah but he warns: “jeremiah has good relations with the supporters of the reform (compare 26:24; 36:10 with 2 kgs 22:12), but at no point does he take an explicit position on it. king josiah is praised not for his reform but for his dedication to social justice (22:15f.)” (277). however, king josiah met his death at the hands of pharaoh necho of egypt at megiddo (2 kings 23:29ff) while trying to prevent necho from helping the assyrians against the babylonian incursion and his son 90 jehoahaz was installed in his place. he was only there for three months when pharaoh necho removed him and sent him on exile in egypt and in his place he installed his elder brother, eliakim, whom he named jehoiakim as king. this means within one year, judah had three different kings (2 kgs 23:28-37). jehoiakim was loyal to egypt as he was paying the heavy tribute to necho even at the expense of his people. he did everything to wipe out the traces of his father's reforms. jeremiah discerned that the idolatrous practices of the king and his encouraging the people to participate in such would spell doom for the whole nation. he then heard the word of the lord to warn them of the danger involved in taking such a course of action. meanwhile at this time, babylon had grown to become a super power demanding the allegiance of judah and so judah was caught between the two super powersegypt and babylon. this was how there came to be two different parties in judah namely those who were pro egyptian and those who were pro-babylonian. the proegyptian party wanted judah to maintain allegiance to egypt while the probabylonian party wanted judah to submit to babylon. jeremiah urged the king and the people not to resist nebuchadnezzar of babylon but to submit to him as this was the lord's wish to punish the people for not heeding the words of the prophets he had sent to them (jer 25). however, these words of jeremiah were considered by the officials of judah as treacherous even though the king zedekiah believed jeremiah but was too weak and afraid of his officials, the priests and prophets and all those who were pro-egyptian. they therefore regarded the prophet as being pro-babylonian and so a traitor and an enemy of the state (jer 27-29). this fact could have contributed to the hostile way in which the people, especially the religious authorities, reacted to the temple sermon and were bent on killing jeremiah. as barbara bozak puts it “jeremiah's prophetic message attempted to make sense of a constantly changing situation. after assyria's power had crumbled and babylon had grown stronger, jeremiah, recognizing the futility of an alliance with egypt, preached confidence in yhwh” (1066). the shock, however, came when he asked the people to surrender to 91 nebuchadnezzar of babylon as god's servant (jer 27; 29). what all this points to is that jeremiah was no longer seen as speaking the mind of god but the mind of babylon. he was considered a traitor. this may have also contributed to the continued suffering and persecution of the prophet at the hands of the political and religious establishments of judah. the historical background of this text, therefore, rests on the fact that the prophets, the priests and all the people, bearing in mind all the aforementioned, saw jeremiah as a traitor and someone not to be trusted. he was looked upon with suspicion and all his prophecies and actions were seen as such. hence, jeremiah had to put up a defence of his prophetic call, using his divine mandate to establish that he was conscious of his prophetic call. literary analysis of jer 26:12-15 the literary analysis of this text is done under the following sub headings: delimitation, text and textual criticism, literary context and genre, and organizational structure. delimitation of jer 26:12-15 the defence of jeremiah is a unique unit in chap. 26. in addition, there is an internal coherence in the pericope of vv. 12-15 that makes it independent of v. 11 and capable of standing on its own. this coherence is shown by the content and the language of the text which are different from the content and language of the preceding verse (v. 11) and the following verse (v.16). the pericope, vv. 12-15, is marked by the first person pronouns. it is the only place in the entire chapter where jeremiah refers to himself in the first person. the remaining verses are marked by references to jeremiah in the third person. besides, the content is also different from the rest because it contains the defence speech of jeremiah distinct from the narration of the events leading to and following it. the process started in v. 10 and ended in v. 16 but it is only vv. 12-15 that contains the direct words of the prophet. therefore, the unit, vv. 12-15, can stand on its own as a pericope. structure of jer 26:12-15 the structure of the text of jer 26:12-15 is concentric. 92 this means that the author ends with the same theme with which he begins the text. in this case, what is contained in v. 12 is repeated in v. 15. this proposed structure is presented thus: the proposed structure could be interpreted as a-b-a¹. this is a chiastic structure in which jeremiah begins his speech in v. 12b which is a. then from vv. 13-15b which is b, the speech continues but in a different tone and is closed by 15c which is a¹, because it goes back to the same theme as 12b (a). as noted while delimiting this text, jer 26:12-15 is a literary unit bound together by the setumah at the end of the unit. they are together because they contain the response of the prophet in his own defence before the officials and all the people as a result of the allegation by the priests and prophets that he prophesied against the city. this is the only place where jeremiah spoke directly in the entire chap. 26. this in itself marks it out from the rest of the chapter. from the structure of jer 26:12-15, it is evident where the emphasis lies. this is underscored by the repetition of the words ynix;�l'v.��hw"hy> which appear in both v. 12 and v. 15. yes, yhwh truly sent jeremiah to speak his words to his people. in other words, jeremiah is fully conscious of his identity as god's prophet and he is ready to defend it with the last drop of his blood. the order of these words, furthermore, forms a chiasm as the following table shows: 93 v. 12 ynix;�l'v. hw"åhy> v. 15 �hw"hy> ynix:ül'v.. though they are not worded in the same manner, a parallel is also formed by the words :l. in v. 12 and �rbed:l. abe�n"hii in v. 15 which may be referred to as a synonymous parallelism. this is due to the fact that they both have the same object, the prophet, and they both refer to the same activity of proclaiming. this is why this researcher thinks that the structure of this pericope is a-b-a¹ where v. 12b is the a, vv. 13-15 is the b, and v. 15c the a¹.b therefore, this structure can be summarized in pictorial form thus: v. 12b= a: jeremiah's assertion of divine authority 94 vv. 13-15 = b: new call to conversion and submission to b judgment v.15c= a¹: jeremiah's assertion of divine authority content analysis of jer 26:12-15 the defence of jeremiah as noted all along in this work is a turning point in chap. 26 and in the entire book of jeremiah. this is because it is the only instance in the whole book where the prophet was brought to trial and was allowed to defend himself. this however did not prevent further persecution by the royal and religious authorities. it nevertheless showed up the prophet as being able to stand by his vocation and defend it. ynix;�l'v.�hw"åhy> (the lord sent me v. 12) jeremiah opens his defence with the claim that the lord sent him to the people. this is a very strong claim by jeremiah considering the regulation in the book of deuteronomy concerning those who claim to have been sent by god whereas they have not been sent (deut 18:20). so, jeremiah's offence could vary from treason (by predicting the overthrow of the government of the land cf. 1 sam 22; 6-19); to blasphemy (by saying that the sacred city and its temple would be destroyed cf. exod 22: 8; lev 24:16); to presumptuous prophecy (by claiming to have spoken at god's orders cf. deut 18:20). the consequence of prophesying falsely in the name of god, if found guilty, is death. jeremiah was aware of this provision, yet, he dared claim that it was the lord who sent him to prophesy to the people. by so doing jeremiah establishes his authenticity as the spokesman for god in bringing the people back to the right track. jeremiah uses this verb to challenge the authority of his opponents, the “false prophets” according to the lxx. unlike them who have not been sent by god, jeremiah claims his divine authority as god's messenger by using this verb. though the goal is not stated, it is to be understood from the context of the oracle where god explicitly says: i have sent you (jer 1:7). the use of this word as sending does not refer exclusively to the commissioning of a prophet by god. it could be used in other contexts like sending someone to do something in the ordinary day life. however, it is still “the primary catchword for the commissioning of a prophet.” (herrmann 64). the use of this word with the subject, yhwh, points to a prophetic call. jeremiah claims by these words that his call and message came from yhwh whose mission he must accomplish. so in jer. 26:12-15, jeremiah used the verb xlv to underscore the fact that it was god who sent him. it is used in the transitive sense saying that god sent him to prophesy. the three components are present namely the sender (god), the object (jeremiah) and the purpose (to prophesy). the fact that this word is repeated in v. 15 demonstrates its importance and relevance in the book of jeremiah showing that jeremiah is convinced of his divine call and mission and has no doubts whatsoever about it. the words were not his but the lord's. k. o'connor puts it thus: “by affirming that yahweh is the source of his mission, the latter frame highlights jeremiah's claim to be a true prophet” (622). the word ynix;�l'v is put in the qal perfect in both verses to underscore this fact which is also to debunk the first allegation of his accusers that he has spoken presumptuously in the name of the lord (v. 11) in fact, the entire defence of jeremiah revolves around this verb because it is the springboard upon which his entire message rests. one can see the indication to this in the structure of the pericope which is chiastic. thus, the most important word in the defence is xiv together with hw"åhy> which is mentioned both at the beginning and at the end of the pericope. this is not surprising because the word was prominent even at the beginning of the book in the episode of the call and commissioning of the prophet (1:4-10) and he was very conscious of this throughout his entire prophetic ministry notwithstanding the few times that he complained to god (cf. 15:10-21; 18:18-23; 20:7-18). in the other prophetic books, this word occurs especially in the commissioning of the prophets. in isaiah 6, it was the prophet who volunteered to be at the service of the lord as his messenger when he says in v. 8�ynixe)l'v.�yniïn>hi “here i am, send me”. the prophet jeremiah at his own commissioning when he expressed his unworthiness to be god's messenger was told this by god %leête�'^x]l'v.a,¥�rv<üa]-lk'-l[;(�yk�“for you shall go to whomever i shall send you” (jer 1:7). ezekiel too received his own commissioning when god said to him: laeêr"f.yi�yneåb.-la, '^t.aa�yniüa]�x:le'av “i send you to the sons of israel” (2:1). so xlv is very prominent in the call and commissioning of the prophets. 95 there can be no doubt as to the importance of these words in the defence of jeremiah since the defence opens with it and closes also with it. the prophet begins his speech by laying claim to divine authority (v. 12b) and after preaching repentance to the people, he concludes by reiterating with an oath that he had truly been sent (v. 15c). brueggemann highlights the meaning and significance of these words when he says: “jeremiah makes an important distinction between the words he must speak from god (vv. 12-13) and his own personal destiny (v. 14)…. in v. 15 the prophet returns to the main issue, the summons to torah as the only chance for life in jerusalem. his opponents want to dispose of his message by a political-judicial maneuver. such an urgent, ominous word, however, cannot be eliminated by disposing of the messenger. the message itself will have to be engaged, because it is from god” (7). so, it is in order to emphasize the otherness of his mission and message that jeremiah used these words in two of the four verses that make up his defence. he has not spoken of his own volition but he had been mandated by god to speak all the words they had heard him speak. the reference, therefore, is not just to the message but also to the exact words spoken. this is the essence of the lk' “all” that jeremiah used to accompany the words in both verses. by this he removes himself completely from the scene while laying everything at the doorsteps of god, the giver of the message. however, he takes responsibility for the message by submitting himself to judgment (v. 14) because he is the messenger that brought the message. abe�n"hil (to prophesy, v. 12) that jeremiah is a true prophet is the goal here. the prophet uses the verb form of the word abn to convince his hearers that he is a true prophet sent by god to prophesy to them. the lxx distinguishes between jeremiah and the other prophets by referring to the latter as pseudo-prophetai (lundbom, jeremiah 21-36, 288). the word as used in the mt is in the niphal infinitive construct abeún"hil placing emphasis on his mission unlike their own prophets who have not been sent by god but prophesy peace and tranquility to them. jeremiah speaks against the prophets who have not been sent by god but prophesy lies in his name (cf. 14:13-16). 96 all the versions are agreed on the use of this word to express the authentic ministry of jeremiah. jeremiah used the niphal infinitive construct of abn to lay claim to his prophetic authority to speak in the name of the lord. the meaning of this word in the niphal sense is to signify an inspired prophetic discourse. he is under prophetic influence and whatever he says is not his own but belongs to the one who has sent him. that jeremiah is a true prophet who spoke the mouth of the lord is attested to in 1 chr 36:12. he is sent like any other true prophet before him to bring the people to repentance in order to avoid disaster and so what he is sent to do is to prophesy concerning what is about to happen to the people should they fail to repent which is what these words la, abeún"hil. “to prophesy against” stand for. what the use of nḇי strongly suggests is that jeremiah did not just say the words of his own volition but had been compelled by the lord to “play the prophet”. this means that the initiative to prophesy is not from him but from yhwh who mandates him to go and deliver his message (jeremias 705ff). this may have perhaps been the reason he used nḇי (to prophesy) instead of the usual ̓�âmar (to say) though he also used another word in the defence (v. 15) apart from nḇי which is ḏbr (to speak). this brings about the question of the difference between nḇי “to prophesy” and ḏbr “to speak”. the difference between them is that while nḇי refers to a prophetic action, �br concerns only the action of speaking. these two words are used in the defence of jeremiah in vv. 12 and 15 respectively though the targum maintains the use of pi��gâmayâ ̓ in both vv. 12 and 15. ta k e n t o g e t h e r, t h e r e f o r e , t h e s t a t e m e n t abe�n"hil�ynix;�l'v.�hw"åhy> (the lord sent me to prophesy v. 12) answers the charge against jeremiah by the prophets and priests that he spoke presumptuously in the name of the lord. this could not have happened if jeremiah had not been conscious of his status as a prophet and his mission to prophesy to the people. this is the argument of this paper that jeremiah, in the course of his defence, did not mince words in showing that he was very conscious of his prophetic calling and mission. this is the high point of the defence which is also reiterated in v. 15. 97 �~k,êylel.[;m;äw��~k,yker>d:�wbyjiûyhe (make good your ways and your deeds v. 13) jeremiah continues by inviting the people to reform. this word h��î�� can mean “make good” or “reform”. it is a term used for repentance. the people are summoned to amend their ways and conduct before god. this is a clarion call from the prophet that the people turn from their evil ways and practices. hence he says to them “make good your ways and your deeds”, that is, he charges the people to make their ways and deeds right before god. their ways may refer to their worship of yahweh in the temple while their deeds may refer to their conduct outside of the temple. jeremiah therefore dissociates himself from any shallow and superficial worship of god. the reference to “your ways and your deeds” points not just to the people's public worship of yahweh in the temple but more importantly to their way of life outside of the temple. in other words, it challenges the people's life in its entirety, be it in the temple, at home and everywhere they may find themselves. this is why j. p. hyatt describes jeremiah as a man who challenged the people “…and called them to find true salvation by practicing justice and righteousness in the sight of god” (34). their ways and deeds must be right before god if their worship is to be acceptable. laqßb�w[§m.viw> (obey the voice of v. 13) the use of w[§m.viw> is not like its use in v. 12 where it simply means to hear or to listen. here it also involves obedience. this word can have different meanings depending on the hebrew grammar. hence it could mean to hear, listen, pay attention, understand, heed, obey, grant, and examine, all these in the qal sense. here the word, used in the qal imperative, means to obey. in the niphal it means to be heard, be obedient or be granted. in the piel it means to summon. in the hiphil it means to cause to hear, proclaim, announce or summon (aitken 175-181). here as it is used in this verse it means to listen and obey. israel's failure to perceive god's revelation is often expressed as the inability of their ears to hear (deut 29:4; isa 6:9ff). this word echoes jeremiah's call to reform in 7:3-7 (lundbom 292). so it can be said that while in v. 12 [m;v refers simply to 98 the act of hearing, in v. 13 it goes deeper into the act of obeying what is heard. the people must as a matter of fact put into practice the message of the lord which they hear from the mouth of his servant, the prophet. however, it is interesting to note the way the targ. renders this passage. in place of the mt's �w[§m.viw> “and obey the voice of”, it has laqßb w�qabil��l��mêm�râ ,̓ which means “and welcome the memra”. the word memra does not refer to mere words but it is a powerful way of expressing what comes from god to human agents. hayward expresses the meaning of memra thus: “the word (memra) of yhwh is one of the most famous targumic expressions, … and seems to have a sense of a divine command or order which israel may receive (e. g. 3:13, 25; 9:12; 23:18; 34:14, 17; 40:3; 44:23), transgress and rebel against (e. g. 2:20, 29; 3:13; 11:9; 33:8), or believe in (2:2)” (hayward 31). ~xeän"yiw> (and will repent, v. 13) the use of the word here is to say that god will change his mind and not punish his people if they turn away from their sins. it is used in the niphal with a jussive meaning, that is, to repent (butterworth 89ff). in many cases in the ot, god's changing his mind is a gracious response to human factors. thus in jeremiah we often read that repentance on the part of the people will make it possible for god to also repent or change his mind. cfr. jer 18:8, 10; 20:16; 26:3, 13, 19; 42:10; cf. also amos 7:3, 6 (butterworth 81ff; simian-yofre 340355). the word used to designate the change on the part of god in the lxx is quite different from the mt. while the mt uses the word נחם “to repent”, the lxx uses pau,setai meaning “to cease”. here the lord does not repent as if a human being but ceases to carry out what he has threatened. the targum too seems to have a problem with the use of n�m for god and therefore opts for wî��� which means “will turn”. in this sense, the lord will turn from the evil which he has threatened rather than repent which is a human way of doing things that does not befit god. the mt however does not consider the use of n�m for yahweh as inappropriate or demeaning. in fact, in this chap. 26 alone, the word occurs 3 times (vv. 2, 13, and 19) being used for god and “the notion of yahweh's repentance (cf. v. 99 19) is mooted as a general principle in 18. 7-10” (carroll 513). the significance of this word is captured succinctly by an author, simian-yofre, when he says: “the syntagmeme of yahweh's repentance thus gives expression to yahweh's profound and fundamental determination to forgive, gives meaning to the prophet's mission as one of intercession, and justifies the defense presented by the elders” (340-355). it must be noted that the use of this word for god in the entire ot does not have the same meaning as it is used of a human being. god is not repenting from evil or sin but rather changing his mind from inflicting punishment on his people because of their sins (osuji 128). the import of this word in v. 13 rests on the fact that the message which yahweh has sent through his prophet jeremiah is not a concluded one. the people are given a way out if only they would heed the call to amend their ways and be upright. this is in contrast to the claim of the priests and prophets, jeremiah's accusers, who have given the impression that the prophet has prophesied the ruin of the nation. as noted earlier, their aim in not stating the conditionality in jeremiah's message might be to elicit sympathy from the officials and the people and thereby accelerate the prophet's condemnation. however, the prophet restores this conditionality in his defence which may have partly influenced not just the officials but also the people who now changed sides to be on the side of the prophet. he turns his defence into a form of offence by challenging both his accusers and the judges to “listen to the voice of the lord” (v. 13) (for more on the rare occurrence of a defence turned offence, see bovati, re-established justice, 114-117). ~k,_d>y<b.�yniån>hi�ynißa]w: (i am in your hands, v. 14) jeremiah begins this second part of his defence in v. 14 with a rhetorical genre called “surrender”. he says: ~k,_d>y<b.�yniån>hi�ynißa]w: which translates into “i am in your hands”. with these words jeremiah surrenders himself to the judgment of the “court” trying him for perjury or treason as the case may be. having stated his own side of the story which seems to be evidently clear to all over against the distorted version told by his accusers, the prophet leaves himself curiously not in the hands of god but in the hands of the officials and the people. it is curious because as god's messenger delivering god's 100 message, one would ordinarily have expected jeremiah to invoke god's help and intervention at such a perilous moment in his prophetic life. this is especially true because god himself has promised to deliver him from all his adversaries (jer 1:19). instead of making recourse to this lifeline that he has, jeremiah submits himself to the decision of the court. the question is: what does he expect to get from this haphazardly constituted court? majority of scholars agree with the way the mt puts it and based on this they extol the courage and resillience of jeremiah in the face of stiff opposition and imminent death that he is able to hold up his head. r. carroll calls it “a magnificent gesture of self-humbling which indicates a lack of arrogance” (517). w. holladay explains it thus: “jrm deliberately puts himself in the power of the court, a power that obviously includes the possibility of the death penalty” (107). for j. lundbom, jeremiah's submission to the will of the court is a veiled argument because it is meant to throw the challenge back at the court. he says: “this submission to the will of the court is actually a veiled argument, one that the classical rhetoricians called “surrender”” (292). o'connor also says of jeremiah's surrender: “jeremiah's surrender into the hands of his captors (v 14) dramatically underscores the decision facing the community which this text places before them anewto accept or reject the prophetic word. it is a matter of life or death for the community, and it rests in their hands (v 14)” (622). we can therefore say that jeremiah's submission to the court is a subtle way of making the judicial panel take responsibility for whatever decision they may take concerning him. he is right there before them powerless, defenceless and apparently forsaken. ~k,(yney[eb.�rv"ßy"k;w>�bajïk;�yli�-wf[} (do to me as good and right in your eyes, v. 14) after jeremiah had submitted himself into the hands of the court, he challenges the members of the court to do to him what is good and right in their eyes. he invites them to use their power to give him a fair hearing, a hearing that respects the principles of justice and right judgment. as officials of judah, they should be knowledgeable in the law to know 101 when an offence is committed and which offence merits a death sentence as demanded for him by his accusers, the priests and prophets. w[�d>te�[:doåy"��%a:å (but know for sure, v. 15) jeremiah introduces this statement in v. 15, the last verse of the defence, with an adversative particle %a:å a word which suggests a contrasting opinion from the previous one. it is a very powerful word in making comparisons. in v. 14 he submits himself to the whims and caprices of the court challenging them to do to him whatever seems good and right to them. however with this particle, he gives another dimension of the issue by pointing out the consequence of an unjust death sentence on him. the “only” here changes the tone of the defence and introduces in clear terms the likely consequence of the decision before the court. jeremiah begins the second part of his defence with a rhetorical argument called “surrender” (v. 14) and now in v. 15, he introduces another one called descriptio by the classical rhetoricians. in fact, lundbom says that this kind of argument could be used for both prosecution and defence. (293). w[�d>te�[:doåy"��%a:å which literally means “only know for certain” is a way of underscoring the seriousness and importance of the issue at hand. it is a form of emphasis given to the discussion by the play on the verb [dy “to know”. the knowledge spoken about here is awareness or consciousness. jeremiah calls the people to the awareness of the seriousness of the decision that lies ahead of them. this consciousness or awareness is very necessary for any imputation of guilt to take place. should the people proceed to kill the prophet, they would have no excuse because they have been forewarned. however, ידע[dy could also refer to god's knowledge of his people which signifies the special relationship he has with the people of israel (amos 3:2). so this phrase better translated as “only know for sure” can also be found elsewhere in jeremiah (jer 42:19, 22). the prophet had no doubt whatsoever in his mind that he was delivering god's message to the people and that whatever course of action they take against him would be tantamount to fighting against god, the sender of the message, and this can only result in one thing namely disaster. ytiao�é~t,a;�~ytiämim.-~ai�ykiä (for if you put me to death v. 15) 102 jeremiah continues by telling the members of the court that “if you put me to death” which is a conditional statement, then he states the consequence h'yb,_v.yo-la,w>�tazoàh;�ry[iîh'-la,w>�� ~k,êyle[]�~yniåt.no��~t,a; yqi�n"�~d"ä-yki “you are bringing innocent blood � upon yourselves, and upon this city and upon its inhabitants”. there is a case of protasis and apodosis here. this explains the communal nature of the sin of shedding innocent blood. jeremiah considers the possibility that the officials together with the people could pass a death sentence on him. he knows the danger which faces him based on the obvious animosity of the priests and prophets who are bent on his death. one might not be too certain what was going on in the mind of jeremiah during his trial and defence before the court. however, what becomes clear is that he lays the options before the people from which to choose, each with its own consequence. this knowledge is necessary for them before they make their decision concerning him. it is such a delicate decision to take, hence he brings their attention to the full consequence of that decision not only on the judges themselves but also on the whole land and their posterity (o'connor 622). some questions have been asked about why jeremiah chose this form of argument. was he threatening the judges in his case? was he intimidating them because he had a direct contact with god? was he even blackmailing them by preempting their judgment? a few authors have tried to explain why jeremiah employed these rhetorical methods. keown, scalise and smothers have given some explanation about the reason behind the way jeremiah defended himself. they say: “jeremiah was not threatening his judges with some form of personal revenge, a haunting from his grave, or a curse laid upon them; he was reminding them of an accepted principle of justice: the death of innocent persons… must be avenged or atoned (gen 9:5-6; deut 19:13)” (26). jeremiah could not have been threatening his accusers and all the people having earlier on submitted himself to their judgment. what he was doing was to make them conscious of the action they were about to take and to take responsibility for it. lundbom, brueggemann, barker and kohlenberger have all acknowledged the brave performance of jeremiah at his trial. for mcentire, the defence of jeremiah was an affirmation that he knew what he was doing and what life with 103 yahweh could meandanger and risk. he says: “jeremiah points to a way to live with this danger faithfully, while his opponents deny the existence of danger and claim god's protection from all harm” (303). the implication of these views is that jeremiah's defence was one that demonstrated courage, fortitude and fearlessness in the midst of danger, hostility and even imminent death. this does not in any way turn jeremiah into a superman who was not afraid even to die. no! what it only did show is a man who being very conscious of his prophetic calling was undaunted in defending it. he was also conscious of the fact that he was part and parcel of the people and whatever happens to them, he too would not be spared. in fact, it seems that the fate of jeremiah is embedded in the fate of the city. this explains further his passion and resolve in wanting to save his people from disaster even when they were hell-bent to enter into it. he continued to make effort to convince his people that the only option available to them to be at peace is a return to god and his commands. he followed this path of negotiation and patriotism till even after the destruction of jerusalem though he was often misunderstood by his people who saw him as a traitor. however, the love he has for god and his people would not permit him to remain silent (14:19). thus in this episode, he resumes the defence of his prophetic authenticity in the words that follow. hl,ae(h'�~yrißb'd>h;-lk�taeî�~k,êynez>a'b.��rbed:l.�~k,êyle[]��hw"hy>�ynix:ül'v.�tm, �a/b�ykiä�(for in truth the lord sent me to speak in your hearing all these words, v. 15) jeremiah goes back to what he started with by adjuring himself that “for in truth the lord sent me to speak in your hearing all these words”. in these words we again find all the essential features of a true prophet namely: the sender (god); the messenger (jeremiah); and the mission (to speak). jeremiah here reiterates the fact that he has been truly sent by yahweh to deliver his words to his people. this is his final appeal to the court before they give their verdict. carroll has this to say about these final words of the defence: “it is an impressive performance by a man facing death at the hands of a mob screaming for his blood and, even more dangerous, a 104 tribunal with the power to execute him. the editors have penned the portrait of a very brave man” (517). thus the portrait of jeremiah in his trial and defence is that of a man resolute and determined to carry out god's commands to the very end no matter the sufferings and pains that accompany them. it is therefore not a matter of blackmail or threat but a plea for conversion. the point of emphasis in the judicial trial of jeremiah in general and his defence in particular is the message that came from god and the need to be faithful to it. the defence brings into limelight how the words of god could be received by people especially when it calls to conversion and amendment of life. jeremiah finds himself at odds with the power establishment of judah because he dares to challenge the status quo to make it turn inwards and reform. by openly defending himself and his prophetic ministry, jeremiah resonates the need to distinguish between true and false prophecy as this would go a long way in determining the fate of the people before god. if they listen to false prophecy which ordinarily will soothe them by preaching peace even where there is obviously none, this will pitch them against god and consequently lead to their destruction. however, if they listen to true prophecy no matter how harsh and uncomfortable it may be, they will have sought the face of god and thus save their own lives (cf. 26:19). l. allen summarizes the events of the trial and defence of jeremiah thus: “that jeremiah's prophesying led to a public discussion of whether jeremiah should be tried on a capital charge carries the ironic implication that his audience was hammering a further nail into its own coffin. the community's response to jeremiah was a measure of its response to yahweh, because prophesying had been done “in yahweh's name” (vv. 9, 16, 20)” (296-297). the officials and all the people seem to have realized this by the verdict of v. 16 which acquits jeremiah of any wrongdoing. in their judgment, they simply negated the words of the priests and prophets by saying: � tw<m'ê-jp;v.mi��hz<h vyaiûl'-!yae that is, “there is no death judgment to/for this man” as against what the priests and prophets said tw<m'ê-jp;v.mi��hz<h vyaiûl' “death sentence to/for � this man” (v. 11). the officials and all the people were unanimous in upholding the innocence of the prophet against 105 the guilty verdict sought by the priests and prophets. even though emerton, cranfield and stanton do not see the officials as judges in the case against jeremiah and their words in v. 16 as not declaring him a true prophet, they nevertheless hold that “… they gave him the benefit of the doubt and decided that there was no treasonable intent” (681; also mcentire 303). o'connor, however, is of the opinion that the verdict in v. 16 of chap. 26 is a proclamation of jeremiah as a true prophet (625). this researcher is in complete agreement with this latter view. the position of emerton, cranfield and stanton above is contestable because the officials and all the people asserted that jeremiah spoke to them in the name of the lord their god. this has no other meaning than to say that he is a true prophet. they might not have believed or put into practice what he said to them, nevertheless, they declared him to be a true prophet as against the priests and the prophets who accused him of speaking falsely in the name of the lord. this is the task of a true prophet and this is what jeremiah did which presents him as being prophetically conscious during his trial in general (vv. 10-16) and in his defence in particular (vv. 12-15). theology of jer. 26:12-15 the theology of this text is brought out to reflect the challenges facing the prophetic ministry in nigeria today. this is because the defence of jeremiah as enunciated in the passage under review attests to how a true prophet should comport himself and carry out his prophetic ministry fearlessly even in the face of stiff opposition. the prophet's loyalty: to the sender or to the audience? in the consideration of the task of the prophets, the question of allegiance is very necessary. this is because oftentimes, if not all the time, the authenticity of the prophet is called to question by the audience or the recipients of the message of the prophets (exod 3:13-15). in the passage just cited, moses tries to establish the authenticity of the message god is giving him by asking for his identity so that when he is asked about the source of his message, he would know what to say. thus, authenticity gives credence to the issue of 106 allegiance. once the authenticity of the message of the prophet has been established, then his allegiance can be guaranteed. the allegiance of the prophet is to the sender of the message, namely god. it is not to the audience, namely the people. hence, in yoruba wisdom literature, it is often said that “eni ran ni nise la nberu; a ki nberu eni a maa jise fun” meaning “the person to be feared is the sender of the message and not the recipient of the message”. bright puts it succinctly when he says: “this was the point at issue in jeremiah's own defense of himself (vss. 12-15). he neither denied that he had spoken as charged (he obviously had), nor contended that his words were not out of accord with popular belief (they obviously were); he merely insisted that yahweh had indeed commanded him to say what he had said. the princes for their part accepted this explanation, and therefore took jeremiah's side on the grounds that a prophet ought not to suffer reprisals for speaking yahweh's word” (lxxxviii). o'connor underscores the importance of the authentication of the prophetic word leading to allegiance when she says: “two framing devices set his speech apart from the rest of the scene. the first is the threat of death in v 11, m i�pa��m â w e t �l â י î � �ha z z e h , and again in v 16, �n�lâî��hazzeh�mî�pa��mâwet. the second is the repetition of keyי words in jeremiah's defense, yhwh���lâ�anî 'yahweh sent me,' v 12) and its inverse (v 15). by affirming that yahweh is the source of his mission, the latter frame highlights jeremiah's claim to be a true prophet” (621-622). it was this conviction that he did not send himself that enabled jeremiah to be true to his prophetic calling in spite of all odds. he did not fear the hostile audience so as to mitigate the force of his message. as dempsey puts it “true to his vocation, he remained faithful to his preaching, his vision, and his god, despite all odds and despite the eventual loss of everything for judah, which he knew was inevitable” (xxiv). when someone is not truly sent by god to speak his words and he does so presumptuously, there is a tendency for the person to say only what will appease the ears of his audience. this often happens for two reasons: to curry favour from them and to avoid persecution. for these reasons, the so called prophet's allegiance is to the recipients of his message since he has not been sent by god. the true prophet, however, is not 107 afraid to speak god's word to the people even if unwanted and unpopular. in the words of j. dubbink, “the prophet is drawn as a picture (in the confessions, but not only there) of a man in a challenged position. he does not doubt that his version of the word of yhwh is right, but he suffers, afraid that he may not be shown to be convincing to others” (31). this cannot be said of the false prophets whose only preoccupation is to gratify their audience in order to gratify themselves too. therefore, the important point from this pericope of jer 26:12-15 is that the prophet's allegiance must always be to the sender and not to the audience. once the prophet is sure that he has received god's word, he must speak it to the people without compromise. this point is more relevant in today's society where many claim to be prophets but only a few really speak god's true words to the people. many of these “prophets” tell the people only what they want and like to hear. they feed at the corridors of power and so cannot afford to speak against their benefactors just like those prophets at the palace of the kings in the ot whose allegiance was to the kings rather than to god. others who are not at the service of rulers do all they can to keep their audience by speaking to them only what suits them. they never challenge the people's way of life or their sources of income as long as money flows in to their coffers. this is why the prophets are not penetrating the heart of the society as they should. jeremiah offers a shining example of being true to god's word in spite of the difficulties involved. the prophet is not supposed to be afraid of his audience (jer. 1: 8). this leads to the second theme in the theology of jer 26:12-15. the prophet's task to deliver god's message in its “rawness” as a follow up to the prophet being loyal to the sender of the message, namely god, he is also challenged to deliver this word in all its “rawness” without watering it down or compromising it. this point is evident in the life and ministry of jeremiah who was even warned at the beginning of his ministry not to remove anything from god's message that comes to him (jer 1:17-19; 26:2). this is a great temptation for the prophet because in the circumstances in which he found himself, the people were prepared to hear only words of peace and prosperity. there were other prophets who readily 108 tell them these soothing words all the time. yet, in spite of this jeremiah must speak god's word, unpopular and unpalatable as it may be, to the people. this he did in the famous temple sermon in chaps. 7 and 26 and which he also defended in 26:12-15. “jeremiah's speech in this verse {v. 13} does not have to do with this case; it has to do with the reason the lord sent him to preach in the temple in the first place. his judges must make a decision about their own lives, which is more important than jeremiah's case; they had to choose whether to obey god's word. the defense speech gave jeremiah an opportunity to draw his audience's attention back to the rest of the message god had given them (26:4-6), to all the words that they had heard him speak” (keown, scalise, smothers 25). the nature of the prophetic ministry entails that the prophet can receive any message from god which may be favorable or unfavorable. no matter how strong or negative the message is, the messenger must be prepared to deliver it just as it is given. this is where the great challenge of the prophetic office lies. the prophet is not at liberty to choose which message to deliver and which message to be discarded. he is not free to water down the tone of the message received or to remove some part of it. prophets are to deliver god's messages as they receive them from god without compromise. talking about the nature of the prophetic ministry, dempsey says: “usually a very 'ordinary' person, the prophet is often god's 'surprise' to a group of people, presenting them with an unexpected word, insight, or vision that can either jar and cut to the quick or comfort, soothe, and salve a bleeding wound, a broken dream, a shattered life” (xxvii). thus, the prophet is often caught in a dilemma between allegiance to god and his message and giving room for compromise. he is a lover of both god and his people but his first allegiance is to god who must be obeyed without any hesitation or reservation. consequently, the prophet becomes a sign of contradiction in the midst of the people. he is at the receiving end both from god and from the people. in his attempt to be true to god and his message, he offends the people and also in his effort to palliate the people by softening the word, he offends god. hence, dempsey again submits thus regarding 109 the attributes of a true prophet: “gifted with tremendous passion, heightened sensibilities, and enlivened imagination, the prophet speaks with authority the hard word that wells up and gushes forth from the deep reservoir of uncompromised love. often living life both on the periphery and on the cutting edge, the prophet is someone who remains faithful to god, faithful to the community, and faithful to the mission, even if it means having to stand alone. a servant of the divine word and vision, the prophet becomes the one capable of leading all to wholeness and holiness in the measure that the prophet is willing 'to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with god' (mic 6:8)” (dempsey xxviii). it follows, therefore, that the prophet must be impervious to the machinations of the people in the process of delivering god's message to them otherwise he stands the risk of compromising the message in order to satisfy or placate the people. since the words they speak are not their own, they are expected to be fearless in proclaiming it to the people. this is an important characteristic of the ot prophets as boadt puts it, “there are a number of indications within the old testament that this conviction that the words they spoke came directly from god was based on the prophetic experience of being summoned in some kind of a vision to hear god speak in the heavenly throne room” (306). so the prophets spoke words other than theirs. just as jeremiah attributed his words to god and stood by it, the priests and prophets of today are challenged to see their calling and ministry not as their own but as god's initiative. this conviction will help them to speak the prophetic word without fear or favour and without minding the consequence. this is a great challenge to the prophets of today who have continued to water down the word of god in order to make it palatable to their audience. this is often done in order to curry favour and ensure that the people continue to be generous in their giving. thus, such prophets hardly speak words that prick the consciences of the people leading them to conversion but only words of peace and prosperity. in fact, this is more serious in today's world where the gospel that sells best is the gospel of prosperity. this leads to the final point under the theology of jer 26:12-15. the prophetic consciousness of jeremiah in his defence 110 that jeremiah was prophetically conscious of his call and mission in his defence is an issue that cannot be overemphasized. this is because he was fully aware and conscious of his mission and calling even when he was confronted with a very difficult and life threatening situation. walter brueggemann describes jeremiah thus: “jeremiah embodies the alternative consciousness of moses in the face of the denying king. he grieves the grief of judah because he knows what the king refuses to know. it is clear that jeremiah did not in anger heap scorn on judah but rather articulated what was in fact present in the community whether they acknowledged it or not” (47). this means that jeremiah knew what others, including fellow prophets, did not know and for this reason he was unperturbed and undaunted by the death threat from his opponents. the prophet knew that he had been called and chosen by god to carry his word. he had no iota of doubt about this. this was why after speaking the word to the people and it was resisted, jeremiah did not mitigate the effect of his message or compromise it. he did not explain it away in order to make himself acceptable to his audience. instead, he seized the opportunity to reiterate what he already told them. so, the knowledge that jeremiah had which others did not have was that consciousness that the call and mission belong to the lord and not to the prophet. in the four verses of his defence, jeremiah encompasses his entire teaching about repentance and submission to god's rule. he challenged the status quo concerning their false hope and trust in the inviolability of judah and jerusalem in spite of whatever the people did. he told them that their security can only be guaranteed if and when their lives outside of the temple correspond to the worship they offered in the temple. he was unambiguous in taking his stand as brueggemann again notes “the most striking thing about jeremiah's public ministry is that he takes sides on a decisive public question in unambiguous terms” (12). this is a mark of someone who is prophetically conscious. he is never evasive or undecided when it matters most. he does not keep quiet when he should speak neither does he speak when he should be silent. he does not sit on the fence. people can always count on him to speak the word of truth to them and to chart the right course for them. 111 that the fate of the people is also shared by jeremiah is shown in the words of barbara bozak when she says: “the prophet jeremiah is a paradoxical figure. he cares deeply for his people, identifies with their suffering, and repeatedly calls them to repentance. however, he also rails against their sin and issues threats of destruction” (1062). lundbom, in his reflection on the defence of jeremiah, has this to say: “it has frequently been pointed out what exemplary behaviour jeremiah shows in making his defence: no heroics, no theatrical defiance, simply a humble testimony exuding confidence in what he has prophesied” (292). this does not mean that the prophet was not in danger or that he did not realise how dangerous the path he was treading by being god's messenger. brueggemann has expressed the view that love was the motive behind the ministry of jeremiah, love of god and love of his people. it was this love that moved him to continue to appeal to them to reform their ways so as to escape punishment even when they were very hostile to him and his message. “the grief of jeremiah”, he says “was at two levels. first, it was the grief he grieved for the end of his people. and that was genuine because he cared about this people and he knew that god cared about this people. but the second dimension of his grief, more intense, was because no one would listen and no one would see what was so transparent to him. so his grief was kept sharp and painful because he had to face regularly the royal consciousness, which insisted 'peace, peace' when apparently only he knew there was no peace” (47). mcentire sees in prophet jeremiah a man determined to carry out god's commands to the last letter. he challenged the people's way of life by telling them that life with yahweh was risky and dangerous while they insist on their security. “jeremiah points to a way to live with this danger faithfully, while his opponents deny the existence of danger and claim god's protection from all harm” (303). he continues by saying that jeremiah was even aware that working for yahweh could also be very risky and this became clear in the counter-precedent cited by the elders. hence he concludes: “there is a stark reminder, however, in the fate of uriah, that speaking against the dominant theology is dangerous behaviour” (305).it is clear from the foregoing that jeremiah 112 was prophetically conscious of his call and mission during his trial and defence. this is a challenge, therefore, to the priests and prophets of today to be convinced of their calling and mission and to defend it with everything they have. in today's world where people are obnoxious to the truth and are ready to quench any vanguard of the truth, jeremiah offers a shining example of how to be prophetic even in the midst of a stiff opposition. conclusion one of the contentions in the book of jeremiah is the issue of false prophecy. the prophet, jeremiah, had to contend with the presence and activities of the false prophets who always antagonised whatever he said to the people. they are referred to as “the shalom prophets” (osuji 112). in fact, jeremiah went into serious struggles with them and even confronted them on certain occasions (cf. jer 6:14; 14:13-16; 28). the bone of contention in all of these instances was the determination of who carried god's word. there were prophets who spoke only sweet words to the people assuring them of security and peace where there were none. the lxx did not mince words by referring to them as false prophets (hibbard 340). others, though true prophets, sometimes spoke without hearing from the lord e. g. hananiah (jer 28). in other words, they spoke presumptuously. however, the criteria for determining which prophet was true or false are not so clearly spelt out in the hebrew bible. the only clear references to this are in the book of deuteronomy (13:1-5; 18:20-22). in both passages those whose predictions are not fulfilled or those who speak in the name of other gods or who presume to speak in the name of the lord when he has not actually sent them are condemned as being false. even the criterion of predictive accuracy or fiulfillment is debunked by jeremiah as can be seen in jer 26:3, 13, 19. the prediction of doom may not come through if the people repent and turn back to god. hence, hibbard concludes that “as such, the criterion of fulfilment as an indicator of true prophecy is replaced by prophecy's function as a source of reform” (346-347). one may thus conclude by offering the following criteria for distinguishing between true and false prophets: 113 a) called and commissioned: the true prophet must have been called and commissioned to speak in the name of the lord (isa 6:4-9; jer 1:4-10; ezek 2:1-10; hosea 1:1-2; amos 7:14-15 etc). b) words of repentance: the true prophet must always call people back to repentance (isa 1:1-20; jer 7:1-15; 26:1-6; ezek 33:1-20; hosea 14:1-3; joel 2:12-17). c) consistency: the true prophet must be consistent in his preaching to the people and not be double-faced. he must be sure that he has received words from the lord before giving them to the people. d) personal moral life: the true prophet must avoid complicity and duplicity in his own private life. this means he must live by his own words, otherwise, his hearers may despise him (see matt 7:15-20). e) readiness to suffer: the true prophet must be seen to be ready for personal suffering occasioned by his calling. he should not fail to speak out against evil as a result of fear of suffering. true prophets are long suffering and resilient (jer 20:1-6; 26:7-24; 37:11-38:13; ezek 3:22-27). f) disciplined: the true prophet must be disciplined and not carried away by gifts, privileges and accolades (jer 16:113). in order to be true to his prophetic calling, the true prophet must embrace personal discipline so as not to be swerved by the powerful and influential in the society (jer 1:17-19). reference allen, leslie c. jeremiah: a commentary. london: westminster john knox press, 2008. print. barker, k. l. & j. r. kohlenberger. the expositor's bible commentary: the abridged edition of old testament. michigan: grand rapids, 1994. print. beall, t. s.,w. a. banks, c. smith. old testament parsing guide, revised and upgraded edition. nashville: broadman & holman, 2000. print. carroll, r. p. from chaos to covenant: prophecy in the book of jeremiah. new york: crossroad, 1981. print. ---. jeremiah volume 1. london: scm press, 1986. print. ---. jeremiah volume 2. sheffield: sheffield phoenix press, 2006. print. cazelles, h. storia politica d'israele, dale origini ad alessandro magno. roma: edizioni borla, 1985. print. hayward, r. the targum of jeremiah: translated, with a critical apparatus, and notes. edinburgh: t. & t. clark, 1987. print. 114 ---. “the memra of yhwh and the development of its use in targum neofiti 1”, in jjs 25, 1974. print. herrmann, s. jeremiah 1, 1-19, bk xii/1 1986 jamieson r., a. r. fausset, d. brown. commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible. oak harbor: logos research systems, 1997. print. jansen, j. g. studies in the text of jeremiah. cambridge: harvard university press, 1973. print. jeremias, j. “aybi_n"�n�bîי” in theological lexicon of the old testament vol 2 jorge, p. jeremiah. missouri: chalice press, 2004. print. klein, m. l. “the translations of anthropomorphisms and anthropopathisms in the targumim”, in vtsup 29, 1978. leclerc, thomas l. introduction to the prophets: their stories, sayings, and scrolls. new york: paulist press, 2007. print. mcentire, m. “a prophetic chorus of others: helping jeremiah survive in jeremiah 26” in review and expositor, 101 2004. print. mcginnis, c. “trusting in deceitful words: jeremiah's temple sermon” in the bible today: jeremiah. minnesota: the liturgical press, march/april 2011. print. mckenzie, john l. dictionary of the bible. canada: macmillan, 1965. print. osuji, a. c. where is the truth? narrative exegesis and the question of true and false prophecy in jer 26-29 (mt). leuven: uitgeverij peeters, 2010. print. perdue, l.g. “the difference between the mt jeremiah and the lxx jeremiah”, in l. perdueb. kovacs (eds.), a prophet to the nations: essays in jeremiah studies. indiana: winona lake, 1984. print. pixley, j. v. jeremiah. missouri: chalice press, 2004. print. price, j. d. the syntax of masoretic accents in the hebrew bible. lewiston: the edwin mellen press, 1990. print. raitt, t. m. a theology of exile: judgment, deliverance in jeremiah and ezekiel redditt, p. introduction to the prophets. michigan: williams b. eerdmans, 2008. print. samantha, j. provocation and punishment: the anger of god in the book of jeremiah and deuteronomistic theology. berlin: walter de gruyter, 2006. print. scalise, p. j.; g. l. keown; t. g. smothers. word biblical commentary: jeremiah 26-52. texas: word books, 1995. print. thompson, j. a. the book of jeremiah. nicot. michigan: william b. eerdmans, 1980. print. wickes, w. two treatises on the accentuation of the old testament, h. m. orlinsky (ed.). new york: ktav publishing house, 1970. print. white r. e. o. the indomitable prophet: a biographical commentary on jeremiah. michigan: william b. eerdmans, 1992. print. wilson, robert r. prophecy and society in ancient israel. philadelphia: fortress press, 1984. print. willis, t. the college press niv commentary: jeremiah and lamentations. missouri: college press, 2002. print. 115 136 10 priestly identity and new evangelization: resolving deficits in priestly identity through authentic patrology. clement ajibolade seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma ajiboladeclement@gmail.com abstract the catholic priesthood has got a character with which the priests are easily marked out, even since antiquity. no matter the historical development of the priesthood, this character remains substantially intact. the consciousness of the character is also a source of great impetus for enthusiastic evangelization. however, one of the major challenges bedeviling the catholic priesthood in nigeria is the crisis of identity. this plays out strongly in the minimal level of zeal displayed in the pastoral ministry, witnessing to christ. it has been a clog in the wheel of the new evangelization, which remains almost only in theory and the fruit of its practice is elusive. what explains this crisis of identity? is it really because we are product of our society? is it the change in outlook in the course of history? could it be because the priesthood has had some development? does the historical development cause essential change leading to loss of identity today? this paper sets out to reveal yet another nuance to the issue of crisis of identity among priests in nigeria, which is the seed-bed of the problems limiting ‘catholic evangelization’ on the nigerian soil. this is because; the growth of any of the church’s agenda relies to a large extent on her priests, who are the close pastors of the people. we shall submit that authentic patrological formation would help to ameliorate this menace, if not eradicating it totally. to achieve this, the method of exposition is employed. keywords: patrology, identity, crisis, evangelization and formation. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 137 preliminary and useful insight we are aware that the only antidote to the endemic poison of our society that has held people hostage and put them in fetters of ignorance is the communication of truth. that is why jesus christ says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free (jn 8:12). the reality of the level of ignorance and deception concerning the meaning of human body resulting to the perversion of the truth of sex and sexuality, the intelligent understanding of human origin and summit of human existence and unnecessary mistaken mentality of the essentiality of human life are arbiter of the aspiration and thirst of men of this age for the teaching of the truth. no one can really know the truth unless he is taught, no one can be taught unless there is a teacher (rom. 10:14ff). the task of announcing the gospel truth in an evangelizing manner and missionary disposition has become emergent than ever before, in the age of relativism and the desire for unguided freedom and this is a loud and laudable awakening from clerical slumber. the congregation for the clergy puts this in a particular perspective saying: “we are aware that no missionary activity can be realistically undertaken without the enthusiastic support of priests, who are the first and most valued collaborators of the order of bishops.”1 and so, “all priests are called to become aware how especially urgent it is for them to receive formation at the present time: the new evangelization needs new evangelizers, and these are the priests who are serious about living their priesthood as a specific path toward holiness.”2 we can say, relying on the aforementioned documents that the church relies so much on priests for the task of new evangelization. this is because they are evangelizers by their own right and virtue of their ordination and they are also supposed to be trainers of evangelizers and personnel for evangelization because, the word evangelization captures concisely the entire missionary activity of the followers of christ. evangelization has to be understood then as the announcement and transmission of the message of christ that is “the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes” (rom 1:16). the term evangelization has a very rich meaning. in the broad sense, it sums up the church’s entire mission: her whole life consists in accomplishing the traditio evangelii, the proclamation and handing on of the gospel, which is “the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes” (rom 1:16) and which, in the final essence, is identified with jesus christ himself (cf. 1 cor 1:24). understood in this way, evangelization is aimed at all of humanity. in any case, to evangelize does not mean simply to teach a doctrine, but to proclaim jesus christ by one’s words and actions, that is, to make oneself an instrument of his presence and action in the world.3 138 formation of the human person in the 21st century paul vi says: “evangelization means bringing the good news into all the strata of humanity and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new”4 ronald says: “evangelization, of course, comes from the greek root ‘to proclaim good news’, and it has been particularly used by christians in every age to speak of the missions ad gentes, that is, outreach to all peoples the world to bring them to christ.”5 that is why the pauline ambition is “to preach the good news not where christ has already been known …but as scripture says: those not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand.” this does not only mean going to a geographical location that was not accessible for the past missionaries, but entails the inculcation, appropriation and internalization of “the mind of christ” (i cor. 2:16). so, joseph okojie writes: “evangelization aims at penetrating and uplifting a given culture by the word of god. it is the acceptance of christ’s call and a deep response to the invitation of the trinity to the work of love and a commitment to continue this work in everyday life.”6 evangelization then, is crucial and irreplaceable. it is central to the life of the church and all her activities since antiquity. in this recent age7 particularly, the pontificate of pope st. john paul ii reawakens the consciousness of evangelization in our own age when he was speaking of new evangelization. “what was new about evangelization?”8 the new evangelization is not the announcement of a new message, but a new way of the announcement – a new way that is characterized with a new disposition of vigorous resilience. will this be possible without great recourse to tradition of the church? those who are familiar with wine and all that concerns it have convincingly argued that the longer it stayed the better. in like terms the longer the catholic tradition, having experienced several cultures, people and time, the better for evangelization of peoples. st. paul speaks of the credence of the sacred tradition in the context of the liturgical celebration of the eucharist in his first letter to the corinthians chapter 11: “this is the tradition of the lord that i received… (i cor. 11:23). the author of the letter to the hebrews urges: “remember your leaders who taught you the word of god. consider the end result of their lives and imitate their faith. jesus christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings.” (heb. 13:7-9). the consideration of the end result of the lives of our past leaders in faith is aided by the study of the fathers, which is technically referred to as patrology. patrology like patristics is used to mean the study of the fathers.9 the word patrology was synonymous with patristics, which is used to designate the works of ancient christian writers. in recent times, it refers to an organized manual on the patristic literature.10 here, we section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 139 want to use the term patrology to refer to the whole life and works of the fathers. the gist of the problem of priestly identity crisis we have said earlier that priests are supposed to be at the fore front of the evangelization. more deeply, let us say that young priests are believed to be the protagonists of the new evangelization. the employment of the youthful hue and vigour is appropriate especially in the areas described as young churches. however, what is experienced in some instances is perturbing, concerning the disposition of some priests. to this effect, charles hammawa laments: some young priests are bereft of a proper sense of mission. their concept of priestly ministry is limited to the works assigned and masses allocated to them. they are not interested in the total well-being or the temporal good of the church. the ecclesiology is so deformed that their comfort is the primary issue to them.11 the resultant effect of this is that the announcement of the gospel suffers and the people continue to be in want. that is why ambrose agu retorts: “…unfortunately, today, in many places, the gospel is not proclaimed with due force and veracity. it is not exposed level of its radical and disturbing implications. when this is done, the pastor or minister of the gospel is excoriated as being conservative, unnecessarily strict or not in touch with present realities. the tendency for many pastors is to shield the people from the disturbing and pungent truth of the gospel message. they tell the people what they would want to hear and dilute the force of the message handed on to them. sometimes, a message is avoided entirely if it is considered a contradiction of the spirit of the time.12 corroborating this, anselm jimoh calls the prevalent menace a lack of pastoral commitment. he also offered the effect of this disposition of some young priests. he says: the observed lack of pastoral commitment, moral probity, inordinate materialistic tendencies, oversocialization of matters of faith and spirituality, frequent display of disobedience to local ordinaries/superiors on the part of the priests, and other observable misdemeanors which coincidentally are more common among the younger generation of priests is disturbing…13 140 formation of the human person in the 21st century today, instead of yearning to win the whole of the world for christ, the happenings in our society appears to be overtaking us and exerting much influence on us. the spirit of avarice, which may be seen as the sin of the old, is now common among the young. this we must say beclouds the vision of evangelization and pastoral initiative that is greatly missionary. there is no other better time to shun the empty promises of the world so that we may purify it. “yet increasing it appears that more and more young priests are taken up with buying cars the day after their ordination…”14 and “pastors and priests are getting swallowed en mass and the virtue of comportment and decency no longer has a place in our life.”15 it is an understatement to say that some priests do not evangelize, they even disturb the mission. john aniagwu says: “many priests are giving counter witness.”16 substantiating this, hassan kukah writes: “given the poverty of our society, it seems that materialism on the part of many priests and religious has become the greatest threat to our mission.”17 particularly of young priests, who should “spear head” new evangelization because of the gift of youthful strength, it is advised: “formators need to take account of what happens in parishes when young priests get there… an exalted and glamourous priest will weigh too heavily on the mission of the church. the young priest must not be gullible to think that the one who endorses his every whim is the one who supports his ministry.”18 relying on the impetus created by st. paul, oredipe calls for new missionary drive when he wrote: “surely then, the memory of st. paul will inspire a new missionary drive in the church for the benefit of the whole of humanity.”19 in like manner, ambrose agu speaks of new pastoral courage in the following terms: “this concern must be seen in his zeal to reach out to the people outside the church. this concern calls for the special attention of the pastors and ministers of the church.”20 he continued: “the duty of a pastor does not end with leading the flock to pasture and protecting it. he has also the onerous task of going out in search of the straying and the lost sheep and bringing it back to where it belongs … and this requires special pastoral courage and zeal, which of course is the only way the pastor can foster faith and call to faith in the world of today.”21 and so, aniagwu complains: “there is proclamation by written word…but many do not do it. they simply do not write. they are either too timid to do so or they do not have the time.”22 it is true that the general theme of this conference focuses on the formation to the priesthood, let us speak commonly at this moment so that other young persons may have the issue to ponder on, since the task of evangelization per se, is of all who are “baptized and sent.”23 dwight longenecker underscored the fact that our disposition towards section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 141 evangelization is too minimal. he has this to say: “we catholics skate around this one muttering catchphrases like “the new evangelization’ and we trumpet the few evangelization enterprises that are going on, and we self-righteously quote st. francis (who never actually said it), ‘preach the gospel at all times. use words if necessary.’”24 he did not fail to enumerate some of the reasons for such disposition generally by catholics which include; cultural catholicism, over-sacramentalism, ignorance, social gospel and professional catholicism.25 catholics tend to be shy about evangelizing. and, it shows. the decline in sunday mass attendance is best described as a plummet. seventy-five percent of catholics went to mass weekly in 1955 gallup reported. that dropped to about 39 percent according to data collected between 2014 and 2017; which was down from 45 percent between 2005 and 2008. it’s a disturbing trend and one that msgr. thomas richter, pastor of queen of peace church in dickinson, wants catholics to do something about. he addressed this issue as the featured speaker last month at the university of mary’s st. hildegard lecture series, explaining that evangelizing is primarily the job of laity.26 in 2013, the barna group did a large survey on the importance of christians who share their faith. the group which had the lowest number of people who actively shared their faith was catholics. here is the truly sad part. they only polled those they designated as ‘people who said they have made ‘a personal commitment to jesus christ that is still important in their life today’ and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted jesus christ as their savior.’ this means they polled the best and most engaged catholics who have had an encounter with jesus. they found that only 1 out of every 3 catholics agreed with the statement, ‘i, personally, have a responsibility to tell other people about my religious beliefs.’ additionally, only 1/3 of catholics who have encountered jesus and chosen to follow him agreed with the statement, ‘during the past 12 months, i explained my religious beliefs to someone who had different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept jesus christ as their savior.’ this means we catholics in the usa are terrible at evangelization the core mission of the church! we aren't christians to merely get ourselves to heaven. we are christians to get others.’27 notwithstanding, the urgency of evangelization today cannot be overemphasized. the perversion in the world today has made those who learn not to understand and possession has constantly led to impoverishment. the announcement and the encounter with the truth are evermore demanded. thus, the urgency of evangelization today is as prevalent as at the time of jesus, when they were advised not to even salute anyone on the road. cardinal dulles made this observation 142 formation of the human person in the 21st century concerning the disposition for evangelization even after the second vatican council: “the commentaries on vatican ii published in the first decade after the council generally overlooked the centrality of evangelization. they focused attention on collegiality, ecumenism, dialogue and social teaching.”28 but now is the acceptable time to wake up with great enthusiasm for the work of new evangelization. resolving deficits in priestly identity through authentic patrology. we speak of the apostolic foundation in the church not just from mere human calculations or wisdom, but because the lord built the church on the apostle that he named peter, the rock. therefore, the faith of the church is foundational and this permeates her activities. the proper understanding of the missionary mandate and evangelization requires that we get in touch concretely with those to whom the message is handed over on behalf of the generation that will come to believe christ through their teaching (jn 17:20). chinua achebe wrote: “a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body.”29 here, we have to present the lasting values of patrology through which we encounter the fathers and even learn from them in order to prepare candidates in formation for the all important task ahead. the congregation for catholic education instructs: observation of the present condition of the church reveals how the needs of the church’s pastoral mission and the emergence of new currents of spirituality call for healthy nourishment and reliable source of inspiration. so many efforts seem sterile, but there is a fresh breath of true wisdom and christian authenticity that flowed from the patristic works. it is a breath which contributed recently to the resolution of numerous liturgical, ecumenical, missionary and pastoral phenomena, which were noted by the second vatican council and which are considered a source of encouragement and light by the church today.30 in a letter to fulton sheen, a priest wrote: “i am convinced that many of our people are searching for many of the old devotions which many of the parishes have done away with, and this is very often because we priests cannot be bordered putting ourselves out.”31 these old devotions motivate the faithful for the missionary activities. patrology helps us to encounter the depth of these devotions, some of which are handed down by the apostles themselves and are inspired by the lord and his spirit. a good example of such devotions is the elongated lenten spiritual practices of the rites of christian initiation of adults and other prayerful pedagogy that accompany the rites. this is also not common again in our churches. another is the adoration of the lord in section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 143 the blessed sacrament, which some parishes have also done away with. but these and many others enliven our soul. the inspiration they (the fathers) offer in terms reflection, and contribution to the explanation of the mysteries communicated through the scriptures is lasting. to this effect, pope benedict xvi in his verbum domini advised that pastoral or missionary activities be inspired by the scriptures.32 the understanding of the sacred scriptures, just as the familiarity with it, is in no little measure germane to the work of evangelization. as a matter of fact, the scripture is the code for every missionary activity. in it we find the example of the lord himself being on mission to evangelize and also learn his principles and strategies which can never fail us. but without the proper understanding, we can do little or nothing humanly speaking. thus authentic patrology helps us to have better understanding of the scriptures, when we encounter the insight offered by the apostles and the fathers, such that they continue to challenge and spur us for missionary actions. “the living tradition is essential for enabling the church to grow through time in the understanding of the truth revealed in the scriptures…”33 the second vatican council fathers offer immense insight: hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and sacred scripture. for both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. for sacred scripture is the word of god inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of god entrusted by christ the lord and the holy spirit to the apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of god faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. consequently it is not from sacred scripture alone that the church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. therefore both sacred tradition and sacred scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.34 as important as the scriptures may be, our knowledge is equally nourished by the study of the holy fathers and other doctors and monuments or tradition. in order, moreover, that they may give apt answers to questions posed by men of this age, it is necessary for priests to know well the doctrines of the magisterium and the councils and 144 formation of the human person in the 21st century documents of the roman pontiffs and to consult the best of prudent writers of theological science.35 evangelization is intrinsically traditional since, evangelization entails the handing over of the faith. to hand over is traceable to the latin word tradere, meaning to handover. it is therefore, historical and traditional. “the new head of a worldwide federation of traditional catholics has stressed that if the new evangelization is to be effective, it’s vital that the faithful know and understand the church’s roots, history and tradition.”36 “in our christian mind, the fathers are always linked to tradition having been both its protagonist and witnesses. they are closer to its source in their purity… the fathers are therefore witnesses and guarantor of authentic catholic tradition.”37 just like we have written earlier, no christian evangelizer is going to announce a new gospel as st. paul wrote to the people of corinth (i cor. 3:11), the primordial message of christ but with a new style, dedication and vigour. patrology then helps us to understand that primordial message of christ as we study the works and life of those who were with them from john’s baptism till when the lord was taken up (acts 1:22). therefore, it is clear that (for) seminarians regular familiarity with the work of the fathers can only strengthen their spiritual and liturgical life by shedding particular light on their vocation by rooting it in the long tradition of the church bringing it to a direct communication with its origins in their wealth and purity.38 another important reason for patrology is that the fathers have bequeathed to us the authentic method of grafting the faith into cultures. they grappled with the heresies of the pagan cultures and were able to impress the faith in the heart of these cultures, although not without difficulty. they were successful. if inculturation that we clamour for today must be successful, we have to consider the fathers who have done it in the past. the fathers have helped to answer the question of how the faith can be explained in the “wisdom and philosophy of people.”39 there is yet another pivotal point to be mentioned concerning the rich patrimony that patrology introduces us to that we may be helped in our mission of evangelization. this is the arena of catholic christian spirituality. “… given this lively spiritual sense, the image of themselves that the fathers offer us is that of men who are not only learning but above all are experiencing divine things. most of the time, they are specialists in supernatural life who communicate what they have seen and experienced in their contemplation of divine things, what they have known through the path of love.”40 any evangelizer who does not learn from the spirituality of the fathers may not be faithful and successful. the fathers are to be our spiritual models after the mind of christ. st. paul says; imitate me as i imitate christ. due to the intellectual poverty section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 145 that some young persons have concerning the lives and works of the fathers, they have come to choose other spiritual models of this age. it shows in the liturgical assembly that they lead. yet, the fathers have more to offer in spirituality than the pentecostal pastors of this age. authentic patrology will help in resolving this lacuna. conclusion this paper calls for an urgent appreciation of spiritual mentorship, father figure and role modeling. this paper is also a clarion call for renewal towards enthusiastic evangelization. as paul vi says: “to make the church of the twentieth century ever better fitted for proclaiming the gospel to the people of the twentieth century”41, this paper aims at making the church in the twenty-first century better active for the proclamation of the gospel to the people of the twenty-first century. “as in early times, today too christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. he needs witnesses and martyrs like st. paul.”42 to actualize this desire of christ we need to be constantly be inspired by the fathers, who were the first recipient of the message of christ and served it in its purity. thus, in the training of a candidate to the priesthood, authentic patrology should be an epicenter of their formation. this will continue to reinvigorate these young evangelizers, buoyed their spirituality and boost their evangelical morale through pastoral outreach. we wish to submit therefore, that with authentic patrology, the misplacement of priority that has led to a kind of identity crisis, being a clog in the wheel of new evangelization, will be reduced to bearable decimal, if not totally eradicated. endnotes 1congregation for the clergy, the priest and the third christian millennium: teacher of the word, minister of the sacraments and leader of the community, 1999. 2john paul ii, pastores dabor vobis no. 82. 3congregation for the doctrine of the faith, doctrinal note on some aspects of evangelization, no. 2, 2007. 4quoted in frank p. desiano, kenneth boyack, creating the evangelizing parish, new york: paulist press, 1993, p. 23. 5ronald d. witherup, saint paul and the new evangelization, p. 10. 6joseph okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization, benin city: floreat systems, 2014, p. 25. 7post second vatican council. 8ronald d. witherup, saint paul and the new evangelization, minnesota: liturgical press, 2013, p. 2. 146 formation of the human person in the 21st century 9joseph a. komonchak, mary collins (eds.) et. al., the new dictionary of theology, bangalore: theological publications in england, 2011, p. 387. 10michael glazier and monika hellwig (eds.), the modern catholic encyclopedia, minnesota: liturgical press, 2004, pp. 625-626. 11charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; proceedings of the national seminaries committee workshops, makurdi 2002, ekpoma 2003 and ibadan 2005, no 2, benin city, floreat systems, 2007, p. 183 12ambrose c. agu, responding to the divine call, bombay: st. pauls, 2009, pp. 158159. 13ibid 14b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 186. 15ibi s. ajayi, “materialism and the nigerian society” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 155. 16john aniagwu, quoted by b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 186. 17hassan kukah quoted by b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 187. 18b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” pp. 188-189. 19paul k. oredipe, st. paul and priestly formation: impetus for today, benin city: floreat systems, 2018, p. 13. 20ambrose c. agu, responding to the divine call, bombay: st. pauls, 2009, p. 157. 21ibid 22john aniagwu, called to act in persona christi: reflections on priestly life and ministry, ibadan: daily graphics, 2014, p. 46. 23pope francis, message on the mission sunday, 2019. 24dwight longenecker, “10 reasons why catholics don’t evangelize” in natioal catholic register, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/longenecker/10-reasons-whycatholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 10:40 pm) 25ibid 26patti armstrong, “evangelizing is the job of the laity”, 2019 https://bismarckdiocese.com/news/evangelizing-is-the-job-of-the-laity (accessed 3/3/2020 12:08 am) 27marcel lejeune, “5 reasons why catholics don't evangelize” in catholic missionary disciples, https://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/reasons-whycatholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 11:16 pm) section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 147 28avery cardinal dulles, evangelization for the third millennium, new york: paulist press, 2009, p. 14. 29chinua achebe, there was a country, usa: penguin books, 2012, p. 1. 30congregation for catholic education, instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 31fulton j. sheen, treasure in clay, bangalore: asian trading corporation, 1980, p. 204. 32pope benedict xvi, verbum domini, p. 88. 33pope benedict xvi, verbum domini, p. 25. 34dei verbum no. 9 35presbyterorum ordinis no. 19. 36edward pentin, “new evangelization needs tradition and history to be effective” https://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/new-evangelization-needstradition-history (accessed 3/2/2020 5:14pm). 37congregation for catholic education, “instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 38ibid 39ad gentes no. 22. 40congregation for catholic education, “instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 41paul vi, evangelii nuntiandi, no. 2. 42benedict xvi’s homily at vespers for the feast of sts. peter and paul, at the basilica of st. paul the walls on june 28, 2007. 419 31 impact of migration on women and children prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk abstract this paper provides a thematic discourse on the impact of migration on women and children. the study aims to contribute to deepening the understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon and its impact on women and children and human rights in general. women comprise slightly less than half of the international migrant population. while women and men decide to migrate for similar reasons, gender-specific social and cultural norms also play decisive roles in the migration process and therefore, affect the experience of migrant women and children. furthermore, the paper juxtaposes that a greater understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon can enable states to better protect migrant women and children from gender based discrimination, abuse and violations at all stages of migration, and fulfill their human rights. the study focuses on the impact of migration on women and children, especially girls, given that they are uniquely and disproportionately affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and violence. the paper 420 formation of the human person in the 21st century concludes by submitting that migrant women, who comprise half of the total migrant population in the world, provide important social and economic contributions to their countries of origin and destination. for many women and children, migration provides opportunities for their economic and social development. indeed, migration experiences can contribute to the empowerment of women and children by increasing their self-confidence, autonomy and control over their lives. finally, the paper notes, their exposure to different gender norms may contribute to the achievement of gender equality in their societies of origin. keywords: migration, women, children, human rights, gender norms, sociocultural norms introduction the number of migrant women is said to have doubled between 1960 and 2015. in 2017, women comprised slightly less than half, or 48 per cent, of the international migrant population. interestingly, they outnumbered men in all regions except africa and asia.1 data indicate that the rate of female migration is growing faster than male migration in many receiving countries while migration has moved up in the international policy agenda, its wide-ranging implications for children have received little attention. children are affected by migration when they are left behind by one or both migrating parents, migrating with parents (or born abroad), or migrating alone.2 the impact of migration on children and adolescents must be seen in the broader context of poverty and conflict, and within the perspectives of vulnerability and resilience, gender relations and children’s rights. the convention on the rights of the child (crc) protects every child, regardless of nationality or immigration status. states have obligations to respect the provisions of the convention in their policies and actions toward each and every child within their jurisdiction. these provisions include the right to citizenship, physical integrity, health and education as well as the right to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse. the international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers reaffirms these rights set forth in the crc.3 policies should protect children’s rights by enhancing access to the potential benefits created by migration, while also providing protection for those who are vulnerable to its negative consequences. effective migration policies need to be accompanied by additional investments in health, education and social protection to address the risks faced by children and adolescents who are migrating or left behind.4 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 421 definitions of terms children: according to international standards, children are defined as “individuals below the age of 18” (crc, article1). however, it is important to note that only some of the documents included in this paper provide information disaggregated to specify the 0-18 age group.5 in most of the research examined children are defined by the age group 0-15, and youth by the age group 16-24.6 migration: the united nations defines a migrant as “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence”.7 identifying who is a migrant can be difficult due to the dynamic nature of migration, which in turn implies defining and assessing temporal and spatial criteria. migration can be permanent, if a person never return to his or her place of origin, or long term if a person moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. a short-term migrant is defined as a person moving to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least 3 months but less than a year (12 months), and often is the status of a person who moves from one region to another in accordance to the seasons. however, if a person moves to a new country for purposes of recreation, holiday, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment, or religious pilgrimages, he or she is not considered a migrant.8 in terms of space patterns, migration can imply the movement from one country to another (international migration), or movement within a country (internal migration, particularly between rural and urban areas), or movement transnationally if migrants “forge and sustain multi-stranded relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement”.9 the conventions on: the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women: under the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, discrimination against women is prohibited and states are obliged to eliminate discrimination against women. there are 189 states parties to the convention, which includes obligations to suppress trafficking in women (art. 6); grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain nationality (art. 9); eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment (art. 11); eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care and ensure access to health-care services, including those related to family planning and maternal care (art. 12); and accord to men and women the 422 formation of the human person in the 21st century same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile (art. 15 (4).10 the rights of the child: the principle of non-discrimination is codified in article 2 of the convention on the rights of the child. in joint general comment no. 3 (2017) of the committee on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families and no. 22 (2017) of the committee on the rights of the child on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration, both committees gave their interpretation of the application of the non-discrimination principle in the context of international migration. the non-discrimination principle in the convention on the rights of the child stipulates that states parties should respect and ensure the rights set forth in the convention for all children, whether they are considered, inter alia, migrants in regular or irregular situations, asylum seekers, refugees, stateless or victims of trafficking, including in situations of return or deportation to their country of origin, irrespective of their or their parents’ or legal guardians’ nationality, migration status or statelessness.11 migration channels and specific challenges while migrating until recently, women were thought to migrate primarily to join a partner or for family reunification. today, an increasing number of women are moving on their own,12 notably to find work, which is leading to a so-called feminization of migration. while the way in which women are migrating is changing, more women are also likely to be the lead migrant, that is, the first member of the family to migrate. highly skilled women are more likely to migrate on their own than low-skilled women.13some women, however, still face difficulties in leaving their countries because of prohibitive, gender-specific discriminatory laws or restrictive social norms. those measures can push them to migrate through irregular channels14 which is more common when coupled with institutional failures to address the obstacles, as well as insufficient information on the migration process and a low level of education. it should be noted here that a network of migrant women in their countries of origin, or previous experience of women’s migration, can help to stimulate migration. social networks, as a set of interpersonal ties that connect migrants, former migrants and non-migrants in origin, transit and destination countries through kinship, friendship or a shared community of origin, can prompt rural women to migrate across borders. in countries of destination, regardless of their migratory status, migrant women encounter multiple and intersecting forms of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 423 discrimination, not only as women and as migrants, but also on other grounds, including age, race and ethnicity, nationality, religion, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity. as a result, they are at risk of abuse and exploitation. it is well documented that migrant women in general struggle in many countries to have their credentials recognized, which leads to “deskilling” as a result of being underemployed.15 migration and socio-cultural gender norms the migration of women may amend the social and gender norms both for migrants themselves and for their home communities. it may influence their home communities to adopt more equitable norms with regard to education, reproductive rights, marriage and the organization of families and communities.16the migration of women has the potential to contribute to a reformulation of gender roles and cultural norms, and may improve women’s autonomy, self-esteem and social standing.17 for example, in one study, south asian migrant women reportedly used their increased decision‐making power to direct their remittances to health care and education for their families.18 migration and economic empowerment of women in his opening remarks at the intergovernmental conference to adopt the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, the secretary-general emphasized how important migration was for the functioning of economies, as migrants performed vital roles, such as in health care and care for elderly persons.19 migration can fill critical gaps in labour markets in countries of destination, with a positive impact on employment, production and the country’s gross domestic product. it is important to note that the migration of women also leaves gaps in their countries of origin. in 2011, the world bank pointed out that physicians and nurses were the professionals that migrated most often than other classes of professionals.20it is therefore not surprising that according to one study; sub-saharan countries are experiencing a shortage of 600,000 nurses. it was found in another study that from 1999 to 2001, 60 per cent of registered nurses left tertiary hospitals in malawi, likely to migrate. as a result, 64 per cent of nursing positions (heavily dominated by women) remain unfilled, with medical centres operating with no nurses or with employees who have as little as 10 weeks of medical training.21 the impact of migration on: children in general: in order to formulate policy recommendations that enhance children’s welfare, there is a need for reliable data that allow the assessment of positive and negative effects of migration. unicef, in 424 formation of the human person in the 21st century collaboration with undp and the special unit for south-south cooperation (su-ssc), has initiated policy research and operational work in six countries (ecuador, albania, moldova, philippines, mexico, morocco) on the impact of migration on women and children left behind. some preliminary results from country-level studies and a review of current literature highlight the magnitude of the impact of migration on families. according to a report by (save the children, 2006), around 1 million sri lankan children are left behind by their mothers, who migrate in search of work. in the philippines, it is estimated that between 8.8 and 9 million children, or around 27% of all minors in the country, live separated from one or both parents. in moldova, a study estimated that 31% of children aged 0-14 have been left behind by one parent and 5.4% by both parents.22 in 2002, 13% of mexican and almost 22% of salvadoran immigrants living in the u.s had children left behind in their home countries.23 children left behind: the social cost of migration can be very high, particularly due to the lack of parental care. children left behind inevitably grow up in single-headed families (if only one parent is migrating), or with grandparents and other relatives (if both of the parents are migrating), filling the vacuum left by migrant parents. negative effects can be exacerbated if long term migration of one of the parents may lead to permanent disruption of family unity. absence of men can create material and psychological insecurity, leading mothers (or children when both the parents are migrating) to pressures and negotiations with wider family members. migrants may start having “dual families” relationships: one in the country of origin and one in the country of destination; this phenomenon may actually reduce the amount of remittances sent home.24 however it is important to stress the fact that children left behind are not orphans and most of them do keep some sort of contact with their migrant parents. the impact of the absence of one of the parents on children can be mediated by an extended family safety net, which is an effective response to economic and social crises, particularly in sub-saharan africa. for this reason, children in left-behind households do not appear to suffer greater social or economic problems than their peers in nonremittance-receiving households, with the exception of younger children.25 however, care by the extended family, or community or institutional care, often does not provide as much protection from abuse and exploitation as parental care. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 425 children’s health: the effects of migration on child health are contested and complex. whereas on the one hand, migration itself poses significant hazards to children and their health, movement to a destination country also can increase access to health care. moving to countries or regions with better health services will have a positive impact on children. migrant children moving from a rural area to the urban area are more likely to survive due to a greater number of hospitals and doctors, improved infrastructure including potable water, flush toilets, and refrigeration, and better health information (prompting cleaner food preparation and storage and improved hygiene practices). health benefits of migration, due to access to better health services and information, are sharply contrasted with the inherent health risks to moving in the first place. according to whitehead and hashim, child health is often directly associated with the type of work child migrants find, whether it be abusive work, sex work, hazardous work in the informal economy, or physically beyond the child’s capacities.26 the working conditions, if illegal (i.e. prostitution) may also prevent child access to health care if there is a fear of raid, discovery, or deportation. finally migrant may face serious difficulties in accessing health services if based on a registered residence system. in china, for example, migrants may face a lack of adequate health care for a variety of reasons: caretaker lack of knowledge, both in terms of prevention and access to care; passive attention to disease; poor economic situations. these factors lead to higher child mortality rates among migrants.27 education and economic activity of migrant children migration may also have a negative impact on education attainment of children. children of migrant workers and children migrating alone face serious exclusion from education due to social and cultural isolation, strenuous and hazardous work, extreme poverty, poor health conditions and language barriers. children may leave the household of origin with the objective of performing economic activities that may keep them out of school. comparing education achievement between migrants and non-migrant children in a given country may be misleading in assessing the impact of migration on migrant children. in order to measure how and whether the decision to migrate has increased school attainment, it will be necessary to compare levels with children of the same age group in the country of origin, and not the population of children in the country of destination.28 children who migrate may end up in being involved in economic activities as a specific decision (work migration) or as a result of the conditions, need and opportunities in destination countries. regardless of the extensive literature on child work, disproportionately 426 formation of the human person in the 21st century focused on children who work in the worst form of child labour (i.e. trafficked jobs, prostitution), there is a lack of quantitative research looking specifically at economic activity patterns of migrant children. child migrant workers have a variety of experiences due to a complex set of factors, and often one child will have a mixture of positive and negative experiences.29 negative effects may include exploitation, poor working conditions, physical, verbal, or sexual abuse from employers and foregone access to school. psycho-social: migration may have psycho-social impacts on children due to the experience moving from the country of origin to the country of destination, and also due to exclusion and marginalization in countries of destination. leaving their communities, migrant children lose contact with their family and friends, as well as lose customs and traditions. at the same time, coming into a new community, they may be required to become accustomed to new language, culture and lifestyle.30 even if children may adapt to new contexts more quickly than adults, this may generate conflict with parent or other members of same migrant group. as in the cases of health and education, the psycho-social impact of migration varied greatly depending on specific characteristics of the migrant group and its receiving country, as well as other methodological factors such as variance in data collection. children in host countries: children of migrants face challenges in adapting to host societies. they stand a greater risk of dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy and juvenile crime; they get exposed to incomplete citizenship rights and therefore, may have difficult access to social services which may also lead to the danger of social exclusion. ensure respect for the rights of migrant women and children in order to ensure the rights of migrant women and children, the following steps should be aggressively taken: (a) promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and children in efforts to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development; (b) ensure that the implementation, review and follow-up of the global compact for migration is human rights-based, genderresponsive and child-sensitive; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 427 (c) formulate human rights-based, gender-responsive and childsensitive policies to govern migration that promote gender equality and non-discrimination; (d) increase avenues for regular migration, where migrants, including women and children, can make informed choices and have access to legal protection, services and social networks in countries of origin, transit and destination; (e) revise national laws and regulations governing migration to make them more gender-responsive by including provisions on antidiscrimination, equality between men and women, mandatory health insurance for migrant workers at all levels and special protection for vulnerable categories of workers, including domestic workers; (f) take measures to ensure that family reunion policies are applicable to women migrant workers at all levels, including domestic workers, in order to enable their spouses and children to join them in their country of destination; (g) involve migrant women and relevant civil society organizations in the formulation, implementation and review of policies and regulations governing migration to ensure that the specific needs of migrant women and children are addressed; (h) provide pre-departure orientation training specific to migrant women, which should include information on their human rights, potential methods of exploitation and available complaint mechanisms; and make financial literacy programmes available to migrant women to enable them to better manage their earnings; (i) ensure the provision of basic services as enshrined in international human rights law, so that citizens do not have to rely on remittances to compensate for the absence of affordable, accessible, publicly funded services and social protection; (j) ensure the provision of human rights-based, gender-responsive and child-sensitive reintegration programmes for migrants who return to their countries of origin, and more specifically, ensure that economic, sociocultural and psychosocial support is provided to returnee migrants and communities in their countries of origin prior, during and after their return; 428 formation of the human person in the 21st century (k) provide gender-sensitive human rights training to immigration officials, border police, social workers, health-care providers, educators, judicial officers and media workers to raise their awareness of the human rights of migrant women and children; (l) take all measures necessary to prevent, investigate, prosecute and sanction human rights violations and abuse against migrant women and children, whether perpetrated by public officials or private individuals; (m) guarantee adequate recognition of foreign qualifications and skills to ensure that migrant women do not become underemployed or “deskilled”, and to ensure that their professional experience and skills are fully recognized; (n) lift sex-specific bans and discriminatory restrictions on the migration of women, whether they are based on age, pregnancy or marital or maternity status, and particularly restrictions that require women or children to obtain permission from male family members in order to travel; (o) strengthen state oversight and monitoring of private recruitment agencies and brokers to ensure that overseas employment programmes and work permits are administered in a manner that respects gender equality and the rights of migrant women; (p) ensure that migrant women have equal access to legal remedies and complaint mechanisms, and provide legal, vocational, medical and psychological assistance to victims of trafficking, particularly female victims; (q) ensure that migrant women and children have access to education, social protection, health care, including reproductive health care, and other basic services; (r) establish firewalls between public service providers and immigration authorities to allow access to justice for migrant women and girls without fear of being reported, detained or deported; (s) invest in and support the capacity of national agencies to collect and use sexand age-disaggregated data on migrants regardless of their section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 429 migratory status, and support research initiatives to better understand the impact of migration on women and children; (t) conduct awareness-raising campaigns to better uphold the dignity of migrant women and children, and to highlight their social and economic contributions to society; (u) include the protection of the rights of migrant women and children on the agenda of intergovernmental dialogues on migration-related issues at the global, regional and bilateral levels. conclusions and recommendations migrant women, who comprise half of the total migrant population in the world, provide important social and economic contributions to their countries of origin and destination. for many women and children, migration provides opportunities for their economic and social development. migration experiences can contribute to the empowerment of women and girls by increasing their self-confidence, autonomy and control over their lives. their exposure to different gender norms may contribute to the achievement of gender equality in their societies of origin. however, circumstances such as discriminatory social and cultural norms and policies have contributed to the specific vulnerabilities of migrant women and children. many are disproportionately affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and violations of their rights during migration. a limited understanding of the realities faced by migrant women and children affects the ability of states to formulate and implement gender-responsive migration laws, policies and programmes, and ensure that women and children can enjoy their human rights throughout their migration journey. we conclude this discourse on the impacts of migration on women and children with the following recommendations: 1. children and adolescents must matter in migration policies and debates. children and adolescents affected by migration are particularly vulnerable and should receive special protection. 2. to increase the visibility of children in policy agendas, more research and comparable global data on how children are affected by migration are needed. ƒ 3. policy and programme interventions should aim at maximizing the benefits of remittances and limiting the negative effects of migration on children and families left behind. 4. governments, international organizations, and civil society stakeholders must collaborate (a) to advocate for the rights of children and women affected by migration, (b) to monitor and 430 formation of the human person in the 21st century gather information on the well-being of children in migrant communities and (c) to promote awareness in sending migrants to host societies so that the risks of discrimination and social exclusion are reduced. endnotes ____________________ 1. international migration report 2017 (highlights), united nations publication, sales no. e.18.xiii.4) 2. united nations population fund (unfpa) 3. international migration policy programme, meeting the challenges of migration: progress since the icpd (2004), p. 13. 4. the impact of migration on migrant women and girls: a gender perspective: report of the special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (a/hrc/41/38) (en/ar/ru) 5. the lack of disaggregated data specifying 0-18 as an age group includes international statistics that should follow the definition in the convention on the rights of the child. 6. ibid. 7. in the 1976 recommendation, a migrant was defined as person who has entered a country with the intention of remaining for more than one year and who either must never have been in that country continuously for more than one year or, having been in the country at least once continuously for more than one year, must have been away continuously for more than one year since the last stay of more than one involved (united nations, 1998) 8. ibid. 9. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarksintergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 10. nicola piper, ed., new perspectives on gender and migration: livelihood, rights and entitlements, oxon: routledge, 2007, pp. 1–2. 11. see also committee on the rights of the child, general comment no. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, paragraph 12. 12. alyson l., dimmit gnam, “mexico’s missed opportunities to protect irregular women trans migrants: applying a gender lens to migration law reform” in pacific rim law & policy journal, vol. 22, no. 3 (2013), pp. 713–749. 13. o’neil, fleury and foresti, “women on the move”, p. 9. 14. bandita sijapati, “women’s labour migration from asia and the pacific: opportunities and challenges”, iom regional office for asia and the pacific and migration policy institute, 2015, p. 8. 15. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization, global education monitoring report team, “the intersections between education, migration and displacement are not gender-neutral”, document ed/gem/mrt/2019/wp1, p. 4.) section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 431 16. o’neil, fleury and foresti, “women on the move”, p. 5. 17. rita afsar, “contextualizing gender and migration in south asia: critical insights” in gender, technology and development, vol. 15, no. 3 (2011), pp. 389–410. 18. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarksintergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 19. camilla spadavecchia, “migration of women from sub-saharan africa to europe”, p. 108. 20. ibid. 21. unicef moldova / su-ssc, 2006) 22. cortina & de la garza, 2004) 23. nyiri and saveliev 2002 24. in the available policy literature on development, the term “children left behind” is sometime also used to refer to children orphans due to hiv/aids. 25. whitehead and hashim (2005) 26. beijing health bureau’s (2007). 27. the effect of a lack of parental care on children has been addressed in detail in a series of recent studies looking at the conditions of the large number of children orphans due to hiv/aids, and some of the policy concerns and interventions are similar to the ones developed for of abandoned children or orphans. 28. ibid. 29. ibid. 30. camilla spadavecchia, “migration of women from sub-saharan africa to europe”, p. 108. 337 25 religion and human values: an inquisition of the afro-centric imperative. prof. john afiagbokai onimhawo department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma. edo state, nigeria. jonimhawo@gmail.com & cyril osilama adamu ph.d college of education, ekiadolor, benin city. cytechsystem@yahoo.com abstract contemporary debates by scholars on the relevance or otherwise of african values system and thought process had further opened the floodgate of the ambivalence between those scholars seeking to define african values and morality within the parameters of a conventionalized western religious epistemological hegemony, thereby accentuating the superiority of western values. on the other side of the debate are scholars pursuing an “africanist” explanation which embraces an authentic mode of african knowledge construction of human values and morality. the objective of this paper is to examine the afro-centric imperative of the african thought process in the current moral discourse, in order to extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a hybrid of moral reconstructions between christianity and african indigenous religion and thought process. this study is cached within the theoretical framework of the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm (acdp) which encapsulates african indigenous religion and human values. however, within the grindstone of spotlighting african human values, is the inevitable project of decolonization. this paper therefore explores the task of decolonizing african thought against the backdrop of the ontological normative dialectics of superiority and inferiority. this paper argues against the superiority of western thought and values over african values. in order to argue for this conclusion, this discourse finds 338 formation of the human person in the 21st century it expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of african thought process; an investigation that leads to the interplay between the decolonization of african thought and the decolonization of the african intellectual landscape. this paper disturbs and unpacks the colonial project and calls to contestation western hegemony and the continuous dominance of western thought even amongst african scholars (theologians and philosophers). this paper concludes by asserting that the differences that exist between african religious human values and western values must not necessarily have normative consequences; as things can be different without having to be placed within a normative hierarchy. the contention that african values should be of less worth than western values is therefore repudiated. the paper advances the understanding of religion and human values from the perspective of african indigenous worldview. the recommendation is that there should be an integrated approach to resolving the current crises of human values. keywords: religion, human values and afrocentricism. introduction the deadweight of accentuating african indigenous religious and human values in contemporary scholarship is fraught with many difficulties punctuated by fluctuations, oscillation, and occasional regressions. although some progress is being made, this progression has not always been rectilinear but nonetheless exhibiting some level of advances. vivaciously this process has been set in motion by the aspirations of many african intellectuals like kwame anthony appiah, kwasi wiredu, henry odera oruka, john mbiti, bolaji idowu, frantz fanon, and aimé césaire; and many other african activists like steve biko and nelson mandela. interestingly the project of decolonization of the african thought process has also been the preoccupation of non-african contemporary scholars like björn freter1 and very few others. these antecedents should suggest that the crusade before african contemporary scholarship is the acceleration of the contention to decolonize african thought process, including the valuation and transvalution of indigenous religious and human values. the crisis of values pervading contemporary nigeria moral space is inexorable, which requires a high level of critical reflection in the search for ways through which the moral challenge posed by the agents of western acculturation can be adequately addressed. the tremendous impact of western acculturation on the nation and the speeding erosion of well enacted afro-centric religious and human values are readily seen in the ways many african indigenous normative systems are being seriously undermined even by some african intellectuals and african section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 339 converts to non-indigenous religions. this situation has led to the waning away of african values system in the face of alien values. therefore the enterprise to underscore african religious and human values is one that must not be taken lightly, because every society has set of values covering the whole ramifications of the society, and these values apparently play regulating roles in human relationships and act as stabilizing factors of the society. as asserted by kanu “value system is the cultural outlook of a people and the understanding of the value system of the people is the understanding of the belief system and cultural system of the people in question.”2 in proffering solutions to the misadventure of the nigerian project, the dominant tenor within the public space is the narrative that posits that the solution to the nigerian question is at the narthex of formulating the right economic policies and fashioning a suitable political ideology. this line of thinking has reached a crescendo that any contrary opinion is often repudiated. while some level of truth resides in the above assertion: that economics and politics play undeniable importance in the development of any nation, public discourse tends however to discount the most fundamental aspect of the society: namely its ethical dimension. therefore, an accurate design of economic policies and the adoption of the proper political ideology, without a corresponding attestation of an ethical value system are most unlikely to yield any meaning human development. ethical behavior in every area of the public space should provide the fundamental philosophical foundation for authentic human development, because: “economic and political choices as a society are ultimately determined by moral values.”3 plato said, “states are as men are; they grow out of human character.” so the nigerian state is a product of the nigerian character as a nation cannot rise above the values of her citizens. what is profoundly and eminently obvious is that there is a crisis of values in nigeria, which has led to the agitation and clamour for invigorating and maintaining durable and lasting positive values in nigeria. the draught of positive values is made manifest in all sphere of public life. there is the abuse and perversion of teachers-students relationship which is supposed to be a vital mentoring relationship. religious institutions have fallen into moral disrepute owing to a number of high profile scandals with the attended disdained for the emissaries of organized religion. religious leaders are increasingly vulnerable to the criticism that they are far more comfortable courting the rich and the powerful than speaking truth to power. the postmodern nigeria society is increasingly being typified by instant gratification that feeds on short-termism, profiteering, fraud, sexual irresponsibility and perversion. without making hasty and unsustainable 340 formation of the human person in the 21st century generalizations, the consensus is that the nigeria public space is suffused by inordinately disproportionate returns on noninvestments (which in popular palace is called corruption), cheating, predatory exploitation and feverish individualism at the expense of the common good. arriving at a broadly agreed upon set of values that will launch nigeria into the path of moral rectitude is one of the most urgent tasks for nigerian public intellectuals and social thinkers. the objective of this paper therefore is to examine the afro-centric imperative in the enthronement of positive religious and human values in order to extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a hybrid of moral reconstructions. conceptual clarity religion religion is a victim of definitional pluralism as there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. for the purpose clarity, the paper adopts émile durkheim definition of religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things".4 by sacred things durkheim meant things set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices and all those who adhere to them. sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. on the contrary, a sacred thing can be a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house. religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are attributed to them. antoine vergote on his part defined religion as “… the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings.”5 vergote took the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency. therefore religious values are ethical principles founded on religious traditions, texts and beliefs. these values are usually considered to be the high moral and ethical values that people of faith aspire to achieve. in contrast to human or personal values, religious-based values are based on the scriptures and or a religion's established norms. for example, judaism has the ten commandments. christianity has both the ten commandment and the teachings of jesus christ. islam provides spiritual guidance through the quran and hadith, while african traditional religious values are expressed through the customs, culture, beliefs and practices of the africans. christians and muslims comprise the predominant religious groups in nigeria. christianity is more common in the southern region of the country, while islam is the dominant religion in the north. indigenous traditional religion accounts for about 10 percent of the population. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 341 these traditional religions are specific to certain rural or indigenous areas and are usually intertwined with either christianity or islam. each of these religious groups has various religious values which serve as a guide and control of human behavior, dictating right from wrong. human values many social scientists have tried to give meaning to the word “value” by articulating many definitions. among these are: allport, jones and gerald, and rokeach. allport in his publication titled pattern and growth in personality sees value as: “a belief upon which a man act by preference.”6 jones and gerald in their join text defined value as: “any singular state or object for which the individual strives or approaches, extols, embraces, voluntarily consumes, incur expenses to acquire as positive value.”7 according to these social scientists, values sensitize the person; they move him around his environment because they define his attractive and repelling nature and particular cognitive categories. therefore a value offers a motivational force, defines, sustains and modifies attitude and behaviour. another attempt to create a more lucid meaning of the word “value” is found in the work of rokeach titled the nature of human values. rokeach says “a value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.”8 experts in the humanities have described human values as “our very core, the especial essence of who we are as human beings.”9 human values are the virtues that guide us to take into account of the human element when we interact with other human beings. human values are, for example, respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, openness, affection, empathy and love towards other human beings. these are the demonstrable and authentic values on which any human society should be built upon. some human values in traditional african society include honesty, morality, respect for elders, respect for fellow citizens, communality and family loyalty. one of the most significant values that traditional africans hold to be of great importance is the wisdom of its elders. age is a symbol of experience and intelligence, and the mistreatment of said elders is viewed as taboo. afrocentricism and afro-centric cultural distinctive theoretical framework louis gates and anthony appiah view afrocentrism as a cultural ideology or worldview that focuses on the history of the people of african descent. it is a response to global eurocentric attitudes about african people and their historical contributions; it revisits their history 342 formation of the human person in the 21st century with an african cultural and ideological focus.10 in most studies, afrocentrism is usually interchanged with afrocentricity which deals primarily with pan-african ideology in culture, philosophy, and history. afrocentrism can be seen as an african inspired ideology that manifests an affirmation by conceptualizing a glorified heritage that is distinctly african. this is what defines the afro-centric cultural distinctive theoretical framework. it often argues against or minimizes european cultural hegemony and influences, while accenting historical african civilizations that independently accomplished a significant level of cultural development. in general, the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm is usually manifested in a focus on african culture and the history of africa. it involves an african version of an african-centered view of history and culture to portray the achievements and development of african traditions which have been inferiorized by the west.11 in his book, the afrocentric idea, asante defines afrocentricity as "the placing of african ideals at the center of any analysis that involves african culture and behavior."12 it should be emphasized that this perspective is not an explicit argument for african superiority in culture and history, although some scholars have used it to that end. rather, the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm is a conceptual tool for seeing the history of africandescended peoples through their own lens, and not through the lens of europe or the west. as a mode of analysis, afrocentrism has remained remarkably durable over the past two hundred years; however, scholars have often reached radically different conclusions in their utilization of this analytical tool. according to asante, what is today broadly called afrocentrism evolved out of the work of african intellectuals that flowered into its modern form due to the activism of african intellectuals in the civil rights movement and in the development of african studies programs in universities as a distinct academic ideology.13 proponents of afrocentrism support the claim that the contributions of various africans have been downplayed or discredited as part of the legacy of colonialism and slavery's pathology of "writing africans out of history."14 afrocentrism argues that for centuries, africans and other nonwhites have been dominated, through slavery and colonization, by europeans, and that european culture is diametrically opposed to efforts by non-europeans to achieve self-determination. for this reason, according to afrocentrism, people of african descent need to develop an appreciation of the achievements of traditional african civilizations; indeed, they need to articulate their own history and their own system of values.15 . afrocentrists assert that traditional african culture contrasts with european culture in being more informed by its history “circular” rather than “linear”; more cooperative; more intuitive; more humano-centric; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 343 and more closely integrated with the spiritual world.16 renewed attention to this culture, they argue, can benefit africans by reminding them that their own culture, which was long been devalued by europeans, has a rich and ancient heritage. in addition to emphasizing the past, afrocentrism encourages the preservation and elevation of contemporary african culture.17 western textualisation of african values and thought process edem kodjo, the author of ‘africa tomorrow’ aptly describes the western textualization and colonization of african values and thought process as the condition of the african “torn away from his past, propelled into a universe fashioned from outside that suppresses his values, and dumbfounded by a cultural invasion that marginalizes him. the african ... is today the deformed image of others.”18 the westernization of african values is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority, a form of internalized oppression engrained in the contemporary african psyche. this disposition was supported by an educational system which drew the african away from his community and misled him by showing him the green pastures of the european society where he is not allowed to graze.19 western education introduced a western culture-transmitting process with an attitude that neither respects the core values of african culture, nor leads the present generation to acquire accumulated knowledge of african values with pride. the educational process directed the african thought process away from african values; equipping him with a type of education that is antagonistic to the african cultural values and thought patterns.20 onwubiko said: western system of education was very well calculated to teach the new africans that in order to rise in the ladder of the new culture and acquire the status it promised; they must be alienated, ideologically and physically, from their root and their cultural past. the colonial agents presented themselves as symbols of human beings, in the image and likeness of whom all future generation africans were to be created.21 this is the thinking that foreign values are always better and superior, while the indigenous are primitive, uncultured and barbaric. therefore a colonized african thought is the acceptance, by the colonized, of the culture or doctrines of the colonizer, as intrinsically more worthy or superior. this is the mentality that still plagues africa many years after independence, and despite all the knowledge and education. this is why nyerere said: “of all the crimes of colonialism there is none worse than the attempt to make us believe that we had no indigenous culture of our own or that what we did have was worthless or something of which we should be ashamed, instead of being a source of pride.”22 therefore the western textualisation of african values is 344 formation of the human person in the 21st century responsible for the wholesale importation and adoption of western values and the repudiation of african heritage, as if there was never anything good in africa history and values. african nationalists who worked so hard for the liberation of africans from physical enslavement and actual colonization may not have realized that intellectual slavery and mental enslavement that works insidiously at the level of the mind was more pervasive, more vicious and even more cruel and exacting, than political colonization. once people’s mind is conquered and enslaved, the dominion and domination naturally extend to other domains such as politics, economics and even religion. this mental enslavement comprehensively dehumanized and stripped africans of their humanity; a situation which makes the work of the conqueror easier. thus, the colonization of african mind makes africans tend to treat europeans and their allies as demigods. the effects of the colonized african mind also included the near extinction of african culture, which has greatly diluted or destroyed african heritage, including the destruction of african traditional institutions and religion. the europeans forced the people to learn their language, taught them how to eat european food and dress like europeans, abandoning their own traditional eating habits and dressing. from then on the africans occupied only the inferior positions of the colonial administration and never had a say in the government of their own countries. those employed by the colonial administration felt proud and more superior to the others. even today africans who are schooled in western ways of life feel more superior to other africans. this deculturalization of africa paved the way for the acceptance of the dominance of europe and european values over african heritage, and the rejection african culture in exchange for the colonial culture. a colonized african thought process is today a burden and barrier to the progress of africa, as africans now prefer foreign lifestyle, culture, music, literature and others. today africans conduct two (at times three) separate full-blown marriage ceremonies, because in our minds, until the “white wedding” is done the marriage ceremony is not complete. thus there is the traditional marriage (which is actually the proper marriage ceremony according to african heritage), then the marriage at the registry, and the third which is the “white wedding”. in politics, the colonized african thought process seeks to implement democracy as defined by the western nations without regard to the fact the democracy as a system of government grew and evolved from the way of life of these nations with their own variant of democracy. it is believed in most part of africa that one will automatically become rich if he/she can travel to europe or america, as many africans believe there is no poor man in europe because it is a whiteman's section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 345 country. this is why many young africans: men and women are ready to cross the sahara desert on foot upward to europe through dangerous and unfathomable means through the sea. the colonized african mind believes that what makes a beautiful african man or woman is the whiteness or fairness of the skin. so that an individual is ready to bleach the skin to white as it is the belief that white skin is better than black skin. franz fanon’s book black skin, white masks” provides some edification here. fanon writes that “the juxtaposition of the black and white ‘races’ has resulted in a massive psycho-existential complex”.23 fanon through his work sought to liberate the black man from the arsenal of complexes that germinated in the colonial situation. fanon believes that it is necessary for the black person to overcome the psychological effects of colonialism.24 freter avows that what is largely responsible for this state of affairs is the superiorization of western thought over african thought. according to freter: western thought is infused with a permanent tacit assumption of superiority of a metaphysical proportion, a diffuse conviction of being the one and only thought that truly counts. it is from this assumption of superiority, entirely in accordance with western textbook dialectics, that the idea of inferiorisation directly and necessarily emanates. when one entity is considered superior, others must be considered inferior. anyone who thinks in this manner has good conceptual reason to make the leap from one to the other. this movement of thought shows only that the plain and arbitrary positing of one’s own greatness simultaneously means the positing of the other, i.e. the one which is not great. this positing, because it follows necessarily from an arbitrary act, is itself also arbitrary.25 the onslaught christianity and islam on african traditional religion is yet another sad narrative. while early missionaries condemned and forbid our forebears from venerating african ancestors; on the other hand, the missionaries introduced and propagated the veneration of the saints which most often were eurocentric ancestors. on one hand the missionaries condemned our most revered masquerades, while in the same breath brought in santa claus. these missionaries saw nothing good in african indigenous religion including african theocentric names that conveyed more theocentric connotation to the african mind. indeed the whole of african traditional religion was cached in derogatory terminologies. however due the consented pioneering efforts of geoffrey parrinder in 1954, later bolaji idowu and john mbiti where to protest against a long history of derogatory elucidation of africans, their culture and religion by outsiders. interestedly african traditional 346 formation of the human person in the 21st century religion (atr) is now widely taught in african universities and seminaries, but its identity remains essentially negative. to the west, what was not christian was non-religious and non-theocentric. what was african was inferior and what was western was superior. the success of christianity and islam on the african continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the detriment of african indigenous religion and culture. religion and human values: the afrocentric imperative the african tradition consists of basic human values which are indispensable for authentic human development.26 it is expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of african traditional thought process: african value for human life the greatest arguments against african traditional religion and customs by westerners and their apologists are the practices of human sacrifice and twin murder, which are usually evidenced as lack of regard for human dignity. the misleading slant arising from these practices eventuate in the colonial writers to describe africans as primitive, dark, pagan, brutes, cannibalistic, crude and savages. while these writers can easily be forgiven for their epistemological deficiency, the point must be hurriedly made that african society has a very high regard for the human person and the preservation of human dignity. the dignity of the human person is seen in african cosmology and human origins. ikenga metuh asserted that: viewed from the standpoint of his origin and final destiny of man is best understood in relation to god, his creator. man comes from god. he has a definite mission to fulfill in god's plan and will eventually go back to god.27 the dignity of human person is seen in relationship of being created by god, the human complex nature which god imprinted in man is the crown of god's creation and provision for a continual interaction through rituals, despite human limitations. the dignity of the human person is also identifiable in the african insatiable desire to worship. mbiti has rightly observed that africans do not know how to exist without religion.28 wherever the african is, there is religion and its morals. in pre-colonial africa, the human person is a religious being, wherefrom follows his human dignity. the african concept of human dignity is not found in earthly riches and abundance, but in the nobility of his religious being. therefore the relationship between individuals is based on the recognition of their intrinsic worth as human beings; not necessary only in what they possess or what they can do for each other. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 347 african sense of a good life in all african traditions, the idea that there is far more to life than vested self interest and the inordinate pursuit of riches is deeply ingrained in the african thought process. there is the african proverb that says: “a good name is better than riches”. this is a timeless truth in african values system which seems to have been jettison in post-colonial africa. it is indubitable that one of the greatest problems of today’s nigeria is within the ambience of self-centeredness and unbridled vested self interest. the nigeria society today needs to re-evaluate and re-emphasize what it means to be rich. certain questions beg for answers: is the frantic acquisition and primitive accumulation of wealth all that nigerians have to live for, or should nigerians be seeking intangible human values that cannot be subjected to monetary evaluation, but which nonetheless are the real basis for living a fulfilled life? what matters most is a good character. in african traditional society wealth will come to naught if one lacks good character. a life without moral rectitude is nothing but vanity. interestingly contemporary social science researches are fast coming to the conclusion that inordinate pursuit of capitalism and the zero-sum competition for money and status in the developed world is a major source of unhappiness.29 there is abundant anecdotal evidence to suggest that people find new meaning and fulfillment in their lives when they free themselves from the acquisitive treadmill and begin to give of themselves. in other words, social science is now proving what african indigenous epistemology and axiology have always known through the wisdom of african ancestors that: generosity rather than consumption is the key to happiness. current social researches are therefore reclining to the traditional african thought that what is truly require for happiness is nurturing healthy relationships, cultivating friendships, serving others, raising well-adjusted children, and being involved in a community.30 only a life that transcends the narrow goals of self-aggrandizement and self-gratification can be truly happy. a society of transcendent human values such as those found in african traditional society can be truly safe. a society in which all individuals are committed to nothing more than the single-minded pursuit of their self-gratification at the expense of everything else is a dangerously predatory society in which no one can ever be truly safe – sadly these are the operating parameters of most postcolonial african societies. this situation of self-centeredness is what is expressed in the afemai proverb: mokpaira rele ikhekhe le gbo “i will eat all alone suffers constipation.” 348 formation of the human person in the 21st century african sense of parenting in african traditional values system, parenting takes a lot of forms which enables a child to develop into a responsible adult. some of these forms of parenting are: through story telling (folktales), the extended family, traditional rites, and the mother's care, attention and love.31 the uniqueness of this system with regards to parenting in traditional african communities is that the responsibility in taking care of the child is not only to the biological parents. this is shared by all in the extended family. this is buttressed by the african proverb on parenting which says that, “a single hand cannot nurse a child”. this in afemai would mean: aro obokpa ro omo. yet again, another african proverb says “it takes a village to raise a child”. this implies that although the mother has the responsibility of taking care of the child, the responsibility is being shared by all. arguably therefore, the most significant indicator of national instability is not found in politics or economics but in the ways in which children are raised and socialized. parents, teachers, older relatives and friends must be good exemplars to young ones and should have lasting positive influences on our lives. these early influences define their identities and what they later understand to be acceptable standards of societal behaviour. the family, very broadly defined, is the premier learning environment. research has shown that what happens to a child in the earliest years has a formative impact on the personality and character development which in turn affects the rest of his life.32 it is within families that the critical standards of right and wrong are acquired. in african traditional society parents are the primary audience before whom children model a lifestyle of integrity, purpose and service to the common good. the lack of monetization of values there is no gainsaying the fact that contrary to the african human values system that the monetization of values has broken down our traditional definitions of authority within the family system. before now, the most respected were those who were reputed for their ethical constancy and moral authority. just now, the most influential members of the family are those who have illicitly or otherwise earned wealth from stints in government or corporate enterprise.33 despite the knowledge of their crimes, we celebrate these men and women because of what we stand to gain from them financially. those who are the real voices of reason within the family are marginalized, derided for their lack of financial heft and mocked for their insistence on values that are now consider irrelevant. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 349 african sense of community-based living african value for community-based living and relationships are found in works of davidson,34 mbiti,35 okere36 and ogbujah37 and a lot more. the sense of community or communality refers to the awareness which identifies an individual not as a solitary being, but as an entity whose being and survival is consequent upon its union with other human beings within an identified locality. in traditional africa for instance, a person is known and identified in, by and through his community. individual lives, moves and revolves around the community. to a large extent, a man’s achievements depend primarily on how much of his community’s standards he accommodates: he sees as his community see, and acts as his community acts.38 communal life is among the cardinal values in africa. africans do not practice individualism like most western nations. they live a life of community and solidarity. the african man’s idea of security and its value depended on personal identification with and within the community. however with the arrival of the colonial overlords, different ideologies and philosophies about human relations such as individualism came into play. mbiti noted that for the africans, to be human is to be in a community, participating in the beliefs, ceremonies, rituals and festivals of that community that gives them sense of belonging. membership of the community is emphasized more than member’s individuality; for a society is based more on obligations, than on individual rights and individuals assume their rights in exercise of the obligations, which makes a society a chain of inter-relationships. 39 the autonomy and rights of the individual person are enjoyed in relationship.40 individuals are not regarded as complete until they have been identified with a community. “each one must belong to kith and kin, to parents, brothers and sisters, who are immediate, and to a wider relationship within the extended family. there is nothing like individualism. a person belongs to an immediate family, hamlet, village, clan and town. this belonging enhances chances of survival and ensures security and growth.”41 sense of brotherhood and hospitality before the advent of western civilization and culture to africa, the sense of brotherhood and hospitality were some of the cardinal human values of african indigenous society. the sense of hospitality is inherently indispensable in african tradition society. there was always spontaneous accommodation of strangers and visitors. unlike the west, no appointment and special invitation are needed for one to visit a distant relation or neighbour. on arrival, one is treated kindly, just as one 350 formation of the human person in the 21st century would wish to be treated when visiting another home. this spontaneous acceptance is expressed in many symbolic ways like presentation of kola nuts, traditional gin, coconuts etc. these are given to show acceptance and safety. onimhawo and adamu in their study: an afrocentric perspective on human migration: the nigerian experience succinctly argued that the common membership of one universal human family constitutes a legitimate basis for the idea of universal human brotherhood in african conceptual thought. this idea is depicted for instance in afemai maxim: oya lo khi iyokpa oya “a human being's brother is another human being”.42 this maxim asserts unmistakably that a human being is related only to another human being, not to a beast. implicit in the african perception of humanity is the recognition of all persons, irrespective of their racial or ethnic backgrounds, as brothers. this is the reason why in african cultures the word ‘brother’ is used to cover various and complex family relationships linked by blood ties.43 but the word is also used, significantly, by persons between whom there are no blood ties; thus, the word is used comprehensively. the comprehensive meaning given to the word ‘brother’ in african culture is intended, indeed, to lift people up from the purely biologically determined blood relation level onto the human level, the level where the essence of humanity is held as transcending the contingencies of human biology, race, ethnicity, or culture.44 african sense of solidarity the traditional african community attitude to work is one factor that explains the african sense of solidarity. in african cultural context duties such: building of a hut or a house for a kinsman especially of someone that is old or a person that is not well to do in the material sense, is often seen as a collective responsibility that calls for the contributions of many.45 this african concept of solidarity is aptly captured in afemai proverb: obokpa ovue akh’ uno “one hand cannot cover the mouth of a pot.” yet another afemai proverb says orokpe okio gwa, “one tree cannot make a forest”. furthermore, kinsmen can mobilize a workforce to the farm of a dead relative or someone who is bereaved to help out in maintaining the farm and keep the bereaved family going.46 everywhere in africa society there is the spirit of ubuntu (i am because we are) which barbara nussbaum says “is the capacity in african culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community with justice and mutual caring.”47 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 351 sense of respect for elders africans generally have deep and ingrained respect for old age. grey hairs earn an individual the right to courtesy and politeness. the elders are respected first because they are believed to be the teachers and directors of the young. they are the repository of truth as their words and instructions are heeded to for the promotion of good behaviour among the young. the elders are also taken to be the custodian of communal wisdom and therefore they are conceded leadership in the affairs of the people. one of the reasons for this, is the nearness of the elders to the ancestors. the respect given to the elders has its practical effect in the maintenance of custom and tradition. the young are always looking forward to being elders and they are often told that if a child respects an elder, he would be respected by the young when he becomes an elder. this is the fundamental principle behind human relations in african cultural milieu the idea of old people’s homes is an aberration in traditional african society and a promotion of a careless assumption that a man is deserving of respect only, and only if the man is virile and productive. to entrust the welfare of the elderly to institutional caregivers is an abomination to the african mind. the care of the aged is situated within the family. it is so cherished and so organized that there is no need, in the african setting, for the cheerless nursing homes for the aged as it exist today in europe and america48 and speedily taking roots in africa. african sense of extended family according to pantaleon iroegbu “african languages generally have no words for uncles, aunts cousins and nieces. all these are part of the one family. the family is one, but extended”.49 marriage is a means of family extension especially between two families. the extended family system is very much alive in contemporary african societies as a community of brothers and sisters, which is the basis of, and the expression of, the extended family system in africa. african sense of religiosity africans are everywhere and always profoundly religious. african spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore african religion cannot be separated from everyday living. for many africans, religion can never be separated from life. unlike the west, religion is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. religion informs everything in the traditional african society, including marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, birth and death. the africans eat religiously, drink religiously and bath religiously. african spirituality is truly holistic. 352 formation of the human person in the 21st century for example, sickness in the indigenous african worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one’s social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in one’s kinship and family relations or even to one’s relationship with one’s ancestors.50 africans are deeply religious, for the african, life is religion and religion is life. the attachment to and worship of god, form a dominating part of their world view. all they do or say and permit is impregnated with a vision of the divine, and all natural reality is explainable in function of the supernatural. african social values rest on the moral values which in turn rest on religious values.51 to many people it is perverse and perhaps sacrilegious to separate the moral and the religious values. it is the presence of religion that lends meaning and authority to values. religious or spiritual element in the african man characterizes his relationship with the divine, with god and/or the gods. and it is an indubitable fact that this sense of religion is the promotion of moral excellence.52 a conscientious inquisition of the preceding prefatory would indeed reveal the imperativeness of adopting the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm. namely, that the african values system contains positive human values that can provide the ontological foundation for a moral reconstruction, even between christianity and african thought process inclusive of indigenous religion. the note of caution is that care must be taken to excogitate certain aspects of african traditional values that might not be wholly in tandem with contemporary realities. this should not come as a surprise because every culture consists of both the counterintuitive and the perdurable. conclusion this discourse established the importance of accentuating african indigenous religious and human values in contemporary scholarship. the role of human values was exhaustively discussed and denoted because of the understanding that the value system of a people is consequent upon the understanding of the beliefs and cultural system of the people. the paper examined the afro-centric imperative of the african thought process in the current moral discourse, and concluded that the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm encapsulates african indigenous human values. it was expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of the african thought process which included an investigation into the african value on human life, african sense of a good life, african sense of responsible parenthood, the lack of monetization of values, african sense of community-based living, african sense of brotherhood and hospitality , african sense of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 353 solidarity, sense of respect for authority and the elders, african sense of extended family and african sense of religiosity. given that no one values system is error proof, african religious and human values must be carefully examined in order to extrapolate the very best of african traditional values systems which continuous to reverberate their usefulness in our contemporary era. the paper asserted that the differences that exist between african religious human values and western values must not necessarily have a normative consequence; as things can be different without having to be placed within a normative hierarchy. the contention that african values should be of less worth than western values is therefore repudiated. recommendations this paper makes the following recommendations: a. that african institutes of human character formation like seminaries should faithfully study and seriously promote african traditional values system, including african indigenous religion; b. that african converts to non-african religions should have a rethink and revaluation of their disposition to african traditional religion, namely to change their attitude from condemnation to commendation and understanding; c. that policy makers should be aware of the importance of the afrocentric imperative in the enthronement of positive human values in nigeria; d. that african scholarship should be at the vanguard in the promotion of african human values both within and outside africa; e. that the negative clout presently beclouding african indigenous religion should be removed through proper enlightenment. endnotes 1 björn freter, “desuperiorisation of thought: western thinkers and the responsibility to complement the efforts of philosophical decolonialisation through desuperiorisation,” first annual philosophy lecture of the department of philosophy, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, 10.10.2017, 1-28. 2 macaulay a. kanu, “the indispensability of the basic social values in african tradition: a philosophical appraisal” african journal online 7(2010):149, https//doi.org/:57930/58765 3 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values: reclaiming our society”, lecture at the women in management, business and public service (wimbiz) conference, lagos, march 10, 2016. 354 formation of the human person in the 21st century 4 emile durkheim, the elementary forms of the religious life (london: george allen & unwin, 1915), 5 5 anthony vergote, religion, belief and unbelief. a psychological study (leuven university press, 1996), 16 6 gordon allport, pattern and growth in personality (new york: holt rinehart, &amp, 1963) 90 7 jones edward and gerard b. harold, foundation of social psychology ( new york, 1967)123 8 milton rokeach, the nature of human values, (new york, ny: free press, 1973), 145. 9 rokeach, the nature of human values, 154 10 louis gates and anthony appiah (eds). africana: the encyclopedia of the african and african-american (oxford: oxford university press, 2005), 111. 11 asante, the afrocentric idea, (philadelphia: temple university press, 1998), 34. 12 asante, “the afrocentric idea,” 6. 13 asante, “the afrocentric idea,” 67 14 andrade susan. “rewriting history, motherhood, and rebellion: naming an african women's literary tradition.” research in african literatures 21.1 (spring 1990): 91 15 early gerald. “afrocentrism: cultural and political movement.” encyclopædia britannica. accessed april 10, 2018 https://www.britannica.com/topic/afrocentrism. 16 gerald. “afrocentrism,” 17 gerald. “afrocentrism,” 18 motsoko pheko, “effects of colonialism on africa's past and present,” accessed november 1, 2017 https://www.pambazuka.org/global-south/effects-colonialismafricas-past-and-present 19 motsoko pheko apartheid: the story of a dispossessed people, (marram books london, 1984), 15o. 20 kanu, “the indispensability,” 150. 21 oliver a. onwubiko, african thought, religion and culture (enugu: bigard memorial seminary, 1991), xii. 22 jones a. akinpelu, “values in nigerian society” in new perspectives in moral education. otonti a. ndubuka and e.o. iheoma (eds) (ibadan: evans brothers, nigerian publishers ltd 1983), 33 23 frantz fanon, black skin, white masks, translated by richard phil-cox, (grove press, new york, 2008), 12. 24 frantz fanon, “black skin, white masks,” 25 freter, “desuperiorisation of thought…” 17-18. 26 kanu, “the indispensability,” 149. 27 emefie ikenga metuh, african religions in western conceptual schemes: the problem of interpretation (studies in lgbo religion) 2nd ed. (onitsha nigeria: imico press 1985) 109. 28 john mbiti, african religions and philosophy (london: heinmann 1990), 3 29 the guardian, “the guardian view on a caring capitalism: healing an unhappy society” accessed march 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 355 e/2018/jan/19/the-guardian-view-on-a-caring-capitalism-healing-an-unhappysociety. 30 duran bell, “wealth and power: survival in a time of global accumulation” accessed march 16, 2020, http://www.economics.uci.edu/~dbell/aaabeijing.pdf 31 patricia m. amos, “parenting and culture – evidence from some african communities” accessed march 16, 2020. doi: 10.5772/56967 32 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values,” 33 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values,” 34 basil davidson, west africa before the colonial era (longman, 1998) 35 john mbiti, “african religions, “ 36 theophilus okere, “african philosophy and the hermeneutics of culture” in oguejiofor, o. and unah, g. (eds.). essays in honour of theophilus okere. (münster: lit verlag, 2005) 37 columbus ogbujah, the idea of personhood (enugu: snaap press ltd, 2006) 38 ogbujah, “the idea of personhood ,” 34. 39 mbiti, “african religions,” 106. 40elizabeth o. ezenweke, awka nwadialor, loius kanayo, “understanding human relations in african traditional religious context in the face of globalization: nigerian perspectives” international journal of contemporary research 3 no 2 (february 2013): 61. 41 nkem emeghara, “ the dignity of the human person in african belief,” theology annual 14(992-1993):.126-137 42 john onimhawo and cyril adamu, “an afrocentric perspective on human migration: the nigerian experience.” a paper presented at the ist prof. imobighe’s memorial lecture and ist international conference on migration and global security of the centre for strategic and development studies (csds), ambrose alli university, ekpoma. edo state, nigeria, 18th 20th july, 2018. 43 onimhawo and adamu, “an afrocentric perspective,” 17. 44 kwame gyekye, “african ethic” accessed april 10, 2018, https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/african-ethics. 45 ezenweke, nwadialor and kanayo, “understanding human,” 64. 46 ezenweke, nwadialor and kanayo, “understanding human,” 64. 47 barbara nussbaum cited in chika onyejiuwa, “ubuntu: an african culture of human solidarity,” accessed march 16, 2020, http://aefjn.org/en/ubuntu-anafrican-culture-of-human-solidarity-2/ 48 kanu, “the indispensability,” 150. 49 pantaleon iroegbu, enwisdomization and african philosophy, (owerri: international universities press, 1994), 84 50 jacob olupona cited in anthony chiorazzi, “the spirituality of africa” the harvard gazette, accessed march 16, 2020, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/ 51 olupona cited in chiorazzi, the spirituality 52 kanu, “the indispensability,” 157. 194 14 formation to the priesthood: forming the formators edwin n. omorogbe, ph.d parish priest of st. paul catholic church benin city and adjunct lecturer, department of philosophy, university of benin, benin city eddyomorogbe@yahoo.com abstract there have rightly been so much emphasis on formation to the priesthood whenever a priest performs his pastoral duties properly, the formators in the seminary are applauded. but when a priest fails in his pastoral ministry, formators in the seminary are queried for why they did not identify the flaw in the process of formation. formators of candidates to the priesthood are very instrumental to healthiness of the faith of the people. how is it possible that a seminarian who was always faithful to the church’s teaching in the seminary suddenly becomes a priest who is almost like a “soothsayer” in the name of prophecy? how is it possible that this priest no longer sees the needs to observe the liturgical rubrics? from ‘alter christus’ to an ecclesiastical entertainer. how is it possible that the priest trained to form others in the faith is almost becoming an instrument of deformation of the faith others. this is precisely why our paper wants to examine the formation of those responsible for the formation of these candidates. if the formators must discern and help in the conscience formation of the candidates to the priesthood, the formators also must be engaged in on-going formation to keep abreast with the new challenges facing priests in pastoral ministry. what are some of the areas of on-going formation that may be helpful to formators to enhance their efficiency? this research will draw insights from magisterial documents and psychological findings on the need to form the formators. failure to form the formators leads to deformation of the candidates for the priesthood. keywords: formation, formator, priesthood section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 195 introduction every profession requires ongoing formation in order to acquire knowledge and expertise that will make the persons more efficient in their various disciplines. it is even more important in the disciplines that have to do with human formation. the vocation to the sacred priesthood in the catholic church requires lengthen years of human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation. in all these areas of formation, the human formation is considered the bedrock upon which all other aspects of formations are to be built upon. the church holds that she has the exclusive right and duty to form those who are designated for the sacred ministries.1 every diocese is to have a major seminary and where it is not possible an inter-diocesan seminary is to be established. the establishment of inter-diocesan seminary requires the approval of the episcopal conference and the approval of the holy see.2 since the formation of priests is intrinsically connected to the proclamation of the gospel of the lord, the church claims the innate right to establish program for the formation of the candidates for the priesthood. each nation is expected to established its own program of formation but it must follow the template provided in the ratio fundamentalis of the holy see.3 anyone involved in the formation of candidates to the priesthood must be familiar with all four areas of formation. the person must have the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to assist the students to develop the necessary virtues and to drop the unhealthy incompatible vices with the ministerial priesthood.4 the changes in the method of the proclamation of the gospel, the introduction of revised rituals for the sacraments and sacramentals, the evolution of the pastoral needs of the people of god, and the contemporary doctrinal challenges are just some of the few areas that require ongoing formation for the formators. formators who are not familiar with the sociological changes and the “new mindsets” of the people of god towards reception of the proclamation of the gospel will not be very effective in the art of formation. objective of the paper this paper will therefore, attempt to show that it is as important to train the formators as much as it is important to train the candidates for the sacred priesthood. the possible areas of ongoing formation of formators will be examined. the entire presupposition of this research is anchored on the fact that there is no fullness of knowledge in any human creature. growth in knowledge is continuous until death. the gospel of luke 2.52 says jesus grew in wisdom and stature. if christ who is divine can because of his human nature be subjected to growth in wisdom, all those 196 formation of the human person in the 21st century who are incorporated into christ by baptism also have the obligation to seek ways to grow in wisdom and knowledge. for those who train candidates for the sacred priesthood, the ways to grow in wisdom and knowledge is through formation of the formator. let us now briefly examine some possible obstacles to ongoing formation of formators. forming the formator it is important to always keep in mind that every human being requires ongoing formation. this ongoing formation comes in two ways. first, it comes through practical knowledge acquired from years of experience. the second way is through a formal or an organised program for the formator. the two should normally co-exist. the law established that all christ faithful do have the obligation to ensure that the message of salvation is spread to every part of the world.5 the direct implication of this is the fact that the church must provide the means and the opportunity for the message of salvation to reach the entire world. priests do have important functions in the fulfilment of this obligation of christ entrusted to the church. this is the context in which we must understand the great importance of the process of forming those who provide the leadership in the field of evangelization. those responsible for the formation of priests take up a very important tasks that is at the heart of the mission of the church. making provision for the ongoing formation of seminary formators should therefore be rightly seen as ecclesiastical obligation that flows from the mandate of christ to the church to go into the world and make disciples. in a recent symposium on the gift of priestly vocation for formators in english speaking canadian seminaries, the archbishop secretary of seminaries for the congregation for clergy underscored the need for formators to be engaged in ongoing formation.6 he noted that formation involves gradual and progressive stages as outlined in the ratio fundamentalis. this gradual and progressive formation requires formators to be well prepared to assist the candidates.7 in the same symposium, carlos presented a paper on how formators are to accompany and help seminarians discern their vocation.8 in this paper, carlos writes: “the high quality formation of formators (with ongoing formation and of all priests, makes possible the integral formation of seminarians). (initial formation) who are in the initial stages of their journey and gives it a sure footing.”9 the integral formation of seminarians will depend upon the quality of the formators. the quality of the formators improves based on-going formation. carlos explained thus: “the degree of growth achieved by the formator is what allows him to help the young seminarians in their own growth process.”10 any seminary that has no program for on-going formation of the formators is doing a great section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 197 disservice to the church because of the quality of priests that will come out of the seminary. two specific areas that formators must focus ongoing formation are accompaniment and discernment. in the area of accompaniment, the formator must improve on establishing a true bond with god by listening to his word. the formator must also have a systematic bond with the one who accompanies us in god’s name.11 engaging in programs that enhances the listening capacity of the formator will help to make the formator more efficient in his work. priestly formation there have been several magisterial documents on priestly formation.12 our research will only deal with a few that we consider relevant to the area of our study. priestly formation in this research refers to the preparation of candidates for the priesthood. although, such preparation requires multiple intervention from the family to the parish, to the lay apostolate group the person may belong to, to the diocesan program of formation through pastoral work or other forms of formation, our research will however, be primarily based upon the seminary aspects of formation. it will be concerned about the four areas of priestly formation and how specifically formators are trained to be competent to help candidates in these areas of formation. therefore, in dealing with priestly formation our attention will not such much be on the candidates for formation but on forming the formators. the second vatican council on 28 october 1965 pope paul vi published the decree optatam totius, on priestly formation. the decree stated that program of priestly training should be set up by episcopal conferences but always keeping in mind the universal law on priestly training.13 the major seminaries are the places where candidates to the priesthood are trained to be shepherds of souls after the model of christ the chief shepherd. all the forms of the training in the seminary are to be ordered towards the pastoral end.14 the intellectual and spiritual training are for pastoral effectiveness. in order to be successful in the formation of candidates, seminary formators are to be obedient to their bishops.15 given the high primum place on the formation of candidates to the sacred priesthood, the fathers of the council stated: since the training of students depends both on wise laws and, most of all, on qualified educators, the administrators and teachers of seminaries are to be selected from the best men, and are to be carefully prepared in sound doctrine, suitable pastoral experience 198 formation of the human person in the 21st century and special spiritual and pedagogical training. institutes, therefore, should be set up to attain this end. or at least courses are to be arranged with a proper program, and the meetings of seminary directors are to take place at specified times. administrators, however, and teachers must be keenly aware of how much the success of the students' formation depends on their manner of thinking and acting. under the rector's leadership they are to form a very closely knit community both in spirit and in activity and they are to constitute among themselves and with the students that kind of family that will answer to the lord's prayer "that they be one" (cf. john 17:11) and that will develop in the students a deep joy in their own vocation. the bishop, on the other hand, should, with a constant and loving solicitude, encourage those who labor in the seminary and prove himself a true father in christ to the students themselves. finally, all priests are to look on the seminary as the heart of the diocese and are to offer willingly their own helpful service.16 the fathers of the council took ongoing formation of formators seriously enough to decree that institutes for forming formators be set up. such institutes will help to keep formators abreast in the new pedagogical ways of discerning and accompanying a candidate towards the priesthood. the regular meetings of rectors and other formators are to be focused on improving ways of on-going formation of the formators. the decree makes an important point by stating the strong connection between the success of the priests in the ministry and the nature of formation received in the seminary. it will also mean that to some extent, the failure of the priest in the ministry can be traced to the nature of the formation and discernment received at the seminary. this further underpin the argument for ensuring proper on-going formation of the formators. another essential element expressed by the council fathers is the community in which the seminarians are formed. formators are to establish a closely-knit community in which they work in solidarity under the leadership of the rector. formators must keep in mind that the seminary environment is a community. one of the distinguishing factors of a community is a shared goal and a shared means of achieving it. the rector is expected to help guide the formators to use a common means to achieve the common goal of forming candidates for the priesthood in the church. programs that will enhance community living should be provided from time to time for formators to access. this is one way of forming the formators to enable them provide and sustain conducive atmosphere for the formation of candidates for the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 199 priesthood. a formator who is manifestly unable to live in a closely-knit community should be assisted to develop the capacity to live in a community with shared goals. in the unfortunate situation where the formator is still unable to abide by community life, a pastoral solution that will strongly include the possibility of exiting the seminary formation system should be explored. pastores dabo vobis on forming the formators john paul ii in this famous apostolic exhortation stated that without priests the church will not be able to fulfil the fundamental obligation christ entrusted to the church, which is to go out and preach the gospel to the entire world: without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: "go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (mt. 28:19) and "do this in remembrance of me" (lk. 22:19; cf. 1 cor. 11.24), i.e, an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.17 the church must therefore place great importance on those who form candidates to the priesthood because they are participating in the core of the mission of the church. the formation of the formators is therefore part of the essential mandate of christ to the church. pdv describes the work of the formators as follows: the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work, which the evangelist mark illustrates in these words: "and he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. and he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (mk. 3:13-15).18 the seminary community constitutes a sort of mountain place. it is a place of prayer and discernment. the process of identifying those who are suitable for the priestly ministry is one that should be done with all the seriousness it deserves. the formators in the seminary must have the necessary knowledge and skills to assist in the four areas of formation mentioned in pdv. the document stated that the entire work of priestly formation rests on a solid human formation: “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation. […]. future priests should therefore 200 formation of the human person in the 21st century cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry. these qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. they need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgment and behaviour.19 formators must first of all possess these qualities in themselves in order to be able to discern them in the candidates for priesthood. ongoing formation of formators should consider helping in the area of developing personal self-respect for the truth and respect for dignity of the human person and the diversities of opinions. a rigid approach to every aspect of human life is unhealthy. to have balance judgment, a formator will have to be capable of making assessment that are not influenced by their ethnicity. on-going formation of formators should also focus on how to work in a multi-ethnic diverse society. the candidates for the priesthood are expected to display a great sense of affective maturity and sound human sexuality. this will enable the person to be able to minister as a celibate priest to everyone in the pastoral field. the life style of formators most times constitute the model upon which seminarians build their future upon. formators should be role models in the area of affective maturity. the formation of the conscience of the candidates should be sound.20 spiritual formation requires that the candidates have a deeper communion with christ who is inviting them to work in his vineyard. “spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.”21 formators are to be concerned with the spiritual life of the candidates for the priesthood. a spirituality that is devoid of communion with the suffering christ must not be promoted. the current trend of seeking miraculous healings in almost every case of illness point to an unhealthy spirituality especially by priests who promote such beliefs. although, spiritual directors are primarily responsible for the spiritual formation of the seminarian, all other formators must have some rudimentary knowledge on spiritual formation. the provisions of optatam totius should be observed in the area of spiritual formation: spiritual formation should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with god the father through his son jesus christ, in the holy spirit. those who are section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 201 to take on the likeness of christ the priest by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives. they should live his paschal mystery in such a way that they will know how to initiate into it the people committed to their charge. they should be taught to seek christ in faithful meditation on the word of god and in active participation in the sacred mysteries of the church, especially the eucharist and the divine office, to seek him in the bishop by whom they are sent and in the people to whom they are sent, especially the poor, little children, the weak, sinners and unbelievers. with the confidence of sons they should love and reverence the most blessed virgin mary, who was given as a mother to the disciple by jesus christ as he was dying on the cross."22 the intellectual formation of candidates to the priesthood is rooted in the fact that human beings are called to participate in the light of god’s mind.23 through this way, the human being is able to confront the new challenges that comes up in evangelization. the educational formation of the formators is essential in the area of intellectual formation. it is expected that formators continue to engage in further researches in their respective area of discipline. attending conferences, seminars, symposiums etc are some of the ways of ensuring on-going formation of the formator as it relates to intellectual formation. there should be reasonable financial budget to encourage formators to seek ongoing formation in their respective disciplines. in this way, they will be able to proffer new solutions to contemporary pastoral challenges in an intellectual manner to the students. in the area of intellectual formation, formators should be able to help with a balanced sense of inculturation of the faith. christianity should not be presented as foreign to any culture.24 the resurgence of many superstitious beliefs within the christian community is a sign of lack of proper intellectual formation. the growing trend of exorcising none possessed persons, the preaching of prosperity gospel in order to raise fund to complete some projects that in some cases are not even essential to the life of the church, and the personalization of sacramental celebrations are just a few indicators that the intellectual formation is deficient in these priests. formators must engage rigorously the culture of the people and identify unhealthy elements and promote healthy elements as tools of evangelization. pastoral formation is the goal of the entire formation. the formators must seek ways to truly prepare the candidate to be able to work effectively in the pastoral field: pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the 202 formation of the human person in the 21st century candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work25 whenever there is a disconnect with pastoral theology and practical experience, the faithful are confused. whenever there is a disconnect between magisterial teaching and the practices promoted by priests the faithful are confused. the parish life presents the faithful with various challenges regarding the faith. there are so many contradictory doctrines promoted outside the church and unfortunately now even within the church. the churches moral teaching rooted in humanae vitae, the observance of well-formed conscience and spirituality that are in line with the traditional teachings of the church are often being tactically discarded and replaced by new trends in doctrine. these new trends preach a life that is empty of the cross and one filled with abundant material blessings with a robust health. the new trend promotes spiritual destruction of ones’ human enemies, with selective scriptural citations from the old testament. giving the constant fluctuation of life styles in behaviour, in taste, in fashion, and modes of living, the question has always been raised as to whether the formators should also change some essentials in the area of formations. the nigerian society today is greatly saturated with prosperity gospel, proliferation of healing ministries and diverse style of programs. wide publicity through the various social media and banners where the pictures of the ministers dots every nukes and crannies of the city. the opinion of some catholics have been; will the church not change the method of training priests so that they can at least acquire the skills of these pentecostal preachers. for such persons this is an existential question for the church. they often argue that there is a constant migration of catholics to the new ecclesial communities or churches because they provide them with the kind of spirituality that they like. although, there is hardly any convincing statistics to back up such claims, the fact that they are constantly being made, demands attention of every well-meaning catholic. formators in the seminary must be conversant with on-going pastoral dimension. the seminary should not be so cloistered that the formators are completely unaware of the new development in parish life. the goal of the formation process is to prepare candidates to becoming priests and who will work in the ministry. it will therefore be necessary that strict observance of the policy that require formators to spend some time in parish ministry during the long period of seminary vacation be adhered to. it is perhaps relevant to note the emphasis pope francis section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 203 places on pastoral experience of members of the vatican diplomatic corp. pope francis recently directed that those who are to become papal nuncio are to undergo at least one year of pastoral ministry. in this way, they will have personal experience of pastoral life. the same principle should be applied to formators in the seminary. at least a period of oneyear pastoral work as a priest should be required before a formator assumes office in the seminary. obstacles to forming the formators this research to a great extent assume that seminary formators are priests. although, this assumption is not absolutely true, because there are very good religious sisters involved in formation as well as welleducated lay faithful. but our research will be primarily concerned about formators who are priests. let us briefly highlight some of the challenges or obstacles to ongoing formation of formators. the “final goal” syndrome many professions that have long years of training do have ongoing education fatigue. when there is no financial remuneration for embarking on further education in the area of specialty, the person is further less motivated. priests who are formators in the seminary have all gone through close to ten years of seminary formation and pastoral work. many of them have also completed several post-graduate studies. although, there are no well-known publications of the numbers of seminary formators with doctorate degree, but a cursory look at the number of formators in most of the seminaries in nigeria will indicate that close to 90 percent of these formators do have doctorate degrees. those without it are in most cases in the process of obtaining the degree. this is expected in every academic community and the seminary should not be an exception. however, the need for ongoing formation still remains even after obtaining a doctorate degree in the various relevant disciplines. there is a general believe born out of perception that once a person is ordained a priest, the person has “arrived.” this arrival mindset can impede openness to further education and formation. for any priest to consider the priesthood as end in itself can become a challenge towards growing in wisdom and knowledge as it was reported by the gospel of luke 2:52 regarding christ human nature. the anti-dote to the final goal syndrome is to imitate christ who grew in wisdom. there is no final goal for any human being on this earth. 204 formation of the human person in the 21st century lack of mandatory ongoing formation of formators there is hardly any well-articulated demand for ongoing formation of formators. the knowledge of the formators in their respective disciplines such as scripture, systematic study or dogma, moral theology, pastoral theology, liturgy, philosophy, psychology, spirituality, canon law and other relevant secular disciplines is not sufficient to be effective formators. these disciplines do not in themselves provide the priests formators with all the necessary skills to accompany and discern the vocation of the seminarian. there should be mandatory ongoing formation in the area of discernment and accompanying of the candidate towards the priesthood. we had earlier pointed this out when we discoursed the presentation of jorge carlos patrong wong. lack of proper enforcement of promotion based on publication and research in the academic community, the people are concerned about researches and publications. promotion is based upon publication of well researched papers on reputable journal that enjoy blind rigorous peer review. participation at international conferences and regular ongoing research are all taken seriously. in fact, it is sometimes put in sayings like: “publish or perish.” this goes to underscore the value placed upon ongoing formation of lecturers. however, with a somewhat equal priestly status that the sacramental order establishes, there is less motivation to publish. the perception of a priest with several publications and one who has no publication is not different in the eyes of many faithful. it may be time to review establishing merit-based promotion following the nuc regulation. formators with more publication should have their papers assessed and the appointment and promotion board of the seminary should help to ensure that there is reward for such efforts of formators. the proper academic hierarchy should be well entrenched. the template provided by the institutions that the seminary is affiliated to will help in this area. in other words, a formator who has enough publications to move from lecturer ii to lecturer i, to senior lecturer to associate professor (reader) and to full professor should be observed with corresponding financial remuneration. although, priests are expected to live out the promise of poverty, it is nonetheless desirable to enhance their capacity to do charity to others from their legitimately earned income. performance review most establishments do have performance review system. performance indicators or indices are established to be used in the evaluation of persons. some establishments will have indices such as productivity, section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 205 punctuality, impact on the live of the people, compatibility with fellow workers, health condition, mental fitness etc. it is true that all these indices may not be applicable to formators in the seminary, but it will be of great service towards helping to form formators if a general template that could be adopted is established. performance indices such as openness to pastoral availability, accessibility of a formator by students, readiness to comply with seminary statutes, moral uprightness of the formator, the psychological mindset, the physical health etc. it may also be of help if students are allowed to make objective impute in the process of this assessment. conclusion the pastoral ministry of the priest is very essential to the fulfilment of the mission of christ to the church. therefore, the formation of candidates to the priesthood is of great importance to the vitality of the church. the quality of formators in the seminary greatly influences the quality of candidates for the priesthood that the seminary trains. the ongoing formation of formators becomes essential to the faith formation of the faithful. if the formators impact knowledge that are relevant to the pastoral challenges the seminarians will face in the priestly ministry, the latter will be able to render effective pastoral services to the faithful. forming the formator is part of the call to go out and make disciples of all nations. part of the response of the church to the mission of christ therefore includes making provisions for ongoing formation of formators. endnotes 1 canon 232. all citations from the 1983 code of canon law are taken from, codex iuris canonici, auctoritate ioannis pauli ii promulgatus, fontium asnnotatione et indice analyticoalphabetico auctus, libreria editrice vaticana, 1989, english translation code of canon law: latin-english edition, prepared under the auspices of the canon law society of america, washington, canon law society of america, 1999. 2 canon 237. 3 see canon 247. 4 for a comprehensive reading on formation of virtues during seminary formation, see, mercitta kannampuzha, “the role of virtues in formation programmes: seminaries and religious houses,” in the living word, 124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 5 canon 211. 6 see carlos patron wong, “the gift of priestly vocation,” symposium for formation teams english-speaking seminaries of canada 4-7 april 2019. 7 ibid. 206 formation of the human person in the 21st century 8 8 see carlos patron wong, “accompaniment and discernment of priestly vocation,” symposium for formation teams english-speaking seminaries of canada 4-7 april 2019 9 ibid. 10 ibid. 11 see ibid. 12 see, rajakumar joseph, “ministerial priesthood and integral formation. revisiting ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis (the gift of priestly vocation),” in vidyajyoti, 83 1/18, (2020), pp. 24-47; john mcareavey, “the formation of a celibate clergy.” in itq 64 (1999), 261-275; antony valungal, “spiritual formation to become a missionary disciple and pastor in the document of the gift of the priestly vocation,” in the living word, 122/6 (2016), pp. 334-352;james j. conn, “reflections on some recent norms on priestly formation,” in periodical 98 (2009), pp. 1-32; gordon read, “seminary formation and the discernment of priestly vocations,” in canon law society newsletter, (2011), pp., 35-40; rajesh pollayil, “psychological dimensions of priestly formation,” in the living word, (2017), pp. 30-48; mylo hubert c. vergara, “pastoral charity: goal of priestly formation in the light of deus caritas est,” in immaculate conception school of theology journal, 9 (2007), pp. 5-15; orlando b. quevedo, “notes on the human formation of priests,” in philippine canonical forum ix (2007), pp. 251-257; michael nobel, “academic aspects of priestly formation in the 1983 code of canon law,” in studia canonical, 42 (2008), pp. 437-471; j. ponnore, “spiritual formation of the diocesan priest,” in vidyajyoti,, 68 (2005),pp. 595-605; jobi thomas thurackal, “role of values in personality and spiritual development of catholic seminarians in india,” in the living word 124/3 (2018), pp. 95-122; mercitta kannampuzha, “the role of virtues in formation programmes: seminaries and religious houses,” in the living word, 124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 13 op, no. 1. all citation of optatam totius decree on the training of priests are taken from www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html. 14 op, no.4. 15 op, no. 4. 16 op, no. 5. 17 john paul ii, apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, no. 1, from www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html (=pdv) 18 pdv, no. 2. 19 pdv, no. 43. 20 pdv, no. 44. 21 pdv, no. 45. 22 op, no. 8. 23 pdv, no. 51 24 pdv, no. 55. 25 pdv, no. 58. 21 3 hermeneutic of continuity and theological formation francis ‘kunle adedara, stl, ph.d seminary of ss. peter and paul p.m.b. 5171, secretariat p.o., ibadan, oyo state fradedara@gmail.com abstract the foundation of theology is scripture. in an attempt to give a necessary clarification of this statement, i allude to the words of anthony akinwale: “the bible contains the word of god. but the word of god is not contained by the bible…” since theology is fundamentally a speech about god, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from god’ before it can be ‘a speech about god’. in other words, theology is a reflection on god who speaks (word – logos) and about his word that he speaks in scripture and tradition. this is the sense in which one understands akinwale’s statement, and how one ought to understand the basis of theology in scripture. hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals with the principles of biblical interpretation. correct hermeneutical approach is therefore essential to a proper understanding of the truth revealed by god. for example, it is essential to the full understanding of the ot to employ a hermeneutic that many ot texts are types or prefigurements of christ and his fulfilment of scripture in the nt. one very important interpretive principle that augustine enunciates in his de doctrina christiana is that one text of scripture cannot be preferred to another or played off against another. the real truth conforms to everything that has been revealed. what this paper attempts to do is to apply this same principle of interpretation to how theology is done. in this understanding, scripture cannot be reflected upon to the exclusion of the magisterium and the tradition of the christian faith, rooted in the apostles and reflected upon by the fathers of the church. keywords: hermeneutic, magisterium, apostolic faith, fathers of the church, continuity 22 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction it is important to note that one cannot sufficiently discuss the subject of theological formation without also broaching the subject of theological method. in this sense, theological formation is formation in method. in his epic work, method in theology, which reflects on the operations theologians perform as they do theology, bernard lonergan says: “a theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religion in that matrix.”1 two things stand out in this statement: firstly, ‘a cultural matrix’, which is loosely interpreted as that from which a culture originates, develops, or takes form, and secondly, ‘role of a religion’, which can be here understood as the function of religion in the process of forming, shaping, and developing a culture. in this regard, religion plays a significant role in shaping a culture. what lonergan proposes in his statement shows that theology mediates the role a religion plays in shaping a culture. the question is, with what special tool does theology carry out this mediation? theology mediates as a speech about god. therefore, how religion shapes a culture must necessarily relate a people and their cultural terrains to god as their beginning and their end. and since theology is fundamentally a speech about god, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from god’ before it can be ‘a speech about god’. in other words, in theology we seek explanation and understanding of what god has revealed. in this context of mediation, theology sheds light on how religion shapes culture, so that in forming and shaping culture, the practice of religion is a response to what god has revealed. consequently, every religious speech is a speech about god because it is a response to the word of god. in laying out the framework for speaking about method in theology, lonergan says: “method is not a set of rules to be followed meticulously by a dolt. it is a framework for collaborative creativity. it would outline the various clusters of operations to be performed by theologians when they go about their various tasks.”2 he highlights eight distinct tasks for contemporary theology: research, interpretation, history, dialectic, foundations, doctrines, systematics, and communications. what he refers to as functional specialties explains how he arrives at this list of eight distinct tasks. again, when lonergan speaks of method, he is not referring to a set of rules to be followed blindly but a framework for creativity. within such dynamism, what is underscored is not ‘writing theology’ but ‘method in theology’. according to him, the task of writing method in theology is not concerned with objects that theologians expound but with the operations that theologians perform. one must, however, avoid a hasty interpretation of lonergan that opposes object of theology to theological method. no matter the method, there is always the fundamental object section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 23 of theology that method must not detract from, namely, the first truth. whatever the operation of the theologian, his task is denominated by the first truth. in this way, theological method is not opposed to the object of theology, because the object determines the operation. as a matter of fact, god is not the object but subject of theology, and he determines the operation of the theologian. for the purpose of this paper, we shall attempt to transpose the idea of lonergan on how method works generally to how ‘hermeneutic of continuity’ functions in theological method and formation. according to lonergan, “a method is a normative pattern of recurrent and related operations yielding cumulative and progressive results.”3 two things are fundamental in this assertion: ‘distinct operations’ and ‘relatedness of the operations.’ from these two, lonergan describes the function of method in such a way that shows the integrity and continuity of operations, yielding cumulative and progressive results. he says: there is a method, then, where there are distinct operations, where each operation is related to the others, where the set of relations forms a pattern, where the pattern is described as the right way of doing the job, where operations in accord with the pattern may be repeated indefinitely, and where the fruits of such repetition are, not repetitious, but cumulative and progressive.4 what lonergan states here gives the broad framework for speaking about hermeneutic of continuity and method in theology. every authentic theological method must explore the interrelatedness of the distinct approaches to understanding the reality that is revealed and proposed for belief. this paper aims to show that hermeneutic of continuity in theological method and formation entails proper interpretation of scripture, tradition of the faith, and ecclesiastical texts, in order to emphasize their unity. the task of theology is to work for this unity rather than the too prevalent “hermeneutic of rupture.” in this understanding, “sacred tradition and sacred scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the word of god,”5 and its authentic interpretation has been entrusted to the teaching office of the church. for this reason, “sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the magisterium of the church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others.”6 thus, interpretation of the word of god is a task of the magisterium of the church: it is a task it carries out in fidelity to the tradition of the christian faith; in fidelity to the sensus fidei of the whole people of god; with fidelity to the apostolic origins of christianity; and with profound reference to the reflections upon the christian faith by the fathers of the church. 24 formation of the human person in the 21st century the function of hermeneutics in theological method the fact that scripture is the foundation of theology shows that every theological enterprise is a reflection on the word of god. it means theology is a reflection on god who speaks (word – logos), and about his word that he speaks in scripture and tradition. hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals with the principles of biblical interpretation. correct hermeneutical approach is therefore essential to a proper understanding of the truth revealed by god. this approach underscores the integrity of the whole of scripture, and how theological interpretation functions in fidelity to the unity of the truth that is revealed. it is along this line that st. augustine, in his on the christian doctrine7, recommends that when interpreting scripture, one text cannot be preferred to another or played off against another. since everything the holy spirit intends to teach in scripture is true, all texts which relate to a given problem must be examined for what they say about it, and the correct understanding will necessarily be an understanding which permits every text to retain its full force—that is, the real truth will conform to everything that has been revealed. working against this “hermeneutic” is any tendency to interpret scripture according to the “plain meaning” of a favorite text, while ignoring other texts which provide additional light on the same subject. this is the practice of quoting the scripture in isolation, and it is tantamount to “hermeneutic of rupture.” in order to highlight the function of hermeneutics in theological method, the correct principle of interpretation does not only apply to scripture, but also to everything that god has revealed in the christian tradition. describing the interrelatedness of different scriptural passages, and the relation of scripture to magisterial texts, jeff mirus says: because the magisterium of the church teaches with the same authority as sacred scripture (after all, the same holy spirit inspires and guarantees both), a catholic can properly understand a christian teaching only if he takes into account everything that both scripture and the magisterium have said on a subject. any understanding which fastens on what scripture says to the exclusion of the magisterium (as protestants typically do) or which fastens on this or that statement of the magisterium in preference to others (as traditionalists typically do) is doomed to be incorrect. the proper interpretation will always be the one which allows for the truth of all the relevant scriptural and magisterial texts.8 what the statement of jeff mirus attests to is the unity of scripture, tradition and the magisterium. in chapter ii of the dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, dei verbum, where it discusses transmission of divine revelation, the document states that all that god section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 25 had revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.9 “therefore, christ the lord, in whom the entire revelation of the most high god is summed up (cf. 2 cor. 1:20; 3:16; 4:6) commanded the apostles to preach the gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips.”10 the apostles transmitted what they received from the lord to succeeding generations. in order to preserve the living and full gospel in the church, the apostles left bishops as their successors. they gave them “their own position of teaching authority.”11 the transmission of the faith from the apostles is the characteristic feature of the apostolicity of origin, since the church was first organized by the apostles chosen by christ; it is the feature of apostolicity of teaching, because what the church teaches now is essentially what was taught by the apostles; and it is the feature of apostolicity of succession in office, since there has been an unbroken historical transmission of episcopal powers, through ordination, from the apostles to all the bishops in communion with the bishop of rome today. this does not only guarantee faithfulness to revelation, but also to its continuity. theology, which is a speech about god, because it is a reflection on god’s word, must therefore employ, in its method, the principle of interpretation that functions on the unity and continuity of the christian faith tradition. according to the fathers of the second vatican council, “this sacred tradition, then, and the sacred scripture of both testaments, are like a mirror, in which the church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth, contemplates god from whom she receives everything, until such time as she is brought to see him face to face as he really is (cf. jn 3:2).”12 in this regard, sacred tradition and sacred scripture are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other; they make up a single sacred deposit of the word of god, which is entrusted to the church.13 the council fathers further state that the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the word of god, whether in its written form or in the form of tradition,14 has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone.15 the authority of the magisterium in this matter is exercised in the name of jesus christ. it is not superior to the word of god, but is its servant. it teaches only what has been handed on to it. the document dei verbum concludes the section on the “transmission of divine revelation” with the profound statement of unity of sacred scripture, tradition, and the magisterium: “it is clear, therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of god, sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the magisterium of the church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. working together, each in its own way under the action of the 26 formation of the human person in the 21st century one holy spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”16 theologians have important task to perform in giving authentic interpretation of the word of god. since theirs is a service of the truth, whatever method they adopt must always work for the continuity of what god has revealed in christ, which is rooted in the apostolic faith, and which is correctly interpreted and taught by the magisterium. therefore, the theologian does not engage in reckless scholarship that emphasizes his subjective views over the inherent truth of the christian tradition; rather, he functions within the hermeneutic environment that is subservient to the teaching office of the bishops. it must be noted here that “both the teaching office of the bishop and the teaching office of the theologian are at the service of the truth. for this reason, they are not at variance. however, the teaching office of the theologian is at the service of the teaching office of the bishop.”17 a more specific scrutiny of the mission of the theologian is necessary to see how his service of the truth works for continuity rather than rupture. mission of the theologian and formation in method18 the profound mission of the theologian is silence and contemplation. this seems both strange and paradoxical, since theology is fundamentally a speech. yet, this is the primary mission of the theologian, because the purpose of silence and contemplation, as pope emeritus, benedict xvi, once said, is that “they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve permanent union with god.”19 he stressed further that the purpose is so that “that union with god may always be present in our souls and may transform our entire being.”20 the theologian is one who is first and foremost called to a union with god. in contemplating god who is the first truth, the theologian is transformed by the truth that he seeks to understand. it is only in this way that he can relate the fruits of his contemplation to others. silence and contemplation are therefore the essential mission of the theologian. this is his mission if, in the loquacity of his every day, in the plethora of words, he makes the essential words heard. through words, he makes present the fruits of his contemplation; he makes present the word, the logos who comes from god, the word who is god. the theologian lives in a world where there is the possibility of the distractions that come from so many words. if he is to make the word who comes from god present, it has to be through a process of purification of his thoughts, which in addition must be above all a process of purification of his words. john the evangelist says of the word of god that was coming into the world that he was the true light that enlightens every man. “he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not” (jn 1:10). the world did not know him because the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 27 world did not enter that silence in which john was privileged to know the logos of god and made him known. we cannot open the world and, indeed ourselves, to the word without entering into the silence of god from which his word proceeds. and as benedict xvi says: “for the purification of our words, hence, also for the purification of the words of the world, we need that silence which becomes contemplation, which introduces us into god's silence and brings us to the point where the word, the redeeming word, is born.”21 to enter into silence and contemplation always means to hear something, to hear a speech. the one who enters into this silence is not the one who speaks, but he listens. in this regard st thomas aquinas, with a long tradition, says that in theology god is not the object of which we speak. this is our own normal conception. god, in reality, is not the object but the subject of theology. the one who speaks through theology, the speaking subject, must be god himself. and our speech and thoughts must always serve to ensure that what god says, the word of god, is listened to and finds room in the world. for this reason, the practice of true theology cannot be the substitution of our words for the word of god. in theology god speaks, and in the process the theologian must learn to forfeit his own words, so that through this process of purification his words may be nothing but the instrument through which god can speak, and, hence, that god may truly be the subject and not the object of theology. when the theologian enters the silence in which god alone speaks, he must be attentive and seek the true word of god. a phrase from the first chapter of the first letter of st. peter easily comes to mind: “animas vestras castificantes in oboedientia veritatis” (1 pet 1:22). here peter speaks of the purification of the soul that comes from obedience to the truth. obedience to the truth must "purify" our souls and thus guide us to upright speech and upright action. the lesson in this, as it relates to the mission of the theologian, is that when there is obedience to the truth, the theologian will avoid what benedict xvi calls prostitution of words and of the soul. according to the pope emeritus, “speaking in the hope of being applauded, governed by what people want to hear out of obedience to the dictatorship of current opinion, is considered to be a sort of prostitution: of words and of the soul.”22 he explains further that the "purity" to which the apostle peter is referring means not submitting to these standards, not seeking applause, but rather, seeking obedience to the truth. in other words, the theologian must not only learn to forfeit his own words, but he must also constantly seek to be at the service of the true word of god. such service to the word of god is only authentic when opinions are not substituted for the truth. this can sometimes be the danger in the theological enterprise. this is why the mission of the 28 formation of the human person in the 21st century theologian should draw its proper life and derive its impetus from the obedience to the truth. the words of benedict xvi aptly convey the authentic content and method of the theological enterprise when he says: and i think that this is the fundamental virtue for the theologian, this discipline of obedience to the truth, which makes us, although it may be hard, collaborators of the truth, mouthpieces of truth, for it is not we who speak in today's river of words, but it is the truth which speaks in us, who are really purified and made chaste by obedience to the truth. so it is that we can truly be harbingers of the truth.23 the same message is communicated in the words of st. ignatius of antioch: "those who have understood the lord's words understand his silence, for the lord should be recognized in his silence."24 we grasp the true significance and depth of the words of jesus only when we attain that silence of the lord, his being with the father from which words come. the words of jesus are born in silence on the mountain, as is often said that he withdrew to the mountain to pray. the theologian, who has the mission to convey the words of jesus, must also take his instance from this communion of the son with the father. indeed, “words are born from this silence of communion with the father, from being immersed in the father, and only on reaching this point, on starting from this point, do we arrive at the real depth of the word and can ourselves be authentic interpreters of the word. the lord invites us verbally to climb the mountain with him and thus, in his silence, to learn anew the true meaning of words.”25 it is when the words of the theologian are born from the silence of communion with the father and with christ, the logos of the father, that it can be truly said of him: “anyone who hears you hears me” (lk 10:16). the content and context of evangelization is the word of god. if it is therefore true that those who hear us hear the lord, then the task of evangelization already has its true force and its assurance of success, since the word of god stands for ever, and it accomplishes the purpose for which it is spoken (cf. is 48:8; 55:11). it is the word that is born from the silence of communion with the father through the son and in the holy spirit that is the force of evangelization. the theologian must always enter this silence and contemplation. however, the nature of authentic theology is that it is both a quest and a speech. hence, it is the mission of a theologian that he searches and that he speaks. the quest and speech is primarily about god, and also about every creature in its relation to god as its first beginning and its last end.26 in proposing what the nature and task of section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 29 theology is, i allude to the words of anthony akinwale: “this search and this speech can only be undertaken by one who encounters god, human beings, and the universe in an attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible manner. each and all of these four levels of conscious intentionality must be sustained in prayer such that, in this encounter, the theologian is prayerfully attentive, prayerfully intelligent, prayerfully reasonable, and prayerfully responsible.”27 it follows that in its method, theology must always apply the principle of fides quaerens intellectum, where faith both informs and sustains the task of theology, and where the theologian does not yield to the recklessness of relativism. we have considered how silence and contemplation are profoundly the mission of the theologian. yet, because theology is also authentically a speech, the mission of the theologian is also essentially to speak about god. however, the one who endeavours to speak about god must also have a profound desire for god. here is the meeting point of theology as speech and quest, because there can be no speech about god where there is no quest for god. thus, in the larger picture of the mission of the theologian, as he speaks about god, his speech must be grounded in the silence and contemplation that we have talked about. the god who has placed in every human being the natural desire for him (desiderium naturale in deum)28 is at the heart of the quest that theology is. the quest is not a blind quest, but one that is born out of a sincere desire for god. in athens the greeks erected an altar “to an unknown god” (cf. acts 17:23). as it were, they had a desire for what was unknown; and this is absurd. in book viii of his de trinitate, st. augustine establishes the principle that no one loves what he does not know. thus, we do not love the unknown, but love to know the unknown. here is how augustine puts it: for, since ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ [2 cor 5:7], we certainly do not yet see god, as the same one has said: ‘face to face’ [1 cor 13:12]. unless we love him now, we shall never see him. but who loves that which he does not know? for something can be known and not loved; but what i am asking is, whether something can be loved that is not known? if that is impossible, then no one loves god before he knows him. and what does it mean to love god, except to see him and to perceive him steadfastly with our mind? for he is not a body to be sought for with bodily eyes.29 it follows that to speak about god is to have a desire for god; and one cannot have a desire for what one does not known. hence, we speak of the task of theology as a speech and a quest. and since one speaks about a person or thing to the extent that one knows the person or thing, 30 formation of the human person in the 21st century then the validity of what the theologian says about god must come from his deep knowledge of god. such knowledge comes from the silence and contemplation into with the theologian enters. as a result, the knowledge is the fruit of both faith and reason. the church teaches that “god, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason.”30 the catechism of the catholic church states further: “in the historical condition in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know god by the light of reason alone.”31 consequently, the knowledge of god that comes from reason must be from reason that is ennobled, enlightened, empowered and elevated by faith. what the church teaches in the two instances is true and valid. in the first instance, from the things that have been made (cf. rom 1:20), any reasonable and intelligent person can come to the conclusion that god exists. on the other hand, there are reasonable and intelligent people who have not been able to come to the conclusion that god exists. for the latter group, what is missing is faith. that god exists is self-evident in itself since the predicate is included in the essence of the subject. but it is not self-evident to us because we do not know the essence of god. it is for this reason that the proposition needs to be demonstrated by the things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature – namely, by effects.32 from what we have said, it is true and valid that god can be known by the natural light of human reason from the created world. but because god is mystery – not in the sense that god is unintelligible, but in the sense that who god is cannot be exhausted – to attempt to know god by the light of reason alone is fraught with so many difficulties. reason must be enlightened and elevated by faith. the god whom the theologian seeks to speak about is a mystery, so the theologian must recognize that the created intellect cannot know god perfectly. god is knowable, and he is knowable infinitely. yet the infinitely knowable god cannot be known infinitely by the finite intellect of the creature. and because the theologian cannot exhaust the meaning of who god is, he must fall in love with the mystery that god is, so that he may be purified, and so that his speech may truly be about god whom he has fallen in love with. he is called to live a holy life by constant conversion to god. furthermore, when the theologian speaks about god out of desire for god, it means “god is the subject matter of the speech that takes its inspiration from the natural desire for god and the god who fulfills that desire by revealing himself, and who gives the church’s magisterium as a gift to ensure that what is revealed is rightly interpreted.”33 theology is, therefore, a quest to understand god and what god has revealed about himself, and it is also a speech about god section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 31 who reveals himself. in this regard, “it is a search for understanding and a speech about the search, a speech in which the speaker seeks to understand for himself and seeks to explain to his audience the one he has found, or rather, the one who has found him.”34 if in the task and mission of theology, quest, speech and desire are interwoven, the mission of the theologian, vis-à-vis the task of interpretation and evangelization, must flow from a profound encounter with the god whom he has found and whom he loves, and his attempt to make this god known to others so that they too may love him. his speech will always be about the god of love so that those who listen to his explanation of the true word of god may also come to the knowledge and love of the god who speaks and is spoken about. it must be noted that though theology is a speech about god, it is also a speech about creatures. however, theology cannot be reduced to discourse about creatures. as a matter of fact, when it is said that theology is a speech about creatures, that speech cannot be isolated from the speech about god. for this reason thomas aquinas teaches that theology is not concerned with creatures in se, but only as they are related to god as their beginning and end.35 thus, when the theologian speaks about creatures he is not to use the methods of the natural or social sciences – though he does not ignore the findings of these other branches of knowledge – he must speak about them as a theologian. in other words, it is in his speech about god that he must speak about creatures. as much as other branches of knowledge can be of help to theology, the office of theology must not be usurped by these other branches of knowledge. the implication of this is that the theologian must engage in the task of interpretation and evangelization as one who primarily and essentially speaks about god. what he does in his speech about god is seek to understand the god who has created all things, and this desire to understand the mystery of god gives theology its character as a quest. st. anselm of canterbury speaks of this effort of the human mind to understand the mystery of god when he wrote: i am not trying, o lord, to penetrate thy loftiness, for i cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but i desire in some measure to understand thy truth, which my heart believes and loves. for i do not seek to understand in order to believe, but i believe in order to understand. for this too i believe, that “unless i believe, i shall not understand.”36 it is clear then that, in his speech about god, the theologian does not first seek to understand before he believes, but he believes so as to understand (credo ut intelligam). these words of anselm have given theology the classical character of “faith seeking understanding” (fides 32 formation of the human person in the 21st century quaerens intellectum). long before anselm, the fathers of the church, especially augustine, demonstrated the truth in these statements. from the outset of his most profound theological work, de trinitate, augustine impressed on his reader that the starting point of his quest for the immaterial imago dei was faith in the trinity, and that throughout the quest he was going to be guided by faith. “the de trinitate is a search, an inquisitio, as augustine puts it. it is the embodiment of a principle of catholic theology that augustine constantly invoked and that st. anselm later formulated: fides quaerens intellectum. faith is, therefore, the starting point for augustine. we cannot come to an understanding of the mystery of the trinity without the initium fidei.37 the theologian who speaks about god must always have this initium fidei. the initium fidei of the theologian is not an isolated private revelation, nor is it a rupture from what the christian community believes to be revealed through jesus christ, which the apostles taught and passed on to succeeding generations of christian disciples, the deposit of faith (depositum fidei). thus, the mission of the theologian, in his task of interpretation, is to constantly work hermeneutic of continuity in the understanding and explanation of the christian faith. his mission as theologian is one that he undertakes personally but on behalf of the believing community. in his regard, “the task of theology is to show that the act of faith and the act of good use of the human intellect are not incompatible.”38 and to have great impact in the task of interpretation, the theologian must be a man of faith, he must be intelligent and he must be reasonable. conclusion this paper examined hermeneutic of continuity as the proper principle of interpretation, in which the unity and integrity of the faith tradition is the task of theology. theological formation must therefore consist in the proper formation of theological method, so that the one who is thus formed recognizes his mission and his teaching office to be at the service of the truth and in obedience to the truth. for the theologian to be at the service of the truth is for him to work for continuity rather than rupture in the tradition of the christian faith. as principle of interpretation, hermeneutic of continuity allows for the truth of the relevant scriptural and magisterial texts, mediated by the faith tradition that goes back to the apostles. this principle is opposed to any interpretive technique which severs one or more magisterial texts, or one or more passages of scripture, from other texts. such a technique is a “hermeneutic of rupture”. the right principle is a “hermeneutic of continuity”, and this principle lies in the heart of true theological formation and theological method. for over two centuries now, “western intellectual life, with the deep influence of modernism, has been dominated increasingly by a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 33 “hermeneutic of rupture”, a broad principle of interpretation of the good which dismisses tradition and opts instead for the latest ideas, as if by the very fact of coming later in time, these ideas must be superior—a misconception arising largely from the western notion of “progress”.”39 in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this hermeneutic of rupture was imported into catholic theology by those who fell victim to modernism. modernism essentially finds religious truth in the current lived experience of christians. as a remedy, this paper proposes proper theological formation that is rooted in “hermeneutic of continuity”, and in which the theologian sees his task as that of service to the integral truth of scripture, sacred tradition, and the magisterium. the study of the fathers of the church must be an integral part of this theological formation. endnotes 1 bernard lonergan, method in theology (toronto: university of toronto press, 1971), xi 2 bernard lonergan, method in theology, xi 3 bernard lonergan, method in theology, 4 4 bernard lonergan, method in theology, 4 5 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 6 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 7 the following insight is an explanation of the thoughts of st. augustine provided by jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. 8 jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. 9 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 10 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 11 st. irenaeus, adversus haereses, iii, 3, 1 12 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 13 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 9, 10 14 cf. first vatican council, dogmatic constitution on the catholic faith, c. 3 (on faith): denz. 1972 (3011). 15 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10. cf. pius xii, encyclical humani generis, 12 august 1950: denz. 1972 (3886). 16 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 17 francis adedara, “marriage and family life in service of truth: theological perspectives on reception of the apostolic exhortation amoris laetitia” in abuja journal of philosophy and theology, 7 (2017) 80-81. 34 formation of the human person in the 21st century 18 what i discuss in this section is the variation of a section of the paper i read at a conference of the southwest association of nigerian catholic theologians. see francis adedara, “the mission of the theologian and the task of evangelization: a reflection on the nigerian context”, in the theologian and the new evangelization in the south-west of nigeria, conference proceedings, vol. i (ibadan: a publication of southwest association of nigerian catholic theologians, 2014). the section on mission of the theologian is adopted and adapted for the purpose of this paper. 19 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission, redemptoris mater chapel, apostolic palace, october 6 2006 20 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 21 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 22 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 23 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 24 ignatius of antioch, letter the ephesians, xv, 2 (sources chrétiennes 10, pp. 8485). 25 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 26 see thomas aquinas, summa theologia i, q. 1, a. 7 27 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” a paper presented at graduate theology students; colloquium, ave maria university, fl, september 14, 2007, p. 4 28 the catechism of the catholic church teaches: “the desire for god is written in the human heart, because man is created by god for god; and god never ceases to draw man to himself. only in god will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for” (n. 27). the second vatican council says in this regard: “the dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with god. this invitation to converse with god is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. for if man exists it is because god has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator” (gs 19). 29 augustine, de trinitate, viii.6 30 catechism of the catholic church, 36. see vatican council i, dei filius 2: ds 3004; cf. 3026; see also vatican ii, dei verbum 6 31 catechism of the catholic church, 37; see pius xii, humani generis, 561, where this historical condition is rooted in the consequences of original sin. 32 see thomas aquinas, summa theologiae i, q. 1, a. 1 for a discussion of whether the existence of god is self-evident. 33 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 4 34 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 4 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 35 35 cf. summa theologiae i, q. 2, prol.: “principalis intentio huius sacrae doctrinae est dei cognitionem tradere, et non solum secundum quod in se est, sed etiam secundum quod est principium rerum et finis earum, et specialiter rationalis creaturae.” 36 anselm of canterbury, proslogion, ch. 1 in a scholastic miscellany: anselm to ockham, edited by eugene fairweather (philadelphia: the westminster press, 1956). cf. is 7:9, as read by augustine in the old latin version, and frequently quoted by him, for example, epist. 120:1 (csel, 34, 706); sermo 89:4 (pl, 38, 556). 37 francis adedara, “the image of god in man and original sin in augustine’s de trinitate” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2011), see pp. 4-5 38 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 7 39 jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. abstract pope francis issued the motu proprio mitis iudex dominus iesus on august 15, 2015, and it became effective on december 8, 2015. in this document the holy father reformed the procedure for declaration of marriage nullity. the document reordered and abrogated some canons in the 1983 code of canon law. after the promulgation of this new law, some commentators have come to argue that the holy father has just made it possible to declare marriages null in the catholic church without the due processes being followed. some media outlets have even tagged it as the new simplied way of getting a divorce in the catholic church. some catholics are confused about the changes that have been made. some wonder whether it has not completely eroded the traditional teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. it is in the light of these concerns that our research critically examined the apostolic constitution to identify some of the changes established and the implication for the understanding of the procedural law that all marriage tribunals are to strictly observed. in this paper, we brought out what is new and what has been reordered. we also stated the fact that the new law requires more direct involvement of the a review of some of the changes in procedural law in the declaration of marriage nullity (mitis iudex dominus iesus). edwin omorogbe, jcd, ph.d. parish priest of st. paul catholic church and the dean of benin city. eddyomorogbe@yahoo.com diocesan bishop in the process of marriage nullity cases. the need in particular circumstances to further determine specic ways to deal with the newly introduced briefer process was noted in this research. the new law did not change the essential requirement for declaration of marriage nullity. it only simplies it to make it faster, cheaper, and easier for both the tribunal and the parties involved. we have therefore pointed out in this work the changes effected by the document and the obligation upon those concerned with marriage cases to observe the new procedural law for marriage trial. one of the principles of law is that favour should be multiplied or broadly interpreted. given this fact, the tribunal must immediately stop automatic appeal for afrmative decisions in the rst instance to the second instance. keywords: review, changes, procedural law, declaration, marriage nullity introduction this paper attempts to only discuss the essential parts of the new law. i shall be presenting a short discourse of some aspects of the new norm and then highlight the novelty in the reformed procedural law for marriage nullity. the reform of the nullity process was meant to make the process quicker, less complex, cheaper, and more of a pastoral ministry that truly expresses the church's institutional sign of mercy and a demonstration of christ's gratuitous love towards those in difcult situations. however, the reform is not meant to redene the traditional understanding of the indissolubility of the marriage bond. pope francis is not promoting nullity of marriage, but the quickness of the processes as well as simplifying the process so that catholic couples who are in an irregular marriage may be reconciled with the church and are not oppressed by the shadow of doubt for a prolonged period. it must also be noted that the standard for nullity declaration remains the same, moral certitude by the judge. canonists must remain ever vigilant that this reformed process is not a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 229 abused. the reformed process is not a permission to be laxed in the adjudication of marriage nullity. every trial is a process in the search for the truth. innovations in the motu prorio innovations are not made for the fun of it. there has to be a process of discernment and consultation with experts. mi went through that process. so, to a large extent, the innovations in mi are fruits of listening to the holy spirit, discerning using human instruments, and 1 the legitimate exercise of the authority of the supreme pontiff. there have been previous changes to the procedure of marriage nullity in 2the church. so, a change to procedural law is not in itself an innovation in the sense that it has never happened in the past before. 1. single executor sentence in favour of nullity: in the past marriage nullity trial needed two conforming sentences before the 3decree of nullity can be executed. the holy father desire to see justice done expeditiously informed the abrogation of the requirement of the automatic appeal of an afrmative sentence in the rst instance tribunal. this is one of the reasons for the simplication of the nullity process: “the need to simplify and make the processes 4 less complex has led to making the ordinary process more simple” mi has abrogated this requirement of a second conforming sentence before the execution of a decree of nullity. “there is no longer required a double conforming decision declaring the nullity of the marriage to enable the parties to be able to contract a new canonical 5marriage.” moral certitude is required for a declaration of nullity. 1see canon 332, §1. see, j. mcareavey, “the primacy of the bishop of rome: a canonical reection in response to ut unum sint,” in studia canonica, 34 (2001), 119-154. 2for a detailed study see, c.a. cox, procedural changes in formal marriage nullity cases from the 1917 to the 1983 code. canon law study, no. 528, washington, d.c., catholic university of america, 1989. 3see canon 1641. 4subsidium, no. 3. 5mi, art. 1. 230 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 for many years there has been the requirement of two conforming 6sentences for marriage nullity. this abrogation of this requirement is a major contribution to marriage procedural law. the requirement of double conforming sentences was imposed to ensure that there was a thorough examination of the nullity. however, moral certitude that is required for marriage nullity declaration is still a high standard. what is required of judges in the rst instance tribunal is to ensure that they attain moral certitude from the facts and law and not from sentiments or misplaced compassion for the persons involved. 2. a single judge to act under the supervision of the bishop: a diocesan bishop may constitute a single judge in the rst instance but this judge must be a cleric. the bishop is to ensure that the clerical single judge acts properly following the norms of the procedures and 7 must reach moral certitude before the declaration of a sentence. mi empowers a diocesan bishop with the authority to be able to entrust a case to a single clerical judge without the necessity of the intervention 8 of neither the holy see nor the bishop conference of the country. however, this should only be done when the possibility of a collegial judge cannot be attained or that there is no functioning tribunal. in other words, entrusting marriage nullity to a single judge remains an 9 exception. 6for a detailed examination of conforming sentences, see, mary j. aririguzo, conformitas sententiarum (conformity of sentences) in canonical doctrine and jurisprudence (can. 1614, n.1, cic 1983; dc art. 291), onitsha nigeria, eagleman books, 2012. the author argues that conforming sentences is “one of the important elements formally introduced into the marriage nullity procedure to safeguard the bond of marriage.” ibid., p. 1. 7see mi, art. 2. see also subsidium, no. 1. 8see subsidium, i, no.1. 9it is important to always keep in mind the legal principle that laws which contain exceptions to the law are to be strictly interpreted. for a good reading of interpretations of laws that make exceptions, see, roy remo, “sacramental laws containing an exception from the law,” in philipine canonical forum, 23 (2011), pp. 209-245. a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 231 3. the bishop as a judge: in the previous legislation, a diocesan bishop possesses judicial power; he may exercise this power as a judge personally or through others according to the provisions of the 10 canons. mi stresses the theological and pastoral reason for a diocesan bishop to actually judge marriage cases himself. the instruction for the implementation of mi also emphasizes the need for the bishop to personally judge marriage nullity cases, especially the briefer cases: “the bishop in his church, as father and judge, is the icon of christ-sacrament. therefore, he ought to be personally the judge, by giving a sign of his sacramental power. this is true 11 especially in the briefer process.” this personal exercise of the judicial power of the diocesan bishop taught by the second vatican council is to be brought out more fully when the bishop judges cases 12 by himself. the size of the diocese or the volume of work of the bishop should not excuse the bishop from this proper exercise of his judicial power. 10see canon 1419. 11subsidium, p. 9. the directory for the pastoral ministry of bishops, no. 68 says: “the bishop should observe and require others to observe the procedural norms established for the exercise of judicial power, since he recognizes that these rules are no mere formality, still less an obstacle to be circumvented, but are a necessary means for establishing the facts and for administering justice.” in the congregation for bishops, the directory for the pastoral ministry of bishops, apostolorum successors, 2004, no. 68, english translation from the vatican website http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbish ops_doc_20040222_apostolorum-successores_en.html#chapter_iv (=dpmb). therefore, diocesan bishops are to observe the new procedural law by personally judging marriage nullity cases especially the briefer cases. 12the second vatican council in lg, no. 27 states: bishops, as vicars and ambassadors of christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them (58*) by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power, which indeed they use only for the edication of their ock in truth and holiness, remembering that he who is greater should become as the lesser and he who is the chief become as the servant.(169) this power, which they personally exercise in christ's name, is proper, ordinary and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately regulated by the supreme authority of the church, and can be circumscribed by certain limits, for the advantage of the church or of the faithful. in virtue of this power, bishops have the sacred right and the duty before the lord to make laws for their subjects, to pass judgment on them and to moderate everything pertaining to the ordering of worship and the apostolate.” from the vatican website http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. 232 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 it is, therefore, the desire of the holy father that diocesan bishop judges marriage cases: “it is thus hoped that the bishop himself, be it of a large or small diocese, stands as a sign of the conversion of ecclesiastical structures and that he does not delegate completely the duty of deciding marriage cases to the ofces of his curia. this is especially true in the streamlined process for handling 13 cases of clear nullity being established in the present document.” in fact, the briefer cases can only be judged by the diocesan bishop. the judicial vicar has to instruct the case properly before the bishop judges the case. 4. the briefer process: this is one of the major innovations of mi. it establishes a process for the declaration of nullity that is briefer than the ordinary process or the documentary process. given the fact that the briefer process can endanger nullity, the diocesan bishop is solely 14charged with the responsibility of using this process. this is because the diocesan bishop in union with the successor of peter has the pastoral responsibility of guarantor of the catholic unity in faith and 15 discipline. the process can be used in cases in which the accused nullity of marriage is upheld by a joint request of both spouses and evident arguments, being the proofs of the marriage nullity of rapid demonstration. with a request made to the bishop, and a process instructed by the judicial vicar or an instructor, the nal decision of the declaration of nullity or of remitting the case to the ordinary process, belongs to the bishop himself, who by virtue of his pastoral ofce, is 13mi, art. 3 emphases are mine. the use of the word, “completely” would imply that the bishop can delegate some of the functions to another person. but he must be involved in the briefer process. 14the presumption is that the diocesan bishop is to promote the observance of the common discipline of the church and ecclesiastical law. he must exercise vigilance that abuses do not creep into the discipline of the church. 15mi, art. 4. a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 233 with peter the major guarantor of catholic unity both in faith and in discipline. it is obvious that not all diocesan bishops are canonists, and even those that are may have many other pastoral commitments. the rst point that needs to be noted here is that, judging marriage nullity cases using the briefer process is part of the pastoral ministry of a diocesan bishop. secondly, a diocesan bishop must appoint an efcient judicial vicar who will personally help to instruct the case before it arrives at the bishop's desk. article 14 of mi lists instances in which the briefer process is to be used: among the circumstances of things and persons that can allow a case for nullity of marriage to be handled by means of the briefer process according to cann. 16831687, are included, for example: the defect of faith which 16 can generate a simulation of consent or error that 17 18 determines the will; a brief conjugal cohabitation; an ;19abortion procured to avoid procreation an obstinate persistence in an extra conjugal relationship at the time of 20 the wedding or immediately following it; the deceitful concealment of sterility, or grave contagious illness, or 21children from a previous relationship, or incarcerations; 16see canon 1101, §2. 17see canon 1099. 18a false conception of marriage as an affective gratication can lead the parties to contract marriage without intending permanence. 19this constitutes an intention to stimulate the will against the good of children. 20this behavior is “an evident indication of the refusal of the obligation of the faithfulness; it can be accompanied by a refusal to have intimate relations with the legitimate spouse. also in this case there can be documentary proofs (private investigative reports, letters, records of telephonic or electronic communications).” in subsidium, iii, no. 3.1. 21in these instances, the concealment constitutes deceit that can disturb conjugal life. the evidence most be incontrovertible, e.g., documentary proof; medical reports, certicates and civil sentences. 234 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 a cause of marriage completely extraneous to married life, or consisting of the unexpected pregnancy of the 22 23 woman, physical violence inicted to extort consent, the defect of the use of reason which is proved by medical documents, etc. documents in support of the petition should include all medical records which renders ex ofcio expert intervention superuous. subsidium states that the cultural situation of the parties when properly studied may yield some “elements which are strongly indicative of the invalidity of consent, which perhaps in a previous and different social-cultural context would not be recognized in all 24their signicance.” article 15 states that if the petition had been presented in the ordinary process, the judicial vicar if convinced that it can be treated with the briefer process, he is to notify the respondent if the libellus was not signed by the respondent. the notication is to inform the party of the possibility of using the briefer process. what this means is that the judicial vicar must try and sort out cases submitted in the past and see if anyone of them can be tried using the briefer process he is to transfer that to the bishop. article 16 stipulates that the judicial vicar can designate himself as the instructor or name another person. the parties are then to be cited and informed that they are to make available the specic points on which the witnesses are to be questioned. a time limit of three days is to be imposed. if the witnesses have already made depositions during the ordinary process the materials can be used in the briefer case (see art 17). the parties may be present at the time of examination of the witnesses unless there is a reason for the instructor 22if the reason for marriage is not for the purpose of interpersonal donation of life between the parties the possibility exists that one of the party did not intend marriage. the indicative circumstances could be brief conjugal life and the initiative to separate and divorce. see subsidium, iii, no. 3.1. 23fear affects the will and can validate marriage. in these cases of physical violence, there should be documents such as medical reports, written police records. see ibid. 24subsidium, ii, no. 3. a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 235 to determine otherwise. the responses of the witnesses and parties are to be summarily written by the notary (see art 18). the need for a well-trained notary cannot be over emphasized, especially in communities where the faithful are not literate. article 19 addresses the issue of the diocesan bishop who is to pronounce judgment in cases emanating from an inter-diocesan tribunal. the competent bishop is the bishop of the tribunal of the place in which the marriage was celebrated, or the tribunal of the place in which either or both parties have a domicile or a quasidomicile; or the tribunal of the place in which, in fact, most of the proofs must be collected. these tribunals all have equal competency. the law leaves the determination regarding how to 25pronounce the sentence. the sentence is to be signed by the bishop and notarized. it should contain reasons for the decision and the parties are to be notied within one month of the day of the decision (see art 19). it must be noted that the briefer process itself is a judicial trial and not an administrative process, therefore, “the nullity of the marriage can be pronounced only if the judge has arrived at the moral 26 certitude based on the acts and of the proofs that have been 27gathered.” 5. the appeal to the metropolitan see: this ancient practice of appeal to the metropolitan is to be restored in the marriage nullity trial. this brings out the ofce of the metropolitan as the head of the 28 ecclesiastical province. 6. the role of the episcopal conference: a conference of bishops, as a rule, is a permanent institution of a group of bishops in a country 25canon 1612, §1 provides that the sentence begins with the invocation of the divine name. the pronouncement of the judgment of the diocesan bishop in the briefer case may follow this pattern. 26canon 1608, §1 stipulates that any marriage sentence must have moral certitude about the matter to be decided. the certitudes must be derived from the acts and proofs. 27subsidium, no. 3. 28the code in various occasions describes the function of the metropolitan. canon 435 describes the notion and canon 432, §1 discusses the competency of the metropolitan in relation to the suffragan dioceses. 236 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 or a certain territory that exercise authority jointly over the faithful 29entrusted to them. one of the purposes of setting up a conference is that there should be a certain degree of uniformity in the territory that they exercise authority over. the decisions of the conference of bishops are to be a juridical binding force on the faithful subject to 30 them. the conference should help to put into practice the reform of 31 the matrimonial process for the sake of uniformity in a country. the conference should work with judges to ensure just and fair remuneration of the workers in the tribunal. mi stipulates “that processes remain free of charge, and that the church, showing herself a generous mother to the faithful, manifest, in a matter so intimately tied to the salvation of souls, the gratuitous love of christ by which 32we have all been saved.” the instruction for the implementation of 33 mi seems to indicate a voluntary offering or donation by the parties : “it is left to the just sensitivity of pastors and those responsible for tribunals the possibility of asking the parties, with pastoral tact, to contribute with an offering for the needs of the poor. the parties will certainly be generous, such that the fragrance of charity will reach the 34 minds and hearts of the faithful in the church.” 7. an appeal to the apostolic see: the right of the individual to always appeal to the apostolic see is retained in the new apostolic constitution. the competent tribunal remains the roman rota to hear 29canon 447 describes conference of bishops. for further reading on episcopal conferences, see, a. acerbi, “the development of the canons on conferences and the apostolic see,” in the jurist, 48 (1988), pp. 146-152; a. dulles, “doctrinal authority of episcopal conferences,” in episcopal conferences: historical, canonical and theological studies, editor t. reese, washington, d.c., georgetown univesity, 1989, pp. 803-103. 30see cd, no. 38, no.4. 31canon law society of nigeria has already set up a group to work out a vademecum to be presented to cbcn for approval for use in nigeria. canons 447-459 deal with conferences of bishops. 32mi, art. 5. 33the law always prefers voluntary donation over taxation or levy. canon 1262 on free donation comes before canon 1263 on taxation. the intention of the legislator is to show that taxation should only come after free will donation., see, r.t. kennedy, “the acquisition of goods, [cc. 1259-1272],” in clsa comm2, p. 1461. 34subsidium, no. 4. a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 237 cases of appeal of second instance from dioceses. the law regulating the roman rota will soon be reviewed to meet the new law. below is a summary of the essential parts of mi 1.� the diocesan bishop is the sole judge for briefer cases of marriage nullity 2.� the diocesan bishop can appoint a sole judge in the rst instance tribunal 3.� the abolition of the obligation of having two conforming decisions 4.� establishment of a briefer procedure for marriage nullity that is manifestly null 5.� tribunal service fee to be considered or reviewed for a possible voluntary donation � rather than a mandatory fee. 6.� establishment of service of information, of counselling and of mediation ofce connected to the pastoral service to help evaluate persons for a preliminary investigation for matrimonial nullity cases. this ofce will help to gather enough materials for possible nullity trial. this ofce may be established at deanery levels too. 7.� diocesan bishops are now empowered to withdraw from the inter-diocesan tribunal if they judge that such an action will be more benecial to their faithful (mi, procedural rule, art. 8, §§ 1-2). 8.� the probatory value of the declarations of the parties and the qualied witnesses has been valorized. 9.� the requirement for a letter from the parish priest of the petitioner indicating pastoral attempts at reconciliation had failed is no longer required. it is sufcient that the judge before accepting the case has the certainty that the marriage has irreparably failed and impossible to re-established conjugal life (mi, can. 1675). 10.� the process of passage to super ratio has been simplied i.e., ratied non-� consummated 11.� a party that refused to receive any kind of information during trial is held to have renounced the right to receive a copy of 238 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 the sentence (mi, procedural rule art. 13). �after the time limit of the appeal has elapsed the rst sentence can be executed. 12.� if an appellate tribunal consider the appeal to be dilatory, it must conrm the rst � instance sentence by a decree 13.� two lay judges are now allowed in a college of three or ve judges 14.� competency of tribunals are now equal; the place of marriage, the domicile of respondent or petitioner all have cocurrent competencies. there is no need to obtain the consent of any jv. conditions for the use of the briefer cases a.� the alleged nullity must be sustained by the joint request of the couple and with evident arguments. testimonies or documents render manifest the nullity. there should be a prejudicial investigation before (mi procedural rules, art. 14). b.� the diocesan bishop alone is the sole judge and he cannot delegate this function to a diocesan or inter-diocesan tribunal. even when a case is instructed by an inter-diocesan tribunal the bishop is competent to adjudicate using the briefer process as the bishop noted in canon 1672 (mi, procedural rules art. 19). the bishop having consulted the instructor of the case and the assessor, weighs the observations of the defender of the bond and defence briefs of the party � (optional), and if he can arrive at moral certitude he will issue a sentence of nullity. if he is not able to arrive at moral certitude he remits the case to the ordinary process. the sentence may be drafted by the assessor or instructor but it must be signed by the bishop. the parties are to be notied of the sentence within one month. there can be an appeal against the sentence of the bishop to the metropolitan and if it was the metropolitan then the appeal is to the most senior suffragan bishop. given the fact that both parties have to consent before the briefer process can be used, the likely person to appeal the sentence will be the defender of the bond. if an appeal is accepted the case is remitted to the ordinary process of the second instance tribunal (mi, can 1687, §§ 3-4). a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 239 c.� the judicial vicar is to work closely with the diocesan bishop in the briefer process. the jv is to examine the libellus addressed to the bishop and determine whether it should be sent to an ordinary trial or briefer process. d.���the circumstances for the use of the briefer process are: i.� lack of faith that can generate a simulation of consent or an error determining the will; ii.� psychological and moral fragility of the contracting parties �e.g., young or less immature they consider marriage as a form of affective gratication. this can result to simulation or reservation of the exclusivity of conjugal act to a partner; iii.� brevity of the conjugal life; abortion procured to impede �procreation; iv.� the obstinate permanence in an extramarital relation at the time of the wedding or in the period immediately following; v.� the deceitful concealment of sterility or of a grave contagious sickness or of children born from a previous relationship, or of an incarceration; vi.� the extraneous reason for conjugal life or consistent with an unforeseen pregnancy of the woman; vii.� physical violence inicted to extort consent; viii.� lack of the use of reason conrmed by medical documents formal elements to initiate a briefer process a.� a request proposed by both spouse or proposed by one and consented to by the other; b.� a libellus presented to the jv in accordance with the provisions of canon 1504, c.� the libellus must expound briey, wholly and clearly the facts upon which the request is based; indicate the proofs and the document upon which the request is based (mi, can. 1684). the gathering of the proof can be done in one session. 240 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 documentary process this is to be used for cases in which marriage nullity can be proven by incontrovertible document. the formalities of the ordinary process are omitted. a good example will be total lack of form case. recommendations below are some recommendations that marriage tribunal and judical vicars will nd helpful: a.� the desire of the holy father to have marriage cases expeditiously judged must be respected. this is a question of the right of the faithful and it must be protected. each tribunal has to fashion out a way to do this effectively without allowing laxity to creep into the process. b.� each diocesan bishop must take a personal interest in the administration and funding of tribunal. the allocation should be made in the budget to accommodate the possibility of having cases free of fee for indigent petitioners. c.� the tribunal must be well staffed with competent persons and the necessary technological aid to help in the processing of cases be put in place. d.� a section to assist in dealing with the documentary process be set up within the tribunal. this section will help to exhort priests and lay faithful to send most of the total lack of form cases to the tribunal. this same section can help to advise the bishop on cases of convalidation and sanatio in radice. e.� one of the principles of law is that favor should be multiplied or broadly interpreted. given this fact, the tribunal must immediately stop automatic appeal for afrmative decisions in the rst instance to the second instance. even cases that were initiated before the new procedural law took effect must be assessed with the present norm that does not require automatic appeal for afrmative decision. f.� a general review of all cases should be embarked upon to determine if some of them should be tried using the briefer process. a review of some of the changes in procedural law ... | 241 conclusion the new procedural norms should be implemented with respect to the substantive doctrine of marriage. tribunal staff must not see this as an implicit approval for the nullity of the marriage bond without the standard requirement of moral certitude on the declaration of nullity. the presumption of law that favours the marriage bond still holds. the abrogation of the law mandating automatic appeal of afrmative sentence in the first instance is only aimed at the process and not at the substance of marriage indissolubility. 242 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 391 29 the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in the theological formation of seminarians today dr. chris. a. obi department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, edo state. obichris@aauekpoma.edu.ng;chrisaobi@yahoo.com abstract speaking on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, vatican ii recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more widely spread through individual areas” (optatam totius 16). she reasoned that this will help them better understand the elements of goodness and truth such religions possess and learn how to disprove the errors in them in the process of sharing the full light of the truth with those who lack it. both mbiti and gyekye have noted that religion influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and actions of african life, fully determining practically every aspect of life including moral behaviour. the african lives in a religious universe in which all actions and thought have religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view. with african traditional religion (atr), christianity and islam as nigeria’s three main religions, nigeria is a typical religious plural society. each of these religions has their values. these values have served as a guide and control of human behaviour, dictating right from wrong and this is the most important aspect of religion, that is, its capacity to shape honorable human personality and values being in accord with human society. some of the human and religious values in traditional society include honesty, education, morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow citizens, good name, community living and family loyalty. one of the most significant values that traditional nigerians hold to be of great importance is the wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverbs-speaking. this paper 392 formation of the human person in the 21st century examines the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in contemporary catholic theological formation houses. the method adopted is multi-dimensional analytical, historical, phenomenological and theological. our findings highlight the main reasons or benefits of the study, the traditional values to be integrated in theological formation; that our contextualization of the christian faith has to be based on a good knowledge of pre-christian traditional heritage or the knowledge of earlier religious tradition in our local environment; and that african christian theology must be diverse based on different cultural background, social-economic and political diversity and the diverse strands of christian missionaries that evangelized africa. our conclusion is that the african christian theologian must engage in a serious dialogue with african traditional religion. he / she can longer lay claim to exclusive truth and condemn the non-christian religion as a mere worship of idols as some pentecostals would do. keywords: african traditional religion, traditional values, african christian theology, theological formation introduction in this new era of evangelization advocated by the catholic church today, one of the basic questions that have to be addressed is: “how have the african seminaries, in general, and the nigerian ones in particular, faced the challenges and adjusted to the inevitable changes in the formation of their priests?” (ekwunife, 2011). according to him, the primary goal of formation in catholic seminaries is to produce men who will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective instruments of evangelization after their ordination. the seminary is expected to train capable priests, who in response to god’s grace, can collaborate with their bishops and superiors in serving god’s people throughout the world. the importance of formation was recently stressed by pope paul ii in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation to the bishops, clergy and the faithful so that the end products of catholic priestly formation may become with the sacrament of orders, “a living image of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church” (pastores da vobis 42). speaking earlier on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, vatican ii recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are widely spread through individual areas” (optatam totius 16). she reasoned that this will help them better understand the elements of goodness and truth such religions possess and learn how to disprove the errors in them in the process of sharing the full light of the truth with those who lack them. in section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 393 addition alexander carter in his introduction to optatam totius has observed that the pastoral preparation must take into consideration the specific environment in which the young priest will begin his ministry (abbot 1972, p. 436). both j. mbiti (1969) and b. gyekye (1996) have noted that religion influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and actions of african life, fully determining practically every aspect of life including moral behaviour. the african lives in a religious universe in which all actions and thoughts have religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view (obi 2013, p. 442). with african traditional religion (atr), islam and christianity as nigeria’s three main religions, nigeria is a typical plural religious society. each of these religions has its values. these values have served as a guide and control of human behaviour, dictating right from wrong and this is the most important aspect of religion – its capacity to shape honourable human personality and values being in accord with human society. some of the human and religious values in traditional society include: honesty, education, morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow citizens, good name, community living and family loyalty (ebhomielen 2011, p. 131). one of the most significant values that traditional nigerians cherish is the wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverb – speaking (onimhawo &adamu 2011, p. 25; obi 2013, p. 443). this paper examined the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in catholic theological formation houses in lieu of vatican ii’s earlier advice that episcopal conferences of each region are to adjust ecclesiastical courses to the pastoral requirement of a particular region. the method adopted is multidimensional – historical, analytic, phenomenological and theological. religions in nigeria historically, before the advent of islam and christianity the main religion was atr. african religion can be defined as “institutionalized patterns of beliefs and worship practiced by various african societies from time immemorial” (metuh 1987, p. 51). the main tenet of this religion, based on the principle of hierarchy of beings, is made of five elements, namely, belief in god, belief in divinities, belief in ancestors, belief in spirits and the practice to magic and medicine (idowu 1991, p. 137-202; kanu 2015, p. 92-127). the african universe has physical and spiritual dimension. this means all beings can be said to belong to either two worldsthe visible world and the invisible world. there is no wall of demarcation between the two worlds as the two realms shade into each other (metuh 1987, p. 51). thus, there is no clear-cut distinction or opposition between the visible and invisible, the material and spiritual, the temporal and non-temporal, the sacred and the profane unlike the 394 formation of the human person in the 21st century dichotomy which is characteristic of graeco-christian worldview (metuh 1987, p. 5). in spite of this sense of cosmic oneness that is essential to african religion, there are slight variations between west african worldview (made up of five elements), the worldview of nilotic societies (in so far as their supreme being has prophets) and the worldview of the bantu areas (who have three categories of spiritual beings instead of five). the implications of these variations for african christology/african theology ought to be noted and their import for priestly formation not to be disregarded. however, with the introduction to nigeria of islam in the 11th and 14th centuries through kanem – borno in the north east and the medieval empire of mali in the south west and christianity in the south, the centre could no longer hold, that is, the social order hitherto maintained through traditional religion caved in. islam’s emphasis on allah’s absoluteness, sharia law, judgment day, its code of crime and punishment as well as its universalism, introduced elements of value confusion among the adherents of the old order in the rural communities of pre-colonial social institutions of the hausa and kanuri polities. for example, the bori or spirit possession cult of the hausa, was one of the institutions of traditional social system that struggled for survival in the face of threatened extinction when it lost male converts to islam and retained the support of women generally (tamuno 1994,p.32). though islam accepted polygamy and its sufi inspired tolerance of ritual, charms and magic, and some bits of syncretism, ancestor worship and reverence for associated spirits did not command acceptance by islamic fundamentalists in attempts to accommodate spirits and jinns. in these and other respects the theocracy of the traditional social order differed significantly from the concept associated with islam, more so after the jihad of 1864 led by uthman dan fodiye whose success established the sokoto caliphate. thereafter, islam’s mission of purification was actively pursued by its clerics in the fulani hausa states (obi 2013, p.444; tamuno 1994, p. 33). the above instances portray the issue of contextualization in the history of islam in nigeria. on its part, christianity came to nigeria in mid 19th century through the coastal areas of badagry, bonny, calabar and the hinterland at abeokuta, onitsha and warri after earlier attempts by the portuguese failed to take root. the familiar christian practices – trinity, salvation through jesus christ, the ten commandments, forgiveness, judgment day, monogamy, abhorrence of idol worship and the like challenged the social order and its buttresses for group solidarity and crime control. the principle of individualism which christianity directly encouraged also threatened the durability on social control systems and values built on traditional collective or communal approach (tamuno 1994, p. 30; obi section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 395 2013 p. 445). besides, the notion of individual responsibility and accountability challenged the traditional belief and fear that serious crimes like abominations against earth goddess, would pollute an entire community if not expiated, began to be eroded seriously. above all, other notions of the certainty of punishment prevalent under the traditional corpus belief system stood in danger of disintegration with the increasing pressure of christian doctrine and practice. in short, the combined forces of christianity, islam and western education, if not also the wide logic of colonization weakened the belief in the traditional social order, as e. b. idowu acknowledged with regard to the yoruba in 1962 (tamuno 1994, p. 31; idowu olodumare 1996, p. 227-228; obi 2013, 445). this experience found literary expression in literary works such as chinua achebe’s things fall apart (1958) and no longer at ease (1969). this analysis provides a sufficient background on the stress on the relevance of study of atr in the formation of priests in nigeria today. seminary formation in nigeria in perspective in his brief history of seminary formation in eastern nigeria written some 20 years ago, ekwunife opined that seminary formation in nigeria can be divided into the following three epochs: (i) the early beginning (1930-1960), (ii) the post independence period (1960-1980), and (iii) modern period 1980 and beyond (ekwunife 2011). among the deficiencies he pointed out over the periods include: seminarians were isolated from their people, their traditional cultures and institutions; they were imbued with foreign cultures and manners; bias of the formators against anything african; seminarians were trained to be fluent in english and latin but inarticulate in their own native language, ready to imitate their formators’ foreign cultures and manners but unable to study their own culture where they were to work after ordination and lack of contextual orientation because the formators failed to take into consideration the cultural environment of the seminarians. among the weaknesses in the second period of which the writer is a victim is the over emphasis on english and latin as the official language of church and even teaching of philosophy in latin using di napoli as the main text and wrong approach to cultural values. the 1970 bigard curriculum of studies lists some 13 courses in philosophy and 13 in theology in addition to auxiliary subjects (oburoto 2001, pp.75-76). with one course in igbo philosophy and one course in comparative religion the deficiency in atr is easily discernible (and had to be rectified later). even in the 1980s the negative attitude of both formators and seminarians towards the traditional religion and culture that sustained it was still rampart. even though the formators were indigenous clergy men, “the quality of formation still lacked deep cultural orientation 396 formation of the human person in the 21st century which would encourage dialogue with african traditional religion and culture” (ekwunife 2011). it is noteworthy that prior to vatican ii the christian church had a rather negative attitude towards other religions and expected them to disappear with the introduction of christianity in the places where they were practiced. but as the religions have continued to exist side by side with christianity, the attitude of much of the christian world towards them has changed from that of confrontation to that of dialogue. it is no longer theologically acceptable today, at least in the non-radical evangelical circles to look on other religions as satanic. positive evaluations of religions vis-à-vis christianity are being put forward by scholars who studied them (ukpong 1989, p. 422; pannikar 1999). the official catholic position is reflected in the guidelines issued by the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue (pcid) which encourages the study of atr, islam and interreligious dialogue in the seminaries and houses of formation in sub-saharan africa (pcid 2004). but the question to be addressed is: “how far has this instruction been implemented in seminaries throughout the country? it is still doubtful whether the study of atr has found its way into the curriculum of junior seminaries in nigeria or any other african country” (ekwunife 2011). in this regard the response to a survey in africa of the content of what is taught in 61 major seminaries and 6 catholic universities and institutes of higher learning with reference to atr, islam and interreligious dialogue by the pcid as of 2001 is apropos (instructive).a summary of the replies received from 47 major seminaries show that: in 36 major seminaries, atr is taught as a course. in the rest of 11 seminaries, atr is taught under various titles – inculturation, african thought, african spirituality, african philosophy etc. in 35 major seminaries, islam is taught as a course. for others, no information has been given (it is presumed that it is not taught). in 20 major seminaries some form of information is given in interreligious dialogue (pcid 2004, p. 10). of 6 the catholic universities and institutes of higher learning consulted, four replied they have courses in atr. in two of them islam is taught as a course. none has a programme for teaching interreligious dialogue. based on the result of this survey, pcid tried to provide a common programme subject to local adaptations for teaching the courses provided and it is to the credit of the authorities of seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma that atr has been mounted for those in year 600 and 700 level theology. however, it is disheartening that over the years some students do not take the course serious. it is embarrassing that some students are section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 397 unable to explain why the derogatory terms used by western investigators to describe our fore-fathers’ religion are inappropriate. one is however, encouraged by the positive attitude displayed by the bishop of the catholic diocese of uromi, most rev. dr donatus ogun who recently organized a diocesan delegate assembly with focus on burial practices in esanland which held monday, 15th february to thursday 13th february, 2020 at brother roman catechetical and renewal centre, ekpoma. it is hoped that such discourse will help understand and douse tensions on the burial rites in esanland. this particularly shows the need to adjust academic curricula to the needs of the environment. rationale for the study of atr the students of any department of religious studies in nigerian universities have always met the embarrassing question from colleagues: “why are you studying religion? are you preparing to be a pastor?” in like manner, some christians in africa may ask, “why study atr? we have forsaken our old religion and have embraced the christian faith. jesus christ is now our lord and saviour. what further need do we have to research atr?” (gehman, 1989, p.15). several scholars have taken up this challenge. according to aderibigbe and ayegboyin (2001) the all embracing reason why religion should be studied is its importance, significance and hold on human life. first, there is currency of religion as a human phenomenon. secondly, the dominating presence, and existence and functions in society have come to be accepted so that there is no apology for its acceptance. third, is its universal relevance. religion has universal application that transcends demarcations of place, race, colour and time. fourth, is the fear that it is impossible to find a replacing value for or to fill the vacum of its absence (pp.20-31). other reasons include the benefits of the study such as emancipation from ignorance, information and skill since one is exposed to the proper methods of data collection in the study of religion, and appreciation of one’s and other peoples’ religion. for gary kessler so much of human history and culture remains a mystery if we cannot comprehend the role religion has played and continues to play in the development of human institutions, values and behaviour. in addition, study of religion especially religions of others helps us overcome our all-too-comfortable ethnocentric attitudes and achieve a more comparative perspective (kessler 2006, p. 12). moreover, the study of religion opens up a space in our busy lives where we can pause and reflect on the meaning and purpose of our lives. it provides an occasion for us to think, in a comparative setting about what constitutes a good life. finally, the study would prepare for a career in the field of 398 formation of the human person in the 21st century religious studies and other fields and to satisfy the requirement for general or liberal education (kessler 2006, p. 13). similarly, different scholars have given reasons why african traditional religion should be studied. for example, gehman offers six reasons, namely, we ought to study the traditional religion in africa because it is one of the world’s religions of a great people with a great past. atr was formerly embraced by a whole continent. second, atr is the religious background of african people whom christians seek to evangelize today. therefore, in order to build bridges of communication with them, we must study the beliefs and practices of the traditional african. thirdly, many professing christians rely on atr in times of crisis, particularly those looking for the fruit of the womb, power and money. fourth, the christian church in african needs to contextualize her faith so that it becomes truly rooted in the life of the people. the just concluded catholic diocese of uromi delegate conference on funeral rites in esanland is apropos here. the rise of african independent churches (aics) owes its origin to failure of earlier ‘missionary christianity’ in this regard. in the same token, the church of north africa that produced famous theologians as saints augustine and cyprian was wiped out, due in part to its non rootedness in the life of the indigenous people. fifth, the revival of atr in ethiopianism brings a sense of urgency to the study. sixth.atr should be studied for its own sake (gehman 1987, p. 15-22). on his part, t. quarcoopome gives some fundamental reasons for studying west african traditional religion (watr). he asks the question: “of what relevance then is the study of watr on the contemporary scene?” in his view the objectives for the study of atr or watr are as follows: to help the african to reconstruct his past in order to understand the present and effectively plan for the future: to help the african in his search for self determination and self-assertion; to make known the world view of the africans so that non-africans can understand the social and moral behaviour of the african; to make scientific comparison with other religions and finally to correct misconceptions about the traditional religion by western investigators and educated africans (quarcoopome 1987, pp.9-10). thus the basic aim of the study is not to glorify the african past but to present the truth with regard to what africans authentically believe and authentically think about god and the supersensible world (idowu 1973, p. 106). this will induce sympathetic understanding for the traditional faith. finally the pcid document earlier mentioned highlights the aims of the course on atr as: (a) to awaken the interest of participants in section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 399 african traditional religion; (b) to prepare and dispose them for interreligious dialogue; (c) to help them appreciate the lasting values of this religion which are relevant to modern african quest for nation building; and (d) to reinforce their appreciation of the urgency of the church’s constant call for inculturation of the christian faith in africa (pcid 2004, p.10). consequently it designed a programme that suits long term (two semesters) and short term (one semester) option depending on the local need. hitherto seminary of all saints, uhiele has chosen the two semester option. while emphasizing the manifold reasons and relevance of the study, the difficulties besetting the study ought to be noted. these include the vast geography of africa with the corresponding mistaken generalization about africa, the influence of direct or indirect colonial indoctrination by the british and french colonial masters, the factor of death of custodians of the cultural and religious traditions; the myriads of language and dialectics in africa. nigeria alone has over 250 ethnic groups. last but not the least, is the influence of other cultures and religions, western education and modernity. what this means is that the interpreter has to note that africa is a continent of multitudes of nations, myriads of people, countless languages or dialectics and peoples at various levels of culture (idowu 1973, p. 78-83). african values and priestly formation there are many african values of atr which could be integrated in the holistic formation of catholic priests. among them could be: (i) the sense of the scared, (ii) corporate existence, (iii) a sense of justice, (iv) sincerity in ones’ commitment to a cause, and (v) good leadership (ekwunife 2011). others are the concept of omenala, respect for elders, use of language and traditional concept of mediation. we will illustrate with some of the lasting values of atr for a modern nation building/priestly formation. in atr the sense of the sacred is very strong and important. rudolf otto (1958) did mention two dimensions of the sacred, the mysterium tremendum: it attracts and repels. in order to safeguard the distance we have taboos. we have already mentioned that there is no dichotomy between the sacred and profane, the invisible and the visible since the two shade into each other in african worldview. consequently, whenever the harmony in one is destabilized, it affects the other and the services of the diviner are needed to restore the harmony. there are varieties of the sacred – god, divinities, ancestors, persons, places and objects based on their relationship to god and the world. for example, a masked person is sacred because it is related to the invisible reality, the ancestor. to unmask a masquerade is a taboo, an abomination that requires a ritual cleansing because we are expected to preserve the 400 formation of the human person in the 21st century respectful distance from the sacred without severing the relationship. in africa the sacred is not only associated with power, it is affiliated with the highest values in human life such as honesty, justice, gentleness, patience and sincerity. a sacred person is expected to mirror these values. this is depicted in the igbo concept and practice of ozo title–taking in which the initiate is addressed as nze – an epithet of truthfulness and justice. in the words of ekei: initiation into ozo makes the recipient “sacred” nze. the group of ozo titled men are therefore called ‘sacred group’ (ndi nze). the concept ‘nze’ has both ethical and religious significance for the igbo. etymologically, ‘nze’ is an abridged term of nze’-le’, that is, ‘separation’ or ‘apartness’ or sacrosanct. these concepts convey a mystical meaning to the recipient. in other words, he is by this title, ethically aloof, and ritually separated from ‘commoners’ or from ‘pollutions’ and ‘defilements’ (ekei 2001, p. 4). it is this symbol of justice that makes ozo initiation to be linked with sense of igbo morality. the emphasis on the african sense of the sacred has far reaching effects in the formation of catholic seminarians. it will create in them an attitude of deep respect for the things of god and anything associated with god. among the sacred things is the human person. hence crimes like murder, abortion, uprooting seed yams are nso nla abomination that can only be cleansed by nri priests. worship, covenant with divinities and others, oath-taking, sacrifice and prayer are among the means used to internalize the sense of the sacred and sacredness of the human person. therefore stimulating the sense of the sacred in seminary formation will help respect the sacred of non-christian religions. africans recognize life as life-in-community. there is the conviction that humankind of the past, present and future generations forms one community. the concept of individual success or failure is secondary. the ethnic group, the village, the locality, the family are crucial in one’s estimation of oneself. our nature as being-in-relation is a two-way relation with god and with our fellow human beings. catholic seminarians in africa need to emphasize the sense of community-living and values to cut across ethnic and social boundaries. the sense of lifein-community will help douse the tensions that sadly manifest between the parish priest and his curates/priests in residence. however, this community living cannot thrive without a sense of justice. atr is so concerned about justice such that anyone who negates the principle of justice will be severely punished not only by society but also the gods. this is of expressed in the igbo proverb egbe belu, ugo belu section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 401 (live and let live). again this is also aptly depicted in igbo religion through the ofonaogu concept. the ofo concept has been exposed by clement ejizu (1986) and the ogu is aptly exposed by stephen egwin (2005). ofo is the guarantor of truth, just judgement, just living and authority to rule as well as pray to the gods for onesself and others. ogu stands for moral uprightness and innocence. the concept is well utilized in the dynamics of igbo litigation. ofo represents ancestral authority, sacred tradition and community and enforces justice while ogu ascertains the innocence of the individual and determines whose side justice takes. the judicial system is based on the traditional moral code which is considered to be sacred tradition. the ancestral power to dispense justice is determined by innocence (ogu) and judgement (ofo) and operates in the form of punishing the guilty and vindicating the innocent (egwim 2005, p. 195). a sense of justice has to be instilled in the formators and seminarians in the seminaries throughout africa. among the good leadership qualities arinze advocated that has to be inculcated in seminarians six african values stand out: “sense of the sacred, respect for life, sense of community, family spiritual vision of life, authority as sacred and symbolism in worship”. idowu associated many of these african values with the yoruba concept of ‘iwa’, character. indeed there is hardly any good textbook on atr that does not reflect on some african moral values (ekwunife 2011). one of the most valuable culture of the african society is the concept of respect for elders and those in authority. africans generally have deep and ingrained respect for old age: the old man’s gray hairs earn him right to courtesy and politeness. hence the dictum, “the words of the elders are words of wisdom” because of the experience they garnered over the years. hence elders in africa are respected for many reasons. an igbo adage has it: “he who listens to an elder is like one who consults an oracle”. the oracles are believed to give the infallible truths; these elders are believed to say the truth and their words and instructions are heeded to for the promotion of good behaviour among the youth. the church like the society and african traditional value teaches respect for elders and those in authority. this is because this group of individuals has been given the authority of leadership. the african culture values language and proverbs, because in them they communicate and in them wisdom is passed in the process; the importance of both cannot just be overemphasized in the african cultural heritage. moreover, for the african, if the individual is not able to communicate with the native language the individual ideologically, puts himself outside the community. speaking a language in the african sense does not depend on the peripheral knowledge of the language but on the ability to express oneself adequately in the proverbs and idioms of the 402 formation of the human person in the 21st century language community. one is therefore happy that seminary of all saints, uhiele academic curriculum allots some space for the vernacular. diagnosing the causes of affliction is a central preoccupation of african religion (magesa 2008, p. 190). there are people who have the power to “sniff out hidden sources of disorder”, who can advice on procedures to correct the situation. they are generally known as diviners. laurenti magesa (2008) mentions some of the values of divination. since divination systems are “ways of knowing”, atr presumes that true reasons for all events can be known although sufficient knowledge is seldom available through mundane means of inquiry (magesa 2008, p. 192). divination assists in knowing true reasons for events. events are either positive or negative. in atr when calamities befall a community, diviners are consulted to know the true reason behind the cause, and possible measures taking to avert the calamity are also sought. divination ensures that decisions are made or the right course of action is carried out to address certain events or situations. thus, divination helps africans to gather the necessary information about events, the causes and possible solution (193). it aids right decision making in addressing calamity in a community. divination also helps to protect and secure the future. hence at the beginning of the year, or at birth, diviners are consulted to ascertain what the year or destiny of a child holds. such diviners will expose the good and bad aspects of the coming year and proffer ways to sustain the good ones and other ways of averting the bad ones usually by appeasing the gods through sacrifices as the case may be. this provides the background why today at the beginning of the year, prophecies are awaited from insightful men of god. the implication of this traditional value for seminary formation is that the equivalent gift of prophecy, of davidic practice of inquiring from the lord, ought to be paramount in the training of seminarians. prayer of inquiry (iga na ajuju in divinatory terms ) is a major aspect of davidic and prophetic spirituality as manifested in the life of prophet josiah oshitelu and apostle ayo babalola (oshitelu 2007, p. 71) and seminarians ought to imbibe this. in this regard we ought to note the challenge which traditional african concept of mediation poses to modern african christianity. for, the traditional agents of mediation are twofold: invisible agents (divinities, ancestors, spirits) and visible agents (priests, diviners, medicine men, mediums, magicians, seers, kings, queens and elders). this shows a diversity of ministry and religious roles of religious specialists or cultic functionaries in traditional setting which has to be taken into consideration in the process of contextualizing the gospel. none of these religious specialists claim monopoly in religious affairs but collaborate with others (obi section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 403 2006, p. 290). thus collaborative ministry which is advocated today was already in vogue in traditional religion. implication of atr for african christian theology in african christianity, one of the main thrusts in the area of contextualization in which atr has played a dominant part is in the area of christology. j. onaiyekan (2016) writing on the main trends in african christology mentions four sources to include the bible, the theological patrimony of the church, african traditional religious concepts and modern african situation (pp.54-58). many african theologians have borrowed from the thought world of atr to explicate the person of christ. such attempts include the east african theologian c. nyamiti, who presents jesus as the greatest of all ancestors taking a clue from east africa where the veneration of ancestors plays a key role in the traditional life. because of their kinship with their descendants, they are concerned about their welfare. jesus fulfills all the bantu expects of his ancestors in an eminent degree and can therefore be considered as an ancestor, or more precisely “our brother ancestor” (nyamiti 1985, p.33). b. bujo toes the same line, from an ethical perspective. he describes christ as a proto-ancestor (1981, p. 143; onaiyekan 2016, p. 55). kabasele adds to the concept of ancestor that of ‘elder’ (onaiyekan 1991.p.20). the famous healer and former archbishop of lusaka, emmanuel milingo also expressed similar thought about “jesus the ancestor” (milingo 1984, p. 78). other african traditional concepts have been used to explicate the person of christ such as the concept of “kinsman”, the concept of “chief” by kabasele, the “healer” by c. kolier and k. enang as we see also in nigerian pentecostal charismatic circles. an unusual portrait of jesus is that of the ‘master of initiation’ espoused by bishop sanon of burkina faso who takes us into the sacred groves of burkinabe initiation ceremonies. he explains what it means to say that jesus is ‘master of initiation’, that is, the elder who guides towards perfection those who have been at the initiation rites. this symbolic approach is not completely new as some of the greek fathers such as gregory of nazianzen already spoke of jesus as a mystagogus, a title derived from greek religions and refers to the ‘leader of initiation rites. from a yoruba religious perspective, j. onaiyekan adds ‘christ the great orisha’ because yoruba traditional religion is almost exclusively concerned with the cult of the divinities called orisha who act as agents and servants of the supreme being. orisha is so much a characteristic of yoruba religion that its followers are called aberisa, “worshipers” of orisha. yoruba converts to christianity often speak of giving up orisha in order to accept jesus 404 formation of the human person in the 21st century (onaiyekan 1991, p.22; onaiyekan 2016, pp. 39-40). on his part, chris manus (1993) also exposed a christology of christ as “the african king”. each of these portraits of christ within an african setting and colour has its limits of application. for example, christ is more than an ancestor. his relationship with the father is unique and different from that of any orisha with the supreme being. consequently our images cannot say it all although they do say something (onaiyekan 2016, p.58). at least they do give us inkling as to the benefits of atr in the study of african christian theology. conclusion the primary goal of formation in catholic seminaries is to produce men who will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective instruments of evangelization after ordination. this pastoral preparation requires that seminarians be acquainted with religions practiced in their specific environment where they would work according to vatican ii. since religion influences in a comprehensive way the thoughts and actions of african life, seminarians ought to be grafted in the tenets of african religion which is one of the three religions practiced in the multiethnic culture of nigeria. this paper examined the relevance of atr for future african priests. the reasons for studying religion in general and atr in particular were highlighted using the views of different scholars. the difficulties besetting the study were also noted. many african values which could be integrated in the holistic formation of catholic priests include the sense of the sacred, community living, sense of justice, sincerity in one’s commitment to a cause, good leadership, respect for elders, and concept of traditional mediation which involves collaborative ministry. finally, the implication of atr as a source for african christian theology particularly with the understanding of the person of christ in african setting were broached, such as “christ as ancestor”, “chief”, “orisha” and “kinsman”. the limitations of some of these images notwithstanding, they do give us inkling as to the benefits of studying atr in the exposition of christian revelation. the study of both philosophy and theology in major seminaries in africa needs to be culture bound. african traditional religion and culture ought to be the springboard of philosophical and theological studies in africa. perhaps one may not be far from the truth in saying that the deficiencies in most seminaries in africa in the past are largely caused by the non-inclusion of timeless african traditional values in the curriculum of seminary formation. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 405 references abbot, w. 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(2004). a guide for teaching african traditional religion, islam, interreligious dialogue in catholic major seminaries, house of religious formation and institutions of higher learning in sub-saharan africa. vatican city: pontifical council for interreligious dialogue. quarcoopome, t.n.o. (1987). west african traditional religion. ibadan: african universities press. tamuno, t.n. (1994). traditional methods of crime detection and control in nigeria. orita: ibadan journal of religious studies xxvi(2): 25-41. ukpong, j. s. (1989). pluralism and the problem of discernment of spirits. the ecumenical review 41(3): 416-425. abstract this essay reects on simone de beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity. in this work, beauvoir examines the degrading human condition and shows how women can truly be free from oppression. she argues that women are subject like men; hence should not be reduced to immanence (object) at home, work, and society at large. this paper nds her idea thought-provoking in liberating women in africa from political marginalization and domestic oppression. however, it rejects beauvoir's supposition that it is only via labour that women's oppression can be resolved; while defending her existential conversion as a fundamental ideology for tackling women's oppression in africa. keywords: ambiguity, immanence, other, reciprocity, situation, transcendence introduction reection on the moral philosophy of existentialists has been intensied today. when the term 'existentialism' is used, reference is rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity as a panacea to women's oppression in africa icomewell joseph ukpong department of philosophy, university of lagos, akoka chitete555@yahoo.com mohammed akinola akomolafe, ph.d department of philosophy, lagos state university, ojo, lagos mohammed.akomolafe@lasu.edu.ng and usually made to the views of some thinkers such as soren kierkegaard, martin heidegger, friedrich nietzsche, jean-paul sartre, albert camus, among others. while there are other existentialists of high repute, the aforementioned philosophers' thoughts have occupied the discourses on existential ethics for decades. in this paper, however, we are interested in considering the philosophical thought of simone de beauvoir on ethics. against this background, we consider it fundamental to ask: how is ethics construed by beauvoir? in a bid to come to grip with this question, this paper considers, through an appeal to hermeneutics and critical methods, beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity with the aim of showing how her thought can address the moral challenges of today's world, especially such challenges as oppression, political marginalization and domestic violence against women in africa. to achieve this aim, we structure this paper into two sections. the rst section is a hermeneutical exploration of beauvoir's ethical cogitation. the second section takes a critical look at the strengths and weaknesses of her position, as we identify its philosophical import to address the problems of oppression and marginalization of women in africa. a hermeneutic exploration of beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity there are clusters of issues that are discussed by moral exponents today. these include such questions as: are ethical norms absolute or situational? does a human being have a given nature or not? is man determined by forces outside him or not? in this section, we seek to expose existential ethics from the standpoint of beauvoir as depicted in her text entitled, the ethics of ambiguity. now we should ask: what is the nature of this ethics? why does beauvoir decide to call it 'ethics of ambiguity'? and, what does ambiguity entail in beauvoir's thought? the foremost idea, to start with, is that beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity is a literary piece on existential ethics. existential ethics, to be clear, focuses on human predicaments in the world with the hope of addressing hindrances facing human life. thus, at the core 96 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 of existential philosophy is the doctrine of liberation, which beauvoir evaluates in her ethics of ambiguity. before one could be said to have been liberated, it means one was initially constrained, either personally or socially. it may be a cultural, political, intellectual or economic constraint. apparently, existentialists consider these limiting factors as hindrances that could be resolved through the recognition of one's freedom, responsibility as well as choice. this ethics, as beauvoir presents it, seeks to address real (rather than ideological) human concerns. in the words of claudia card: “it was beauvoir's view, in fact, that only existentialism could provide the 1basis for ethics.” accordingly, beauvoir declares that “from the very beginning, existentialism dened itself as a philosophy of 2ambiguity.” she then takes existence as being fundamental in the ethics of liberation. as beauvoir puts it, “…we see that no existence can be validly fullled if it is limited to itself. it appeals to the 3 existence of others.” in other words, “in the ethics of ambiguity, beauvoir declares the human condition to be ambiguous. according to her, we are both separate and connected to each other, a unique subject and an object for others, consciousness, and body, free and 4unfree.” hence, the issue of liberation is necessary for human affairs. beauvoir contends, here, that no human being can live alone in the world. and as a being in the world, the human being is both free and unfree. to further interpret this concept, stacy keltner posits that, “ambiguity signals the tension between seemingly opposing experiences of oneself as both a free subject and an object for 5 others.” in this regard, beauvoir thinks that it is ambiguous to 1claudia card, “introduction: beauvoir and the ambiguity of 'ambiguity' in ethics” in cambridge companion online, cambridge: cambridge university press 2006, 2. 2simone de beauvoir, the ethics of ambiguity, bernard frechtman (trans.), new jersey: citadel press 1948, 3. 3ibid., 67. 4e. gothlin, “beauvoir and sartre on appeal, desire, and ambiguity,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 133. 5s. keltner, “beauvoir's idea of ambiguity,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 201. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 97 describe humans as either a subject or an object. rather, humans are both subjects and objects. put differently, tidd ursula explains that, for beauvoir, “…the human condition is ambiguous, or not xed, and 6 therefore subject to history.” this means that human action cannot be explained without reference to history, that is, to a given situation the humans nd themselves. thus, ambiguity, as used by beauvoir, does not mean equivocation or vagueness. rather it involves “…an irreducible indeterminacy, and multiple, inseparable signications 7 and aspects.” if that is the case, what then is the nature of ethics of ambiguity? beauvoir, like other existentialists, begins by rejecting the 8 theory of human nature. for clarity, a theory of human nature is one that proposes that human beings have certain traits that make them act the way they do in everyday life. for instance, thomas hobbes advances a theory of human nature whereby he argues that humans are naturally egoistic, and are conditioned by their desires and 9 aversions. for beauvoir, the implication of holding a theory of human nature is that it hinders people from taking responsibility for their actions as well as inactions. for her, “the idea that denes the world is not a given world, foreign to man, one to which he has to 10force himself to yield without. it is the world willed by man…” as the foregoing suggests, humans are free moral agents who decide and will their actions. that is, people make choices even when it appears they have not chosen. subsequently, she reiterates that: one can start by saying that our earthly destiny has or has no importance, for it depends upon us to give it 6ursula tidd, “the self-other relation in beauvoir's ethics and autobiography,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 230. 7m. langer, “beauvoir and merleau-ponty on ambiguity,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 90. 8h. rowley. tete-a-tete: the tumultuous lives and loves of simone de beauvoir and jean-paul sartre, australia: harper publishers 2005, 195. 9d. baumgold. “hobbes” in political thinkers: from socrates to the present, david boucher & paul kelly (ed.), oxford: oxford university press 2009, 195. 10simone de beauvoir, the ethics of ambiguity, 4. 98 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 importance. it is up to man to make it important to be a man and he alone can feel his success or failure. and if it is again said that nothing forces him to try to justify his being in this way, then one is playing upon the notion of 11 freedom in a dishonest way. beauvoir's excerpt quoted above suggests clearly that humans are necessarily free and that they are the choosers of their actions or inactions. while reecting on freedom, beauvoir contemplates on the idea of ambiguity as well. she argues that 'others' can play two roles in our lives. they (people) can hinder our freedom in the same way that they can help in liberating us. andrew notes that, “for beauvoir, others are both obstacles to freedom and liberators. they attempt to block freedom by determining the world, and they liberate freedom 12 by recognizing the meaning that one makes.” in this respect, beauvoir explores many examples on how human freedom has been restrained by culture, traditions, patriarchal system, etc. having argued that freedom is fundamental in ethical reection, beauvoir sees the concept of responsibility as fundamental to ethics. for instance, she posits that “in order for a liberating action to be a thoroughly moral action, it would have to be achieved through conversion of the oppressors: there would have to be a reconciliation 13 of freedoms.” she adds: “…if the oppressor was aware of the demands of his freedom, he himself should have to denounce oppression. but he is dishonest; in the name of the serious or of his passions, of his will for power or of his appetites, he refuses to give up 14 his privileges.” so, responsibility, in her contention, is signicant for the realization of authentic freedom. she then argues that each person has a choice either to accept or reject whatever happens to him/her. to feel that one is not free is to engage oneself in self-deception. from 11ibid, 6. 12b.s. andrew. “beauvoir's place in philosophical thought,” in cambridge companion online, cambridge: cambridge university press 2006, 27. 13simone de beauvoir, the ethics of ambiguity, 42. 14ibid. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 99 beauvoir's point of view, self-deception is a vice because it is a denial of one's responsibility and freedom. hence, an act of self-deception makes us inauthentic. langer clearly captures beauvoir's view thus: self-deception attitudes are paradoxically ambiguous because we simultaneously know and do not know what we hide from ourselves. while remaining implicitly aware of our unfounded freedom and concomitant responsibility, we may try to perpetuate an undemanding, ready-made, infantile world by adopting an apathetic attitude. or we may posit absolute values and endow ourselves with inalienable rights, though tacitly aware of our unfounded freedom and its preclusion of such values and rights. then again, we may acknowledge that our freedom is unfounded, but refused to admit that we create 15 values. having rejected self-deception as an inauthentic mode of existence, beauvoir argues that, in many respects, women have accepted the marginalization of their freedom as natural. still, she notes that women, over the years, have reluctantly accepted themselves as the 'other' (object), hence they fail to liberate themselves. consequently, women have denied their responsibility to be human. this leads her to make a distinction between concepts of 'transcendence' and 'immanence.' what does beauvoir mean by the terms: 'transcendence' and 'immanence'? on the one hand, according to andrea veltman, “…transcendence encompasses activities that enable selfexpression, create an enduring artifact, or in some other fashion, contribute positively to the constructive endeavours of the human 16 race.” of course, how beauvoir uses the concept of transcendence is 15langer, “beauvoir and merleau-ponty on ambiguity,” 98. 16andrea veltman,“transcendence and immanence in the ethics of simone de beauvoir,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press. 2006, 115. | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 100 well interpreted by tidd, who asserts that by this term, beauvoir means that, “…we are never entirely there, xed at the moment, but always somehow engaged in transcending the given state of 17affairs.” that is, all humans are transcendent given that they are free to alter their situation. in this respect, transcendental beings are subjects active beings that accept the outcome of their situations as freely chosen by them. they are subjects who decide and avoid the manipulation/oppression of others. this, however, does not mean that transcendent beings are isolated beings from others or that they cannot be a means to others' happiness. for beauvoir, though transcendent beings are both subject and object, they engage in real activities as actors. beauvoir then identies labour that humans engage in as a means to realize this transcending value of freedom. for her, human dignity is tied to labour, since what one does shapes one's existence. on the other hand, beauvoir argues that immanence, unlike transcendence, is a restrictive condition, wherein humans do not actualize their essence where their will is repressed by the 'other' (other people) or by self-limitation. one existential treatment of this dichotomy is captured by susan j. brison, who quoted beauvoir's words thus: i'm the one who spoke of woman as immanence. but i did so in considering the role she has been made to play. it's not by nature that she is reduced to immanence; she is being reduced to it by men who prevent her from acting, creating, transcending herself, as we put it during the era 18 of existentialism, as i would put it today. to buttress the above citation, catherine wilson's explanation is 17ursula tidd, routledge critical thinker: simone de beauvoir, london: routledge 2004, 30. 18susan j, brison“freedom, sex work and social construction,” in the cambridge companion to simone de beauvoir, cambridge: cambridge university press 2006, 193. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 101 crucial. for wilson stresses that “beauvoir's view is that women's lesser social status made it difcult for them to take part in the human world not simply the world constituted by men and erroneously stipulated to be human, but the world of culture and manufacture to 19 which women paradoxically both belong and do not belong.” beauvoir says that, “men have always possessed the concrete means of power; since the rst epoch of patriarchy, they have found it useful to keep women in a dependent state; their codes were set up against 20 her.” on her part, sara heinamma explains that, “when studying beauvoir's notion of sexual difference, it is extremely important to notice the paragraph that describes women as 'other', it is not beauvoir's last word on the subject. she adds a footnote to explain 21 that this is a denition given by a man.” in a real sense then, beauvoir holds that: one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. no biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the gure that human female presents in society; it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine. only the intervention of someone 22else can establish an individual as an 'other'. put differently, beauvoir avers that, “the humanity is male and man denes woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being ... for him, she is sex absolute sex, 19c. wilson, “simone de beauvoir and human dignity,” in the legacy of simone de beauvoir, e.r. groshloz (ed.), oxford: clarendon press 2004, 99. 20m. doeuff, “towards a friendly transatlantic critique of the second sex” in the legacy of simone de beauvoir, e.r. groshloz (ed.), oxford: clarendon press 2004, 29. 21sara heinamma, “simone de beauvoir's phenomenology of sexual difference,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 32. 22simone de beauvoir, the second sex, h.m. parshley (trans. & ed.), london: jonathan cape 1953, 273. 102 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 no less. she is differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the 23essential. he is the subject, he is the absolute she is the 'other.'” thus, nancy bauer asserts that, “the basic idea here is that the subject, man, in this case, needs an absolute 'other', a role the woman has historically played for him, in order to 'attain' himself in the wake 24of his 'asserting' of himself.” beauvoir is not suggesting that it is immoral for humans to be an 'other', rather, what she is opposing is the fact that throughout history, men have made women an absolute other, whereas they enjoy the role of an absolute subject. this status, according to beauvoir, makes man to become a dictator over and above a woman at home, working place, and in the society at large. the major concern here, for beauvoir, is therefore that, “…women in 25 the real world are, for the most part, never really free.” consequently, ethics (existential kind) is therefore aimed at liberating women. one way of showing women's predicament is shown in her exploration of the roles of women in the family. she argues that the roles women play in the families (or marriages) put them at a disadvantaged end such that genuine freedom is repelled. so, beauvoir's view on freedom and liberation in the ethics of ambiguity aims at refuting the oppression of women in marriages and patriarchy ordered societies. she employs the concept of mystication to stress the point that men (the oppressors), like other oppressors (such as the bourgeoisie in the capitalist economic system), have mystied women into thinking that their oppressive situations are natural. what does the situation entail here? according to tidd: in beauvoir's thought, 'situation' refers to how a human being as an individual consciousness is engaged in the 23simone de beauvoir, a history of sex, h.m. parshley (trans.), london: four square books 1961, 8. 24nancy bauer, simone de beauvoir, philosophy, and feminism, new york: columbia university press 2001, 185. 25c. imbert. “simone de beauvoir: a woman philosopher in the context of her generation,” in the legacy of simone de beauvoir, e.r. groshloz (trans. & ed.), oxford: clarendon press 2004, 11. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 103 world with regard to people, to time, to space, and to other products of his/her facticity. my 'situation' is not something outside or around me, but the glue which binds my freedom and my facticity together. 'facticity' refers to the necessary connection between consciousness between the world of inert matter and the past. aspects of my facticity are aspects of my situation which i have chosen--for example, the facts of my birth, my body, the existence of other people, my death--and that i cannot 26choose not to accept as part of my situation. in any given situation, beauvoir thinks that one needs to exercise his/her freedom in social interaction. women's situation, therefore, demands that they see themselves as individuals. as she puts it, “if 27every man is free, he cannot will himself free” and as such, beauvoir notes that, “this individualism does not lead to the anarchy of 28 personal whim” therefore advancing a theory of reciprocity in social relation. briey conceived, 'reciprocity' suggests that no individual can live alone in the world. humans cannot communicate alone; hence they need others for the realization of their authentic freedom. she maintains that, “individual is dened only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom 29of the others.” hence, tidd observes that for beauvoir, “the selfother relation is therefore necessary and potentially reciprocal, experienced as it is with, all men are mortal, in a dialectical 30 framework of history.” this can also be logically expressed thus: 26ursula tidd. routledge critical thinker: simone de beauvoir, london: routledge 2004, 30. 27simone de beauvoir, the ethics of ambiguity 31. 28ibid, 70. 29ibid, 70. 30ursula tidd. routledge critical thinker: simone de beauvoir, (london: routledge 2004), 230. 104 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 “…a person must acknowledge himself and the other as objects as 31 well as subjects in order for reciprocal recognition to be achieved.” again, andrew makes beauvoir's idea of reciprocity more vivid thus: “one is alone in choosing. but one chooses amongst actions that 32 involve others who may hinder or facilitate one's freedom.” and langer maintains that, “other's conrmation requires that we seek 33their freedom and happiness, rather than enslaving them.” in short, man is a being unto others. people have a duty to protect the interest and dignity of others when they choose. in this case, catherine wilson asserts that: “beauvoir believed that dignity depended both on how one was regarded by others and on one's relations to the 34 material and intellectual world.” hence, the ethics of ambiguity refutes moral doctrines such as aestheticism, which demands the withdrawal of people from society. she recounts her experience of such mode of acting and, as such describes withdrawals from political and social life as an escapist approach: i was really indulging in escapism, putting myself into blinkers so as to be safeguarding my peace of mind. for a long while, i stuck obstinately to this 'rejection of humanity' which was also the inspiration of my aesthetic 35view. beauvoir proposes that when humans pursue their individual good, they should acknowledge that all humans are both subject and object, face the responsibility of their choices, recognize the transcendence of others as well as engage in a reciprocal relationship with them rather than attempting to escape from the world. she believes that when we reject absolute moral codes, oppression of others as mere objects (means) as well as a rejection of self-deception and the theory 31nancy bauer, simone de beauvoir, philosophy, and feminism, 186. 32b.s. andrew. “beauvoir's place in philosophical thought,” 27. 33langer, “beauvoir and merleau-ponty on ambiguity,” 97. 34wilson, “simone de beauvoir and human dignity,” 91. 35simone de beauvoir, the prime of life, peter green (trans.), middlesex: penguin books ltd 1960, 148. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 105 of human nature; ethics will concretely serve us more. so far, we have engaged in an interpretative exposition of beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity. the following section seeks to adopt beauvoir's view in confronting the challenges of oppression and marginalization of women in africa. implications of beauvoir's theory for women's liberation in africa this section explores the issue of women's oppression in africa, and it shows how this concern can be addressed through beauvoir's idea of freedom, choice, responsibility, authenticity and reciprocity. while it is our opinion that her work has some merits, we think there are some fundamental aws in beauvoir's thesis; hence this section is reective. this section begins with a critical evaluation of her positions with the hope of avoiding certain problems in her views prior to the adoption of her work to address women's marginalization and oppression in africa. what are the shortcomings that lie unresolved in the ethics of ambiguity? we will look at three shortcomings in this text, and therefore show how they threaten beauvoir's thesis. firstly, beauvoir makes a claim, which would likely affect one of the tenets of her ethics of ambiguity. what is this claim? in her discourse on the distinction between transcendence and immanence, she makes an exploration of the principle of reciprocity. while this exploration is impressive, the claim that it is when women take part in productive or intellectual labour that they can attain transcendent seems supercial. what is the problem with beauvoir's supposition? the problem in this contention is that beauvoir assumes, wrongly we think, that human dignity rests or depends on the work people do. she contends that when women are allowed to do the same kind of jobs that men do, then they are free. and if they are free to choose their occupations, then oppression at home would end. this conclusion can easily be noticed when one considers her claim that: it is through gainful employment that woman has traversed most of the distance that separated her from the 106 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 male; it is employment alone that guarantees her concrete freedom. once she ceases to be a parasite, the system based in her dependence crumbles; between her and the universe there is no longer any need for a masculine mediator…when she is productive, active, she conquers her transcendence; in her projects, she concretely afrms as a subject; in connection with the aim she pursues, with the money and the right she takes possession of, she tests 36 and experiences her responsibility her argument can simply be summarized as follows: premise 1: women are free to the extent that they are gainfully employed. premise 2: women are free if they make personal decisions. therefore, if women are gainfully employed, then they make personal decisions. in the above citation, beauvoir commits herself to two fundamental claims that are not compatible with her existential project. existentialism, either in her view or not, deals with real-life situations. solutions to social problems, though differ from person-to-person, place-to-place, or from time to time, they must, however, attend to concrete human conditions. but does her position, as cited above, reect the condition of all men and women? first, is it correct to say, as she seems to argue, that it is employment alone that can guarantee women concrete freedom? would this not translate to the claim that if women are not working, then they are not free and they are necessarily exploited? would it not translate to the claim that if women are working, no matter the kind of job, then they are transcendent beings, even when they are exploited at work? the above contention of beauvoir also suggests that those who are women, who by nature of their birth let us say, handicapped, insane, physically challenged, etc., who cannot take any gainful employment due to their medical challenge(s), are necessary immanent. the above quotation could also be read to mean that beauvoir assumes that all men are transcendent simply because they engage in gainful employments. 36simone de beauvoir, the second sex, 755-6. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 107 one needs to ask: are all men truly transcendent? or, how could her view that suggests that when a woman 'is productive, active, she conquers her transcendence…' be interpreted? another issue arises when one asks whether all productive engagements (works) done by women would make them qualify as transcendent? our take here is that although productive activities give rise to the development of inner capacity, it is erroneous, to sum up that every productive engagement necessitates human development. therefore, to submit that labour would automatically transform women to the level of transcendence is to underrate the issue of exploitation, alienation, and other oppressions at home, workplace, and society at large. second, still, on the issue of labour, it is erroneously assumed by beauvoir that men's conditions are improved upon by the works that they do; she therefore unjustiably believes that women's dignity, status and respect would increase in the same proportion if they too engage in such jobs. the problem with this view is that beauvoir assumes that all labours are alike. as we shall show shortly in this paper, women in africa (in nigeria, for example), do engage in active labours, however, their conditions are precarious. secondly, there is a logical problem in beauvoir's two fundamental concepts: the idea of authenticity and reciprocity. these logical problems are not obvious; hence we need to establish our claim. to do this, there is a need to clarify the nature of the logical error beauvoir commits. this requires that one explains a logical relation called asymmetrical relation. for a relation (say 'a') to be asymmetrical, it must have a relation to another thing (say 'b'); and it must be such that 'b' itself cannot have the same relation to 'a' in a given circumstance. for instance, if 'a' is the father of 'b', then 'b' cannot be the father of 'a' if the notion of a father is used literally. if it is true that 'a' is the father of 'b', then to say the latter is the father of the former is to commit a logical error. beauvoir appears to have committed this kind of error in the manner she explores the notion of authenticity and reciprocity in her work. how does the logical error arise in her work? an individual, she says, must live an authentic life to be free. in her relationship with the other, an individual must be authentic such that, he/she must assert 108 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 him/herself as a subject. if an individual does not realize her freedom, then such a human is inauthentic. given that ethics of authenticity is the real moral justication for human action if one is to be responsible for one's action, then authentic selfhood begins if a person defends her freedom in all public interactions. this is the conclusion which beauvoir reaches. we shall show how logical error emerges in this conclusion as follows: the problem begins to take shape if one realizes that everyone is also willing to establish his/her own choice. beauvoir assumes that the solution to the conict of interest lies in the recognition of the fact that we are both subject and object. this, in her view, would resolve the problem. in actual sense, however, it does not. the logic of beauvoir's argument can be expressed as follows: authentic actions are those which are not inuenced by one's relationship with the other. and decisions that arise from reciprocity are inauthentic. the problem can be noticed if one reads into her work another mode of thought which beauvoir seems to allude to premise 1: all actions that are freely taken are those that arise from individual actions. premise 2: women freely take action if their decisions are personal. therefore, all freely chosen actions which are authentic arise without the inuence of others. in a more practical sense, we are sceptical that such kind of action is possible. the major misnomer here is that beauvoir stresses the notion of authenticity too far that it somewhat weakens the spirit of reciprocity such that the existence of one appears to rule out the existence of the other. it is the notion of individuality that creates this tension in her work. to demand reciprocal action in a scenario where an individual is conscious that others see her as a means to an end is a difcult matter which beauvoir addresses. this matter, however, cannot be fully addressed if all human persons seek authenticity at the detriment of reciprocity. the lacuna in beauvoir's position is that she does not show which of the two issues women should pursue rst. on this ground, therefore, we consider it fundamental that human freedom ought to be limited not only by law but by custom and tradition insofar as human dignity is not repelled by these institutions. thirdly, while beauvoir recognizes the need to respect the dignity of others when acting; there is a contending issue as to how rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 109 women are to act if the prevailing social order marginalizes them. she does not provide any moral code on how women should address their circumstances other than her claim that they should seek for freedom against patricianly ordered societies and cultures by engaging in labour. this ethics appears to be empty unless women are told what to do if certain events occur. for instance, what should happen if this or that happens to women in africa, asia, or europe, considering that women's circumstances defer all over the world? since situations differ as she rightly observes, we nurse the belief that unless ethics of women's oppression is made universal, cases of oppression and marginalization of women would be treated differently in different climes. if unlike cases are treated alike in different parts of the world, existential injustice in the treatment of women across the world would then be the case. it could be claimed that ethics aims to address antisocial actions against humans and nonhuman, whereas women and children are the most vulnerable. despite the challenges in beauvoir's work, it has some signicant merits. while the above analysis is strong enough to create doubt regarding the thorough-going posture of her work, beauvoir's idea has re-awoken the consciousness to confront the existential situation of women in africa. first, the strength of her idea of responsibility and reciprocity cannot be overemphasized. this, to be certain, complements other perspectives on ethics such as medical ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics that address the condition of women, among other species at the workplace, environment, and in the world. as our hermeneutical exploration of her idea has shown, there is an urgent need to develop practical ethics which cares for all humans, regardless of their sex. of course, her ideas show how people can both care for others as they care for themselves, and how this can be extended to the world at large. again, the ethics of ambiguity resolves the problems of exploitation, marginalization and/or oppression not only of women but of all mankind. exploitation of women does hinder the growth of individuals who are oppressed, which could later have negative implications on the society if not addressed. having confronted this issue using the notions of transcendence and immanence, beauvoir 110 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 reopens a perennial philosophical problem that has pummelled many societies in africa. interestingly, it is not only that the issue of oppression is considered, she also demonstrates how women are marginalized at home and workplace. more fundamentally, she shows clearly that women are marginalized economically and politically, which gives rise to her being further dominated domestically. for instance, she traces the issue of oppression to the traditional institution called 'marriage'. for beauvoir, “marriage is 37 the destiny traditionally offered to women by society.” in marriage, she argues that the patriarchal system has created a hierarchy of species, where men, the superior or head, dominate and exploit women. it is convincing to agree with beauvoir that cultural institutions have played signicant roles in the molestation of women. thus, the rethinking liberation of women (and the poor) is what can fully reposition the contemporary political world. accordingly, debra bergoffen notes that “a politics of liberation is 38 tied, beauvoir tells us, to the abolition of the rule of the father.” this domineering posture of the traditional institution of the family has wrecked more havoc than good for social engineering in recent times. hence, to avoid the burden that oppressors pose on women, we agree with beauvoir that moral responsibility, authenticity, and freedom are fundamental. how can this be advanced? beauvoir has rightly espoused that 'existential conversion' is necessary. we consider this conversion as vital since only ethics that is rooted in authenticity, reciprocity, responsibility and that which guarantees social freedom can sufce. we now turn to the issue of oppression and marginalization in africa. over the past few decades, women's liberation movements have emerged in different parts of africa to defend the rights of women on the continent. today, there are different associations seeking freedom for women in south africa, nigeria, the gambia, kenya, as well as other parts of the continent. 37ibid, 425. 38debra bergoffen. “marriage, autonomy, and feminine,” in the philosophy of simone de beauvoir: critical essays, margaret a. simons (ed.), bloomington: indiana university press 2006, 97. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 111 women's rights movements and national women's union were also formed in nigeria, women's national coalition in south africa, action for development in uganda, women's movement in egypt, etc. are women's liberation groups that argue for the recognition of women's rights in africa. many such groups are available today. some countries in africa have recognized and given women more roles to play in politics and society at large. in 2016, arguments have been made for equalization of men and women in every sphere of life in a bid to remove the discrimination against anyone as specied in the nigerian 1999 constitution. according to the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria, section 34 (1): every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly(a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment; (b) no person shall be held in slavery or servitude; and (c) no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory 39labour. in section 42 (1), it is emphasized that: a citizen of nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religious or political opinions are not made subjects; or (b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical 39“the nigerian 1999 constitution”, available on the international centre for nigerian law (icfnl) website at: (www.nigeria-law.org/constitutionofthefederal republicofnigeria.htm.chapter_4) 112 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 application of, any law in force in nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, 40 religious or political opinions. despite this as well as other provisions granted for the protection of women's rights in nigeria (and other african nations), there are clear and systemic violations of women in the continent, like in other parts of the world. for instance, in 2016, a lawmaker in nigeria, senator biodun olujimi of ekiti state, nigeria proposed a bill which aims at ensuring that the provision of the united nations convention on the elimination of discrimination against women was deeply entrenched into the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria with the hope of providing equal treatment for all humans (men and women alike) in all spheres of life. the bill aims at ensuring equal rights in marriage, divorce, the inheritance of property, land ownership, education, etc. the aim also includes freedom of movement for women as well as economic activities. however, this bill which seeks to equalize women and men as expressly stated in the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria did not pass through 41the second reading. sadly, most justications of men's superiority over women are based on exploitation, oppression, and marginalization arising from religious and cultural underpinnings of the people. johanna schalkwyk clearly articulates this thus: gender (like race and ethnicity) functions as an organizing principle for society because of the cultural meaning given to being male or female… this is evident in the division of labour according to gender. in most societies, there are clear patterns of 'women's work' and 'men's work', both in the household and in the wider 40ibid 41jinali m., “senate rejects bill that seeks to make women equal to men”, 8:4pm on march, 2016 at: ( ) www.nairaland.com/2991369/nigeria-senate-fails-pass-gender rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 113 community--and cultural explanation of why this should 42 be so. today, the justication for the stratication of society on gender lines has cultural as well as the biological root. if africans can adopt democracy as it is now being practiced in africa from the lives and cultures of non-africans, it would also be useful to adopt values that could liberate african women from cultural oppression and marginalization if this would help africa to achieve concrete development? we thus consider it necessary, not only to invite women into fellowship with men politically, economically, or intellectually, there is also the need for this fellowship to be legally as well as universally afrmed in african political life for it to be effective. it is by giving legal as well as moral considerations to the issue of human rights (women's rights inclusive), can a positive transition be made in public policy. in 1979, the general assembly of the united nations “adopted the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (cedaw) which is often described 43 as an international bill of rights for women.” in this bill, the un general assembly declares that, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms outlined in this declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, … birth or other status” (ibid). many nations of the world (including african nations) have adopted the imports of this bill in their national policies which openly afrm equal rights to men and women even though in practice, these policies have not been fully implemented. one way of recognizing women's freedom is to recognize their political rights as being equal to men's. on the political level, studies on african women affairs indicate that only 7 out of 108 seats are occupied by nigerian 42johanna schalkwyk. “gender equality,” in adc sourcebook in concepts and approaches linked to gender equality, 2000 retrieved at: www.acid-cida.gc.ca. on 1510-2015. 43united nations (cedaw), retrieved at: ( )www.un.org/en.globalissues/women 114 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 women in the 2015 upper house national election, which is 6.50% (see www.ipu.org/wme-e/classif.htm), whereas the majority are traded into marriages due to cultural inclinations. economically, women are left uncared for in most parts of africa as reported in the 2016 aljazeera news, especially in mali, niger, and nigeria. there are other social vices against women in regard to rape and forced marriage. the case is not even made more enduring for 44 homosexuals. all these have affected human relations in africa. today, beauvoir has revolutionized our conception of women as transcendence rather than mere immanence in which sex is fettered to a child's procreation. as one can possibly claim, the major challenge facing contemporary women in africa is not the lack of awareness of their exploitation and oppression by men; rather, it is simply that women have been nurtured culturally to take their predicaments as natural. as beauvoir has clearly articulated, this has accelerated the domination of women. in africa, it has led to women's inauthentic existence and inability to press for justice in the face of blatant cruelty against their persons. for akinola mohammed akomolafe and olusegun steven samuel, the lack of commitment to humanist cause often leads to a backlog of vices that often weaken 45 common good. while it could be claimed that women's exploitation, marginalization, and oppression are culturally dened, today, women have accepted their fate as weaker vessels, whose responsibility is to remain in the kitchen, to cook and nurse the family. trinh t. minh-ha observes that: the need to contain and restrict women's wisdom within the mothering role is therefore a constant in social institutions across cultures; and women's status as child44oladipup s. layi & emmanuel ofuasia. “the religious foundation of violence against homosexuals: proposing a relief from african local epistemologies.” in d.o. laguda & e.g. konyana (eds.). religious violence and conict management in africa: phenomenological and epistemological engagements. (harare: africa institute for culture, peace, dialogue & tolerance studies 2019, 186. 45mohammed a. akomolafe & olusegun s. samuel. “an african humanist assessment of technology and moral concerns,” africology: the journal of pan african studies, 2016 vol. 9 (3), 30. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 115 bearer continues in many african contexts to be the test of their womanhood. from one generation to another, mothers are called upon to perfect their duty as the killjoy keepers of tradition—especially in matters that concern their gender. as is well-known, a woman's lot is to conceive, bear, feed, and, above all, indoctrinate her 46children. although these are not negative virtues if they can be blended with other values in which women can contribute to the world, african societies see these as the primary and major reasons why women are created. olufadekemi adagbada (2006: 105) puts it this way: the fact that women have been and are still being oppressed, marginalised and denigrated has been a typical issue in many nations of the world as far back as the eighteenth century. many african women, most of whom have either gone through such oppression in one form or the other or who have been witnesses to them, accept that the male gender has upper hands in several things in the society. this is detrimental to the women, who are regarded and treated as second class citizens. some of these women (who are increasing in number daily) are working to see an end to their oppression; striving to achieve a kind of co-operation and recognition 47of roles between genders… in africa, women have accepted injustice as necessary, thereby failing to liberate themselves from oppression. that is, they have accepted the erroneous belief that they are created for men. beauvoir 46trinh t. minh-ha. “mother's talk,” in the politics of (mothering): womanhood, identity, and resistance in african literature, obioma nnaemeka (ed.), london: routledge 1997), 31. 47olufadekemi adagbada. “women oppression, its rejection and nomenclature in yoruba video films,” journal of philosophy and development, suleimon o. opafola (ed.), vol. 8 (nos. 1 & 2), (ibadan: hope publications ltd 2006), 105. 116 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 would consider this as bad faith which is a denial of women's selfesteem, individuality and/or authentic selfhood. in this regard then, we argue that it is signicant for women to continually demand recognition since this is what makes human truly liberated as a member of a democratic society. beauvoir's work, therefore, shows that ethics can complement other social tools such as the law to redress women's failure to address their predicaments which is disadvantageous. the need for women to be responsible for their circumstances is therefore fundamental. it can then be claimed that beauvoir's ethics is promising to the extent that it teaches women not to accept the fabricated and gendered-structured-world as natural. of course, the divide between the sexes (male and female) is therefore culturally made. the question is: is it justiable for a person/man to benet at the expense of another? given that those who support the marginalization of women, as most examples above have shown, rely on a favourable aspect of a people's culture to keep themselves at an advantage level, it would equally be correct for others to press for the need to restructure the gendered society which permits such injustice as natural. according to j. ann tickner, “feminists dene gender as a set of socially constructed characteristics that dene what we mean by masculinity and femininity … gender is a system of social hierarchy in which masculine characteristics are more valued than 48feminine ones.” it is people, who, based on the prevailing culture they profess, dene how one relates or is to relate with the other. as beauvoir has rightly argued, there is a need to transpose cultures that see women as objects. for, o.s. samuel, cultures are “constantly changing, and as they change, cultural identity, unity, and diversity 49 are altered.” to schalkwyk, “cultural change occurs as 48j. ann tickner. “gender in world politics,” in the globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations, john baylis, steve smith and patricia owens th(eds), 5 ed., oxford: oxford university press 2011, 265. 49olusegun o. samuel. “re-echoing the dawn of cultural revolution in africa: the case of sex and sexuality in social ethics,” in sex and sexuality in africa and africa diaspora: a social and ethical engagement, danoye oguntola laguda (ed.), harere: african institute for culture, peace, dialogue & tolerance studies 2013, 189. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 117 communities and households respond to social and economic shifts associated with globalization, new technologies, environmental 50pressures, armed conict, development projects, etc.” society can no longer be organized on a ladder that promotes injustice against women for the good of some people if social development is desirable. both men and women, including least advantaged men, require social recognition, which, indeed, cannot be attained unless freedom is deeply rooted in contemporary african culture. in this case, the existential conversion is apposite in addressing the backlog cases of marginalization and oppression of women in most parts of africa. this conversion requires that women (and men) should be recognized as humans, whereas women (and men) should act responsibly. this means that differential treatment of humans which leads to injustice needs to be reconsidered in social policies. it means then that the issue of injustice should no longer be ignored in africa. it is when justice takes place that impartiality, unfair treatment of persons, and domination can be settled. it is when the united nations (un) declaration which guarantees equal rights for all people across the world is legally adopted as sacred in africa can men begin to engage in true partnership and relationship with women, for the public good. this is possible when the promotion of common good is embedded in africa. this can be made accessible through the development of the humanist spirit in society. as m.a. akomolafe and o.s. samuel have envisaged, “the rst goal of the community is therefore of proper 51 social integration…” and this requires “…social solidarity, good family upbringing, community responsibility, the moral obligation not to harm others, mutual trust, social harmony, honesty, truth, benevolence, etc. all these are virtues that are necessary for human 5 2 well-being.” unfortunately, these values are ebbing in 50johanna schalkwyk. “gender equality,”, 1. 51mohammed a. akomolafe & olusegun s. samuel. “an african humanist assessment of technology and moral concerns,” 28. 52ibid, 27. 118 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 contemporary africa. it is our considered view in this paper, therefore, that the invigoration of the traditional value-system which promotes mutual association such as iwapele (patience), iwarere (benevolence) and emi-isokan (collective spirit) can accelerate the resolution of women's oppression in africa. conclusion this paper has assessed beauvoir's the ethics of ambiguity. it showed that beauvoir's idea was a critiqued of the divide between subject-object, transcendence-immanence, etc. which has generated tension between men and women. the paper showed that the division between the sexes has necessitated the oppression as well as marginalization of women. it was established that beauvoir's principles of reciprocity, responsibility, and freedom are invaluable for the resolution to the subjugation of women in africa. while the paper rejects beauvoir's conjecture that gainful employment is adequate to confront the problem of oppression/marginalization of women in africa, it articulated that through existential conversion, women's liberation in africa is possible. this, as the paper showed, requires the development of collective spirit and compassion for all humans. rethinking beauvoir's ethics of ambiguity ... | 119 36 4 formation in ritual studies: towards a better appreciation of catholic sacramental system olumuyiwa anthony omodunbi catholic diocese of oshogbo thonyiwa@gmail.com abstract for a long while, the roman catholic sacramental understanding has been built upon thomistic philosophy that is foundational on aristotelian metaphysics. this approach to sacraments and sacramentality often obscures seeing sacraments as what they really are: rituals. more than ever before, there is need, both in understanding and in practice, to have recourse to ritual dimensions of sacraments. liturgical acts are essentially ritual actions and as such deserves such a consideration. however, in the wake of the post vatican ii liturgical reforms, romano guardini (one of the fathers of modern liturgical movement), in his open letter to a german conference on liturgy in 1964 made an apt remark that worths considering in the formation of 21st century priests. he remarked that despite the ritual and textual problems that come with the reform, “the central problem seems to me to be something else; the problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the liturgical act. as i see it, typical nineteenth-century man was no longer able to perform this act; in fact he was unaware of its existence.” this essay therefore argues for the need of incorporating ritual studies into the formation of contemporary seminarians for a better understanding and practice of liturgical acts. the essay argues that ritual studies posits an invitation to a renewed understanding of sacrament and sacramentality. the ministers of the word and sacraments must be aware of the rituals they make, the inherent symbols, and how the symbols speak to the assembly that partake in the ritual actions. also, needless to say that liturgical catechesis will become more common and effective, only if the teachers understand deeply the rituals they make, since nemo dat quod non habet. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 37 keywords: sacrament, sacramentality, rituals, ex opere operato, symbols, ritual studies, introduction one of the major lasting effects of the second vatican council is the call for the revision of the rites of celebrating various sacraments in the church. the entire reform of the liturgy – especially the celebration of the sacraments is to emphasise the reality that liturgical acts are ritual actions.1 as such the theology of the different sacraments should at the same time be directly drawn and inferred from the ritual practice. little wonder that each general instruction to the various rites establishes the significance of the various liturgical celebrations upon the rite with which they are practiced. this is a deliberate move away from the scholastic approach to liturgical practices (prior to the vatican ii council) which prioritizes the juridical implications of liturgical celebrations. however, the reality on ground attests that the development that the reform of the liturgy by the conciliar fathers envisaged is still far from actualization in many quarters. in many places, the scholastic approach (using thomistic philosophy built on aristotelian metaphysics) to the sacramental system of the church is still prevalent, and in many cases, the only way of understanding sacramental reality. the purpose of this presentation is to argue for another way of looking at the catholic sacramental system – basically the meaning of sacraments and sacramental efficacy. it proposes that formation in ritual studies will enhance a better understanding and the practice of liturgy. the need for this formation in ritual studies was underscored by romano guardini, in his open letter to a german conference on liturgy in 1964 (few months after the call for revision of various rites) when he remarked that: a mass of ritual and textual problems will present themselves and long experience has shown how much scope there is for a right and a wrong approach. but the central problem seems to me to be something else; the problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the liturgical act. as i see it, typical nineteenth-century man (sic) was no longer able to perform this act; in fact, he was unaware of its existence. religious conduct was to him an individual inward matter which in the “liturgy” took on the character of an official, public ceremonial. but the sense of the liturgical action was thereby lost. the faithful did not perform a proper liturgical act at all, it was simply a private and inward act, surrounded by ceremonial and not infrequently accompanied by a 38 formation of the human person in the 21st century feeling that the ceremonial was really a disturbing factor. from that point of view the efforts of those who concerned themselves with the liturgy must have appeared as peculiarities of aesthetes who lacked christian sincerity.2 guardini did not hesitate to acknowledge the importance of seeing liturgical acts as actions performed by sociological entities who are both human and spirit. he also pin-points the importance of the various elements – the time, place and things involved in the external action called ritual. in these, one can deduce the inevitable call for formation in what will later be known as ritual studies for the better appreciation of the liturgical reform and the liturgy itself. he argues that the opportunity that the reform brings is the opportunity ‘to relearn forgotten way of doing things and recapture lost attitudes.’3 this is the same prospect that ritual studies offers. this presentation will therefore proceed to highlight some justifications for the claim that ‘there is a forgotten way’ and ‘lost attitude’ to relearn and recapture respectively through formation in ritual studies. this will explore the patristic way of understanding sacramental reality vis a vis the renewed understanding of sacramentality today. afterwards, the work will argue for the potency of ritual studies to illuminate catholic sacramental system. re-learning the forgotten way: sacramentality renewed before requesting for the revision of the various rites for celebration of the sacraments, the conciliar fathers acknowledged that there is a problem of a ‘forgotten way’ because ‘with the passage of time, (however), there have crept into the rites of the sacramentals and sacraments certain features which have rendered their nature and purpose far from clear to the people of today.’4 this reality calls for a reflection on the history and development of sacramental practice in order to highlight what was wrong and at what point.5 while this work cannot cover the scope, let it suffice to note that the understanding of sacrament and sacramental efficacy in the church has not been the same all through the history of the church. recent scholarship now favours the patristic understanding over the rigid and strict scholastic meaning. the second vatican council brought with it a new way of understanding sacramental theology. more than ever before, the council emphasised that creation has the capacity to reveal god who is both transcendent and immanent. therefore, the fathers assert that ‘there is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed towards the sanctification of men and the praise of god.’6 this teaching ignited a revolution in sacramental theology, and ‘christian section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 39 theology today recognises that the ability of all creation to reveal the transcendent god is first and foremost through the initiative of god and then also because of the willingness of an immanent god to communicate that desire and allow it to be known in human heart.’7 david brown underscores these two attributes of god – transcendence and immanence – as unique ways of mediating divine presence through the material world. for him, transcendence does not mean absence; rather it stresses the otherness of god, while immanence makes possible his closeness.8 sacramentality does not mean that god is in all things, but that all things are capable of revealing god (or at least something about god).9 it was rowan williams, the former archbishop of canterbury, who remarked that ‘sacramentality is not a general principle that the world is full of “sacredness”: it is the very specific conviction that the world is full of the life of god whose nature is known in christ and the spirit.’10 since all of creation is the handiwork of god, creation possesses a bit of ‘god’ in them and are so enabled to ‘reflect’ god. sacramentality thus ‘acts as a prism, a theological lens through which we view creation and all that is in this good earth as revelations of god’s presence and action among us here and now.’11 hence, sacramentality is a theological concept covering a vast sphere of reality and cannot be narrowed down to the ecclesial (seven) sacraments. in the words of larson-miller, ‘the elusive nature of the term “sacramentality” is its strength, in that it can lure christians beyond the narrowness of ecclesial sacramental terminology to a broad context in which other terms can find a home, both contextualized and rational and capable of development.’12 the elusive nature of the term, ‘sacramentality’ recognised by larson-miller is not a new discovery. from the earlier usage of the term sacrament (from which sacramentality is derived), it has always carried a variety of meanings. though augustine refers to sacrament as ‘a sign of a sacred thing’ it was applied to a variety of realities.13 true to its etymological meaning, the latin word for sacrament, sacramentum is derived from the word sacrare meaning ‘to make or be holy.’ it can refer to ‘a person or thing constituted holy by divine right, a function reserved for public authority to “consecrate,” the one who performs the consecration, the consecration itself, the person or thing consecrated, and the means used to effect it.’14 also the word sacrament has a traceable root in the greek term mysterion. in the new testament, paul uses mysterion to refer to the hidden plan of god (cf. rom. 16:25-26). also, in this greek sense, mysterion means something unfathomable, something so extraordinary and overwhelming that it cannot be comprehended.15 it is in this light that joseph martos noted that ‘any ritual or object, person or 40 formation of the human person in the 21st century place, can be considered sacramental if it is taken to be a symbol of something that is sacred or mysterious.’16 furthermore, augustine used the term ‘sacrament for three classes of things: (1) the religious rites of both the old and new testaments and rites of paganism, (2) symbols and figures, and (3) revealed teaching of the christian religion.17 these include imposition of hands, blessed ashes, holy water, sign of the cross, ordination, religious profession, the lord’s prayer, feasts, and the word amen among many others. while the term ‘sacraments’ in the roman catholic church is often associated with the seven sacraments as defined by the council of trent (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extremeunction[now anointing of the sick], holy orders and matrimony), the renewed understanding of sacramentality has opened up deeper ways of understanding sacraments. contemporary theology incorporates the patristic notion of sacraments into how sacraments should be understood today. hence, we speak today of primordial sacraments – first to describe christ and, second the church18 -, the seven ecclesial sacraments and other sacramentals.19 indeed, according to paul tillich, ‘any object or event is sacramental in which the transcendent is perceived to be present.’20 moreover, the theological principle of sacramentality justifies the use of earthly materials as sacred signs in the liturgy. creation does not only reveal god, but also praises god in itself and through the works of human hands. sacramentality is therefore based on the belief that everything god created is good and they can be used in the worship of god and the sanctification of humans. according to irwin, ‘sacramentality is a worldview that invites us to be immersed fully in the here and now, on this good earth, and not to shun matter or avoid the challenges that such earthiness will require of us, even as we pray through liturgy and sacraments (and other means) to enter into heaven when this earthly pilgrimage has ended.’21 the engagement of humans with creation in its goodness continues the purpose of god in creation, reveals his presence among us and manifest his actions in and on us. hence, ‘holiness, salvation, and redemption are given to us in the sacraments because of the principle of sacramentality and mediation.’22 the fundamental means of mediation of the experience of the divine is through the human body. in recent times theologians pay more attention to the role of the human body in sacramental theology, perhaps partly because the body is ‘the physical channel of meaning.’23 this attention is mainly due to ‘the recognition of the human being, inseparable from his or her context-dependence on the living organism of the earth, as the conduit through which any and all theology is section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 41 constructed.’24 in a sense, ‘sacramental theology is explicably a prayer of the body.’25 this centrality of the human body in mediated liturgical experience is however not new as tertullian had earlier asserted that the body is the instrument of salvation. for tertullian, this is linked to the mystery of incarnation. at the incarnation, the eternal word of the father took flesh and by so doing, he saved us and we in turn can come to worship god through our bodies with which we encounter all of creation. narrating how the mediation works, the comment of tertullian on the resurrection of the flesh is enlightening: the flesh is the hinge on which salvation depends. as a result, when the soul is dedicated to god, it is the flesh which actually makes it capable of such dedication. for surely the flesh is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is sealed, so that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed by the imposition of hand, that the soul too may be illumined by the spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of christ, that the soul as well may fatten on god.26 though the actions tertullian spoke of are specific to the sacraments of initiation, his assertion captures adequately what sacramental realities do. in this way, sacraments are seen first and foremost as ritual events and not a metaphysical reality. recapturing lost attitude: the ritual studies this section of the presentation argues that through a formation in ritual studies, the faithful can develop the proper attitude towards the sacraments and its celebration. but what does ritual studies entail? in the words of ronald grimes: there is a broad and narrow use of the term “ritual studies.” on the one hand, it means simply “the study of ritual” regardless of discipline and regardless of the status, professional or amateur, of those who carry it out. on the other hand, it refers to the study of ritual by scholars who devote most of their research time and energy to doing it. in the former sense, many engage in it; in the latter, few.27 in this work, we shall consider ritual studies from the broad dimension. while many liturgical theologians are not schooled in this field (ritual studies), the works of experts in this field have been highly beneficial to the understanding of christian rituals and liturgy in general. their works give prominence to the various elements of rituals and that the elements are fundamental to understanding the belief of the people and their expression of such belief. prominent among these are the works of catherine bell and ronald grimes, on which i will largely 42 formation of the human person in the 21st century depend in this section. our aim here is to show in bits how ritual studies can illuminate our understanding of sacrament and sacramental efficacy through the interplay of the ritual elements. but what is ritual studies? ritual studies is ‘a unified, interdisciplinary approach which aims to avoid false conflicts and excessively narrow definitions of ritualistic phenomena.’28 it is an interdisciplinary field that engages sociology, psychology and cultural anthropology. since sacraments are for people (sacramentum propter hominem) who belong to a society (faith community), psychological, sociological and anthropological investigation (through ritual studies) into sacraments is apt in understanding sacramental efficacy. michael g. lawler rightly captures this interconnection between ritual studies and sacrament when he says: ‘an investigation of human behaviour and existence throws light on sacraments, just as sacraments are disclosive of the human experience and existence.’29 understanding what people do when they come together and how they make a meaning of what they do is key in understanding how what they do works by effecting what they intend. according to louis bouyer, ‘[i]ndeed, the more perfectly we know the human aspects of christianity, the more perfectly we shall understand the part of it which is the result of divine intervention. this is not to say that the human and the divine should be found in it separated from one another. it is rather that the divine reveals itself in the transformation it effects in what is human.’30 every animal – rational, social or irrational – ritualizes. ritual actions range from the actions carried out almost instinctively and without any consciousness to those that are planned for and even transcend our present situation.31 ritual is basic to human activities like eating, drinking, exchanging pleasantries through handshake, moving about, mating, giving birth, dying, praying, celebrating anniversaries and so on. we engage in ritualizing to give ‘stability to our behaviours and to serve as vehicle of communication.’32 for this reason, tom f. driver concludes that ‘ritualization is our first language, not our “mother”, but our “grandmother” tongue, as such it is something we do not outgrow.’33 though rituals are generally human activities, in its technical usage, the term is considered to be ‘more fittingly applied to forms of religious behaviours associated with social transitions.’34 in this sense, the behaviours events, prayers, gestures and materials involved in the celebration of sacraments fall within the scope of ritual activities. despite the attempt to define ritual, one would admit that ritual is wider in scope than the descriptions. because of this diffuse nature of rituals, scholars prefer to speak of family characteristics of rituals rather than giving a water-tight definition. in other words, there are some basic characteristics that a particular action should meet before it can be said to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 43 be a ritual action.35 ronald grimes highlighted different ways by which actions can be ritualized. these include by:  traditionalizing them, for instance, by claiming that they originated a long time ago or with the ancestors  elevating them by associating them with sacredly held values, those that make people who they are and that display either how things really are or how they ought to be  repeating them – over and over, in the same way – thus inscribing them in community and/or self  singularizing them, that is, offering them as rare or even one-time events  prescribing their details so they are performed in the proper way  stylizing them, so they are carried out with flair  entering them with a non-ordinary attitude or in a special state of mind, for example contemplatively or in trance  invoking powers to whom respect or reverence is due – gods, royalty, and spirits, for example  attributing to them special powers or influence  situating them in special places and/or times  being performed by specially qualified persons.36 the celebration of the sacraments (and indeed all liturgy) can adequately be regarded as a ritual activity as it meets the characteristics laid out above. they are communal events developed over time by the christian community, and are celebrated at particular times to enter into a hierophany. they are carried out at specific places by designated persons following the prescribed way of doing them. in carrying out these actions, meaning and communication become more important than mere function. as grimes noted, when this happens, ritualization has begun to occur.37 liturgy, as human and divine action, cannot be spoken of except within the context of rituals. little wonder lawrence hoffman considers liturgy as ‘acted-out rituals involving prescribed texts, actions, timing, persons and things, all coming together in a shared statement of communal identity by those who live with, through and by them.’38 liturgy, as a ritual event, is also underscored by the principle of sacramentality expressed above. to escape ritualization, we will have to escape our bodies, which is impossible.39 the body that grounds the principle of sacramentality and mediation also makes ritualization an inevitable human activity. the reality of our lives is that ritual actions are always around us and are unavoidable. despite all efforts of modern men and women to move away from rituals, we cannot do without them.40 44 formation of the human person in the 21st century kinds/genres of rituals as pointed out, it is obvious that ritual actions are inevitably numerous since different ritual actions perform different roles at different moments. however, attempts have been made by scholars in the field to categorize the different kind of rituals in their study. for the purpose of our work, we shall focus on the six categories of ritual actions proposed by catherine bell.41 these are: rites of passage, calendrical rites, rites of exchange and communion, rites of affliction, feasting, fasting and festival; and political rites. a) rites of passage: these are the ceremonies that accompany and dramatize such events as birth, coming-of-age initiation for boys and girls, marriage, and death.42 these celebrate both biological and socio-cultural changes. these rites celebrate and facilitate real changes that take place in people’s lives. in christian liturgy, the celebration of the sacraments of christian initiation (baptism, confirmation and eucharist), matrimony, and holy orders fall within this category, as do the rites of christian funerals. b) calendrical rites: these are the ‘rites that give socially meaningful definitions to the passage of time, creating an ever-renewing cycle of days, months and years.’43 some occasions are calculated with the solar calendar (like christmas day on december 25 and new year day on january 1), while others are marked by the lunar calendar (e.g. easter sunday). the rites are celebrated periodically – annually or sometimes weekly (like the sunday liturgy). c) rites of exchange and communion: these are the rituals of making offering (often to a divine being) in order to receive a blessing in return. the process of making offering and receiving blessing also involves a communion, when there is a union of the human and divine worlds.44 to some extent, the seven sacraments of the roman catholic church are rites of exchange and communion as in them prayers are offered to god who in turn grants his blessings (or graces). d) rites of affliction (healing and purification): these are ‘the rituals that attempt to rectify a state of affairs that has been disturbed or disordered.’45 hence, they are also called rites of healing and purification. in the christian liturgy, the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick readily comes to mind as healing rites. also, the rcia contains a number of rites that fall under this genre, among which are the anointings, laying on of hands, ephphetha, exorcisms and scrutinies. e) rites of fasting, feasting and festivals: these are ‘rituals people often use to publicly express – to themselves, each other, and sometimes outsiders – their commitment and adherence to basic section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 45 religious values.’46 in feasting, sharing of food is involved as a sign of solidarity and charity, and in fasting, adherents abstain from food often as sign of contrition. in roman catholicism, the seasons of advent and lent are seasons of fasting. they are periods of preparation for festivals of the birth of the lords on christmas day and resurrection of jesus on easter day respectively. though none of the sacraments of the roman catholic church fall under this ritual, the ritual fast is often recommended for the reception of the sacraments, especially eucharist.47 f) political rites: ‘these rituals can be said to comprise those ceremonial practices that specifically construct, display and promote power of political institutions (such as kings, state, the village elders) or the political interests of distinct constituencies and subgroups.’48 the rites are also called rites of power because they do not only give form to power and invest people with power; they also create power in the tangible exercise of it.49 the rites by their very nature make power both tangible and effective.50 the sacrament of holy orders celebrates a political rite where men are invested with the power of governance, and lay persons can also cooperate with the power of governance by the virtue of their baptism.51 the explanations of the different kinds of rites reveal that there are no strict rules demarcating the various rituals or restricting them to only a genre. for instance, the celebration of the sacrament of baptism or orders can at the same time reflect the aspect of rites of passage, of exchange and communion, of feast, and of power (political). elements of rituals in all the genre or kinds of rites discussed above, there are some fundamental elements that cut across them and are essential for the efficacy of the rites. as such, it is expedient that we analyse the elements of ritual in our process of understanding how they work. ronald grimes underscores the importance of this analysis for two other reasons.52 firstly, such analysis guards one against oversimplification of ritual process and exposes how each of the elements contribute to or detract from the whole process. secondly, it assists in noticing ritual transformation, recognising how the process develops or unfolds. grimes identified seven elements of ritual; viz: ritual actions, ritual actors, ritual places, ritual times, ritual objects, ritual language and ritual groups. he noted that there are no rigid rules about them or how the categories are named. rather, what matters is how they interact; an interaction which is not predetermined by a theory but from observing specific ritual events. 46 formation of the human person in the 21st century a) ritual actions: though one can begin analysing a ritual with any element, ‘choosing ritual action as a default starting point is both pragmatic and a reminder to focus on ritual.’53 it emphasises the fact that rituals are, foremost, actions of persons human or divine. ritual actions are different from mere movements in the sense that they are characterized by intention. ‘things move but people act.’54ritual actions carry with them the force of enacting through inter-actions. it is noteworthy that the aim of ritual action is not merely to entertain (even though sometimes it does), rather, they are designed to achieve an effect. hence, we can say that ‘people enact rituals, especially when a rite seems capable of accomplishing a deed or bringing about an effect.’55 ritual actions do not speak for themselves in isolation, but in their interaction with other actions that precede or follow them. as such, the meaning of a particular action can be modified by the action that precedes or follows it. in the context of christian sacramental rituals of the rcia, there are several ritual actions like kneeling, standing, laying on of hand, anointing with oil, profession of faith, movement to the font and signing of the senses. all these gestures and postures are not just to show something; but work in the ritual system to have a desired effect. b) ritual actors: foremost, we must note that ritual actors are different from stage actors in that when the term ‘perform’ is used for both, they do not mean the same thing. the term ‘perform’ is only used for a ritual actor to underscore that his actions are done in the presence of people. in the case of a stage actor, he performs in the presence of people and he is supposed to be pretending (although they may in fact be).56 though the ritual actor may or may not be aware that he/she is being observed, his ‘performance’ is intended to effect something. ritual actors, like actions, do not act alone. as social agents, they also interact with other actors either as objects or subjects of various actions. their actions are done among and with other people. though ritual actors are distinguished as leaders or followers, ministers or candidates, every participant in a ritual event is important irrespective of the role they play. even those who simply show up without ‘doing’ anything, other than observing, contribute to the ritual performance. in christian initiation, there are various actors at different stages. prominent among these are the ministers (often the priest and catechists), catechumens, sponsors, and the entire congregation. the presence (and sometimes absence) of any of these actors play important role(s) at the various celebrations. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 47 c) ritual place/space: rituals always take place. rituals are always sited in a location, even when ritual actors do not value the location. the spatial rootedness of the human life is key to understanding ritual places despite the claim that ritual sometimes involves the divine and trance experiences. the human body which makes human activities possible is spatio-temporal and cannot be conceived without a location, earthly or heavenly. thus, a ritual place is any place where a ritual occurs. it is that ritual environment that ‘encompasses the totality of what surrounds it and interacts with it.’57 in this sense, some rituals can only take place at some particular places, while others can take place anywhere. if some rituals are not done in the particular places demanded by their rite, they often lose their force. ritual space is basically marked by boundaries ‘implied by ritual actions, generating a centre and a circumference, both of which can fluctuate, the centre receding and advancing or momentarily disappearing altogether as subgroups disperse and recongeal.’58 however, this boundary marks are often delineated by walls forming the space into a building like a church or mosque. ritual places should not be confused with sacred places. grimes cautions that ‘even though ritual happen in places and make them ritual spaces, not all ritual spaces are sacred spaces, and not all sacred spaces are permanently so. the sense of a place can change, and a single person can hold conflicting attitudes towards a place.’59 ritual space/place both speak and act. a baptistry, for instance is capable of speaking of the history of salvation through its shape and the painting projected on the walls.60 when the ritual place speaks, sometimes the meanings are to be inferred from the actions taking place there and sometimes it ‘speaks more clearly to those who have ears trained to hear what it says.’61 rituals places can be shaped by ritual actions and at the same time they shape ritual actions. when people come into a ritual space for a ritual action, they leave with feelings, images and impressions of the space. the place gives meaning to what they do while what they do also gives meaning to the place. d) ritual time: ritual actions, like every human activity has its starting point as well as its terminating point. likened to performing arts, ‘rituals “eventuate.” they arise, persist for a while, and then disappear, perhaps leaving the traces on the environment, in memory or in text.’62 ritual time can be spoken of in various ways. the ritual duration (length of a ritual performance measured by clock, bodily tiredness or position of the sun) is not always evident. ritual endurance refers to how long a ritual last historically. ritual timing 48 formation of the human person in the 21st century denotes ‘when’ – the day, hour, week, month, or seasonof ritual occurrence. the timing of some rituals is fixed while some vary. ritual timing serves various purposes and can affect what is being done. for instance, the same action performed at sunrise and midnight impacts the body differently and speaks different meanings. ritual timing is purposeful, and this is evident in the case of easter vigil emphasising the darkness/light theme very evident in the service of the light, the exsultet, the readings and the baptismal liturgy. ritual regularity refers to how often a ritual occurs in terms of the evenness of intervals between enactments.63 ritual phases are chronological subunits and can be mechanically marked by sounds or even without dividers. it often demarcates time for various actors to start or stop particular actions. all these dimensions of ritual time are applicable to christian rituals especially the rites of the christian initiation. there are times for the different periods and stages of the catechumenate. the days for some rites like acceptance into catechumenate, enrolment/election and scrutinies are spelt out in the rcia. the time for different actions like kneeling, laying on of hands and sending out after the liturgy of the word are also marked. the easter vigil is the preferred night for the actual celebration of the sacrament when candidates journey from darkness into light. e) ritual objects: these are materials actively used in rituals. an object, irrespective of its material, content, beauty or conditions of its production, becomes a ritual object when it is used in ritual action or ritual space. regarding the distinction between ritual object and sacred object therefore, grimes noted that ‘“sacred” is about value; “ritual” is about use.’64 among the ritual objects in the rcia are water, oil, white cloth, and candle. f) ritual language: this includes ritual words, ritual sounds and ritual texts. through these, rituals declare facts, convey meaning and ‘do things.’ like place and actions, words and music have the capacity to do work. they are capable to do so because in ritual (by extension in liturgy), words are used in symbolic context.65 as symbolic language, words are used in ritual as performative utterances. words, in this sense, do not just declare facts and convey meaning, but also accomplish tasks.66 in the words of john l. austin, under the necessary conditions, ‘saying it makes it so!’67 for instance, ‘i pronounce you husband and wife’ in marriage, is not a mere declaration or the description of an action, ‘but the performance of a deed.’ in the same way, ‘i baptize you in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit’ goes beyond a narration of an section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 49 article of faith, but the performance of the action that cleanses the soul from sin and brings rebirth. regarding ritual texts (which are words, put in writing), grimes opines that they function to facilitate ritual performance at least in two ways. firstly, texts serve as mnemonic device as an alternative to memorization, and secondly, they function as ritual objects when in ritual performance they are ‘read aloud by leaders, tracked silently by followers, touched, fanned, elevated or revered.’68 while ritual texts perform these dual function, it should be noted that performance do not always mirror the text, even when the leader is being prompted by or claims to be reading from the text. when performance and text do not tally, there are spectrums of possibilities of the meaning intended and meaning communicated. g) ritual groups: rituals are built on affiliations.69 people involved in ritual actions do not only do so as individuals but in interaction with other actors. rituals always belong to a cultural home as they are created by a cultural group and enshrines the values of the group.70 the group designs the ritual to meet the immediate and further needs of the group. as such, the general outlook of a group is reflected in its rituals. it is in this light that we can speak of the sacraments of the roman catholic church or how the eucharistic liturgy of the roman rite can be distinguished from the orthodox rite. ritual process: how rituals work in defining what rituals are, grimes noted that they are ‘designed assemblages.’71 they are ‘designed’ because they are planned and constructed in a way that enables form and dynamic to flow to one another; and they are assemblages because there exist a sculptural technique of composing a group of unrelated, fragmentary or discarded objects into a work of art.72 the ritual elements create meaningful patterns when they overlap and interact with one another. taking the case of performative utterances (ritual language) for instance, austin noted that to claim ‘saying it makes it so,’ ‘it is always necessary that the circumstances in which the words are uttered should be in some way, or ways, appropriate, and it is very commonly necessary that either the speaker himself or the other persons should also perform certain other actions, whether ‘physical’ or ‘mental’ actions or even act of uttering further words.’73 in other words, ‘ritual words’ actually work, not on their own but within the framework of the ritual process, the interaction of the ritual elements. a deeper understanding of how ritual works is to consider ritual performance as symbolic events. this is possible because the elements 50 formation of the human person in the 21st century of ritual, (not just ritual language) are capable of being symbolic. ritual actions, places, actors, objects, time, and group, act as symbols when interacting in a ritual process. as such, when we speak about ritual performance, we are at the same time speaking of symbolic events. symbols and meaning symbols must be differentiated from signs even though the distinction is not clear-cut as it often seems. while a sign is just as much a reference to another reality, a symbol in one way or the other refers to itself, because it participates in the reality to which it refers.74 while signs makes reference through a rational process and thus a product of agreement, symbols are perceived intuitively and touches the whole person at the level of feeling and the senses, and as such do not rest on agreements.75 consequently, while signs can be altered by agreement when its meaning is no longer clear, symbols call us to stop, ponder and meditate since it is ‘the thing without being the thing, and yet is the thing.’76 more importantly, signs have one clear meaning while symbols have multiple meanings. symbols refer to deeper reality, a farther horizon, a wider landscape.77 as an example, the red colour of the traffic light is a sign calling road users to stop. it simply calls them to stop and nothing more. the meaning of this sign is learned and that is why it is expected that all drivers should be able to know road signs and these signs are presumed to mean the same thing for every road user. to think of another meaning, no matter how little it differs, other than a call to stop, is to break traffic rule and perhaps cause accidents. if at a later time, the red sign no longer refers to ‘stop,’ it only needs to be changed by agreement. on the other hand, water being used in the sacrament of baptism carries a polyvalent meaning. it first partakes in the reality of washing which it symbolises. it could make reference to the baptism of jesus and his mandate to his apostles to go and make disciples of all nations by baptizing in the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spirit (cf. matthew 28:20). it may refer to the deluge in the time of noah, or the exodus experience when the israelites crossed the red sea and river jordan. the immersion in the water could symbolise dying and rising, death and rebirth, movement of darkness and light (as the one being baptized could not see when immersed in water until he comes out), and even becoming a new creature coming out from dirts already washed. the sprinkling of holy water at celebrations could bring together all these meaning, and the meanings are endless. because of its polysemic nature, if a symbol seems not to communicate a particular meaning (or the meaning is inaccessible to the observer or the observers are unable to decode the meaning), it does not call for a change through an agreement. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 51 rather, it calls us to pause and ponder on the reality unfolding before our senses. in relation to the sacramental symbols, ritual s will facilitate the ability to ‘pause and ponder’ moreover, it is noteworthy to reiterate that the distinctions made between sign and symbol are not always clear as they might seem. signs can become symbols and symbols can be reduced to signs. according to susanne langer ‘it is the human operation that makes the difference between sign(al) and symbol… rather than words and images in themselves.’78 every word, image, object and action has the potential of multiple significance and multiple reference of language. the context in which they are employed and the interaction they have with other objects, words, image or actions provides the ground for their possibility of multiple meanings. the danger for observers or participants in a ritual performance (liturgy inclusive) is the temptation to reduce symbols to signs. symbols are reduced to signs when we tend to restrict them to a particular meaning and not beyond that.79 in christian parlance, we should not think that the meaning of a ritual event consists of or is tied to the thoughts of a theologian, pastor or the christian community that designed them. rather, ‘ritual meaning consists just as surely of the random thoughts and gestures that occur during the ritual.’80 there is no doubt that official meaning provided by the christian community or theologians can aid in giving insight to what is being done at liturgy. however, as david power warns, ‘any effort to tie down the meaning of liturgical symbols to a single or preconceived meaning thwarts their efficacy.’81 rather, we are to allow other meanings to complement the other predominant meaning(s). sometimes, symbolic actions perform the mediation role. in this sense, the ritual process creates the atmosphere for the divine to work. the creation of the atmosphere consists in the overlapping of the meaning of the ritual space, the actions, objects and/or the performative language used. the rituals in the words of joseph martos works as ‘doors to the sacred’82 leading the participants into an hierophany. through the symbols therefore, we enter into the experience of sacred meaning. the other way we can speak of how ritual works is in the light of means-end context. while this context may not be applicable to all rituals, grimes argues that some rituals essentially work that way. among these are the rituals of healing and fertility.83 the sacrament of anointing of the sick falls under this category. the prayers and the action of laying on of hands (symbolic action) and actual anointing with sacred oil (symbolic object) accompanied with prayers (symbolic words) serve the healing purpose through the means-end reasoning. however, this does not exempt the working of the divine agent (god), nor does it exclude the assertion that it also creates the atmosphere for the divine 52 formation of the human person in the 21st century work of healing or strengthening (among other meanings) that is intended and/or expected. thus, grimes says ‘rituals itself is sometimes considered a spiritual ecological technology.’84 conclusion with these few tips on some aspects of ritual studies, it is evident that the formation of seminarians in ritual studies will go a long way in appreciating the catholic sacramental system. the studies undertaken in sociology, cultural anthropology and psychology can be better directed to include how these sciences relate to the celebration of the sacramental mysteries. this will inevitably enhance the full, conscious and active participation that the vatican ii fathers advocated. in the same way, it opens a new way of considering the inculturation project that was encouraged by the council. also, formation in ritual studies no doubt is a formation of the human person, enabling the person to appreciate signs and symbols in his environment and in worship. it sharpens one’s sense of the sacred and leads one to a hierophany. endnotes 1 see vatican council ii, constitution on the sacred liturgy, sacrosanctum concilium no.63. 2 see romano guadini, ‘open letter’ in foundation in ritual studies: a reader for students of christian worship, eds. paul bradshaw & john melloh, (london: spck, 2007), 4. 3 ibid. 4 sacrosanctum concilium, no.62. 5 for a comprehensive treatment of the topic see kevin w. irwin, the sacraments: historical foundations and liturgical theology, (new york: paulist press, 2016), 1 116; joseph martos, doors to the sacred: a historical introduction to the sacrament in the catholic church (missouri: ligouri publications, 2014) 6 sacrosanctum concilium, no.61. 7 lizette larson-miller, sacramentality renewed: contemporary conversations in sacramental theology, (collegeville: liturgical press, 2016), 6. 8 david brown, god and enchantment of place: reclaiming human experience (oxford: oxford university press, 2004), 40. 9 far from equating this notion of sacramentality with pantheism, created materials are used in worship in relation to words and texts. it is only within the context of the words and texts that we speak of materials as used in the liturgy being means of speaking of god, experiencing god and worshipping god. see kevin w. irwin, the sacraments: historical foundations and liturgical theology (new york: paulist press, 2016), 211-212. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 53 10 rowan williams, foreword to the gestures of god: explorations in sacramentality, ed. geoffrey rowell and christian hall (london: continuum, 2004), xiii. 11 irwin, 210. 12 larson-miller, sacramentality renewed, 9. 13 see augustine, on christian doctrine, book ii, 1:1 (npnf vol. ii, p. 535) 14 irwin, 11. 15ibid. 16 joseph martos, doors to the sacred: a historical introduction to the sacrament in the catholic church (missouri: ligouri publications, 2014), 4. 17 see irwin, 53. 18 see edward schillebeeckx, christ the sacrament of the encounter with god, (london: sheed & ward, 1963); avery dulles, models of the church, (new york: image books, 2002), 55 -67. 19 catechism of the catholic church (ccc no. 1667) says: holy mother church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. these are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. they signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the church. by them men (sic) are disposed to receive the chief effects of the sacraments. and various occasions in life rendered holy. (see also sacrosanctum concilium, no. 60). 20martos, 3. quoting paul tillich. 21 irwin, 210. 22 ibid., 214. 23 mary douglas, implicit meaning: essays in anthropology, (london: routledge & kegan paul, 1975), 85. 24 siobhan garrigan, beyond ritual: sacramental theology after habermas, (hampshire: ashgate, 2014), 41. 25 nathan d. mitchell, meeting mystery: liturgy, worship, sacrament (new york: orbis books, 2006), 153. 26 tertullian, on resurrection of the flesh, ch. 8. (anf vol. iii p. 551). 27 ronald l. grimes, the craft of ritual studies (oxford: university press, 2014), 7. 28 ronald l. grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity’ worship 53, no 2 (1979): 126. 29 michael g. lawler, the symbol and sacrament: a contemporary sacramental theology (new york: paulist press, 1987), 1. 30 louis bouyer, the rite and man, trans. m. joseph costelloe (notre dame: university of notre dame press, 1963), 2. 31 ronald l. grimes refers to them as different modes of ritual sensibilities. these are the attitudes that seem to predominate in a ritual performance. these are ritualization, decorum, ceremony, magic, liturgy and celebration. see ronald l grimes, beginnings in ritual studies, 3rd ed. (waterloo, on: ritual studies international, 2013), 35-50. 32 tom f. driver, the magic of ritual: our need for liberating rites that transform our lives and communities (new york: harpersanfrancisco, 1991), 23. 33 ibid., 13. 34 victor w. turner, the forest of symbols: aspects of ndembu ritual (ithaca, ny: cornell university press, 1967), 95. 54 formation of the human person in the 21st century 35 see catherine bell, ritual: perspectives and dimensions, (new york: oxford university press, 1997), 138-169. here, catherine bell identified six characteristics or ritual-like actions as: formalism, traditionalism, disciplined invariance, rulegovernance, sacral symbolism and performance. 36 ronald l. grimes, ‘religion ritual and performance’ in religion, theatre and performance: acts of faith, ed. lance gharavi (new york: routledge, 2012), 39. cited in ronald l. grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 194. 37 grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity,’ 127. 38 lawrence hoffman, beyond the text: a holistic approach to liturgy, (bloomington: indiana university press, 1987), 3. 39 grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity,’ 127. 40 see leonel l. mitchel, the meaning of ritual, (new york: paulist press, 1977), xii xv. here, mitchel argues about the impoverishment of our age that only looks at the natural world and sees only a collection of physical phenomena, and as such claims that we can do without ritualization. for mitchel, the question is not about if we can do without ritualization, but how do we understand religious rituals today. see also mary douglas, natural symbols: exploration in cosmology, 2nd ed. (london: barrie & jenkins, 1973), 19-39. 41 see bell, ritual: perspective and dimension, 93-137. ronald l grimes highlighted twelve categories: rites of passage, funerary rites, marriage rites, festivals, pilgrimage, purification, civil ceremonies, rituals of exchange, sacrifice, worship, magic, healing rites, interaction rites, meditation rites, rites of inversion, and ritual drama. see ronal l. grimes, research in ritual studies (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1985), 68 -116. the categories given by bell are more relevant to our work because they usually associated with clearly defined religious traditions, and have long been dominant examples and primary data for ritual studies. (bell, 93). 42 bell, 94. 43 ibid., 102. 44 ibid., 112. 45 ibid., 115. 46 bell, 120. 47 code of canon law, no. 919: “one who is to receive the most holy eucharist is to abstain from food and drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before communion.” 48 bell, 128. 49 ibid., 136. 50 ibid., 129 citing clifford geertz, negara: the theatre state in nineteenth century bali (princeton, n.j.: princeton university press, 1980), 102, 104, 131. 51 see code of canon law, no. 129. 52 see grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 234-5. 53 ibid., 242. 54 ibid. 55 ibid., 243. 56 ibid., 249. 57 ibid., 259. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 55 58 ibid., 256. 59 ibid., 257. 60 for further reading on symbolism of baptistries see robin m. jensen, baptismal imagery in early christianity: ritual, visual, and theological dimensions (grand rapids: baker academic, 2012). 61 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 258. 62 ibid., 263. 63 ibid., 266. 64 ibid., 267. 65 see david n. power, unsearchable riches: the symbolic nature of language, (new york: pueblo publishing company, 1984) 64-65. david power noted that words/language can be used in three different contexts. he wrote: ‘there are three contexts in which the lexical significance of words, or the primary nature of things and actions, receives determination of meaning and designation. the first context is the ordinary, everyday affairs. here the people are concerned to deal with situations and interact among themselves in common sense, practical fashion, and so eliminate ambiguity as far as possible. in this world, it is preferable for words, things and actions to have clear purpose and meaning. a jug is meant to hold liquids, a knife to cut, announcement of time to eat is clearly an invitation …. in the second context, the world of science, meanings are more abstract in character, but they are still clearly and technically defined. equivocity or polysemy is not considered a virtue. mathematical symbols, the naming of chemical elements, types of experiments, the forms of logical reasoning, all eradicate the multiplicity of meanings as far as possible, because the world ruled by science and technology runs better when meanings and uses are fixed. in contrast to both the uses of sign and language, the world of the symbol, the third context, intentionally deploys the multiple possibilities of meaning. a flag flying on top of a building recalls past history, evokes in the passer-by a sense of national pride, and reveals the parliament is in session, all at once. in this case, although the immediate obvious functional indication is that the country’s legislators have not gone home, the whole setting is symbolic in intent.’ 66 grime, the craft of ritual studies, 276. 67 john l. austin, how to do things with words (oxford: oxford university press, 1962), 8. 68 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 278. 69 ibid., 279. 70 ibid., 282. see also ronald l. grimes, deeply into the bone: re-inventing rites of passage (berkeley: university of california press, 2000), 3-4. 71 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 232. 72 ibid. 73 austin, how to do things with words, 8. 74 see gerard lukken, ritual in abundance: critical reflection on the place, form and identity of christian ritual in our culture (leuven: peeters, 2005), 19 -20. 75 ibid. 76 ibid., citing t. todorov, théories au symbole (paris: le seuil, 1977), 239. 56 formation of the human person in the 21st century 77 ibid., 18. 78 david n. power, unsearchable riches, 69. citing susanne langer, feeling and form: a theory of art (new york: scribner’s, 1957), 26. 79 for further readings on the fields of meaning, see lawrence hoffman, “how ritual means: ritual circumcision in rabbinic culture and today” studia liturgica 23 (1993): 79-84. 80 grimes, ‘mode of ritual necessity,’ 140. 81 power, unsearchable riches, 67. 82 martos, 8. 83 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 298. 84 ibid. 98 8 discernment in the formation of future priests in a transistion period: an examination of the vocation of samuel (1 sam. 3.1-10). michael sola omojola, std department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma solajjola@yahoo.com abstracts the passage of our consideration narrates the ‘call of samuel’ and how the priest eli guided him to properly decipher the voice of yahweh and disposed him to the vocation and mission that yahweh would assign to him and how he on his part made a final and definitive response to his vocation in a transition period in the life of the jewish people (1 sam. 3.1-10). his formation has an enduring implication for the jewish nation by providing a necessary guidance and needed unique identity in the ancient world upon which successive generation continue to build on. this passage is still relevant today as we celebrate the silver jubilee of our seminary and examine the theological relevance of priestly formation in this third millennium, prospects and challenges. therefore, a proper examination of this passage will help candidates to the sacred priesthood present themselves for proper formation that has a transforming effect for the work of evangelization to which god is calling them. however, without proper disposition and opening of self to true discernment which is the action of the holy spirit, in the humble efforts of the formators, who like eli, should help the candidates to decipher and discern the true voice of god calling; it will be difficult to achieve the desired result, which is furthering the kingdom of god on earth. keywords: discernment, formation, vocation, formators, holy spirit section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 99 introduction there are so many concerns about the books of samuel among scholars but some areas that constantly receive scholarly attention include the composition of the book itself, the source and the question of its authorship. these areas continue to re-appear in biblical scholarship and they often generate and shape the direction of the discussion among scholars. that this is nearly so can be seen in the work of moshe garsiel.1 in his work, he notes that the book of samuel appears at the most “crucial period in the history of the israelites…the book, as is seen even at first sight, is a unique combination of historiography, literary poetics and ethical and theological perception.”2 however, other scholars have also contributed to the discussion by raising the relevance and the novelties of the different narratives, the characters, their social and theological innovations for social and religious transformation, the geographical settings and their importance for the future of the covenantal relationship between yahweh and his chosen people.3 making a comprehensive excursus into the different debates will be too cumbersome for this paper. therefore, the scope of this paper shall be limited to the character of samuel and his involvement in the different transitions that led to the stability of the chosen people and gave a unique identity to them as a nation and see how it can be a guide for a nation like nigeria in her identity crisis. the approach to be employed will be synchronic and canonical, as such, the textual criticism of the pericope may not be necessary. this passage reflects the final stage as it were in the formative period of the life of the young samuel who was dedicated to the service of yahweh immediately after he had been weaned by his mother.4 “and when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the lord at shiloh. and the child was young….therefore i have lent him to the lord. as long as he lives, he is lent to the lord." and he worshiped the lord there.” (1 sam 1.24-28). when samuel was given to eli, the best the mother could have hoped for, was to assist the old priest of yahweh at shiloh, because priesthood in those days was tribal and hereditary, of which his family was not a part of (num 18.1; 1 sam 2. 28, 30). thus, the young samuel’s works would have consisted of, looking after the person of the priest, eli and the place of worship, taking charge of the work connected to the place of worship. the proper sacrifice and the sacred vessels shall be handled by the priests of aaronic lineage (num 18.2-4). it is for this reason that the chroniclers in their short genealogical tree of the workers at the temple named his grandson heman among those who were listed as choirs of the temple by king david (1 chron 6.18). while doing this, 100 formation of the human person in the 21st century the boy samuel was growing physically and inwardly as he also found ‘favour with god and man’ (1 sam.2.26). this terminology is found only once again in the whole of the bible in the gospel of luke when the boy jesus was found in temple teaching elders and later followed his parents home (luke 2.52). however, the historical context of his call showed a nation in transition and the need for a strong, god fearing, committed and faithful leader, who would help to direct and midwife the various institutions necessary for its continued existence as a nation and as the chosen people of god (i sam. 2.26).5 he was called particularly to guide and to take a leading role in this transition, so that, this plans of god would not be truncated. giving a summary of the life of samuel, the author of the book of sirach notes that he “was the beloved of his lord; prophet of the lord, he instituted the kingdom, and anointed rulers over his people. by the law of the lord he judged the assembly, and the lord watched over jacob. by his loyalty he was recognized as a prophet, by his words he was known to be a trustworthy seer” (sir. 46.13-15). this alo corresponds to the deuteronomic summary of his life (1 sam. 3.19-20). the literary classification 1 sam 3.1-10. every piece of literature can be classified according to its literary genre. while many scholars classify this pericope as ‘the call of samuel’, they do not assign a special literary structure to it or at best they compare it with other prophetic commission narratives especially that of moses.6 a commission narrative is usually the last process of a call narrative and as such they are two different things. there are so many commission narratives in which nothing are known about their birth such as those of the prophets and the apostles yet god called and sent them on mission. some others see the passage as that of the birth narrative like other birth narratives of great people in the bible.7 it should be noted that birth narrative is a prelude to the story of a great personage of historical importance; it may not necessarily lead to a special vocation. others see it as a divine revelation or a theophany of yahweh to the young samuel.8 in another respects some compares it to the dreams in the ancient near east.9 it is true that this passage has some characteristics of theophanic revelatory call and dream like commission narratives; it is the opinion of this work that it best fits into the literary pattern of the vocation narratives. vocation as a literary type or genre has its own form in both the old and the new testament. an examination of a few examples will show the pattern of this literary structure as a unique genre for this pericope.10 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 101 call of moses: ex. 3 initiative of the deity: natural state: moses was tendering the flock of jethro ex. 3.1 apparition of the deity: the angel of the lord appeared ex. 3.2 sacred location; the burning bush ex. 3.2,5b call by name: moses, moses ex. 3.4b challenges of certainty: moses turned around to look ex. 3.3-5a confirmation of the call: ex.3.6 the reason for the call: i have seen the affliction of my people ex.3. 7-9 the commissioni will send you to pharaoh ex.3.10 time for maturity and assurance: discussion between the deity and the person, ex. 3.11-4.17 positive response: he returned to jethro. ex. 4.18 call of samuel i sam. 3. initiative of the deity. samuel was sleeping; 1 sam 3.3 apparition of the deity: the lord stood by him; 1 sam. 3.10a sacred location: the temple and the ark of god 1 sam. 3.3 call by name: the lord called samuel; 1 sam. 3.4,6,8,10b challenges of certainty: the boy samuel went to meet with eli thrice; 1 sam. 3.5-8 confirmation of the call: the boy samuel answered; 1 sam. 3.4,10c the reason for the call: god wants to do a terrifying thing in israel; 1 sam 3.14 time for maturity: discussion between the deity and the person; 1 sam. 3.11-15 the commission: i will judge the house of eli; 1 sam.3.13 positive response: lay down and sleep over the words; 1 sam. 3.15 the call of the first disciples (luke 5.3-11 initiative: he went into one of the boats; luke 5.3 sacred place: after teaching people; luke 5.3 call by name: he called simon to thrown into the deep; luke 5.4 challenge of certainty: we had toiled all night luke 5. 5-7 confirmation of the call: simon fell on his feet; luke 5.8 reason for the call: not applicable time for maturity: they dragged their catch to the shore; luke 5.9-10a the commission: hence you will catch men; luke 5.10b positive response: they left everything and followed him; luke 5.11 the call of paul of tarsis (acts 9.3-20) initiative: he was on a journey; acts 9.3a sacred place: a light from heaven; acts 9.3b 102 formation of the human person in the 21st century call by name: god called saul, saul; acts 9.4 challenge of certainty: who are you? acts 9.5a confirmation of the call: what do you want me to do; acts 9.6 reason for the call: it is hard to kick against the pricks; acts 9.5b, time for maturity: between the incidents and brother ananias; acts 9. 6b,9-14 the commission: he will be told what to do as a chosen vessel unto the lord; acts 9.6c positive response: they brought him to damascus, acts 9.8 call literary structure: i. initiative of the deity: natural state ii. apparition of god, an angel of god, the word of god iii. sacred locationa description of the location; temple, burning bush11 iv. call by namecall is given to individual/ vocation is person v. challenges of certainty, doubt and assurance vi. confirmation of the callgiving sign vii. the reason for the calldescription of the situation viii. commissionbrings about a lasting change ix. time for maturity: preparation for the mission x. positive response the characteristics of vocation genre the first consideration about the genre of vocation is that, it is not the individual that calls himself to the service of god rather the initiative is always from god. as noted by fretheim, “the emphasis throughout is on the divine initiative. it is god who confronts moses and calls him to a task. moses does not prepare for the encounter, nor does he seek it.”12 hence, the author of the letter to the hebrews notes ‘no one takes this honour on himself except he is called as aaron was’ (heb. 5.4). since the initiative is from god, the recipient of such a privilege calls, is presented in his natural state. it is not a reward for a good done or a prize won for a previous action. hence, it is always related to a divine revelation or a vision of the divine.13 such vocation is always an invitation to participate in a transformation that will have a universal implication of great importance rather than a personal glorification or a prize, or a reward, given for what one has done in the past.14 the manner and pattern of each vocation narrative depends on the nature of the mission to be accomplished. for instance, abraham was called to leave his father’s house for a promised land (gen. 12.ff). moses was called to lead the people from slavery into the promised land (ex. 3.1ff). samuel was to help them make necessary section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 103 transition from a loose tribal amphitony to a united kingdom under one leader in the promised land (1 sam. 3.1ff). hence, because the mission god is entrusting to this individual is enormous, he also prepares them for it. one other characteristic of this literary genre is the mentioning of the recipients’ personal name by god before revealing to them his purpose of calling them. this name calling shows the personal relationship with the divine who knows his messengers by name (is. 49.1). in the case of moses, samuel and paul, their names were repeated twice by god as a sign of “endearment” to authenticate their vocation.15 even in some other instances, god gave new names to those he called which would correspond to their mission. god calls individual for particular mission. it is therefore god’s knowledge of the individual as well as a reminder to the individual’s response to god’s invitation (hos. 11.1). it is from this name calling, that the literary genre as it were, bears its special character of ‘vocation’. another important aspect of the vocation genre is the centrality of the word of god. according to zimmerli, “the particular significance of the account of jeremiah’s call’s to be seen in the firm subordination of all its features to the word of yahweh.”16 this word of god is central to all the prophetic vocation. in the case of samuel, there is an emphasis from the beginning that the word of god was not common. at the end of this narrative, god does not allow the word to fall to the ground without being fulfilled. this also puts him in the same position like that of the prophets of old because “the messages are more important than their experiences”.17 in all of these examples of vocation literary genre given above, the recipients, moses, samuel, the apostles and paul in a special way, were called to be involved in a transition that will have a lasting and more enduring effect. thus, the “account of samuel’s vocation is a good example of a divine calling to perform a special mission, it shows both the attitudes that the person called should have and the demands that the divine call implies.”18 this is also reflected in the manner of their vocation to set up a special people for god through their own person charisma and formation. moses formation was god himself through the different dialogue. samuel had the old priest to help him, the apostles and paul had jesus as their teacher (matt. 23.8; mark. 3.13-14; gal. 1 1516). furthermore, the resemblance between moses and samuel is telling because the circumstances of their birth and the relationship of their parents, were involved in their narratives (ex. 2.1ff; 1sam. 3.1ff). 104 formation of the human person in the 21st century examination of the narrative of samuel’s vocation samuel is described as one who “stands at the intersection of a cephalous clan culture and the hierarchy of the nascent monarchy he inaugurates. he is charged with preserving the conservative values of the past while also plotting out the future during a period of national transition.”19 his contributions and actions are pivotal to the eventual emergence of the people both as geographical entity and in their self-religious group. indeed, the book could be called book of transition of which samuel enjoyed not only a luminal figure but also, has consistently shown him as a leading figure. according to some authors, samuel’s vocation was necessary because of both the physical and spiritual weakening of eli’s strength and yahweh has found himself a strong man in the young samuel. this passage of our consideration is the centre of the story which began in chapter one with hannah’s prayer. it is the summit and the beginning of the great israelitic institutions of the vocation to the special priesthood, the distinctive prophetic ministry and the yahwistic monarchical election.20 for this reason, some scholars note that to “samuel’s is the credit for one of the greatest contributions ever made to the political thought of man.”21 thus, this call was necessitated by the “historical and moral limitations” that created a crisis point in israel and needed divine intervention before it becomes catastrophic. god called samuel to cart a new cause of direction for the leadership of the people that might eventually restore the people to the right path through the word of god.22 however, by helping him to answer this call, the old man, eli, shows that yahweh has a special assignment for the boy as indeed indicated in the narrative of his infancy. yet he must not only consult and seek the guidance of the old priest eli, but also complete the period of his formation. consequently, the call of the boy samuel begins a new personal relationship between yahweh and his chosen people.23 samuel is in the vanguard because he must instruct the new leaders including himself that leadership in “israel were not allowed to do whatever they fancied. they were subjects to a higher power and to the rule of law and morality, upheld by the prophets.”24 hence, “as has now been addressed directly by yahweh, and the significance of this fact extends beyond the immediate circumstances, for the closing verses of the account make it clear that samuel is henceforward to be the medium through which yahweh will address his people.”25 therefore, this passage is a bridge between the old order as it were and the new things that yahweh wants to do. this is the nature of god that time and again, in different circumstances, he intervened and section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 105 gets involved directly in the affairs of his chosen people. in doing this, he calls individuals to partner with him in bringing about this radical change. samuel will now be called a prophet. a term which in its akkadian root means to be called or summoned by the gods “one called to duty by a god.”26 if samuel was courageous and successful in his ministry as a prophet and a judge (1sam. 3.19-20), it was because he has disposed himself favourably through obedience under his master eli. thus, he became a model of obedience as he listened to what eli taught him to say if he should hear the voice of god calling him again (1 sam. 3.9).27 he repeated the words just as eli told him. eli also showed by his own example of life, how to submit to the will of god, when samuel narrated to him the message of god which he has just received. although, challenging and difficult, samuel told him what god had threatened to do to his two sons hophni and phinehas and his family. eli responded, he is the lord, let him do what seems good to him (1 sam. 3.18b). bowing to the will of god is a sign of true vocation, mary (luke 1.38) and jesus (matt. 6.10; 7.21;26.42) would later give us models by the examples of their lives. however, the vocation of samuel needed a special period of discernment because of the theological implication it would have for the future of the people of god. hence, the place of eli in this discernment was of great significance because helped the young samuel during this formative period so to say, to learn by every call experience, the voice of god in the many deceptive voices that could be speaking to him (1 sam. 3.5). two caveats that are significant here in the beginning of the narrative of the vocation are: (a) the description of samuel as a ‘young boy’ or a child and (b) that the ‘word of god’ was not common in those days (1 sam. 3.1). having completed his period of formation, he was able, through the discernment of eli, to make appropriate response that guided him throughout his life. he learnt that he was a servant-leader between god and his chosen people. this becomes very obvious in the words of his response to the call of god as directed by his master eli; ‘speak lord your servant is listening’ (1 sam. 3.9). therefore, he must listen to the rb;d" ‘word of god’ and act accordingly before the people and that makes his a prophet like moses. to underscore the importance of the word in the life of samuel, his mission was summarized in the following words ‘samuel grew, and the lord was with him, and did not let none of his words fall to the ground’ and from dan to beersheba, he was recognized as aybiiþn" a prophet (1 sam. 3.19-20).28 this was evident when he was to chide saul for his disobedience “and samuel said unto saul, i will not return with thee for you have rejected the word of god: (1 sam. 15.16). 106 formation of the human person in the 21st century implications of samuel’s vocation for israel as a nation there is no doubt that the theology of the books of samuel shows that the narrators/redactors re-worked the different historical traditions at their disposal to give appropriate place to god’s intervention in the unfolding of events in the pre monarchical period. mark leuchter, notes that this was the major concern of the deuteronomic historian who constructed “a theoretical narrative of israel’s landed experience …for the purpose of establishing a vision of society where sacral leadership and old covenantal ideals formed the basis for evaluating righteousness, theological fidelity, and social responsibility.”29 in spite of this, the importance of a visionary and dedicated leader in a transition period cannot be over emphasized. this is where the person of a priest leader like samuel becomes inevitable. in these twin books, the combine efforts of the deuteronomic and priestly traditions, both of which are steeped in the theological ideologies of the chosen people are openly manifested. this theological outlook particularly reflects the “religion of a people deeply rooted in the life of a people settled on their land and leading a natural agricultural and political existence.”30 it is therefore reasonable to assume that they have placed the different characters in these books at some special junctures in the history of the chosen people of god as a nation, to give credence to their assumptions. the character of samuel as a dedicated man of god who received the word that was very rare and the vision that was uncommon, yet that would eventually shape the history of the people along the traditions received, bearing in mind their relationship with yahweh as his covenanted people, at the beginning of this journey, was inevitable. the narrative of the vocation of samuel presents him as the personage that bears this new theological vision on his shoulder and thus incorporates other narratives that have implication not just for the immediate moment but also for the exilic period and even beyond. samuel thus functions within a work that was not always a single narrative, but which was always part of a textual curriculum with an interconnected vision. his diverse roles as priest, prophet, and judge are the end result of careful hermeneutical creativity on the part of the redactors who recognized samuel’s liminality and its potential as an interface between tradition.31 in order to do this properly, he had to undergo tutelage and formation under an experienced priestly figure like of eli. this period helped him not only to respond properly to god’s call as he should, but also, it helped him to navigate the different contours of transitions even without an already worked-out road map, to guide him. thus, “the narrative of 1 samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. it section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 107 details the transitional phase from the era of the judges to the era of the monarchy; its transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one successful dynasty (davidide)”.32 it must be mentioned that all the primary characters in this book “stand in transitional relationship to each other so that the narrative tells of the transition from one leader to another: from eli to samuel, from samuel to saul, from saul to david.”33 however, the character, samuel, that concerns this work, has at least four different accounts of transitions recorded in which he played major roles. he became intuitive and creative as he responded to the exigencies of his vocation right from the beginning of his ministry to the end and endeared himself to the heart of the people. he did this very well as he made the uncommon transition from one leadership institution to another, until till kingdom was securely established in david, the man after god’s heart. on the person of samuel, his identification has been difficult because he has been described with various epithets: a seer, a priest, a prophet and a judge.34 these roles singled him out as a man with special character in the development of judaism and jewish history. little wonder, it was said that he had favour with god and with men (1 sam. 2. 26). the ‘word and the vision’ he received from god continued to be the major instruments of his vocation and the guide of the chosen people afterwards.35 these institutions though common to the people of ancient near east, gave the israelites a unique identity among their neighbors because of what samuel did.36 it is necessary to examine some of these transitions and how he had contributed to the establishment of the theological focus on the one hand and how such focus had helped to establish, stabilize and give an enduring identity to the people in later judaism. priest priesthood until the time of eli was tribal and hereditary. this was in accordance with the plan of god when he gave the nations their inheritance. god speaking through his servant moses says, “the levitical priests, the whole tribe of levi will be without share or heritage of their own in israel… for yahweh your god has chosen him from all your tribes to stand before yahweh your god, to do the duties of the sacred ministry, and to bless in yahweh's name -him and his sons for all time” (deut. 18. 1a, 5). according to the introductory words of the first book of samuel, he was an ephraimite from ramathaim the place of his father as such he is not of the priestly linage (1 sam. 1.1).37 this passage presented his parents as faithful israelites who went to perform their religious duty at shiloh regularly. 108 formation of the human person in the 21st century through his association with eli, “he is depicted as to a point, the heir to the functions and authority of exercise by the elide priesthood”.38 thus, the institutions of the priesthood which hitherto belonged to the aaronic and levitican family, began a new order in him. hence, samuel grew up to occupy the priestly position in shiloh because the sons of eli dishonor yahweh while he too vowed to take this privilege from their house. samuel brought a new candor to the priestly office through the restoration of the true worship of god rather than idols of the nations (1. sam. 7.3ff). in him also the office of priesthood and prophecy were held together under one person that constituted another turning point in the history of god’s relationship with his people. this would be followed by many other priests after him (cf ahimelek: 1 sam. 22.10; abiathar 1 sam. 23.912). as a priest he carried out his duty throughout their cities, blessing the people, their food and offering their sacrifices (1 sam 9.12-13). he also anointed the first and the second kings of israel: saul (1 sam. 9.1427) and david (1 sam 16.12-13). the narratives of samuel’s life record his various activities in carrying out his priestly duty throughout the towns and villages of israel and the people deferred to him after the death of eli without any constraint. through him, a new line of priesthood was open to those who were not aaronic or levitical lineage which will eventually pave way for a universal priesthood in the future. prophet another area of transition that occurred under the guide of samuel was the introduction of the prophetic institution.39 although the deuteronomic historians concluded that moses was the prototype, the model and the standard of prophetic vocation (deut 34.10), yet, it can be said that classical prophecy began with samuel. in fact, in judaism, the books of samuel with that of kings are parts of the corpus called earlier prophets. under his guidance and direction, the institution grew to a major and pivotal one in israel and became formalized. this is evident in the narratives of his vocation, the summary of his life even from the beginning of his ministry (1 sam. 3.20) and through the various prophetic activities he carried out (1 sam. 9.15). his importance was such that the author of the book of samuel credited him with this assertion that, “formerly in israel, anyone who went to inquire of god would say, "come, let us go to the seer"; for the one who is now called a (‘aybin") prophet, was formerly called a (ha,(roh') seer” (1 sam. 9.9). a seer (ha,(roh') known as the ‘man of god’ ‘~yhil{a/-vyai was consulted by the people like a divine and to inquire about what the lord wants (1 sam. 9.6). he was a precursor of the classical prophetism (‘aybin") of a sort in israel who spoke the word of section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 109 god to the people (1 sam. 4.1) it is noted by scholars that “it was principally as a prophet that samuel’s memory was preserved in the tradition, so much so that, as an exponent of prophetic intercession he takes his place in later literature alongside moses.”40 like moses, he combined in himself the role of offering sacrifices and intercession on behalf of the people (jer. 15.1, ps. 99.6). eventually, some of the prophets after him would combine these roles; gad (1 sam 22.5); nathan (1 sam. 7.3). hence, he was credited as the one who made the transition from the various visionary movements to the prophetic institution initiated by the so-called bands of prophets, to the eventual classical prophets of which the writing prophets represented fully (1 sam 9.9; 19.18-20).41 as a prophet, he guided the leaders to make the right decisions that will help the people to remain faithful to the covenant relationship with yahweh. he was fearless in admonishing and speaking against the evil of the leaders in order to correct and to guide them in the right part (1 sam. 15.10ff). he made the will of god known to the people by telling them the words of god as revealed to him just as he told eli his master (1sam. 10.17ff; 12.1ff). all these contributed to the strong and solid foundation of the monarchy, the united kingdom and the prophetic ministry after him. he was acknowledged as one of the greatest prophets in israelitic history if not on the same level with moses but also very close. for this reason, the prophet jeremiah sees him as a credible and powerful intercessory figure before god in company of moses (jer. 15.1). monarchy in the opinion of some scholars, “it is with the rise of the monarchy that we can truly speak of israel as a nation.”42 if this is true, samuel can then be credited as the architect of the foundation of the monarchical institution in israel because it was to him that the people turned in their quest for a king (1sam. 8.5). his efforts to guide and administer the people after the demise of the charismatic leaders of the book of judges, whom we could classify as the classical judges, until they had and built the sense of a united people and instituted and enthroned their own king is remarkable and noteworthy (1 sam. 12.1-24). samuel appointed so to say, a transitory leader dygin" nagid in saul (1 sam. 9. 16; 10.1b) and then appointed a king %l,m,( melek in david (1 sam. 16.1).43 in their quest for a king, he did not appoint a leader who would lord it over the people (1 sam 8.11ff) but the one, who would have the ‘heart of god’ and would try to do the will of god (acts 13.22). he warned them about the abuses that might come from such a blind quest for a king as they wanted and so directed their yearnings lest they had 110 formation of the human person in the 21st century tyrants reign over them (1 sam. 8.9-22). he approved this leader only when he had given them a constitution that defined the roles, the rights and the powers of the king (1sam. 10. 25).44 this transition into monarchical leadership was well instituted by the change of baton from one a priest-judge which was himself, to a leader, nagid in saul and eventually to a king, melek in david. it must be mentioned that the transitions were not as smooth as they seem, rather, they had their own attendant intrigues and challenges, yet, by discerning the will of god, he was able to manage it through. thus, he made an uncommon transition from the charismatic leadership to an organized form of leadership which found resonance in the monarchical institution. to sustain this momentum, he built a special relationship between the monarchy and the prophetic leadership that would eventually characterize successive monarchical periods till the dissolution of the united kingdom (1 sam 15-16; 18.8-19.24; 23.25-23). the importance of the monarchy cannot be over-emphasized in the self consciousness of the people of israel. this gave them identity and the unity they needed as a people. the monarchy helped them to realize how related they were as a nation under yahweh’ rule. it also helped them especially through the efforts of david in uniting the entire kingdom a territory and establishing a capital where they all could call their own (2 sam. 5.7-12). it gave them security from the marauding enemies who hitherto were pillaging them at will. it became their identity throughout ages (2 sam. 5.17-25; 7.1). therefore, the cry for a monarch to lead and rule over them like some of the nations roundabout so that they too could be an organized state having their own military and form of government to lead them seem justified (1 sam. 8). the monarchy gave birth to the so-called davidic berith which introduced the messianic expectation as the fulfillment of the promise made by yahweh (2 sam 7.14). it became a model for the kingship of yahweh and a foundational influence to the establishment of the reign of god now termed kingdom of god. the preparation and the constitution made by samuel with the people at mizpah concerning their request were integral to the stability of the monarchy in the heart of people even after the destruction and the exile (1 sam. 10.17ff). judge when they were just members of the tribal league and led by charismatic leaders such as samson, gideon etc. they were plagued by all sorts of invasion from the neighboring nations who were best organized than themselves. this perhaps happened because the foreign nations manipulated their disunity and unleashed terror on them. eventually, he section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 111 became their judge and appointed his children as judges over the people. as a judge, he arbitrated between the people and yahweh, among the people and between the king and the people, between the king and god. although, he still saw the need for the person of a judge to hold the people responsible in the ethical demands of the covenant and so he appointed his own children as judges but because they were not like him and did not follow his ways, the people rejected them (1 sam. 8.1-5). that was the end of the institution even in his own life time as the people clamored for a king who would double as the judge (1 sam. 8.5, 20). although his role as a judge was not so much highlighted, yet he was considered a reputable, incorruptible and the last of the judges in israel even by his own account at the farewell speech (1 sam. 12.3-4). he assumed the office of a judge at mizpah after the death of eli (1 sam 7.6). he composed law concerning the monarchy and explained them to the people (1 sam 10.25). he judged israel as long as he lived and even appointed his sons to judge as well (1 sam 7.15-17; 8.1). as a judge, he counseled the people as to the appropriateness of having a king and its implication; he reminded them of their sacred duty to yahweh and judged king saul about his failure to carry out the order of the lord (1 sam 15.16-19, 28-29). the three institutions of the monarchy, priesthood, and prophetism, gave the jews their special identity among the people of ancient times and even till today. the uniqueness of each of these institutions to the preservation of the religion of yhwh cannot be overemphasized. each of the institution is seen as having a special relationship with the god of israel as such they become messianic institution. the efforts of samuel in giving this special identity to these institutions are noteworthy and remarkable because even after the dissolution of the kingdom and the subsequent exiles, a new rejuvenated judaism arose from the remnants. this foundation is still the force behind the many dreams of the people till today. the nigerian situation today the socio-political, religious context of nigeria today is similar to that of the time of samuel in many respects. for this reason, a number of challenges are confronting our nation begging for definitive intervention to chart a way from the quagmire that beset our country, nigeria. there is the political clamour for a leader to lead us so that we can participate in the comity of nations. this is compounded by all sorts of religious aberrations and syncretism that lay heavily on the shoulders of the people like the sons of eli. on the social level, there are the daily threats and insecurities to lives and properties in every part of the country. moral 112 formation of the human person in the 21st century decadence and anti social activities run unabated from the old to the young, no one is left behind (is.1.6). in all of these, priests and prophets ply their trade without any clue (jer. 14.18b). there is a grave need for a someone who can be a moral compass to our nation; one will grow in favour with god and people (luke. 2. 52). there is no doubt that the books of samuel and in indeed the person of samuel have a deep implication for formation today as the world gradually settled into the third millennium. it is more so for a country like nigeria where its corporate identity is a mirage of a sort. there are more than three hundred ethnic nationalities and 3 major tribal groups, different in language, cultural and religious values, political and social worldviews. the country was born out of a colonial amalgamation and given a name that makes no sense to all its component parts together. incidentally, there were some charismatic leaders as founding fathers. after their death like israel of the judges era, everyone does whatever the heart dictates. from the foregoing, it is very clear that we are grappling with various transition programs ranging from cultural, tribal, clan and societal perceived forced amalgamation to a state that must participate in a globalization program. as a young fledging nation like israel of the samuel era, there is also the leadership struggles of transition in the political arena with the nascent democracy wrestled from the military rule being led by already militarized minds in all tiers of government. we live in a country and times where democratic principles are subverted and manipulated for person ideologies and gain. we live in the times where elections are held and the results are sometimes declared to the amazements of the electorates. the religious atmosphere is similar to that of the idolatrous society of pre samuel era where everybody did what pleased him (judg.21.25). therefore, we live in times of perennial religious transition from traditional religious worldview to embracing a judeo-christian/ islamic religious worldview. we live in the country where any religious novelty finds a breeding ground from among the so-called christians, where orthodoxy easily bows to various forms of aberrations and syncretism; where voodooism and paganism are gaining ascendancy. the worship of idolatry in various forms and shades are constantly in the increase with everyone bringing his own novelty to bear. scandalously sometimes, we live in the times where church leadership that was once seen as a sacred precinct, where the holy spirit chose the one he wanted, are now fraught with manipulations, acrimonies, defamation, intrigues and libels, very unfortunately. on the social level, the society seems to be on a loose spree in all sorts of anti social behaviours without any control or qualm. there is no section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 113 sense of any moral value in the mind of many citizens in the name of civilization and development. individual has become the measure of all things an relativism as an ideological concept is enthroned over the collective and shared values. all the traditional and religious checks and balances are eroded and lost without any replacement or hope of replacement. all of these have created crises of unimaginable proportion in the society and often created setbacks and social tensions that threatened the cooperate existence of the nation. many have often called to question the necessity of the corporate existence all together as if it was a malediction. the socio-political and religious situation was similar to the bankruptcy that samuel inherited at the time of his calling. samuel was called to save and stabilize the covenant relationship hitherto promised to abraham and inherited by his descendants so that the kingdom promised by god for which moses led the liberation from slavery may survive. in response to his vocation, he remained focused and faithful to the god of the covenant. he constantly visited the religious sites to hear god instruct him on how to handle particular situation. the word of god which was rare before his call became common because he listened to god spoke to him time and again. he did not manipulate or subvert the word of god to please the leaders but corrected and chided them as occasion demanded. he was frank and sincere with the people in the discharge of his duties (1 sam. 10.17-26). for all these reason, when he gave his farewell speech, he challenged the people to his conduct and behavior among them (1 sam.12. 23-24). therefore, like samuel of old, those who are responding to god’s call must prepare themselves to respond appropriately to the exigencies of their vocation for the continued establishment of the reign of god and the good of the conglomerate called nigeria. they should not be oblivious of the reality in which they are living in rather they should confront and transform it. they should not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges confronting nigeria as a nation but study it in the light of revelation and respond appropriately its demands. this can only happen if the formation which is the foundation of the future ministry is solidly laid. in the opening words of the new ratio, it is noted that “the gift of the priestly vocation placed in the hearts of some men obliges the church to propose to them a serious journey of formation.”45 if the new ratio describes the formation of the future priest as journey in discipleship, samuel then gives a concrete example of this journey in the old testament. his type of formation was a novelty and typology in the old testament of what will eventually take place in the new testament 114 formation of the human person in the 21st century when jesus will begin to call disciples to form them into a universal instrument of salvation. many cynics have profited themselves in various ways in the ensue imbroglio. they continue to take advantage of the confusion, ignorance, the fears, the anxieties and the vulnerability of the individual to despoil them of a qualitative life. yet in all of these, we seem not to have our feet properly firm and steady on the ground. what can we contribute or rather how do we make impact through our vocation. in a prophetic manner, karl rhaner has this to say about the priest of tomorrow: he will be a man to whom mature people find their way even though the society does not drive children to him. he will be a man who truly endures the grievous darkness of existence together with all his brothers and sisters, knowing that its first source and its blessed fulfillment are found in the mystery of love which conquers by the incomprehensibility of the cross… will not have power drawn from the social power of the church, but will have courage to do without that power…46 challenges and implication for formation the call of samuel has offered us a new perspective in responding to the call of god in a trying and transition period. through the examination of this pericope some salient point that can help in discernment and give focus to minister of god can be underlined. the following are some of the recommendations that may be fruitful for formation of the future priest. 1. national identity the problem of identity is a major one for any entity because if one does not know who one is, such cannot respond to its situation appropriately. this is one of the greatest challenges that is facing a country like nigeria. for a country like nigeria to move forward and develop, the citizens must cultivate and have the sense of identity that will breed patriotism in them. this is where the work of samuel as a leader in transition period becomes more appreciable. he rallied the people around the worship of a yhwh who is morally interested in the social affairs of his people and that gave them a sense of unity. even when the geographical unity was undermined by the division of the kingdom, an identity has been created in the hearts of the citizens. nigeria needs a leader who will give her a united identity and a moral compass under which all members can rally. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 115 until this is achieved, development and the social transformation that is craved for will remain elusive. 2. vocation is a gift of god the choice of who leads the people finally falls on god. if this is a correct reading then, it is not only that yahweh is the guidance of history, but that the call of samuel shows that it is he that chooses whom he wants and empower such for the task he wants him to accomplish because he will not let any of his words fall without being fulfilled (1 sam. 3.19). this recalls what jesus told his disciples, you did not choose me no, i chose you and sent you to bear fruit that will last (john 15.16). therefore, vocation is a gift that god give for the benefit of others not a prize won for a good act. if it is a gift, it should be preserved jealously and carefully not to be misused or misplaced by carelessness on the part of the recipients. 3. necessity of formation and discernment for leaders although, vocation is a gift of god, yet it needs to be checked and controlled as it may be that it is really from god and for which purpose. therefore, a period of formation is necessary for the recipients of such gifts so that it may be put to proper use. by his stay with eli, samuel has been properly formed and schooled in the religious tradition that will shape the theological future of the people. this is still the work of theology today in a constant changing situation of life. it is appropriate to show that in the unfolding of the daily events of a people, the place of god is not relegated to the background or allow cynics to control the interpretation of such events. rather, it is right and fitting to show and acknowledge the guiding but unseen hands of god in directing the affairs of the universe both in the case of the individual and that of the nations within the universe. he did it in the case of samuel through the old priest eli, he did it even the more in the case of the disciples of jesus, whom he called and formed for a number of years both in wrds and example of his life before he commissioned them to go and continue the same mission of making disciples f all nations (matt. 26.1; 28.19-20). in the call of samuel, we see the need to prepare those that have been chosen for special assignment so that they might be able to give credible and lasting witness to their vocation. 4. a faithful minister in the sanctuary of god the priest should realize always that he is called by god and not responding to a profession or a job opportunity. therefore, he should remain faithful to god and his church to the end in good and bad times. samuel remained faithful to his vocation, he was visiting the sanctuaries 116 formation of the human person in the 21st century of god to seek the will of god as he met the challenges of his vocation (1 sam. 8.6, 21). it was this that made him a model and hero not because he appointed kings or leaders (1 sam. 3.20-21). 5. lover of the word of god. at the beginning of the call of samuel, it is said that the word of god was rare in those days. this word of god became common in the time of samuel because it was the light and guide in his mission, for the book notes time and again, ‘the word of god came to samuel’ (1 sam. 15.10). in another summary about his life, the author notes “and, for all israel, the word of samuel was as the word of yahweh” (1 sam. 4.1). in his recent document motu proprio, on invitation to have a special sunday marking the importance of the word of god in pope francis, notes that “those called to be ministers of the word must feel an urgent need to make it accessible to their community” (aperuit illis no.5). foremost among these are the priests and especially the priests to be who are in formation, they should love to hear and read the word of god because in it is their salvation. in his final exhortation to joshua, moses exhorts that this word should not depart from his mouth, meditating on it day and night so that he may succeed in all his ways (jos. 1.8). 6. a dispassionate leader/judge of the nations a priest is always the leader of the community not just the christ faithful but everyone. in samuel, we found a leader who is dispassionate in dealing with the situation at hand. when the people demanded for a king, a request he did not support, he chided them for their wrong motive (1 sam. 8. 10-18). when saul disobeyed the word of god, he scolded him without mincing words (1 sam. 15. 22-23). when there was the need to change even his own children from being the leader of the people he did not hesitate. he tried to expiate for saul when god rejected him but when god said he has fund a replacement, he worked with the new leader. in the same way, a priest should see himself as the leader of all the people especially in our generation when people are building fences and blockages to keep others away, the priest should build bridges. he can intercede for the people but he should not be seen to be partial or biased in his relationship with the rich and the poor, with the leaders and the led. far from him to even take side in leadership tussle but should seek the will of god and accept the outcome of god. 7. a voice of the voiceless a priest is the voice of the people within the community. he should not be afraid to call the leaders to account and be responsible for their actions. samuel gave a lead in this regard when he confronted saul about section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 117 his mission to amalekites. he spoke and interceded on behalf of the people before god also. it is primary duty of the priest to offer sacrifices for sin and intercede for the people. samuel was offering sacrifices for the people and available for their spiritual growth. he went round the sanctuaries to offer sacrifices. a priest should be available for the people even when it seems not convenient for him. conclusion in conclusion, the examination of the call of samuel then shows that god is always interested in the affairs of his people and he does not leave them alone in time of crisis and challenges. he tries to give them necessary guide that will help them find stability only if they listen to him and can discern his voice amidst the many conflicting voices they hear. it is true that the onus of a vocation belongs to god and he calls whom he loves (john 15.16; heb. 5.4) just as he called samuel and other people at some crucial moments in the life of the jewish nation. yet, the cooperation of those called is always necessary to realize the vision that god has for such people. through the dedication of samuel, he was able to help the people to have a personal encounter with their god because he too kept a personal relationship with the god who called him. eli helped him to shape this relationship into maturity and guide him to know the will of god and how to respond to it in obedience. moreover, this knowledge of god helped him to give a national identity to the chosen people and to navigate through the political, social and religious waters of his time. this same god is still concerned with the affairs of his people today and will intervene through the vocation he gives to the individual. nigerian is indeed in need of leaders who can help her create a unified identity where the feels belong, a leader who can help her to navigate through the political, social and religious crises she finds herself. she needs a leader with the prophetic voice and message that will heal the wounds of the past in these challenging times like that of samuel. our growth in priestly vocation and formation should help us to read the signs of the time and attend adequately as the prophet of old. formators cannot remain silent or unconcerned as charlatans take control of the people and we keep pouring out from the seminary those who cannot make the needed difference. it is the time to discern properly those who rightly hear the voice of god and help them to respond appropriately. formators should accompany with the right disposition, be more astute and be more involved in the process of discerning and the formation of the priest to be. like the old priest, eli, formators should have the proper knowledge of who god is and teach 118 formation of the human person in the 21st century the same to those who are discerning their vocation that he is god, he does whatever he will and that obedience to him is better than sacrifice. in the words of st gregory the great, “a religious leader should be careful in deciding when to remain silent and be sure to say something useful when deciding to speak. in this way he will avoid saying thing that would be better not said, or leaving unsaid things that ought to be said.” it is our duty as future priest to listen attentively to the voice of god and respond appropriately. however, how can you guide when you have not gathered, how can you discern when you have not listened and how can you lead when you have never followed? endnotes 1 moshe garsiel, “the book of samuel: its, composition, structure and significance as a historiograhical source,” in perspectives on hebrew scriptures vii ehud ben zvi ed. gorgia press, 2011, 131-173. 2 m. garsiel; “the book of samuel”, p.131. 3 “the book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the new….the transfer was effected smoothly in the case of eli and samuel, with difficulty in the case of samuel and saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of saul and david, culminating in saul’s recurring attempts to kill david.” s. bar-efrat. “1 samuel” in the jewish study bible, (jps), a. berlin and m.c. brettler eds, oup, oxford, 2004 p.559. 4 b. c. birch, “the first and second books of samuel: introduction, commentary and reflections” in the nib: a commentary in twelve volumes; vol.ii, abingdon press, nashville ,,1998; p.991, 947-1383. 5 the book of judges, which actually precedes the book of samuel in jewish canon; ends with these words, ‘in those days when there was no king in israel, everyone did whatever seem right in one eyes’ (jug. 21.25). the children of eli also did not listen to the counsel of their father. hence, samuel was said to have found favour with god and man’, as a sign of his readiness to assume this responsibility according to human reckoning. 6 there is no doubt that with the emphasis on the word of god and the eventual institution of the prophetic league, samuel was seen as a prophet, yet the narrative is different from that of the prophetic vocation because the prophets narrate their commission rather than vocation. samuel and moses especially narrated their calling which eventually involved their commissioning. cfr. b. o. long, “prophetic call tradition and reports of visions”, zaw (84), 1972, 494-500; g. robinson, a commentary on the books of 1 and 2 samuel: let us be like the nations, w. eerdmans, grand rapids, 1993,22. 7 the birth of samuel reflects a special literary genre that some scholars classified as a ‘birth narrative genre. this is the 5th of such narrative in both the old and new testament (cf. r.h. jarrell, “the birth narrative as female counterpart of covenant”, jsot, vol. 26 (3); 2002, pp.3-18, 5. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 119 8 r.w. klein, 1 samuel wbc, vol. 10, texas, word books, 1983, 30 9 r. gnuse, “a reconsideration of the form-critical structure in 1 samuel 3; a n ancient near eastern dream theophany” zaw (94) 1982, 379-390, 388. 10 for a more comprehensive treatment of this structure see t. tsumura, the first book of samuel, w. eerdmans, grand rapids, michigan, 2007, 171-184 and w. watson, “the structure of 1 samuel 3” bz (29), 1985, 90-93 11 “unusual fire or light frequently announces the presence of god”, g. ashby, go out and meet god: a commentary on the book of exodus, eerdmans pub., grand rapids, 1998 p.19 12 t.e. freitheim, exodus, interpretation, a bible commentary for teaching and preaching, john knox press, louisville, 1991 p.56 13 14 god is not asking those he called to go all alone but they should cooperate with him to carrying out his mission, as contained in the structure of major calls. j.k. bruckner, exodus, bakerbooks, grand rapids, 2018, p.41 15 “in semitic culture, addressing someone by saying his or her name twice was a way of expressing endearment, that is, affection and friendship.” d.k. stuart, exodus, the new american commentary, e.r clendenen et al ed. vol 2, b&h publishing, 2006 p. 113 16 w. zimmerli, a commentary on the book of the prophet ezekiel, chapters 1-24; hermeneia, fortres press, philadelphia,1979. see also, g. robinson, 1 & 2 samuel, 23. 17 t. tsumura, the first book of samuel,184 18 the navare bible: joshua-kings, four courts press, dublin, 2002, 223 19 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping of tradition, oup, oxford 2013. p. 6 20 r. w. klein, 1 samuel, p.35. 21 i. epstein, judaism: a historical presentation, penguin books, middlesex, england, 1987, p.35. 22 the narrative of samuel’s vocation look forward to a future that god’s transforming initiatives will make possible for israel in the midst of crisis.” b.c. birch, first and second samuel, p.970. 23 “the book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the new….the transfer was effected smoothly in the case of eli and samuel, with difficulty in the case of samuel and saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of saul and david, culminating in saul’s recurring attempts to kill david.” s. bar-efrat. “1 samuel” in the jewish study bible, (jps), a. berlin and m.c. brettler eds, oup, oxford, 2004 p.559. 24 s. bar-efrat, “1 samuel” the jewish study bible, p. 599. 25 p.k. mccarter jnr., 1 samuel: a new translation with introduction and commentary, in anchor bible, w. f. albright & d.n. freedman (eds) vol. viii, double day & co. new york 1980, p.100. 26 ibid. p.99. 27 according to st. gregory the great, the boy samuel was an example in obedience of what a disciple should be. 120 formation of the human person in the 21st century 28 samuel became “the only source of god’s word during the oncoming period of radical dislocation and transformation in israel.” b.c. birch, 991. 29 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping…, p.20. 30 m. weinfeld, deuteronomy and the deuteronomic school, oup, oxford, 1972, p.179. 31 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping….p.21. 32 although, he is making reference to the rejection of one yahweh’s agent in favour of another who has the right heart of yahweh, benjamin johnson, notes that the book of first “samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. it details the transitional phrase from the era of the judges to the era of the monarchy; it transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one successful dynasty (davidide). “the heart of yhwh’s chosen one in 1 samuel,” in jbl vol. 131(3), 455-466, 465. 33 “the heart of yhwh’s chosen one in 1 samuel,” in jbl vol. 131(3), , 2012 p.465. 34 walter brueggemann, “samuel” in the anchor bible dictionary, vol 5, david n freedman ed., doubleday new york, 1992, pp.954-973, 954. 35 all the major prophets after him begin their ministry either with vision or the word of god (is.1.1; jer.1.1, ezk. 1.2; hos. 1.1) and whenever they delivered the message of god to the people, they end with the prophetic formula, “thus says the lord or oracle of the lord” (amos 1.6). 36 i. epstein, judaism, p.34-35. 37 l, grabbe, priest: a socio-historical study of religious specialist, diviners in ancient israel sages, trinity press international, valley enge, pennsylvania, 1995, p.44. 38 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, jsot press, 26; r. gnuse, “ a reconsideration, zaw, (94), 1982 39 according to blenkinsopp, “the call of samuel at shiloh (1 sam.3-4.1) marked the beginning or at least a new beginning, of prophetic activity.” j. blenkinsopp, a history of prophecy in israel, louisville, kentucky, westminster john knox press p. 47. 40 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, p. 27. 41 after him came other prophets such as gad (1 sam. 22.5; nathan (2 sam. 7.2), elijah (1 kgs. 18.; elisha, who ministered at the palace to the king or independently from the king but very close them in decision and guidance of the course of israel. 42 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, p.40 43 the exact meaning of the word dygin" nagid is not ascertained because it could mean, a leader, a king, a prince, perhaps it means a military leader but the word %l,m, melek means a king, cfr. la bibbia tob: nuova traduzione cei, p. 507. 44 i. epstein, judaism, p.35. 45 the new ratio fundamentalis, pg. 1 46 k. rahner, servant of the lord ,herder & herder, new york, 1968, 112. abstract this paper argues that the classical, traditional western notions of the human body is bifurcated, and plays down the conception of the human person. it misrepresents and trivializes the importance of the body. this has led to polarities in human relations and as such, the devaluation of the human body increased bodily humiliation such as the practice of capital punishment and to a large extent stands as an opposition to ascertain the role of the body in the promotion of human dignity. hence, despite the 1948 universal declaration of human rights, the rate of human bodily abuses and attacks on the dignity of a person keeps on increasing. the crime indexes keep going high manifesting in various kinds of assorts on the human person. this is a direct indication that the notion of the human body in the classical traditional western philosophy needs revision in order to situate appropriate conceptions of the human body; this is the objective of this essay. this is important because appropriate knowledge of the human body will improve human social relations and other bodily transactions. it is in the recent modern period that there are important philosophical interests of the body, but more needs to be done in this regard particularly from non-western, african perspectives. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality ucheoma osuji, ph. d. department of philosophy adekule ajasin university, akungba-akoko, ondo state, nigeria. ucheoma.osuji@aaua.edu.ng this will enrich more ontological understanding of the human body, its relation to human persons, and its right of place in the world. this will be achieved using the postmodernist ontological inquiry. keywords: epistemic, human, body, phenomenology, bodily representation, postmodern, ontology, experience introduction this work is a philosophical examination of the notion of the human body in classical western philosophy. it is anchored on a tripod of theme, problem, and methodology. the theme of the paper is on human bodies. the problem is bodily representations and meanings, and the methodology is postmodernist ontological inquiry. this tripod is further premised on the theoretical framework of intersubjectivity, which offers us the opportunity to explore the polarity in the classical works as regards men and women's bodies and open a new wave of knowledge from an african tilt. in this study of the human body, a critique of the place on our bodies in classical western philosophy from a postmodernist ontology offers us the following inquest; (a.) the philosophy underpinning human bodies runs contrary to the basic assumption of the apostles of women's bodies about reality in relation to that of men. (b.) the philosophical theorizations of human bodies are fundamentally awed by the negative effects and consequences of human relationships and development. (c.) the emergence of universal morality and enforcing conformity to such single moral order resulted in a loop-sided dialectics on human relations, such that each sex will overthrow the other to rise. this means that human relationships have been built on the wrong assumption. this is evidence of a high rate of divorce, bodily abuse, pre-marital sex, indelity, single parenting, lesbian and homosexual, and same-sex marriages. 180 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 these societal imbalances, bodily crimes, and abuse are a direct reminder that the epistemological representations of our bodies (women and men's bodies) are in error. the knowledge of the human body is one-sided. thus, the bodily crisis becomes inevitable, a crisis in the world. it is in the light of this that this work embarked on a postmodernist inquest on human bodies, in order to posit a pluralist platform that will inculcate a win-win temperament, hence acting as a basis for ameliorating the so much diversity among the sexes, thereby promoting the orientation of gender neutrality and human dignity at large. this paper is divided into ve sections; the rst is the introduction. in the second section, we are going to make a historical assertion of what the body is and its status in classical philosophy. the third emerged from the previous discussion and thus it shall examine the polarities and paradoxes cause by classical misinterpretation of the human body. after that, we shall examine the notion of the body in an african culture which shall lead our discussion into understanding the human body as an epistemic route for understanding reality, and then we draw our conclusions. the status of human body in classical western philosophy the status of the human body was relegated in western philosophy and as well excludes from truth, eternal, universal as well as intellectual discussions. most western scholars have drawn the dichotomy between body and soul. this dates from pythagoras, who tried to resolve the metaphysical questions of the immortality of the soul. in the later phases of this creed, a belief in the immortality of the soul became prominent and to ensure the salvation of the soul. the disciples of the creed were required to observe a strict diet, disciplined life, and ritual. pythagoras' teachings show a preference for the soul over the body and the body was seen as an obstacle to attain eternal life, thus, to understand pythagoras and the pythagoreans there is a need to know the doctrines of a religious sect, orphism. the orphism believed that; man is a mixture of both divine and human elements. the soul is the divine element in man and is the essential the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 181 aspect of man. it formerly lived in another world and was sent into this world as a punishment for an offence committed. now in this world, the soul is imprisoned in that body. the body, in other words, is the prison of the soul. after death, the soul will transmigrate into another body; thus leaving from one prison to the other. the next prison may be worse because it may be the body of an animal for the soul could transmigrate from a human body to an animal body. for this reason, orphism forbade the killing of any animal since it could be the reincarnated soul of a member of one's family or the soul of a friend. the soul is doomed to the endless process of transmigration and reincarnation unless and until it achieves liberation (or release) and this can be achieved through ritual purication and an ascetic way of life, which includes among other things, abstinence from eating any animal esh. if the soul is able to do this and it will, therefore, be released, it will go back to the world of the gods from which it came. that would be the end of 1 transmigration and reincarnation for that soul. following the pythagoras and pythagoreans teaching, the human spirit is in a perpetual struggle to liberate itself from the bondage of the human body. the depiction of the human body as taints, unworthy, material, and the tomb of the soul is one of the ways the human body has been shaped as no worthy of attaining excellence, and as such, the spirit was priors over the body. this gave them an aim in life, namely to cultivate the soul, shake off the taint of the body, and rejoin the universal soul of which their individual souls were in 2essence parts. considering pythagoras teachings of the transmigration of the soul, one can as well say that the soul will as 1j. i. omoregbe, cited in o. k. jeje, a short account of the history of western philosophy (from hesiod to aristotle),lagos: prime communications, 2003, 1819. 2ejiogu e. amaku, the ontological foundations of human dignity in the thought of thomas aquinas, enugu: victojo production services, 2009, 120. 182 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 well return to another body after death (even though it could be animals or plants) but the body remains a criterion for the next life (rebirth). the body in order words is a criterion of excellence and liberation of the soul. in the phaedo, socrates in explaining the meaning of death gave the body a lower place than the soul, thus, 'death is the separation of the soul from the body, and the soul separated from the 3 body exists by itself apart from the body.' plato's writing shows that the soul is more important than the body and the fear of the place of the soul afterlife was more in contemplation than that of the life we live here on earth. in the light of his philosophy, the soul was as the grasper of wisdom, reasoning, and intellectual strength while the body contaminates the soul. and as such, every lover of wisdom, or those practicing philosophy, are directing leaving their bodies, for they are in search of wisdom and truth which the body does not possess. in plato's writings; the soul reasons best when none of these senses disturb it, hearing or sight, pain, or pleasure. it reaches out and grasps that which really is when it is completely by itself and says goodbye to the body. 'from all these,' said socrates, 'great philosophers must come to some such opinion as follows, so as to make one another statement such as a sort of direct path, so to speak seems to take us to the conclusion that so long as we have the body with us in our enquiry and our soul is mixed up with so great an evil, we shall never obtain sufciently what we desire and that, we say, is the truth. for the body provides thousands of busy distractions because of its necessary food, besides, if diseases fall upon us, they hinder us from the pursuit of the real. with love and desire and fears and all kinds of fancies and much rubbish, it infects us and really and truly makes us, as they say, unable to think one little bit about 3plato, 'phaedo' in great dialogues, w. h. d. rouse (trans.), new york: new american library, 1956, 467. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 183 anything at any time. indeed wars and fractions and battles all come from the body and its desires from 4nothing else. socrates speaking in plato's writing thought that human desires emanate from bodily desires and as such those desires are evil. for example, the desire to get wealth and bring slaves to culture emanates from the body. he also believed that those desires cause confusion and disturbances and dazzle us so that it will not let us see that if we are ever to know anything purely we must get rid of it and examines the real things by the soul alone. socrates believed that 'for the impure 5 to grasp the pure is not, it seems, allowed.' for aristotle, no affection of the soul is prevalent to itself. there seems to be no case in which the soul can act or can be acted upon without involving the body for example; anger courage, appetite, and sensation generally. aristotle thought that; the thinking seems the probable exception but if this too proves to be a form of imagination or to be impossible without imagination, it too requires a body as a condition of its existence. if there is any way of acting or being acted upon proper to the soul, the soul will be capable of its separate existence, if there is none, is separate existence is 6 impossible. aristotle thereafter proposed that the study of the soul must fall within the science of nature since the soul is part of the faculty of a body. the manicheans observed that there are two ultimate principles, they are good and evil. they postulated that the good is light, god, and the soul while the evil side is located in darkness, satan, and the body. ascetic life aimed to release light that has been 4ibid, 468-9. 5ibid, 470. 6aristotle, psychology, w. d. ross (trans.), justin d. kapln (ed.), new york: washington signet press, 1958, 53. 184 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 trapped from the body. therefore, the goal of the manicheans was to 7 teach on the rejection of the body as a guide to liberating the soul. the ancient philosophers and their teachings about the supremacy of the soul over the body inuenced philosophers of the middle ages. for instance, saint augustine was inuenced by the teachings of the manicheans of corporeality as evil, and plato's teaching of the supremacy of the body over the soul and carried these inuences in building his christian doctrine. saint augustine was known to have taught that man was essentially made up of body and 8soul and neither could exist without the other. thus, platonism was for st augustine a vehicle for expressing the superiority of the soul over the body, it was not the vehicle for excluding the body from the unity of human nature. from another perspective, aquinas offered two major schools of thought; platonic and peripatetic (aristotelian) systems. aquinas believed that just as the sculpture chooses the best materials for his work so is the human body given for the proper functioning of the soul, which informs it. both are wisely chosen for each other and together they constitute the human person. the body is not evil, but an essential part of the human composite. aquinas maintained that the body and matter are essentially good for god created both. the body is primarily good there is no reason for one to be ashamed of 9 having a body. aquinas maintained that in the union of the soul and body, the superiority of the soul cannot be in doubt and this is from the order of functionality. the soul is the principle of life and it confers life in an organic body. it is the primary but on the other hand, it does not belittle the value of the body. the body is strictly part of the 10 human person. two major issues could be seen in most classical thought; (a) the body is evil (b) the soul is imprisoned in this evil and the way out is the perpetual struggle of the soul to leave the body. 7ejiogu e. amaku. the ontological foundations, 120. 8aquinas t., summa theologica, prima, translated by fathers of english dominica, new york: benzinger books inc., 1947, st 1, q 84, art 5corpus. 9ibid, st., 1, q85, art. 1corpus. 10ibid, st. 1, q85, art2 ad.2. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 185 these teachings are taught to people in different parts of the world, different religious sects. the fact is when the soul leaves the body, the person will seize to be human, and again the body is an instrument of thought. if the body is evil, thought or reasoning are all components of the body that cannot exist in isolation. more so in the modern period, descartes saw the body as a material substance whose essence is essentially an extension. the mind, he identied as spiritual and that man is more of a spiritual being, a thinking being and as such essentially made of mind. descartes admits that man has a body, but the body is not part of the essence of man. on the interaction between the body and mind, descartes feels that the mind interacts with the body through the reactive process of what happens to the body. descartes can be awed in his answer to the question of how can a spiritual substance interact with a material substance? he replied that the interaction takes place at the pineal gland, which is situated in the innermost part of the brain. it is here that the mind comes into contact with the body through the animal spirits. this answer was not satisfactory, even one of his 11disciples rejected his response. the problem is that descartes' explanation of the interaction of the mind-body led him to run into a dualism in a bid to project the soul as superior to the body. one can see that the philosophical notion of the body was such that the body was relegated and as such what makes us human was made derogatory. based on the above position of classical philosophy, one can see where the dignity of being human which is essentially on the human body was crucied. now let us examine the products and paradoxes of these bodily distortions and delusions. bodily misrepresentations and polarity in social life in as much as the human body is an essential component of being human, it accounts for a substantial part of human existence. as 11arnold geulinex (1625 1689), rejected descartes explanation while he said that the mind and body interacts through a theory he occasionalism. according to him, it is god that moves the body on the occasion of the mind willing or desiring something. but descartes and his disciples' postulations are all obsolete. 186 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 amaku noted; many scholars share the view that the devaluing attitude towards the human body began from the beliefs of some religious sects in the ancient world. early greek religious philosophic sects did not accord sufcient respect to the human body and matter in general. their negative doctrines on human bodies became wild spread philosophico-theological heritage that has continued to 12inuence our attitudes towards corporeality. this means the outing of the human body as counting nothing amounts to a lot of polarities. this could lead to another problem of misplaced human value. this misplaced human value has led to the increasing placing of wrong values on the human person in the twenty-rst century which has witnessed some of the most ferocious acts of barbarism and brutality against the human person, thus manifesting in racism, terrorism, feminism, sexism, caste systems, ethnicism, tribalism, kidnapping, siege taking, human trafcking and certain preference on human treatment. thus, with the rise in sophisticated empirical knowledge in our century as never been in previous centuries, we are more ignorant or at a loss as to what is knowledge and how to preserve human dignity since the foundations of human dignity has been misinterpreted. the body which is the basis of human life, dignity, and knowledge has been given a lower place in human relations. this as well could account for the worse tragedies of the last two centuries which would not only be the manufacturing of nuclear weapon that devastated hiroshima and nagasaki, nor even the holocaust and the gulags neither would it be the destruction of the twin towers in america nor the endless body conicts, some inimical political and social systems as well as large scale eugenic program designed to eradicate ethnic, religious and cultural groups. even though science and technology have elevated human life in this century but the 12ejiogu e. amaku, the ontological foundations, 119. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 187 negative and positive impacts from them notwithstanding have proved numerous problems and this is evident in the pressures of human cloning, abortion, articial insemination, fetus experimentation all to improve the lots of humans and yet overriding the sacredness and dignity of the human body. considering human–to–human relations, the high rate of abduction, terrorism, trafcking, prostitution, single parenting, same-sex marriages, human trafcking, divorce, sexual harassment, and bodily abuses are all indexes suggesting that our bodies; the human bodies have been wrongly understood. this also contributes in terms of individual worth and personality evaluation. as a result of this, society sacriced integrity on the altar of individual bodily assessment. there is a misunderstanding in dening the self and body. there are certain situations to observe that much of western philosophy has played a denite discomfort with the fact that human minds come in human bodies. in its widest meaning, philosophy itself is a product of the human body in as much as; (a) consciousness and the thought processes are as much as possible underlined as embodied in more or less gross matter. (b) personal identity, that is the 'i' which is the location of my consciousness nds its meaning in the body. (c) the relationship between the physical world (our bodies) and how they relate to consciousness, thought, dreams and identity is essentially a bodily affair. philosophers not only questions the relationship but go to the extent of privileging the mental over the physical and the human body along with it to a secondary ontological status, counseling efforts to transcend the body in order to apprehend truth, even regarding the fact that mental events can cause physical events as miracles performed by god on daily basis. the views about our bodies, their meanings, and representations have been given several erroneous epistemological misinterpretations at the philosophical starting point. the fact is that it is due to the body's highly enriched epistemological capacities that the human body surpasses the body of 188 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 the lower animals. classical philosophy paid insufcient attention to the fact that the self is embodied and exists in a network of relations with others. this fault has led to racism and sexism (in so far as it has reinforced a masculinist notion of the self as autonomous, detached, and dominant over matter). from the above, we can come to two conclusions about the body: (a)it suggests a hierarchical view of the belief and social systems. (b) it is considered a top-down architectural form of epistemological organization, cognition, and representations. there is a need to change this orientation of our body being evil and change this hierarchical and top-down architectural representation of our body because they inform crimes, violence, and dehumanization. moreso, these ideas are obsolete in as much as they were given in time and space. an alternative system of thought would be to consider the views, suggesting that the domination of the idea of the nature of the body by classical philosophy is in error. the modern french philosophers stated another rethinking about human bodies, 13 especially michael foucault and merleau-ponty. lots of reactions followed after merleau-ponty's publications on the phenomenology of the human body. proudfort in his essay collection presented papers that dealt with the role of the body in the conception of the self, in perceptions, intention, and action, in articial intelligence, in 14 thinking about sex and gender, and in psychoanalytical thinking. the central argument here is that the body is constructed. the body is as well the site where regimes of discourses and power inscribe themselves, a nodal for power and nexus for relations of judicial and productive power. this means that the body is pre-given, its status is culturally conditioned. accordingly, there are more other ways of 13j. butler, “foulcalut on the paradox of the body” journal of philosophy,volume lxxxvi, no.11, november1989, 601-607. see also bjurvill c. (1991) the philosophy of the body. in: tymieniecka at. (eds) husserlian phenomenology in a new key. analecta husserliana (the yearbook of phenomenological research), vol 35. springer, dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3450-7_23. 14michael a, proudfort, the philosophy of body, wiley-blackwell, 2003 (114 pages). the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 189 being human, especially by understanding that our bodies are the popular indicator of the total consideration on humans and their bodies. a postmodernist analysis of knowledge permits that reality, truth, and ideas are pluralistic in nature. not only that, but the postmodernist temperature also accepts dissensus as the basis of thought. now let us consider the notion of the body from other perspectives especially from an african perspective. an african view of the body a deeper appreciation of the human body is understood when we explore other non-western ideologies. within africa, the human body is given a higher place than in western ontology. this shall be elaborated within the scope of african (igbo) ontology. in igbo culture, the body was given a worthy place in human communal relations. an analysis of the human person in the igbo ontology will help a deeper understanding of the dignity of the human person. the human is called mmandu (mma – ndu is a compound word that contains the prex, mma which means beauty, goodness, and the sufx ndu, which translates as life or existence or creation). mmandu could be translated as “the beauty of life”, “goodness of life”, “the beauty of creation”, as well as the “spice of existence”. what this is saying is that human person is the synthesis of all that is created as well as “intrinsic goodness”. the igbo conception of human ontology is that man is a composite of ahu or aru (body) and mmuo (spirit). although there are distinctions between the body and the soul, but the igbos believed that the body is what makes us human. the ahu (body) belongs and accounts for all human physiological, anthropological, and neurological functions. the body is a primary distinction of who we are as terrestrial animals. the body is one of the major characteristics of what counts us as beings in the visible world, identies us, and differentiates us from the rest of other beings. life outside the body is a nuisance and strange in the human kingdom. the mmuo is the spiritual and metaphysical essence of man. when we talk about the spirits, soul, or death, it pertains to the gods and should be handled by the traditional priests, priestesses, and 190 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 seers. human nature is seen in the body and several metaphysical entities account for the various nature and ontology of persons. it is the nature of man to be egoistic, altruistic, or conscious just as it is like man to be scientic, technological, philosophical, or otherwise. the human body is as well in the state of probability. probability in this essence would mean that man is a being in a state of ux or becoming. the tendency then is he may probably bring his anthropological attributes into manifestation. the probability may depict intrigues, mischiefs, and intricacies in life. the body captures human as a being of possibilities and potentialities whose existence is futuristic. the body is seen as a symbol of identity. you are identied, admired, and praised by your body built and looks. hence, you hear such words as nwanyi oma mara nma di ogologobi ogi,(a dark, beautiful tall woman), nwaoke gbara dimkpa,(a huge man). hence the body acts as a symbol and the criterion of admiration. the body is also a symbol of greatness, health, and strength. your body is signicantly your symbol of wealth. the igbos believed that health is wealth in the sense that when you are healthy you can acquire wealth and other things in life. hence, they express it in their maximum; onye ji ahu nwere ego, (a healthy person is wealthy). this shows that your body identies you as being healthy and as well your level of strength in display. people are honoured by their bodies. for example, people are decorated as a show of communal excellence. the traditional titles given are usually seen on decorations on people's bodies. human bodies are as well-decorated during ceremonies and festivities to show varieties of human excellence, integrity, and as a way of assessing human dignity. men and women decorate their bodies to show several rites of passages they are in and they are as well passing through. in marriage ceremonies and some cultural rites and rituals, the body is as well-decorated to portray integrity or vice. in some other african cultures, like the yoruba, the body is decorated with marks to show that they belong to certain tribes. hence the tribal marks they wear helps to identify them as people from a certain place in yoruba land. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 191 in human life, the igbos of southeastern nigeria sees the body priors over the soul or spirit. this does not neglect the functions of the human spirit and/or soul, but they are discussed at various realms of intellection and not to the detriment of the body. thus, when we count human beings, we count human bodies, not souls because the souls need bodies to answer humans. this accounts for the inuence of the body over the soul. there are also situations where the soul inuences the body. hence, the body and the soul are in a complementary relationship, especially where they need each other to form the human person. hence the body is strictly part of the human person. it is not an accidental but the ontological constitution and therefore acts as explanations for the human beingness, experiences, existence, and personality in the phenomenological world. contrary to the classical teachings that the human body is evil, the igbos believe that the thought is evil, they express this in many ways; echichi madu chere gbue ibe ya abugbi ihe echere na –otu ubochi (the thought of killing another is not a thought of one night). society usually advocates for people to guide their hearts with all diligence for out of it follows the issues of life. this means that evil follows from within and the body executes it and receives punishment afterward. this cancels the belief that evil is in the human body as seen in the teachings in classical philosophy. further, when we compare the idea of the body in igbo and classical philosophy, we can make the following deductions; (i) the classical notion of the body runs contrary to that obtained within african culture. (ii) the classical notion of the human body gave a derogatory status to the body and as such part of the reason for the polarities in human social, cultural, political, and academic representations. (iii) the classical interpretation of the body, paved way for inhuman treatment that is on the rise in the world today. (iv). the classical orientation of the human body is linear, monistic, and reductionist thus it is in a way an obstacle for inter-subjectivity. this suggests that there is a need for reorientation of the value, purpose, and dignity of the human body. this calls for immediate attention and thus, the next discussion of this paper is to give accounts 192 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 of how the body is an epistemic route to understand reality. the body provides an excellent platform to understand the world, ourselves, and others. consequently, the body is part of the system by which truth, knowledge, and cognitive system and sources are built. we cannot understand the external except we go back to the body, thus we shall discuss this now. our bodies as epistemic route for understanding reality 1. bodies as medium for phenomenological experiences phenomenology's emphasis upon being-in-the-world allows it to consider the totality of human experience in the world in terms of the individual's concrete existence. hegel theses that the real is rational and the rational is real remind us that the body is real as well as rational. even though knowledge for hegel begins from senses, then perception. what this suggests is that sense-perception is the starting point of knowledge and has its roots in the body. the fact that the body is not mentioned is a way of suggesting that the body is inferior to the knowledge it is producing or about to produce. this is an error in reasoning in the sense that the process is discredited to the acceptance of the end product. if the process is discredited, then the end product should as well be discredited. for an impure and unjust course should not produce a pure or just course. we see this error in the thoughts of rationalist philosophers who discussed knowledge from sense perception without mentioning the body in as much as the sense made up different parts of the body. to perceive implies being sense potential, and sense active is to have a certain power to manifest certain activity. all these suggest that the criterion to perceive is being a sensual or bodily being. sensation depends on the body and makes us use sense organs on the body. this is in line with the phenomenologist and a scientist who believed that the human body provides a fundamental way to treat natural objects. hence objects, natural phenomena, plants, animals are studied in relation to the the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 193 body. this also allows for studies in physical sciences.15 who are we? we usually identify with our bodies. what makes us human is the human body. we can differentiate between cats, lions, gorillas from a human being because of the body. bodies dene us as human beings. this runs contrary to the apostles that 'rational faculty' as a distinguishing factor between human beings and other animals instead of using reasoning as one of the activities of being human or simply put, one of the by-products of the human body. alternatively, this runs contrary to the rational / idealist philosophers who taught that what makes us human is the 'thinking thing'. the body is prior to reason in situations of accounting for human existence. for instance, what counts our babies is the human body that they come out of the womb with. if a human female delivers a baby wearing the body of let us say; a cat, monkey, or any other lower animal we say it is strange; that something is wrong somewhere. that human female will invoke the attention of world researchers, as well as, the religious to discover what happened and why. this shows that we are counted as human because we are wearing human bodies. bodies account for our phenomenal presence in this world as humans. again the theories that human beings are spirit and body may not be disputed, but the fact is that those that advocates for the spirit over the body or esh may be erring in one way in the sense that without the body, the person will cease to be human in other words could be accounted as other forms of being. even though we account for humans as consisting of body and spirit; the spirit being in humans does not supersede the body in the sense that the body is the factor that characterizes that spirit as the spirit of humans. even the livingness and beingness in the world as a human is a determinant of the body. in other words, the body is the home of the spirit; the bodies house the vital forces of humans thereby dening us as embodied beings. 15although this has been criticized by scientic reductionism which tends to reduce explanation about the body to physical explanation as would be the case if one afrms that the body is nothing but the total of its observable and measurable operation. 194 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 again, the spirit will still be identied as the body of such a person. for instance, the apostles' re-incarnation, sacred sciences, shammers, and different forms of 'sacred hook' practitioners usually identify the spirits based on the body they lived in before. well, whatever they do is beyond the scope of this paper, but the essence is that the spirit is interdependent on the body, especially on its identication as the human spirit cannot be overemphasized. the body is the home of our spirit. if you have nobody, denitely, we are not alike. the body denes us as an existent being (in time and space) and without the body we are non-existent. even if we believe that the spirit controls the body, we can as well say that the 16 body denes us. we see this in descartes's meditation, that the mind causally interacts with the body, although it has been criticized from various perspectives. from a perspective that the mysterious nature of the spirit, supposed causality, comes with the question of 'how an immaterial substance causes a material substance to do something'? causality requires some sort of contact. but how can this contact take place? another perspective has to do with the physical law called the conservation of energy, which is well established in current physical theory; the amount of energy in the universe is constant. this implies that the mind can act on physical bodies, new energy stands in direct contradiction to known physical laws. the 17 third lane of this argument is from mounting evidence about the brain and how it operates. scientists and philosophers working on this angle believed that it is only a matter of time until we explain human behaviour in physical terms. the more we understand how the brain works the more the evidence about the mental and brain function unfolds. more so, the recent criticism about descartes's notion of the self as mind attracted the very idea of the self that underlines interactionism, that means, cartesian dualism became a 16r. descartes, 'meditations on first philosophy' in philosophical writings, e. anscombe and peter t. geach (trans. & eds.), alexanre koyre (intro.) new york: the thomas nelson philosophical text,1968)pp. 66 -70. 17schopenhauer, 'the world as will and ideas in selections, dewitt, h. parker (ed.), new york: scribners and sons ltd, 1928, .5 -6. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 195 18 rened and sophisticated version of plato's soul-body dualism. the very way we talk about ourselves reects a dualistic view. we think, discuss, and see our bodies as if they were shells or containers we just happen to inhabit. this means that being a body is not a necessary characteristic of which we are, but it provides a medium for the assertions of the self and personal identication is veried. considering new attitudes towards the body, arthur schopenhauer considered the world as an idea and our bodies as the starting point for each of us in our perceptions of the world in terms of its knowableness, and as such, it is simply an idea. in schopenhauer words; at present, therefore the body is for us immediate object, that is to say, that idea which forms the starting point of the subject's knowledge, because the body with its immediately known changes precedes the application of the law of causality, and thus supplies it with the rst data. he emphasized that the possibility of being in the world of perception depends on two conditions, the rst is to be objectively expressed, this is the power of material things to act upon each other, to produce changes in each other, without which common quality of all bodies no perception would be possible, even by means of sensibility of the animal body. if it is expressed subjectively, the understanding rst makes perception possible for the law of causality. thus, the possibility of cause and effect spring only from understanding and it is valid only for it. therefore, the world of perception exists only and through for it. the second condition is the sensibility of animals' bodies or the quality of being immediate of the subject which certain bodies possess. this is what schopenhauer means that we experience the human body in two ways as an idea acquired through intellectual perception and as an objectication of the will. 2. bodies and what they represent bodies stand in relation to the natural world. bodies are the only 18both types of dualism have been immensely inuential in western culture. 196 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 medium we act in the phenomenological world. our empirical understanding of the world and or reality is basically through the medium called the body. the body is at the center of awareness of the temporality of the physical world. movements of objects are usually in relation to the intimate grasp of quickness in our bodies. thus, actions, movements, time, depend primarily on the measurement of the body it is in relation to. this means that the body is the determinant factor with time, seasons, developments, perceptions, and regions. the very fact that the body is at the center of the action is an eidetic feature of embodiment. this is why maurice merleau19ponty wrote: that our own body is in the world as the heart is in the organism: it keeps the visible spectacle constantly alive; the body animates and nourishes the world inwardly, and forms with it a system. this means that the body denes what reality is or means, irrespective of the perspective. thus the body maintains our entire life-world. our actions are expressed through the body and the judgment of how actions are, becomes the basis of ethics. the body is the medium through which we communicate with the world. the body can be described as one of the physical objects among other physical objects. it is also under the inuence of the physical laws of nature. it is governed by similar mechanical laws like every other object. these laws apply to the human body in both the internal and external dimensions. when these laws are studied, they form the basis of human anatomy, medicine, and every other science that studies the mechanism of the human body. furthermore, the senses are there for normal activities; the organs perform every characteristic of living things without our mental dictates to them. this is the function of the body on one hand and from another perspective; the body puts to performance the 19merleau-ponty, phenomenology of perception, smith c. (trans.) london: routledge and kegan paul, 1989, 203. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 197 translation into the effect of the will. our thoughts, wills, minds, and we, ourselves, are expressed through the body. accordingly, the body is used in two senses; as a reference point in which the spatial world is arranged, and as the most intimate of the worldly objects, that is embodiment. the body is socially expressive. the body is a medium of interaction, interconnectivity, interrelatedness, inter-subjectivity, and other expressions with other bodies. the body puts up expressions of anger, facial expressions to express moods, delights, and a range of other bodily expressions. our bodies present other bodies the knowledge of us in terms of social, academic, health, and every other issue about us, even bodies without life expresses the collapse of the body too. this means that the body is intimate to itself as well as to the social and physical world. the body can then be described as a complex whole comprising of great harmony and alienation until it comes to its disintegration. our relationships with fellow human beings are only possible through the body. of course beings without human bodies cannot be related to as human rather they are related to as non-human. in light of this, community life is promoted in a relationship with the body. all our existentialist themes are only actualized when humans are relating to humans, for example, such themes as justice, friendship, marriage, dignity, integrity, faith, belief, and the like are ways we want to express our bodies as well as want others to see our bodies too. this means that the essence of community life is as well a coefcient of body-to-body harmony. another important function of the body is in the area of species. our bodies are instruments of the continuity of human life. without our bodies, the human species could go to extinction. this means that the bodies are as well for reproducing the human species. the role of the body is much that one can say that the entirety of life, its meaning, and continuity is a function of the body. 3 the epistemic functions of the body and the embodiment of perception. the epistemological functions of the human body are such 198 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 that it is the foundation of human lives, development, and intellectual frame for us to build on. the truth is that we cannot sense without our bodies. our bodies are part of us. this epistemological function cannot be denied. the intellectual operations of the soul begin with the body. the human soul cannot live outside the body and as such the epistemological functions of the body cannot be taken for granted. the body is the medium through which the soul interacts, acquires information from the external world. the corporeal attraction of the soul makes it possible for the soul to obtain information from the world. the body, therefore, helps the soul to gain knowledge. we can say that the human body is rational. bodily possession supports the soul in gaining knowledge in as much as intelligence is not alone, or reasoning is not alone, the body adds sight to intelligence, it uses the ears, eyes, and of course the whole body in its search for truth hence our bodies are rational bodies. more so, ideas do not develop by themselves independent of human bodies. when an idea changes and develops it is always by means of a human body cum mind. the human body serves as transfer stations of ideas, knowledge, intellectual, and all sorts of rational activities. our bodies stand for most kinds of cognition irrespective of the question of truth and falsehood. it is the body that we use to contrast with the world. epistemic objects are dened relative to the bodily who contacts them. the body as well informs us of the existence of other things, beings, and bodies where it really exists, or which predicts something a character really possessed by it. another function of the body is that the body harmonizes our and others' experiences. the body serves as an agent of correspondence with other bodies. in other words, it infers the existence of a real correspondence between knowledge and reality from the facts of harmony of experiences. even though we may ask if that knowledge is absolutely free from error, we leave this argument for further discussion. from our thesis above, we can say that the body is an epistemic valve through which we understand reality in the sense that; (a) it initiates the process of cognition. (b) it brings new content to knowledge through contacts with the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 199 new objects. (c) it is through the body that other sources of knowledge take place that is deduction, induction, and intuition. (d) the body as well harmonizes its experience with other objects of experiences using its parts such as mind, memory, understanding, imagination, and brain. that is to say, the body accommodates knowledge, tools for arriving at all forms of knowledge, truth and as a matter of fact philosophy in particular as well as other disciplines rely on the body for them to be made manifest. (e) now, the different parts of the body stand as an epistemic valve to regulate our experiences about reality. for example, the tongue serves as a valve to differentiate whether a drink is alcoholic or malted. the same way our sexual organs serve as a valve to express sexual experiences. the woman's breast is used as a valve to experience sexual sensations. the body is the center of activity in the world; the body expresses both physical and mental activities. our hands and noses perform different functions and at the same time acting as an epistemic valve to understanding reality. this suggests that the human body is the channel through which we express our desires, emotions as well as exert our sense of colour, smell, sight, emotion, taste, hearing, or even knowledge. (f) it is the body that makes us human and as well, primarily a terrestrial being. the body situates humans in the visible world. without the body, individuation would not be possible, thus a is differentiated from b based on bodily recognitions. one of the fundamental issues that have attracted many arguments from various perspectives, especially from the woman and feminist philosophers is; “are all bodies epistemic valve?” which body is and which is not? if the answer is yes, have philosophy captured all reality given the fact that the experiences of one side of humanity have been left? it is not enough to unmask the ways traditional theories of knowledge have been tainted by male bias. well, what concerns top is 200 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 which version of the truth will prevail and shape thought and action? 20 if we follow the given, this means that the women's standpoint faces a potential rejection of knowledge claims on epistemological 21grounds. thus, the human female body has been denied proper recognition in terms of evaluation of the excellence of the human person. we can prove this because sense-knowledge, senseexperience, sense-perception are all embodied. often, philosophers' writings tend to reduce rationality in favour of direct or unmediated bodily experience, or reducing embodied experience in favour of abstract rationality. this is one of the reoccurrences in western intellectual tradition and as such accounts for the absence of sustained reections on the status of the human body as well as gender. human existence is both embodied and gendered. it will be partial to account for human existence on the levels embodied and leaving the other which is gender. it is not accidental that the knowledge is gendered as well as embodied. in as much as human knowledge begins from the sense, the empiricist standpoint, is suggesting that human experience and knowledge starts from the senses. that is to say, that human experience and /or perception is embodied. the argument is how is perception embodied? embodiment suggests that we are beings with (human) bodies. human interaction with the external world, other humans, and within oneself is through the body. we sense light rays and sounds through the body. this happens because they are transduced into a neurobiological currency capable of generating experience. this is to say that bodily processes form a constitutive element in perceptual experience. this could be explained in terms of the bodily process having a causal role at the beginning of perceptual experiences. this can as well infer the 20by the given i mean the (especially feminist) criticism of traditional philosophy as the male account of philosophy in western orientation 21p. a.collins, “towards an afrocentric feminist epistemology” in voices of thwisdom, a multicultural philosophy reader, g.e. kessler(ed.) 5 edition, belmont: thomson wads worth, 2004, 293. the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 201 22 following statements; (a) there is a constitutive dependency between bodily processes and perceptual experiences. (b) there is a causal dependency between bodily processes and perceptual experiences. the argument of (b) over (a) is of limited signicance on a plausible assumption that perceptual experiences are the product of a cognitive process, then (a) apparently commits one to view that at least some cognitive process is constituted, in part, by the exercise of sensoria motor skill in the body. on the further assumption that instances of the exercise of sensorimotor skill are constituted, in part, by a process in bodily components, such as peripheral nerves and muscles, we have it that at least some cognitive processes are constituted in part, by the bodily process. whether knowledge, experiences, and cognitive process span from the brain, body, head, senses, enactive bodily capacities or world-involving bodily capacities and some other ways (through any biological science or psychology) of explaining cognition, knowledge and their sources, the basic denominator is the body and its parts is involved, even if the explanation is that these capacities are not recognized by some internal arrangements of the brain or the central nervous system but by the embodied state of the whole person, including the different parts of the body. that is to say that the body and the environmental processes are as much involved. there are different ways the body could be perceived, for instance, the computational process (that is generating conceptual representations of reality based on sensory) and perhaps motoric or high-level cognitive inputs. we could say that 22in (a) above, perceptual experiences are constituted in part by the exercise of sensoria skills; where as in (b) perceptual experiences are cause in part, by the exercise of sensorimotor skills. there is experimental evidence that favour (b) over (a). more so there have been arguments of (b) over (a), see the popular arguments from, john haugeland. 'mind embodied and embedded', in having thought, haugelane (ed.) (cambridge: harvard, 1998), 207 37, robert wilson, the boundaries of the mind: the individual in fragile sciences, (new york: cambridge, 2004). more so (b) belongs to science of psychological while (a) belong to biological science. 202 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 perceptual experience is conceptually independent of the exercise of sensorimotor skills, that is perceptual experiences are constituted, in part, by the exercise of sensorimotor skills. it could also be seen as sensoria motor skills as a capacity to perform in a certain way, rather than merely possessing some theoretical understanding. whether the human knowledge and/or cognitive abilities arise from the sensorimotor skills or capabilities, they are all different ways of characterization of the embodiment of perception, when the roles of the body are not prominently mentioned and as such demonstrating in varieties of ways that the human body is an epistemic valve for understanding reality. conclusion our bodies are rational. they as well account for our existence as human, rationality as well as salient agents for cognition. from the discussions above, both the ancient and twelfth-century anthropological pedagogy about the human body was not taken seriously or was excluded from discussions pertaining to the determination of human value. ancient philosophers deliberated more on the soul and disregarded the body as worthless. within an african conception of thought and practices (particularly in igbo culture) the human bodies were decorated especially during cultural ceremonies, rites of passages, marriages, and different cultural festivities. this shows that the body plays a strong role in assessing human value, worth, dignity, and personality. the body bears the responsibility of the rst form of our identication, that is to say, we are counted human because of the body we are putting on. we are rst, bodies before we became rational. the body with its different forms to life and display in the world is the bane of learning and this has cumulated into different forms of learning as demonstrated by the varieties of discipline in our institutes of learning. the body stands as a necessary epistemic valve to comprehend our intelligible world, contrary to the interpretations of classical western philosophy. the moment the body, its functions, and roles are properly interpreted the crime indexes in the human world will reduce. the body remains a fundamental factor in human to human or human to world the human body as epistemic route to understanding reality | 203 transaction. it does not matter what theorists are saying that knowledge starts from the senses, perception, sensoria motor, or mental causation, or whatever interpretation of the sources or origins of knowledge (rationalist or empiricist, idealist or materialist), the underlying factor whether it is mention or not is the fact that our bodies are the starting point of knowledge in relation to ourselves or in relation to the outside world. thus, our bodies surely stand as an epistemic route to apprehend reality. 204 | ekpoma review, volume. 7, 2020 121 9 faith, formation, and vocation – any link? amuluche-greg. nnamani, ph.d st. peter’s chaplaincy, university of nigeria, nsukka gregluche@gmail.com abstract there is an apparent disconnection between formation processes and the acquisition of faith today. looking at some candidates for formation in our seminaries and formation houses, and at some young priests and consecrated persons who have passed through our seminaries and formation houses in recent history, one would wonder whether formation impacts or impacted positively on their faith respectively. after years of formation, many still suffer from bouts of crises of faith. ordinarily, formation is expected to improve candidates’ level of faith. after all, formation is majorly about faith formation. unfortunately, however, many candidates enthusiastically embrace a feeling of vocation and go in for formation, but come out with less zest and overgrown selfdoubt. this raises questions. does formation really increase faith? or does it merely decrease it? are we just training in apologetic rhetoric and lifestyle, in acquisitive elitism and survival tactics? this paper seeks to enquire into the relationship between vocation, formation and faith and to explain the role of formation in the advancement of faith especially in the lives of priests and consecrated persons. finally, it suggests what should be done to make formation lead to transformation. introduction – faith and character formation human formation begins with faith formation. faith or belief is the first character a child acquires. according to eric erikson, an american psychologist, basic trust is the first thing a child learns in life (erikson, 1950, 1963, p. 247ff). faith, as basic trust forms the foundation of all later forms of faith, defines all stages of character formation and determines the development of the entire human person. by way of clarification, we must differentiate between natural faith and supernatural faith. as children, we begin to learn to trust and believe 122 formation of the human person in the 21st century our parents and other people, based on what they say and do to us. depending on what the child experiences from the people in close contact with it, it may begin to acquire basic trust and form basic belief about the people and environment. if the child is treated fairly, it learns to trust; if not, it acquires distrust. all this happens at the level of natural faith. then as we grow and mature, and seek to understand the meaning of reality, we begin to believe what we are being told about god, and what we experience about him. this is religious or supernatural faith – belief at a spiritual supernatural level. supernatural faith differs from natural faith, but both are mutually related (ccc 153ff). a sound natural faith is the stepping stone towards the acquisition of authentic religious faith. so, crisis in natural faith can lead to crisis in religious faith. faith has thus natural and supernatural dimensions. it is to the extent somebody trusts people that he or she can trust god and develop an authentic faith in him. while natural faith can be learnt overtime across the length and breadth of the development of the human person, supernatural faith is a gift from god, a grace that we are called upon to embrace. though every human being is a religious being, equipped to relate to god, not every person has the privilege to recognize god as the trustworthy author of life. faith is a supernatural gift of god that enables us to trust him completely. faith in god occurs when one hears god’s call (either through direct personal experience or through the historical and biblical revelations) and then responds to it with total conviction and trust. when the trust cannot be totally because of certain distractions and personal interests, crisis of faith ensues. essentially, faith is firm confidence in god and total self-surrender to him. challenges to faith in modern time all through history distractions to authentic christian faith abound, paganism, persecutions etc. but the modern time seems to have a lion share of threats to faith. in addition to wrestling with the historical enemies of faith, the modern person has secularism/relativism, materialism/consumerism and globalization to contend with. as a result, the candidate for formation is hemmed in between the negative influences from the global world and from our own local environment. the modern person is a subject of the western cultural revolution, which has not only practically edged god out of the stage of reality, but has also, in his place, declared science, technology, freedom and pleasure new gods. as the western persons try to dethrone god and strip him of his absolute authority, they position “liberty” as the god everybody must now worship. for the western mind, god has become a relative instance, and freedom an absolute reality, a dogma which supersedes section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 123 every other value. this is pure relativism, which joseph ratzinger, pope benedict xvi, severally identified as the major crisis of faith and religion in the modern world (ratzinger, 2006 p. 34 ff). the problem of secularism and relativism is compounded by globalization, which now, empowered by information technology and all the sundry social networks, exposes the rest of the world to the negative impact of the western cultural revolution. the entire world is now globalized and subsequently shrinking into a single global village with virtually no boundaries. distances have become negligible, since the farthest part of the world can just be but a goggle search away from us. the repercussion is that good and bad ideas, tricks and fashion are pushed around across the globe influencing the rest negatively or positively. the ongoing covid-19 pandemic corroborates this point. the tragedy of globalization is that traditional and religious values, as well as indigenous cultures lose out in the encounter with the more dominant pop culture from the western world. traditional morality, sacredness of creation and sense of sin are now considered archaic in the face of rampaging consumerist, individualist and materialistic culture from the western world. as a result of the overwhelming influence of the western pop culture on our society, our values are now in flux and our taste almost insatiable; nothing (including products) seems to have lasting values anymore. we are out seeking “the latest (fashion, gadgets, mobile phones, and best things in the market), and quickly discarding ‘old’ ones even when they can still be used” (chima, 2010). this has much impact on the young people. another major threat to faith, spirituality and morality is the so called new global ethic (peters, 2007), which seeks to legitimize all sorts of consumerism and bestiality. this new ethic equally proposes a type of gender ideology that tends to determine the right to life based on human conscience and pleasure. for the proponents of this view, it is not god, but hedonism that decides who has the right to live. the aim of such a gender ideology coming from the western feminists is to neutralize society, make it asexual, without masculinity and femininity, and make it open to irresponsible libido propagated by homosexual and lesbian interest groups. men now marry men, women marry women; very soon people will begin to marry their dogs and pussies cats and demand the status of marriage. the combination of relativism and consumerism looks like a conspiracy against the spiritual dimension of the human life. apparently, the faster technology moves, the more materialistic and consumerist we become, and the less spiritual and moral we become too. the major problem here is that the new ethic encourages technology without a sense of responsibility and sustainability (ratzinger, 2006, p. 27). since, 124 formation of the human person in the 21st century technology is naturally poised towards achieving all that man can do, not what man ought to do, it follows then that if we do all we can do, then we will destroy ourselves one day, because we possess the power and skill to kill ourselves in the most sophisticated manner. hence, globalization, relativism and consumerism are modern threats to faith emanating from the western world and culture. there are also threats within our ranks, arising from our sociocultural context, african traditional religion and african brand of pentecostalism. under the influence of our own african socio-cultural context, the average african believer ends up living in ambivalence in matters of faith – adopting a half christian, half pagan mentality. our socio-cultural context exerts much pressure on the practice of faith and especially on the formation process of young men and women who feel called to consecrate themselves to the lord. as the archbishop ignatius kaigama, once rightly observed, “the environment in which the seminarian grows plays a determining factor in what he becomes later – a good priest or a bad priest” (kaigama, 2005, 6). the nigerian society, from where most candidates come for formation, has lots of sociocultural problems. much corruption, cheating, duplicity, dishonesty and sundry crimes characterize our societal landscape. no matter the side you face in our society, dishonesty is the order of the day – in the family lives, in education, in business, in the government, and even in religion the story is the same. there is something like an erosion of values in our society, such that many people no longer know what is virtuous and what is vice. the candidates who come for formation have been under the influence of our corrupt society. in a 1995 publication, fr. emmanuel obuna paints a gloomy image of the societal background of most of the seminarians and aspirants who come to us for formation. according to him, the candidate who comes for formation today “is most likely to have passed through a primary school where teachers come to school once or twice a week and spend the remaining days of the week attending private businesses at home, in the farm, or in their shops – buying and selling; where pupils in primary schools are pressurized into paying illegal levies to their teachers in order to be allowed to stay in class; where teachers who are also parents bring in outsiders to sit the final examination for their own son or daughter who is not intelligent enough to pass, etc.” “having passed out of this primary school (of primary corruption), our candidate then goes on to secondary school (of secondary corruption) where question papers are on sale a week or two before the final exams; where students themselves collect levies to pay off principals, teachers, invigilators and even the policemen sent to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 125 maintain law and order during the examination; where some teachers make …(almost the equivalent of their annual salary) from bribes paid by students on the spot to persuade them to solve questions in the examination hall. “from this secondary school of corruption our candidate now moves up to the university for a bachelor’s degree in corruption. if the testimony of our undergraduates is anything to go by…the situation in our universities today is such that you can personally negotiate with the lecturer for any grade you want in any examination…depending on how much you are able to pay in cash or kind.”(obuna, 1995,58-59) what this suggests is that the environment from where candidates come is saturated with corruption – a corrupt environment produces corrupt candidates. such candidates are likely to be problematic in the process of formation; they may even wriggle safe through the entire system and get ordained or professed. with such a background, it should not be surprising when a large number of formandi do not show signs of authentic faith. similarly, many candidates for formation come into the formation houses with a backload of many elements of the african traditional religion. many of them have the traditionalist’s values, expectations and tenets stored in their subconscious, irrespective of the fact that most of them are not new converts, but children of the first and second generation christians. at points of deep emotions of sadness and joy, challenges and leisure, most africans act out pagan fears and fancies. the one obvious effect is unintended syncretism – the subtle mixture of christian values and the african traditional habits. a candidate with such a background may find it difficult to internalize the culture of christ, such as total trust in god and dependence on him, sacrificial love and acceptance of one’s daily cross. in that case, formation may become an impossible task. the impact of african traditional religion on some candidates for formation shows up in the type of pentecostalism they aspire to practice. many candidates have gone pentecostal and charismatic, and are frantically in search of miracles. they have become so gullible that they suspect the devil in everything and practice a magico-religious type of spirituality. even the materialistic tendency evident in the african traditional religious worldview, with all its this-worldly eschatology, is imbibed and allowed to flourish in the consciousness of a number of candidates. this certainly makes them focus attention on worldly, rather than transcendent values. rather than encouraging a good, moral and sacrificial life, prosperity is preached as the only type of god’s blessing. moreover, some of them come into the seminary in a triumphal mood, 126 formation of the human person in the 21st century believing either that they have already gotten all it takes to be successful priests or that they know it better than the seminary authorities. the result is that they close themselves to formation, disregarding what is delivered in the lecture halls, but rather organizing their own private group classes on the homiletics of influential pentecostal pastors. these candidates buy their books and listen to their videos and disregard classical catholic spirituality and theology. by implication, candidates who had been under the influence of modern pentecostalism before entering the formation houses are often closed to formation processes; they are very likely going to be stubborn with regard to respecting authorities, rules and regulations. the tasks of formation simply put, formation is about subjecting candidates to training and discipline that would help them acquire the basic values of jesus christ, his culture, which consists essentially of the disposition for self-emptying love. like clay in the hands of a potter, candidates are to be molded in the formation houses to become water-tight personalities, able to transmit the message of jesus christ without adulteration and misrepresentation. apart from the primordial selfishness, which begins from the cradle, persons accumulate lots of harmful habits as they grow up in dysfunctional families and societies. the project of formation is to prune such personalities and purify their intentions, to make them worthy disciples of christ. in the post-synodal exhortation, vita consecrata, dedicated to the issues of religious life, the object of formation has been defined as “the preparation for total consecration of oneself to god in the footsteps of christ, at the service of the mission” (john paul ii, 1996, 65-71) in other words, formation is all about getting ready to place one’s entire self at the service of god in the style of jesus. the consecration of oneself to god demands complete submission of all our human faculties to him. to that effect, authentic formation is a holistic venture, which tries to engage all aspects of our being; it is not done with partial or cosmetic changes, but with a total remolding of one’s entire personality. the body, the spirit, the intellect and one’s commitment to service are subjected to formation. attractions, sentiments, emotions, dreams, strength, weaknesses, feelings, needs and desires are submitted for purification, integration and transformation in the houses of formation. the apostolic exhortation, vita consecrata, understands formation primarily as preparation and insists therefore that “preparation has to be human, cultural, spiritual and pastoral, paying special attention to integrating the various aspects” (john paul ii, 1996, 65). earlier, the post-synod apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (1992), outlined section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 127 four various forms of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. for want of space, it may not be necessary to elaborate on each of these forms of formation here. it suffices to say, not just that all the four areas of formation are intertwined, but also that the successes of the spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formations depend on the accomplishment of the human formation. the goal of all forms of formation is to effect growth in faith, intimacy with god and jesus christ. formation involves changes, but not all changes imply formation. we can only begin to talk about effective formation, when the changes effected in our lives lead to growth in faith. growth of authentic and informed faith, balanced in act and content, is the measure of true formation. in other words, true formation must lead to growth in virtues, in intimacy with jesus christ, in the understanding of divine wisdom, and in the effective application of our faith in the day to day interaction with people. formation must be holistic, ensuring growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral spheres of the candidate’s life. growth is to be understood here, not just as the unfolding of our life and personality, but primarily as the break with our negative past, and the onward consolidation and integration of the positive values we have been able to pick from our past experiences. this is akin to what bernard lonergan calls conversion, the process that removes blockages in our life (lonergan, 1972, 237ff, & mueller, 1984, 13ff). consequently, formation works on our past experiences. according to a. cencini, it touches upon the past, the present and the future of both the person and the institution (cencini, 1999, 9). formation can succeed or fail, depending on what we carry along from our past experiences and environment. if the candidate comes to the house of formation with a genuine desire, openness to the truth and with some level of flexibility, suppleness and adaptability, there is the chance that he or she can experience conversion – a movement from an enthusiastic but less informed faith to a more reasoned and internalized faith. if however, the candidate is hardened and closed up, he or she remains impervious to the impact of formation. when we encounter consecrated persons or priests who do not measure up to the demands of discipleship, one begins to wonder what went wrong in the formation program, the method or the candidate. how successful is the formation process in nigeria today? without intending to sound as an alarmist, the quality of life lived by many priests and consecrated persons passing out of our seminaries and formation houses today leaves much to be desired. people are beginning to wonder whether formation has any positive impact on the priests and religious of our contemporary time, whether formation increases or 128 formation of the human person in the 21st century decreases faith of the candidates. those who argue that it decreases faith give instances of people who went into the seminary very pious and apparently very innocent, coming out later as priests and religious who have lost all sense of the sacred and the horror of sin. many of our seminaries and formation houses paint an ugly picture of the conduct of candidates in formation, who are now capable of committing worse crimes than their counterparts in the tertiary institutions. lack of openness to formation, growing signs of deep-seated dishonesty, dubious motivations abound; a conformist attitude to the rules and the seeming focus on being seen to be doing the right thing with the sole purpose of avoiding sanctions are on the increase. the simple fact is that dishonesty, pretenses, aggression and even theft are on the increase in houses of formation today. some go as far as forming cliques, shielding partners in crime, to subvert the authorities and regulations the situation becomes even more worrisome, when we look at the conduct of many religious men and women trained in our seminaries and vocation houses. there have been cases where priests and even male and female religious resorted to physical violence in order to settle their differences. some others have been caught stealing or misappropriating funds meant for projects. some flout every regulation in their diocese or congregations and break all the vows of evangelical counsels with impunity. there is a noticeable increase in the chase for money and wealth, even among the religious who have vowed poverty. materialism has become the order of the day for many priests; they use sacraments and sacramentals, prayer houses and ministries to accumulate wealth for themselves. pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel have special appeal for many priests and religious, who have an insatiable appetite for miracles and cross-less christianity that denies the salvific dimension of suffering in our lives. added to this is the sexual indiscretion that is today common among priests and religious, seminarians and other candidates in formation. evidently, these are all signs of grave loss of faith, rooted in selfishness – the lack of readiness for selfless service, self-renunciation and total surrender to the will of god on which radical discipleship can be built. where radical surrender is lacking, the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience turn to empty promises – a sure sign of hypocrisy. it is evident that selfishness and self-seeking abound amongst the clergy and religious today. this raises doubts about the effectiveness of our formation programs. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 129 possible reasons for failures in the formation programs today the fact that the products of our seminaries and formation houses are not up to the standard expected suggests that something is wrong somewhere. something is wrong, not just with the formation method, but also with the formators and formandi. let us first consider the candidates for formation the formandi: the young men and women pursing vocation today in our formation houses are definitely different from their counterparts about seventy years ago. then it was clear that the candidates were already groomed in faith before entering the seminary and had lesser distractions from the society. but the candidates of today are under pressure from the demands of modern time, ranging from technological and liberal cultures, materialism, secularism to pentecostalism. many come from a socio-cultural background saturated with corruption and consumerism, from dysfunctional families and societies prone to competitive life-style. people from such backgrounds are likely to have problem discerning their vocations and might even seek formation for a very wrong motivation. in fact, many candidates have other motives, different from what they gave as reasons for seeking admission into the religious houses or seminaries. some may consciously hide their real motivation and declare as reason that they wish “to serve god and humanity”, when, in truth, they have come for the benefits and privileges attached to religious vocation, and would want to be served rather than serve. some others may be unconscious of what motivates them to enter the seminary. they may honestly desire to serve god and humanity, but deep within them they are driven by some undisclosed desires about making life better for themselves. both groups of persons may be excellent seminarians or novices in the formation houses, ready to comply to the rules and identify with the authorities in order to remain in formation, but they are rarely able to internalize their experiences in the formation houses. however, as soon as they get ordained or professed, they begin to show their true colours. it has often been humorously said that some seminarians fear god while they are in the seminary; but when they become priests god begins to fear them. this is particularly true of persons with mixed or falsified motivations, whether male or female. one would certainly need a more rigorous formation program, other than the conventional one, in order to be able to access such candidates, to unlock their pretenses and help them discern their vocation early enough. another obstacle to formation with regard (akubeze, 2010,1) to candidates is the issue of number. while in the western world there is a record of decline in religious vocations, here in nigeria, we experience 130 formation of the human person in the 21st century surplus number of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. since about the past sixty years, there has been a steady increase in vocations and a multiplication of seminaries and religious houses. nobody seems to know the exact number of young men and women being formed in our seminaries and houses of formation. many of these institutes are merely coping with, what has often been termed, the “tyranny of number”. as a result, many formandi live in anonymity till they pass out of the seminaries and houses of formation. if this situation is to be arrested, not only must the population of the formandi be drastically scaled down to a manageable size, but also that a more rigorous selection and discernment program must be put in place. the formators: the high failure rate of formation process in nigeria has often been correctly attributed to the insufficiency of the number of formators in the formation houses and also to the incompetence of the available ones (okeke, 2011, 26). there is hardly any seminary in eastern nigeria, for instance, that is not understaffed in terms of the number of formators on the ground. the few available ones are intelligent teachers and lecturers, but no formators, who are noted for their didactic presentation of materials, but not for mentoring. spiritual directors are often too few and poorly empowered to take adequate care of the candidates. a good number of the so called formators have neither pastoral experience to their credit, nor good enough signs of faith in their lifestyle and utterances that would make them stand as models to the formandi. some simply parrot off their lessons without any sign of internalization, others merely treat church views and roman documents with disdain in the attempt to sound academic. as a result the candidates receive lots of confusing signals (okeke, 2011, 26; this leaves them undecided as to what to believe. moreover, bishops and religious superiors have a penchant for appointing young and inexperienced priests and sisters as formators and vocation directors. to compound the problem, a number of them have never had any training or formation as formators (iperu, 1995, 58). many have not been able to manage themselves, and as such cannot really contribute much in the formation of the candidates. such ones are terribly ill-equipped to take into their own hands, the formation of the contemporary candidates as described above. this is contrary to the specifications of the synod fathers, echoed by pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis: the task of formation of candidates for the priesthood requires not only a certain special preparation of those to whom this work is entrusted, one that is professional, pedagogical, spiritual, human and theological… for this ministry, priests of exemplary life should be chosen, men with a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 131 number of qualities: human and spiritual, maturity, pastoral experience, professional competence, stability in their own vocation, a capacity to work with others, serious preparation in those human sciences (psychology especially) which relate to their office, a knowledge of how to work in groups (john paul ii, 1992, 66). similar things are required for formators in the formation houses. to make the matter worse, despite the much talked about ongoing formation and formation of the formators (nwabeke, sine datum), not much is being done in this regard. in the view of the challenges facing formation today, it is grossly inadequate for somebody to act as a formator without any formal training. again due to poor funding of the seminaries and formation houses, poor remuneration of the formators, many able priests and sisters who would otherwise have liked to be absorbed into the formation apostolate, refuse to get involved. formation method: most seminaries and formation houses are still using the traditional formation method, whose justification has been overtaken by the demand of contemporary modern culture. the culture of establishing seminaries and formation houses took a centre stage in the period between the 17th and 20th centuries when the primary concern of the church was to train men and women who would be able to give an apologetic response to the threat of reformation and modernism. seminaries and formation houses concentrated on apologetics, emphasizing academic ability and the capacity to study and store information. the passing of examinations and collection of certificates counted more than strength of character. moreover, due to the emphasis on the hierarchical nature of the church, “unquestioning obedience and compliance with the orders of the day were the primary obligations of priests and religious. they were not expected to think and reflect much beyond this. they did not have to make many choices for themselves and develop their initiative … discipline, not maturity, was what counted here.” (iperu, 1995, 13) the method of formation then was more of lectures and conferences, and of course ongoing supervision of the candidates to see whether they comply with the rules and regulations. as a result, students learn how to comply and identify, even when they are not convinced, all in the attempt to avoid expulsion. the internalization of the program is hardly achieved. this traditional model paid more attention to intellectual formation, which mainly took the form of passing information about doctrines and morals. it had little or no provision for the human development. people grew dissatisfied with the traditional method, particularly because it was one-dimensional and devoid of holistic integration. the second vatican council, decree on the training of priests, optatamtotius, specifically 132 formation of the human person in the 21st century called for a radical change. it emphasized spiritual and pastoral training (vat ii, nos 8-16,19-21). then, in 1988, the entire catholic world together with pope john paul ii deliberated on new methods of formation. the result is what we find in the apostolic exhortation, pastoresdabovobis, which not only identifies the four main forms of formation, but also pleaded for a holistic integral formation. for some seminaries and formation houses, these recommendations remain mere theories. their formation method is still business as usual: study, lectures or spiritual conferences, and little or no exercises in human development. given the numerous challenges to formation today, the traditional model can hardly meet the demands of the contemporary time. didactic approach is grossly inadequate; one must supplement it with something near “therapeutic” approach, so that the candidates can be helped to attain maturity. we dare not forget, as the iperu formation team puts it, that “the general stance of the church in its relationship to the modern world and to other religions has shifted from that of defensive vigilance and suspicion to that of openness and dialogue.” (iperu, 1995,13) the shift we must make if formation should succeed though the church has made a lot of recommendations with regard to changing our formation method to the better, bishops and major superiors, seminaries and formation houses continue, in practice, to pay more attention to academic qualifications rather than maturation processes; as a result intellectually bright but psychologically weak candidates and formators are chosen for the formation process. (iperu, 1995,13) the major concern of formation houses today should be how to achieve human maturity, not just on the part of the candidate, but also on the side of the formators, because, as pastoresdabovobis affirms, the success of every form of formation depends on the proper formation of the human personality. we need to focus on human maturity, as that aspect of human beings that ensures the harmony of elements and the integration of all tendencies and values in the human person. the sacred congregation for the catholic education recognizes the role human maturity plays in a healthy spirituality and appreciates its complexity and comprehensiveness in the following words: maturity is a complex reality which cannot be easily or fully defined. in general, however, one can judge a man mature when he has brought to reality his vocation as a man; in other words, a person who has acquired a ready and habitual capacity to act freely; a man who has integrated his developed human potential with habits of virtue; a man who has acquired an easy and habitual emotional self-control by integrating his section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 133 emotional drives and placing them at the service of his reason; a man who enjoys community living because of his willingness to give himself to serve others; one who devotes himself to his profession steadily and calmly; one whose conduct obviously follows his conscience; a man who uses freedom to explore, investigate, and develop; who can mould events and bring them to future fruition; finally, a man who has succeeded in bringing all his specifically human possibilities and potentialities to their due development. (the sacred congregation, 2002,18) if the crisis of faith is to be avoided in the lives of the candidates, the future priests and consecrated persons should be made to grow in vocational maturity. this means that there should be a shift from the didactic and defensive approach – which merely transmits information – to the therapeutic, dialogue and more comprehensive approach – which aims at transformation and growth in maturity. only the latter approach can handle the complex issue of formation in the contemporary world. ultimately, the task of formation is not just to in-form, but primarily to trans-form, so that the candidates can per-form better in their vocation. in other words, the project of formation, should not just aim at delivering information, but basically on effecting transformation in the candidate, so that he or she should be able to put up a nice performance in the ministry, in the discipleship. the drive towards maturity is a motivation towards transformation and “conversion of heart” (ccc 1206). as st paul was telling the ephesians, it is only at a high level of human maturity that we can attain the “unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of god” and form the community necessary for the body of christ (eph. 4:13). similarly, only with maturity can the formators create a formation community, provide the accompaniment on the road to discipleship, so that the candidate themselves can grow in vocational maturity. if the candidates are to acquire vocational maturity, they need training in the three areas of the psyche – the cognitive, the affective, and the volitional.  formation should aim at making candidates develop cognitive maturity, that is, the ability to grasp truth in a more dynamic way. this would entail, not just gaining knowledge of things, but also knowledge of the truth about themselves, the knowing subjects – about the development of their minds and moral conscience. much could be learnt from the advancements in human science, especially from jean piaget and lawrence kohlberg, who have proven beyond doubt that moral reasoning is not a static possession, but something that must be acquired through a developmental procedure.  formation should equally lead candidates to the growth in emotional maturity. this should make them be aware of their feelings and how 134 formation of the human person in the 21st century these feelings, whether conscious or unconscious, influence their actions. the regular pious admonitions from lectures and conference would certainly not be enough. it would rather require the involvement of a competent formator and a huge investment of time and energy both on the part of the candidate and the formator, for one to grow in awareness of what type of feelings and how such feelings motivate one’s actions. it should be an attempt to expose the defense mechanisms and replace them with much more mature and purposeful skills in rechanneling emotions to positive use.  candidates should equally learn how to grow in volitional maturity, i.e. the ability to delay or deny the gratification of certain desires inconsistent with the core values of one’s vocation. this would entail teaching them how to engage in responsible freedom: allowing them to be free in making their choices, but at the same time take responsibility for the result of their choice or actions. when all these are in place, candidates would be better prepared to attain competence in ministry; live a life that is an expression of authentic faith, rather than disbelief. with a mature personality, the religious or priest becomes a bridge that connects people to jesus christ. and when all these rigorous formation processes are in place, it will become easy for the formators to identify those candidates who do not qualify for the ministry, and redirect them elsewhere before ordination or profession. conclusion in the contemporary time, secularism and atheistic culture exert a lot of influence on life. this has its root in the western cultural revolution, which propagates relativism – the trend of thought that denies god and the supernatural absolute authority in the interpretation of reality – and makes human right to freedom and pleasure the criteria for moral judgment. this, no doubt, introduces crises in religion and in the life of faith, which, with the help of globalization, is tossed around in the world. the youth, more than any other group, is exposed to the current wave of religious and faith crises, which is compounded by other negative influences from the contemporary nigeria society saturated with materialism, corruption, superstition and sundry vices. as a result, candidates coming for formation today have a troubled background, which compromises their faith, and places much pressure on the traditional methods of formation. though formation should transform the candidates, it is being observed that many pass through the formation houses, and come out with lesser signs of authentic faith. the thrust of this reflection has been that if formation is to help in confronting and solving the problem of crises of faith, a more holistic and integral form of formation must be followed, not section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 135 just in principle, but in practice, aiming not just at information, but at transformation. references 1. cencini, amedeo,spiritual and emotional maturity. guiding young people in religious and priestly formation, nairobi: pauline publications africa, 1999. 2. erikson, erik h., childhood and society, new york: w.w. norton &company, 1950, 1963. 3. holy see, a catechism of christian doctrine, london: catholic truth society,1971, nr. 9. 4. holy see, cathechism of the catholic church, vatican city, 1992 5. iperu formation team, a guidebook for formators (formators handbook), iperu:ambassador publication, 1995. 6. kaigama, ignatius a., the pastoral care of seminarians in the parish, abuja: gaudium et spes institute, 2005 7. lonergan, bernard, methods in theology, minneapolis, minnesotsa: the seabury press, 1972. 8. mueller, j j. what are they saying about theological method?, new york, ramsey: paulist press 9. nnamani, amuluche-greg, “the influence of the past on the present with reference to formation and growth”, in bigard theological studies, dec-june 2013, vol 33, no 1, p. 83. 10. nwabeke, aloysius a., the formation of the formators, enugu: bigard memorial seminary, sine datum. 11. obuna, emmanuel, psychology and priestly formation (a nigerian experience), catholic diocese of abakaliki, 1995, 58-59 12. o’connell, laurence j., “vocation”, in the new dictionary of catholic spirituality, edited by michael downey, banglore: theological publicaions in india, 2003. 13. okeke, cornelius uche, “contemporary pressures on priestly formation: a formator’s perspective”, in the challenges of seminary formation in our time, edited by victor onwukeme, gwagwalada abuja: 2011. 14. pope john paul ii, post-synodal apostolic exhortation, vita consecrata, on the consecrated life and its mission in the church and in the world, vatican city, 1996. 15. pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis, 1992 16. ratzinger, joseph, (pope benedict xvi), christianity and the crisis of cultures, san francisco: ignatius press, p.34 ff. 17. peters, marguerite a.,the new global ethic: challenges for the church, 2006, and marguerite a. peters, the globalization of the western cultural revolution, 2007. 18. shorter, a., religious obedience in africa, nairobi: st. paul communications/daughters of st. paul, 2000. 19. the sacred congregation for catholic celibacy, a guide to formation in priestly celibacy, nairobi: paulines publication africa, 2002. 247 18 husserlian ‘epoche’ and the expansion of human knowledge sylvester idemudia odia, ph.d senior lecturer, dept. of philosophy, university of benin sylvester.odia@uniben.edu; slyodia2002@yahoo.com website: https://sylvesterodia.com abstract husserlian ‘epoche’ requires the researcher to intentionally set aside prejudices, biases, presumptions and presuppositions previously acquired from culture, religion, and society. this 'epoche' will enable the individual to have his or her own personal unbiased or unprejudiced assessment of the phenomena – objects, persons, events. most, if not all cultures, religions, and society seem rigid and dogmatic in imparting knowledge to younger generations. most persons who can reproduce the knowledge imparted to them are often celebrated as intelligent persons even when they may not have expanded the knowledge in question; thus ignoring those who may produce an unbiased or unprejudiced assessment of the phenomena – persons who may contribute to and expand knowledge. while the reproduction of cultural or communal knowledge by a given generation has historical values, it limits the generation in question to the limits of the knowledge community. this paper, using the analytical and phenomenological methods, argues for the expansion of human knowledge by encouraging researchers to have their encounter with the phenomena using the husserlian ‘epoche’. such knowledge acquired by the individual should be seen as an expansion of or additional knowledge to that of the knowledge community. keywords: epoche, knowledge, proposition, phenomenology, testimony introduction knowledge is essential to human survival. what to do or not do, what to eat and drink, the best environment to live in towards enhancing human life, the extent of what we know of other persons, objects, places and things, and so on are essential to human survival. 248 formation of the human person in the 21st century now, nature seems to be evolving. and humans, as part of nature, seems to be acquiring more skills by the day which enable humans to have a better knowledge of nature as well as other persons. thus the knowledge we currently possess of the nature of the person and reality, in general, seems to be the best of all knowledge hitherto produced by the human race because we have further expanded, via our own experiences, the knowledge we acquired from our predecessors. with all sense of sincerity and commitment to the survival of the human race, the knowledge we possess today we will also pass on to other persons (scholars or researchers inclusive). however, despite our genuine commitment to the survival of the human race, humans are still plagued with viruses, natural and manmade disasters, famine and hunger, poverty and premature death, terrorism and wars due to our inability to manage ourselves as temperamental and sensual beings who, more often than not, are prone to be irrational than rational. finding solutions to the above challenges require handing over or transmitting knowledge from one generation to another. this is often done through the propositional knowledge of scholars or researchers. such knowledge helps the scholar or researcher to be up to date with the historical development of the knowledge in question. but if all that the scholar or researcher does is to memorise and reproduce the knowledge imparted to him or her, then meeting the challenges of the seemingly changing nature and human behavioural patterns may be difficult. there is, therefore, the urgent need to impart knowledge to scholars or researchers at all levels in such a way that they will be able to have their own experiences of the phenomena. such experiences of theirs will be their contribution to the knowledge community and expand their knowledge of reality. to adequately expand human knowledge and resolve now challenges that threaten human existence, the phenomenological method of husserl, especially his epoche is of great importance. thus, this paper will expose the phenomenological method of husserl as captured in his epoche towards revealing how it can help expand human knowledge. before doing this, it will expose what knowledge is and argue that knowledge, as taught in schools, are fundamentally propositional, historical and ultimately testimonial in nature. testimonial knowledge attests to the need for epoche in expanding knowledge for the survival of the human race. what knowledge is to the epistemologist, the knowledge that is of importance is propositional knowledge, which is often in the form of ‘i know that...” section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 249 such knowledge presupposes that the knower has experienced phenomena – persons, objects, things, events and state-of-affairs. from a phenomenological point of view, especially as espoused by husserl, such knowledge also include things like universals or essences, numbers, values, and so on. knowledge here is an expression of the knower’s experience (directly or indirectly) with a phenomenon via sense perception, rational or cognitive inference or judgment, testimony (knowledge from other persons’ experiences), revelation, authority or experts, memory, and so on. traditionally, knowledge has been defined as ‘justified true belief ’ (plato, theaetetus, 201 c-d). the main challenge with this definition, especially as captured by gettier's counterexamples (gettier, 1963: 123), is how to justify knowledge claims. it is not enough to claim to know something, to claim to have an experience of something, to claim to have come in contact with something or to claim to have reflected on something and, thus, have an idea of it without providing a satisfactory and reasonable explanation for one’s knowledge claim. attempts to justify knowledge claims have led to different criteria of justification which largely depend on the school of thought of the knower. materialists are likely to limit themselves to that which is perceptible to the senses and, if they are scientists, they are generous enough to include the conclusions reached by the senses with the aid of scientific instruments that help to meliorate the limits of sense perception. idealists seek the certainty of knowledge beyond the limits of sense perceptions. they are likely to place more trust in reason or inferential knowledge in their search for essences or universal qualities that can endure through time. if they are religiously inclined, certainty in knowledge will be sought for in the relationship they have with the divine or supernatural being who is believed to have created all things that can be known, and who infuses into the human mind the lacuna in sensual and cognitive knowledge via revelation, intuition, dreams and feelings. for instance, as it concerns an idealistic conception of knowledge, abanaku (2018: 52) is of the view that the ultimate reality (the one or the supreme being) is the sole criterion of truth for the one is truth itself. the most humans can know of reality is to some certain degree of certainty. thus “human knowledge could be described as characterized by degrees of clarity, distinctness and truth as it deepens from individual through communal to ultimate knowledge.” (abanaku, 2018: 53) but teichman and evans (1991: 65) negate the idealistic notion of knowledge because it seems to ignore the notion of propositional 250 formation of the human person in the 21st century knowledge. propositional knowledge is seen by them as the testimony of a knower about an event that took place at a time in history, and the event is about nature that seems to be evolving. however, irrespective of the school of thought one may adhere to, once the subject of knowledge (a knower) believes that he or she knows anything, the knowledge acquired becomes propositional at the point of communicating or transmitting it to others. propositional knowledge as testimonial knowledge the subject of knowledge (the knower or epistemic agent) believes that he or she knows when there is some reasonable degree of conviction. this reasonable degree of conviction is put to the test when the knower presents the knowledge he or she claims to have to another person or group of persons. this presentation of a knowledge claim is in the form of a proposition, that is, the knowledge claim is presented as a claim that can be true or false, even though the knower presents it with the conviction that the claim he or she makes is true. on propositional knowledge, hegel (1892: 144) is of the view that it gives us a partial picture of reality; partial idea from the perspective of the knower. while a full knowledge of reality can be attained at the level of 'absolute knowledge', before attaining absolute knowledge via dialectic, the knower produces propositional knowledge from a given perspective and groups things into different classes. now, propositional knowledge allows other epistemic agents (who are being presented with the knowledge claim of the knower) to verify whether or not the knowledge claim of the knower is true or false. it also brings to the awareness of epistemic agents that the knowledge in question is as understood and expressed by the knower; that is, it is the testimony of the knower concerning the knowledge claim. propositional knowledge, therefore, becomes the testimony of the knower at the point of dissemination. if epistemic agents (hearers) are convinced of the veracity of the knowledge claim or are reasonably satisfied with the justification provided by the knower, then it becomes knowledge for the epistemic agents based on the testimony of the knower. but if epistemic agents doubt the knowledge claim of the knower, then the knowledge claim becomes probable. furthermore, testimonial knowledge is historical in the sense that it is the proposition of a knower containing a knowledge claim of phenomena or state-of-affairs acquired in some distant or immediate past. since reality is interpreted differently from the experiences of different epistemic agents, and what we claim to know seems to constantly evolve, then there is a need to constantly keep track of what we can know of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs. but if we section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 251 bring into our experience of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs the previous conclusions we deduced from our past experiences or previous conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, other researchers and epistemic agents from previous phenomena or similar state-of-affairs, then we may fail to detect what the present phenomena or present state-of-affairs is revealing or has evolved into. these previous experiences of ours or conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, other researchers and epistemic agents are what husserl referred to as biases, prejudices, presuppositions, etc. to experience phenomena or a present state-of-affairs as it currently is or as it is currently revealing itself without bias, prejudice or presuppositions requires one to practice husserl's epoche. the practice of husserl’s epoche will lead to a meaningful growth of knowledge. husserlian epoche and the growth of human knowledge for husserl, viewing the world from the opinions and conclusions of others is the “natural standpoint”. the natural standpoint is the conventional way of learning or imparting knowledge to others. also, this conventional way of perceiving reality limits reality to sense perception and trivializes our ability to know things inferred by reason – the idea of the mind, universals or essences. to attain knowledge of things as they are (which is not possible for plato and kant), husserl developed a method that requires the bracketing away of the opinion, bias, prejudice, and presuppositions of the natural standpoint to be able to experience the phenomena as it is. this method is known as epoche or the “phenomenological reduction”. it is the reduction of experience to the level of not being influence by the judgments and conclusions of previous epistemic agents. this "phenomenological reduction" also known as "transcendental reduction" leads to the experience of the pure act of consciousness about the phenomena or state-of-affairs. according to lawhead (2002: 530 footnote) "epoche was the term used by the greek sceptics when they recommended we withhold our commitment and suspend judgment about things that were uncertain." thus, we can say that husserl is challenging us to suspend all previous judgments, conclusions, opinions, and presuppositions about a phenomenon or state-of-affairs. we should approach the phenomenon or state-of-affairs with the mindset of allowing the phenomenon or stateof-affairs to reveal itself to us. with the revelation we have experienced we can form our judgment about the phenomenon. the phenomenon is explicated from one’s own experience without the bias or influence of any philosophizing (husserl, 1960: 151). such an experience of the phenomenon is pure and will help us know things as they are in 252 formation of the human person in the 21st century themselves because it brackets away biases and attitude acquired at the level of the natural standpoint. this method of epoche also known as ‘bracketing’ is an intuitive process similar to descartes methodic doubt. descartes, armed with experience, doubted the knowledge of reality he previously had on the bases that the sources of such knowledge had limitations. during this process, he could not doubt that he was doubting or thinking. thus he concluded that essentially he was a thinking being that exists. this idea of a thinking being that exists was something he could not doubt and he believed that the sceptics, no matter how much they try to doubt it, will not be able to doubt it (descartes, 1912: 26 – 27). descartes method of doubting everything he used to believe to be knowledgeable to be able to arrive at the "thinking being" with all clarity and certainty is similar to husserl's epoche. husserl believes that with the method of epoche he can arrive at the knowledge of things as they are. looking at the limitations of the senses and reason as sources of knowledge, and given that propositional knowledge is dated for they are about past experiences, in order not to live in the shadows of the past (especially if we want to know things as they are today), we must bracket away from the knowledge of the past. ojong and ibrahim (2011: 185) have both stated the problems with some sources and theories of knowledge and, taking a clue from the works of kant and kuhn they opined that today's knowledge claims are a product of the experience of the knower with interpretation arrived at by the workings of the mind of the knower. and, given that reality changes, the interpretation arrived at when reality changes produce new paradigms that "make us see the world from a different perspective." besides, ojong (2010: 39, 44) encourages any epistemologist who is experiencing "epistemic loneliness" (egocentric predicament) over false ideas, to overcome his or her fears and scepticism by engaging in epistemic discourse with other epistemologists. he or she will effectively engage the external world using the tool of language to avoid the challenge of 'private' language. but given that the idea of the epistemologist is relative to some degree, the researcher or scholar need not bother too much about objectivity or truth as defined or presented to him or her by the epistemic community. his or her main concern is to explain reality as currently experienced or as it currently presents itself. furthermore, from kant and kuhn's idea of a paradigm shift, one can infer that if indeed, reality undergoes changes, each major change will produce a new paradigm. every new paradigm will produce new knowledge. thus the researcher or scholar needs to bracket away section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 253 previous paradigms to enable him or her detect possible new changes of reality to be able to acquire knowledge current to the reality of his or her time. such knowledge acquired becomes a contribution to the knowledge of the epistemic community. knowledge, as collectively owned, has thereby expanded or grown. glorifying the past husserl does not condemn the past. he did not play down the importance of customs and traditions. he also did not condemn the knowledge of our past experiences or from experts. he was, however, against dogmatising or canonising the experience of the past to the detriment of what the phenomena or state-of-affairs is currently revealing. thus, if we are to find new patterns in the phenomena or state-of-affairs, if we are to solve today’s emerging problems and challenges, and if we want to expand the frontiers of knowledge then we need to include our own unique experiences through the practice of husserl’s epoche. conclusion humans are communal beings. we live in communities and share things in common with members of the community in which we live. knowledge is one major thing we share in common especially as it is essential to the survival of the human race. however, as beautiful and essential the knowledge we acquire from the epistemic community is, it is dated. if the researcher or scholar is to contribute meaningfully to the epistemic community he or she belongs to, he or she should practice the husserlian epoche especially since the world in which we live seems to be evolving. whatever the pure act of consciousness intuitively deduces or produces from epoche is, according to husserl, the way the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. this knowledge from the pure act of consciousness will further be implemented by reason and senses in our everyday experiences. such knowledge, if different from what was previously thought about the phenomena or state-of-affairs, will be a genuine contribution to knowledge. it will be an advancement of knowledge. but then, it will not be proper to dogmatise it or to canonize it as the ultimate truth as far as the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. to dogmatise or canonize will amount to using this conclusion to assess subsequent or similar phenomena or state-of-affairs, and this will be against the principle of husserl’s epoche. in other words, each time we approach familiar or strange phenomena or state-of-affairs we should apply epoche so that the pure state of consciousness can intuitively know the phenomena or state-of254 formation of the human person in the 21st century affairs as it is. if the phenomena or state-of-affairs has evolved, the subject of knowledge that is investigating it phenomenologically will detect it and add the experience to that of the knowledge community. if the phenomena or state-of-affairs has not evolved, it will reveal itself as it did the previous time it was experienced. however, as difficult as it is for many to practice epoche or “transcendental reduction,” it produces and expands the frontiers of knowledge, conquers new challenges, and keeps humanity surviving. references abanaku, b., 2018. fundamentals of human knowledge: echoes of reality and individuation and other writings, onitsha: spiritan publications. descartes, rene 1912. a discourse on method, meditations on the first philosophy, principles of philosophy, trans. j. veitch, london: j. m. dent and sons, ltd. gettier, e. l. 1963. “is justified true belief knowledge?”, analysis, 23, june, p. 123 hegel, g. w. f., 1892. the logic of hegel, translated from the encyclopaedia of the philosophical science by w. wallace. oxford: clarendon press. husserl, edmund, 1960. cartesian meditations, trans. d. cairns, netherlands: the hague. lawhead, william f., 2002. the voyage of discovery: a historical introduction to philosophy, 2nd ed., belmont, ca: wadsworth. ojong, k. ayiba, 2010. the story of epistemology, calabar: jochrisam publishers. ojong, k. ayiba and adekunle a. ibrahim, 2011. fundamental problems of epistemology, calabar: jochrisam publishers. plato, theaetetus, 201, c – d. teichman, j. and evans, k. c., 1991. philosophy: a beginner’s guide, oxford: basil blackwell ltd, p. 65. 504 37 women in yoruba religion and culture prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract this paper discusses the place of women in yoruba culture and religion. it first established the fact that yoruba culture and religion are strictly related. while culture expresses religion, religion is part and parcel of yoruba culture, and these two elements occupy a valuable place in the life of the yoruba. it observed that the yoruba value motherhood even as polygamy was common, targeted at having more children, specifically, male children because of inheritance. the women were indispensable partners of the men folk; it was the women that managed the home and made yoruba valued festivities a huge success. they were not just partners in relation to the men, they assumed leadership offices like the iya laje. this paper also discovered that women were the sustaining force of yoruba religion. women did not only participate but played leadership roles, especially as concerns rituals. in several cults for instance, women were priestesses like, ìyá ọ̀ṣun, ìyá ògún, and ìyá ṣàngó. they were also readily accessible to feed the gods and take care of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 505 shrines. this paper discovered that women were not only well involved in the yoruba life, culture and religion, they were indispensable. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: women, yoruba, religion, culture, motherhood, iya laje, priestesses introduction this paper discusses women in yoruba culture and religion especially in the precolonial period. yoruba people according to atanda (1989) constitute one of the major ethnic groups in modern nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). as a group, they have distinguished themselves in their belief and traditions. the yoruba deities are called orishas and the oral traditions have it that they have more than 420 deities that are worshiped differently without clashes with rituals, music, dances, and prediction practices from their priests and priestesses. yorubas believe that when they die, they go to the realm of ancestors where they can still have influence on events taking place on earth. they believe in re-incarnation. hence there is a link between the living and the dead. god almighty to them is called olọ́run. most of the yoruba people take part in farm work. the men grow foods such as corn, yams, cocoyams, nuts, and cocoa. men are also often traders and craftsmen as well. women do less work on the farms, but are important traders as they market their husbands’ farm produce. their rank traditionally depends on that of their husbands. therefore wives of kings, chiefs and ifa priests were honoured more than those that were married to ordinary members of the community. some of yoruba values are respect for eldersgrowing up has benefits. they also value honesty, collective community development, cultural observes reflecting in their interaction with othersmode of dressing and diets. they also value humility and perseverance. and more importantly, they value communal life. all these are inculcated in their informal training originally called home training. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) summarize yoruba values as follows: “good virtues can also be learned through proverbs (òwe), ifá corpus (odù), and some mythical stories and parables. generosity, hospitality, and kindness are interconnected and closely related. the yorùbá expect that a person who possesses a virtuous moral character, 506 formation of the human person in the 21st century such as kindness, ought to be generous and hospitable. all virtues are intrinsically connected with and relevant to individual and communal peace. when these qualities are in abundance, the yorùbá consider the society to have abundant life.” yoruba culture and religion are closely related. while culture expresses religion, religion itself is part and parcel of yoruba culture. this is simply their ways of life as well as their belief. any effort to separate culture and religion among the yoruba will surely be ineffective. according to olajubu (2008), “the traditional cultural and religious practices of the yoruba people are closely intertwined. in traditional yoruba religion, women are its majority membership and sustaining force. consequently, women play leadership roles in yoruba religion, especially as concerns rituals.” the researcher witnessed in some villages in yoruba land, while women would carry sacrifices in afternoon to ensure safety in the environment. at times, they may be two or three women doing this at the same time with total enthusiasm and seriousness. yoruba believe that women apart from being complementary, they are representation of peace and harmony. hence the common wish and prayer at the beginning of a new year “ọ́dún á ya’bo fún wa o” (this year will bring us all that the female principle stands for). this prayer is a representation of the people’s conception of female (abo) and male (akọ). a “female year” in this context is a blissful and pleasurable year. since yoruba belief that symbols of calmness and peace (ẹ̀rọ ̀) represent female principles, whereas toughness represents male principles. another important fact about yoruba women down the ages is their trust in motherhood. motherhood is cherished beyond any other thing. despite the fact that polygamy was common in the indigenous yoruba culture, having children was as good as living or being alive. to this, ilesanmi (2013) opines that “among the yoruba people, motherhood transcends biological readiness” akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) explain this concept better in these words “a woman must bear children; motherhood is highly valued by the yorùbá people. a proverb states ọlọ́mọ ló l’ọkọ (the one who bears children is the owner of the husband).” many a time they say olomo lo l’aye (the one who bears children owns the world). therefore, you have names like omojola (a child is greater than wealth), omoyajowo (a child is preferred to wealth), omoleye (children are honorable), omolabake (a child is to be pampered), omobanji (a child awoke with me), omolade (a child is a crown), omoniosinmi (a child will bury me), omolere (a child is a reward), omolaso (a child covers nakedness), omolara (a child is family), omolayo (a child is joy) in yoruba culture to drive home the fact that children are better than any other thing in life. a mother then section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 507 will stay in her marriage through tick and tin because children are involved and many a time it becomes the only reason why they have to persevere. in the midst of chaos, they remove their children first and any other thing can perish. akíntúndé and fálọlá conclude by saying that “ a barren woman does everything humanly even spiritually possible to have a child, which may result in the children of cowives becoming possible targets of attack from a barren woman or other enemies.” as they struggle to become mothers, the desire to have male children is another important issue. male children are highly valued than female children because of inheritance as ilesanmi (2013) consents therefore, “the heir receives much honour but a female child cannot be a heir in yoruba land.” along with this struggle, they still participate actively in the affairs of the society and in religion by taking leadership positions by becoming regents, priestesses and even deities. women in yoruba culture and religion women in yoruba culture: the culture of yoruba people reflects in their trades and professions, music, dressing, choices of meals or diets, celebration of the living and the dead, togetherness, arts and festivals, folktales, proverbs, myths and symbols. this culture is also their religion and idowu (1966) asserts to this by saying that “the religion of the yoruba permeates their lives so much that it expresses itself in multifarious ways. it forms the themes of songs, makes topics for minstrelsy, finds vehicles in myths, folktales, proverbs and sayings, and is the basis of philosophy.” yoruba women were always available to take care of their homes and children even the extended families. they were useful domestically, such as catering, tailoring, and housekeeping. they were helping their husbands in farm work as very popular in the traditional yoruba culture. they always break into age groups for support and encouragements through regular meetings and connections. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) in their contributions are of the opinion that the precolonial yorùbá woman’s active participation in economic activities allowed for accumulation of wealth, through which she accessed sociopolitical space. prominent examples of women who achieved socio-economic power and subsequently wielded great political influence in their societies and environs include ẹfúnṣetán aníwúrà, the ìyálóde (woman leader) of ìbàdàn and mọ́gàjí of her lineage, and madam ẹfúnróyè tinúbú, the first ìyálóde of ẹ̀gbáland. other women became adelé ọba (regents) to fill leadership vacuums in their communities, and some became the ọba of their communities, such as in old oǹdó kingdom. 508 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the culture, yoruba women were part and parcel of war even though men were always at the war front. ilesanmi (2013) asserts that, “while men rely on brute force and medicinal power in fighting wars, women rely on psychological and the cult knowledge which are by far superior to those of brute force and medicinal aid.” they have a particular role to play in all the events of the traditional life be it related to peace or to war. in the mind of ilesanmi (2013) as well, “women most of the time were responsible for the happenings of the environment as he identifies them as a group that “can cause war, act as instrument of war, act in avoidance of war and their role in the formulation of peace treaty.” a good example is the story of moremi, who sacrificed her son oluorogbo to a goddess for her people to have peace. women in yoruba religion: yoruba people stand out in their religious practices. they belief in god and in other gods that are closer to them and they carve images of them in their shrines. in relation to this, johnson (1921) affirms that “yoruba people believe in the existence of the almighty god, him they term olorunlord of heaven. they acknowledge him, maker of heaven and earth, but too exalted to concern himself with men and their affairs, hence they admit the existence of other gods as intermediaries and these they term orisas.” he went further to explain yoruba belief by adding that they also belief in the future state, therefore the worship of the dead, and invocation of the spirits and in the “doctrine of metempsychosis, transmigration of souls, hence they affirm that after a period of time, deceased parents are born again into the family of their surviving children.” women are the majority when it comes to practicing traditional religion. however, idowu (1966) is of the opinion that yoruba people are “religious in all things.” he states further that “religion forms the foundation and allgoverning principle of life for them. …the full responsibility of all the affairs belongs to the deity…through all its changing scenes, its joys and troubles; it is the deity who is in control” women were very much ensnared into this religious practices that apart from the time of worship, they make their religious practices part of their daily activities. idowu (1966) opines that “usually, women are more religious ones who are more frequently caught in this practice by wayside shrines, sacred trees, sacred brooks, at cross-roads, or at any other places marked with some sacred signs, asking for a blessing on their journey, their work, their wares, their family or their private undertakings”. as we pay attention to the role of women in yoruba culture, some of them became deities with specific responsibilities like their male counterparts like: ajé orisha of wealth, ayao orisha of air, yewa orisha of the river yewa. of the maternity and of the children, nàná section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 509 bùkùú orisha of the river and of the earth, ọbà first wife of ṣàngó and orisha of domesticity and marriage, ọtìn orisha of river, she is hunter and wife of erinlẹ̀, olókun orisha of the seas, ọ̀ṣun orisha who presides over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth, diplomacy and of the ọ̀ṣun river, ọya orisha of the niger river; associated with wind, lightning, fertility, fire, and magic, yemọja a mother goddess; patron deity of women and of the ogun river and finally yemowo wife of ọbàtálá and of the water. each òrìṣà has its shrine and favorite sacrificial offerings, and its followers observe a distinctive set of food taboos. women were readily available at these shrines to feed the gods and clean the shrines. they equally make provisions for food during festivities. to their followers, the òrìṣà bring the benefits of health, wealth, and children, but they punish negligence, offences, and the breaking of taboos. various worshippers enjoy the support of the ruler (ọba) and some of the worshippers visit the palace to greet him and impart on him the blessings of the òrìṣà on their feast days. in line with this, akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) arrive at a beautiful description on the role of women in yoruba religion. “women play key roles in religious ceremonies as priestesses and prophetesses. some important deities are female. for instance, several cults, including ọ̀ṣun, ògún, and ṣàngó, have women priestesses who are known as ìyá ọ̀ṣun, ìyá ògún, and ìyá ṣàngó, respectively.” they went further to explain that yorùbá women in precolonial period were admitted into sacred knowledge (awo). as initiates, such women could participate as leaders in high religious ritual practices from which uninitiated men and women were excluded. the admission of women into sacred knowledge translated into religious powers for those women. they went on to serve as diviners (ìyánífá). yoruba women have mystical powers as they appear week physically; some of them have more than they carry outside. “yoruba people also believe that some women have extrasensory, celestial powers. some of these powers are intended for destruction, and these women are referred to as ìyá ayé (women of the world). women were often regarded as atúnnidá, or women who have the ability to affect one’s destiny and possibly change such an individual. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) they were the brains behind most of the happenings in cults. ilesanmi (2013) says emphatically that “there is no yoruba native cult without women as its backbone” and always women were deprived to see or witness these happenings hence the saying; obinrin o kii wo oro which means that women must not witness the happening within the cults. and to this, ilesanmi says, “it is women who ban other women from seeing 510 formation of the human person in the 21st century the cults.” apart from women this, “the most powerful women’s cult is witches cult” ilesanmi (2013). he explained further that men fear them most because they decide who should be king and put a mark on him from birth. also, women cults controls men as vanguards; they can make men suffer indescribable pains and yet pretend that they knew nothing about the genesis of the suffering and they give full support to the one they love. conclusion the participation of women in yoruba culture and religion are not prominent today like in the traditional culture. colonization and civilization has really influenced these practices. today, christianity and islamic religions are becoming popular and women are not taking active participation in them. it appears to be men religion. for example, women are no longer participating in rituals; they are not even recognized in worship. although in some cases they still take care of the places of worship as cleaners but not as prophetesses and priestesses except in some white garment churches. women are still the majority in places of worship, at prayer mountains and attending vigils, asking for blessings on their journey, their work, their business, their family or their private happenings. nonetheless, they are in the minority in the political and economic structures of the society. yoruba women today struggle alone in this individualistic society. thanks to colonial masters who brought civilization in its positive parts but this has really destroyed yoruba values and women participation in their culture and religion. references akíntúndé a and fálọlá t. (eds) (2016). encyclopedia of the yoruba. bloomington, in. indiana university press. questia, a part of gale, cengage learning. www.questia.com atanda j. a. (1980). an introduction to yoruba history. ibadan. the caxton press. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_yoruba_deities idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba culture. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ilesanmi t.m (2013). obinrin: a cultural assessment of yoruba women. nigeria, astra-j. multimedia nig.ltd. johnson s. (1921). the history of the yorubas. lagos. ccs bookshops ltd. olajubu o. (2008). a socio-cultural analysis of yoruba women and the reimagining of christianity. research article. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0966735008091401 383 28 the concept of sacrifice in yoruba religion and culture prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract sacrifice occupies a fundamental place in the practice of african traditional religion. it is through sacrifices that the african relates to the spiritual beings, both good and bad, that surround him. his offerings of thanksgiving to the gods are offered through the making of sacrifices. when the time comes for the appeasement of the gods and other spiritual beings, it is through sacrifice that is done. however, this paper is concerned about sacrifice among the yoruba people. in the traditional yoruba religion and culture, sacrifice is referred to as (ebo). it connotes offering something to a particular deity or cult in other to be in communion with them or to seek favours. it was very common and regular because sacrifices have both positive and negative effects. it is believed that olodumare-god in yoruba belief has deities that are mediators between him and human beings. it is then very important to offer sacrifices to these gods in other to represent them well in the presence of olodumare. items for sacrifices are regularly prescribed by the ifa priests and how to carry out the approved sacrifice. this paper therefore gives explanation about the meaning and importance of sacrifice in the traditional yoruba culture. it, however, observed that civilization has reduced the frequency of this practice, not making an 384 formation of the human person in the 21st century emphatic statement that they are no longer in practice but that they are done most of the time in secret. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: sacrifice, concept, yoruba, deities, gods, olodumare, ifa, ebo and appeasement. introduction sacrifice is a way of offering something to gain another thing. it has meaning when someone renounces or gives up something to be rewarded with another object. the concept of sacrifice sounds like trade by bartermaking exchange for something. sacrifice is to give away something valuable for the possibility of gaining something of a great value in return. this can come in form of self-respect, trust, love, freedom, favours and prosperity. it may even be for the purpose of avoiding greater loss, which means, retaining what is of value to someone. “the giving up or foregoing of some valued thing for the sake of something of greater value or having a more pressing claim” nu (2013). it can also be the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation or worship. therefore, sacrifice is made for the purpose of worship and appeasement, for avoiding loss and for attaining a better thing. when it comes to worship in africa however, sacrifice is the most primary and basic form of ritual and nu (2013) upholds that “the africans believe that verbalization is not enough in one’s relationship with the supernatural. ifa divination serves as a preamble to prayer. via ifa divination we can ascertain how to pray, to whom to pray and for what.” sacrifice in african religion according to awolalu and dopamu (1979) is the act of offering the life of animal, person or object to the divine power or powers. nu (2013) is of the opinion that for the yoruba, divining (ifa) serves as an approach to prayer and shows one why they need to pray and shows one the best procedure for elevating one’s prayer via some form of sacrifice. in this world of many choices, this complex and varied approach is still miraculously accurate and effective. in this world of choices, this complex and varied approach is necessary.the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018) presents this definition to sacrifice (ebo) in yoruba culture. “ebo means sacrifice. ebo is a ritual. ebo is the prescription that is given within the ifa divination. it is the medicine used to solve problems. ebo is a combination of materials that symbolically has meaning to a person' situation.” this is very important in every religious celebration and worship. sacrifice is mainly for the purpose of contact or communion between the divine and man and to maintain relationship. man has always employed section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 385 this means to pay dues to divinity, to ask for favours and to influence the divinity to be interested in the affairs of man. africans hold sacrifice in high esteem because it is being directed to god. blood sacrifice is the most important and efficacious of all sacrifices in the understanding of african rituals. this is evident in the offering of animal and human beings. human sacrifice is also predominant in yoruba culture and religion. “this is a practice found in every race and culture throughout the world” awolalu and dopamu (1979). it has its relevance in offering the best to the divine to satisfy him, especially in difficult times like the loom of epidemic, drought, war, flood, earthquakes or calamity. human sacrifice was also done to accompany the dedication of a new temple or bridge, upon the death of a king, high priest and great leader. the sacrificed were supposed to serve or accompany the deceased leader in the next life. the story of moremi, a yoruba woman is relevant here. moremi was a very brave and beautiful woman who, in order to deal with the problem facing her people, pledged a great sacrifice to the spirit of the river esimirin so that she could discover the strength of her nation's enemies. moremi, following the war she returned to her first husband, king oramiyan of ife (and later oyo), who immediately had her re-instated as his queen. in order to fulfil the pledge she made to esimirin before embarking on her mission, her son oluorogbo was given in sacrifice to the spirit because this is what it asked her for when she returned to its shrine. who are the yoruba? yoruba people according to atanda (1989) one of the major ethnic groups in modern nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). in the same vain, ogunyemi (2015) affirms that yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups of nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. much smaller, scattered groups live in benin and northern togo. the yoruba numbered more than 20 million at the turn of the 21st century. yoruba people have shared a common language and culture for centuries. most yoruba men are farmers, growing yams, corn (maize), and millet as staples and plantains, peanuts (groundnuts), beans, and peas as subsidiary crops; cocoa is a major cash crop. others are traders or craftsmen. women do little farm work but most of them sell produce from their husband’s farm and they also do other trades like weaving, dyeing and midwives. each community has leaders generally known as 386 formation of the human person in the 21st century oba or kabiyesi with his chiefs. these people are held in highest honour and in some cases, they are ritual leaders. yoruba as a group dwell in a world of myths, metaphors, poetry, and they strongly belief in ifa divination system, which guides their steps and decisions. “yoruba philosophy is best understood as a folk philosophy, a set of narratives and cultural practices that attempt to explain the causes and the nature of things affecting the corporeal and the spiritual universe.’ ogunyemi (2015) .yoruba people are community people; this is visible in their interaction with others especially during celebrations. their communal life is also visible in their mode of dressing uniformly and sharing of common diets. ogunyemi (2015) explains their communal life thus “the yoruba also have several kinds of voluntary associations, including the egbe, a male recreational association; the aaro, a mutual-aid association of farmers; and the esusu, whose members contribute a fixed amount of money and from which they can receive loans.” iwofa was also a practice among yoruba people where a son or daughter is used as collateral until loan is paid. they also value honesty, humility, respect for others and diligence. all these are transmitted from generation to generation through oral traditions. yoruba concept of sacrifice sacrifice known as ebo is very common in indigenous yoruba culture. indeed, is it part of their daily activities and likely items like: sheep, goat, food, fruits, eggs and any other prescribed stuff by the priest of the particular god to offer sacrifice to are used for sacrifices. after all, the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018) shows that “all of the ebo materials come from the odu ifa that was cast, each condiment represent an important part of solving the clients problems, there is no condiment that should be left out. basic condiments that are always present during any ebo i.e cool water (omi tutu), honey (oyin), and gin (oti). each one of these condiments are agents that supports the ebo, each condiments has its roll that it plays in the ebo ritual.” these sacrifices are either exposed in the shrines, cross-roads, market places, some may even been buried, at times yoruba eat or share sacrifices together with friends or community. however, how to go about the presentation of a particular sacrifice depends on the prescription of the diviner. these gods have their taste and taboos as well. sacrifice is offered everyday by individual families so as to be in communion with the divinity. community sacrifices are equally preformed regularly. it is part of the belief of yoruba that one’s a sacrifice is offered for a given purpose, through the consultation with ifa that the solution is provided for the problem in question. sacrifice must be offered regularly section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 387 both in good and bad times. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) carefully explain this as follows: “in a culture with strong beliefs in fairies and mystical causation, protective rituals and sacrifices are regularly performed. people must be protected from the wrath of fairies, and fairyhuman social relationships must be harmonized. therefore, whenever any misfortune occurs in yorùbá society and the source remains unknown, both humans and invisible spirits are subjects of divination by the people concerned. to complete any divination process, there is always a prescribed sacrifice. whether the prediction of the divination is good or bad, the client must always offer a sacrifice. if the prediction is good, a sacrifice will quicken a positive outcome; if the prediction is evil, a sacrifice will help dispel the ill effects.” in addition to this, obara-meji (2014) affirms that “it is important that the sacrifice be given on time, as a matter of fact immediately, as it is prescribed. ifa says, “there is no difference between the person that refuses to offer sacrifice on time and the one that did not offer at all”. the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018), settle for this in attempt to respond to what happens if ebo is not done after consultation with the oracle? “then you run the chances of making another problem occur stronger than your first problem you started with. it is not advisable to delay your ebo process especially when the odu has appeared. you should follow the guidance and wisdom of ifa and your ifa priest who did the consultation. once you have done ifa divination you must always know that you have to do ebo, they both work hand in hand together. the ebo helps to shift one' circumstance to a balanced outcome.” types or categories of sacrifice there are seven types or categories of sacrifice in yoruba culture as idowu (1969) affirms, this was later re-echoed by awolalu and dopamu (1979) as follows: meal and drink sacrifice is offered daily by individual and families to continue to appreciate the deity or divinity and to be in communion with the god. the head of the family is responsible for coordinating this sacrifice which can be termed as morning prayer for a particular household. libation is poured here and prayers are offered. individual present or interested members may be asked to add some intentions while all in attendance respond in resounding amen. this is equally done at feast days where food and drinks are prepared for sharing; all present must partake in it. there is no prearranged food; it depends on whatever the community can afford. the second type is thanks –offering. this is done whenever a favour is received, like at the arrival of a new baby or one escaped from a misfortune or danger. this type of sacrifice can also be performed when one is asking for a particular blessing. items like animal, fruits, vegetables 388 formation of the human person in the 21st century or articles that may be useful in the shrine are presented for sacrifice. at annual festival however, this is important as everybody would be encouraged to come with voluntary items for sacrifice. the third one is votive offering. in the process of making a request, one may make a vow. this vow is an agreement between the god and the receiver of gift. in yoruba culture, any vow made must be paid, if not the receiver may not be able to cope with the consequences. the case of oluronbi can be applicable here, who in the process of asking for a child promised to return this child to iroko tree after a while. her request was eventually granted with the gift of a handsome baby boy which she did not want to release as promised. one day according to this story, as she was returning from the market in the company of this boy, passing under iroko tree, the boy disappeared and was nowhere to be found. it was latter interpreted that iroko tree claimed what was its own and oluronbi went home sorrowful. another category of sacrifice is propitiation or expiation. this is done when the fury of the divinity is at its peak. sacrifice here is offered to appease the god in pacification. asking for forgiveness of past sins and promising to live a better life. it has its purpose in gaining back the favour of the deity. sacrifices offered here are not shared! it is mainly for the divinity and must be treated as the divinity instructs. after the sacrifice has been duly offered, the person in question is relieved from the anger or chastisement of the divinity. the fifth category of sacrifice is substitutionary sacrifice or offering. this is done as soon as a person is marked to die or there is a revelation that a particular person will die. an animal is used to substitute for the person. other agreed items may be added. the items are rubbed against the body of the person in this situation and parked like a corpse for burial. this takes the place of the person that this type of sacrifice is prescribed for. it is then understood that the person is dead as pronounced. obara meji (2014) gives a beautiful analysis of this type of sacrifice using his personal example thus: “when i did my initiation to ifa (itefa) i was told that my father would die, this was many years ago, this came out on the seventh day of my initiation which is called ije, this is when all the babalawos gather around and each of them tell you something from the odu, your destiny, which comes out for you during initiation, i was told that in order for the death to be removed from my father, a female goat had to be given as sacrifice to orunmila otherwise known as ifa. it was given and accepted. the life of the goat was given instead of the life of my father. i would say that was a fair exchange.” in the preventive sacrifice, it is done to avert sudden attack on a person or a community. an oracle may predict this beforehand or it may come through a consultation with the oracle when there is a problem like section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 389 epidemic or a chain of adversities. a preventive sacrifice is performed to stop it. the last is foundation sacrifice. this is done at the start of any important step or stage in one’s life, for example, at birth, at puberty, during weeding, starting a building, settling down in a new town or when a new object has just been purchased. this type of sacrifice is to request for peace and progress in this new phase of life. although nu (2013) states in contrary to the above that “the variety of sacrifice includes time, song, dance, money, change and life force offerings.” this may not be totally acceptable in yoruba context in the mind of the researcher. nu’s ideas are more of actions that accompany worship and celebrations rather than what sacrifice (ebo) means in yoruba perspective. except if variety in his definition does not denote types and categories. considering the write up of ifaglobal network in (2018), it has been concluded that types of ebo has no perimeter as against the assertion of idowu (1969), awolalu and dopamu (1979) above that agree on seven types or categories. “there are ebo for long life, prosperity, wealth, victory, health, money, peace of mind, honour, and respect and so on; there is no limit to ebo.” in general, sacrifices are means of existence for yoruba people. it is part of their belief that some spirits control the world. they must constantly and regularly connect to these spirits so that the world will be a peaceful place for human beings to stay. regarding this, akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) remark that “broadly speaking, four forces are at play in yorùbá ritual: gods, ancestors, witches and other supernatural powers, and human beings. the function of sacrifice is to enlist the support of these four forces to achieve the desired ends and to ensure that none of the forces work against one’s purpose.” human beings must be part of it because most of the food prepared for sacrifices will be consumed by them and they must be rewarded for being witnesses at the shrine. at whatever time a sacrifice is prescribed by a deity through the priest or priestess, how to carry it out and items to be used will be recommended as well. this is particular to individual situation or in relation to those concerned. at times, ifa priest may carry out the sacrifice himself while the person drops money or items. it may be that the person should carry the sacrifice to a particular place to be accompanied by the priest. it could be the mother or friend of the person in question that would be asked to do it. there is no fixed person for this. ifa must guide and the priest or priestess who is interpreting the mind of the deity must lead and see that it comes to a success. conclusion this paper on sacrifice in yoruba culture gives the meaning, types and importance of sacrifice (ebo) to the people and community. it is very 390 formation of the human person in the 21st century important to offer sacrifice since the world is being ruled by spirits and gods according to their belief and these spirits and gods must be regularly appeased so as to gain favour from olodumare. within the traditional african worldview in general, you are mainly responsible for your own self-improvement. if you want to change your condition you must make sacrifice. since the deities guide the steps of the indigenous yoruba people, they must make consultations before taking any decisions. after consultation with ifa, the next step is to prescribe a type of sacrifice that will march the request of the one in quest of insight. this sacrifice must be performed to avoid calamities. worship in yoruba culture attracts a lot of, singing, drumming, and dancing especially during festivities. worship can be a private affair whereby an individual venerates his or her personal deity, or it can be a public one, which was very common. blood sacrifice was considered to be the uppermost hence the need to offer human beings and animals in the past. people would be ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease a god or spirit. nowadays, human sacrifice is not very common since civilization has considered it as a murder. this has been replaced by animal sacrifice. sacrifice is not celebrated as before either, this not to say that it is no longer in practice, but that it is not as popular as ever. we still have cases of seeing ebo at cross roads and in front of some shines that are not hidden, without seen the person that put them there. diviners are even consulted in secrets today; unlike before that it was done as a life style. in this age of civilization, ebo in yoruba culture is done in secret. references akíntúndé a and fálọlá t. (eds) (2016). encyclopedia of the yoruba. bloomington, in. indiana university press. questia, a part of gale, cengage learning. www.questia.com awolalu p.a and dopamu j.o (1979). west african traditional religion. nigeria. onibonoje press and book industries (nig) limited. idowu e.b. (1969). olodumare: god in yoruba belief. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ifaglobal staff writer. https://www.ifaglobalsite.com/single-post/2018/12/11/what-isthe-importance-of-ebo 2018. nu r. (2013). ebo/sacrifice guarantees success. https://africanspiritualitynow. wordpress.com/2013/05/13 /ebosacrifice/ obara meji (2014). ifathe tradition of sacrifice. www.embracingspiritulity.com ogunyemi y.d. (2015). the philosophy of the yoruba. https://www.britannica.com /topic/the-philosophy-of-the-yoruba-2006354 183 13 the dialectics of “auto-guided” formation: the seminarian as an agent of formation anselm k. jimoh ph.d. department of philosophy ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary p.m.b. 5171, bodija, ibadan. jimohanselm@gmail.com abstract formation is an intricate phenomenon involving the interaction of the different agents of formation. at the centre of this interaction is the formandi/seminarian who is, himself, an agent of his own formation. the input of the formandi is fundamental to the overall output of the formative process since the output of the formative process is a synthesis of the inputs of all the different agents of formation. understood in this sense, formation is a dialectics. the formandi, being the central focus of formation, and at the same time an agent of his own formation, his response and/or disposition to formation either compliments or negates the inputs of the other agents of formation. therefore, the formandi can single-handedly make or mar the formative process. the dialectical dynamics of formation is not just between the other agents of formation and the formandi (external), it also internal, as the formandi struggles to resolve his personal ideas with the quadruple requirements of priestly formation. this paper adopts the method of critical analysis to evaluate the dialectics of auto-guided formation, it investigates how the formandi interacts with the agents of formation towards achieving the character of another christ, and concludes that the extent to which the formandi is properly formed depends on the extent to which he positively disposes himself to formation. the aim of the paper is to encourage the formandi to dispose himself appropriately towards formation and get the maximum output from his programme of formation. 184 formation of the human person in the 21st century keywords: agent of formation, auto-guided, dialectics, formandi, formation. introduction priestly formation is meant to equip a candidate aspiring towards the catholic priesthood through a continuing conversion of heart, mind and soul that would enable him carry on an effective ministry in serving god and the people. it is a demanding and intensive programme of human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation that requires the interaction of different agents of formation, viz: the formators, the fomandi, the environment and the curriculum of formation. these agents interact continually to shape the fomandi into the character of a priest as an alter christus; one who acts in persona christi capitis and in nomine ecclesia. the central focus in the formation process is the candidate who is undergoing formation – the seminarian or formandi. his disposition towards formation, which involves his docility or indocility, is key to how he is formed because formation is a “give and take” phenomenon. when the given is not taken, there would be no formation and the way and manner the given is taken determines the extent to which the formandi is formed. herein lies the dialectics of auto-guided formation. the present paper relies on existing literature on the subject and adopts the critical analytic, conceptual and hermeneutic approach to examine the dialectics of auto-guided formation. that is, how the formandi interacts with the agents and factors of formation, which includes himself, towards achieving the character of another christ. the paper elucidates the idea of priestly formation as a basis to examine the concept of auto-guided formation. it carefully but critically interrogates the role of the formandi in his self-formation. based on the analysis herein, it concludes that whether a formandi is appropriately formed or not depends on how his docility. the primary aim of the paper is to encourage the seminarian to positively dispose himself towards formation and get the optimal from his programme of formation. priestly formation even though priestly formation is not the primary focus of this paper, it is nonetheless, important to expound the concept of priestly formation because the concept of auto-guided formation, which is the primary focus of this paper, takes its meaning and modus operandi within that of priestly formation. priestly formation is a very important and demanding task aimed at developing the priestly character. it is a holistic, integral, and inclusive process that involves the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral development of the candidate in formation.1 it requires the seminarian to open up for a personal encounter with the lord and be section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 185 transformed by the lord.2 the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacedotalis (rfis) n. 35 describes it as a process that implies the configuration of the seminarian to christ, who is the head, the shepherd, the servant and the spouse; bringing the seminarian into a mystical identification with the person of christ as described in the gospels. according to carlos wong, archbishop emeritus of papantla and secretary for seminaries, congregation for the clergy, it is “the process of internalisation, in the proper sense, a priestly lifestyle, which aims to ingrain the values that are proper to life and to priestly ministry in the personality of the candidates for the priesthood.”3 paraphrasing evangelica testificatio n. 32, bishop donatus ogun of the diocese of uromi, describes formation as “the honest confrontation with the self of the way of life of jesus christ, his teaching and example. it is about building up of the inner man, it is the care you have for the inner man which will help you to recognise, in the midst of so many different and attractive possibilities, the most suitable way to live your vocation.”4 the second vatican council’s (vc ii) decree on priestly formation: optatam totius (ot), clearly identified the basic principles of priestly formation, and the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (pdv) by pope st. john paul ii provides a blue print for priestly formation in the circumstances of a fast-paced digital world.5 a simple summary of pdv, in the words of john anaigwu would be: priests need to be “balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities.”6 specifically, pdv n. 43 states that, they [seminarians] need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgement and behaviour. pdv nos. 43 – 45 identify the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral aspects as the four basic components of priestly formation. and further emphasised that the human formation is the basis of all priestly formation because it is the human person that becomes the priest. the spiritual formation is the centre that holds and provides life to the being of the priest and his function as a priest. intellectual formation, which is apparently the most visible, transcends the acquisition of degrees in philosophy and theology to include educating the priest to be “knowledgeable in all human sciences and even the history and culture of the nations within which they are expected to minister.”7 such a holistic education recognises the positive development of the iq and aptitude of the seminarian and equip him to respond appropriately to enquiries from the faithful who seek guidance and counsel to resolve their faith and moral crisis in the face of new scientific and technological 186 formation of the human person in the 21st century discoveries that tend always to remove god from the picture.8 according to ot n. 4, the trifold of human, spiritual, and intellectual formation aims at making the priest a pastor. one who is a true shepherd of souls after the example of jesus christ; trained in the ministries of the word, worship and sanctification, and shepherding just like christ who did not come to be served but to serve (mt. 10:45 and jn. 13: 12-17) and win souls by becoming servants of all (1 cor. 9:19). the pastoral formation has both the theoretical and practical aspects. the former is acquired in the classroom in the seminary, and the latter is acquired on the field (dioceses) during apostolic work and pastoral year. the apostolic work and pastoral year periods provide the opportunity for seminarians to learn the praxis of the ministry through exposure to parish life and setting. needless to say, as anaigwu impressively analysed, that the practical aspect of pastoral formation seems to be riddled with abuses these days judging from the way it is handled by priests in the dioceses. it has been misconstrued as a time for probing the seminarian, getting a wage-free houseboy, and at times, considered an unnecessary burden on the priest or parish.9 priestly formation takes place essentially in a seminary, therefore, it can also be described as seminary formation. it differs from the regular secular education, schooling or job training, hence it is not called seminary education but seminary formation. “it is an activity of cooperation with the grace of god where by god himself works in the man to form him into christian man and sharer in the priesthood of jesus christ.”10 in the seminary, the formation of the seminarian is integrated with the wider ecclesia understanding of the church. thus, bishop ogun says, “it is in the discovery of who the church says he [christ] is you [the seminarian] are then able to meet him and say ‘here i am, send me.’ this is the purpose of catholic formation in our seminaries.”11 based on the foregoing, it behoves on the seminarian to open-up and entrust himself to the church in his formation while he recognises the fact that he is primarily responsible for his own formation.12 this last point introduces the core of this paper; the seminarian as an agent of formation, which is to be properly understood within the notion of auto-guided formation. auto-guided formation the concept of “auto-guided” is compounded from the dual concepts of “auto” with the prefix (auto-) and “guide.” the former (auto-), from its greek root translates as “self” and often used in the formation of compound words like autograph, autobiography, automatic, etc. the latter (guide), as a verb means to indicate the way, and as a noun, it describes someone who shows the way to others. literarily therefore, section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 187 “auto-guided” would be self-guidance or to guide oneself, which implies that the seminarian guides himself in his formation. the way it has been applied in seminary formation since its evolution a little over two decades ago, implies more than just self-guidance or to guide oneself. it means that the seminarian forms himself following the guidance of others. these others are his formators and the other agents of formation. the holy spirit is principally the agent of formation and all other agents of formation are mediators through whom the holy spirit forms the seminarian. the other agents of formation include the following: (i) the bishop, who is ultimately responsible for the entire formative process. (ii) the diocesan community and the presbyterate, which constitute the privileged environment for the transmission of priestly values. (iii) the educational community of the seminary, which consists of the formators, lecturers and employees. (iv) diocesan priests who play a vital role in the interactions with the seminarians during the latter’s apostolic work and pastoral year experience. even though it is not usually stressed, the laity and women play special roles in the seminarian’s discernment of his priestly vocation, so they are also agents of formation. these human agents of formation should help the seminarian to open himself up personally and profoundly to the sanctifying action of the spirit by helping the seminarian to take his formation seriously and assist in sustaining him to make his ‘yes’ response to the lord every day.13 the role of the formators and lecturers in the seminary as agents of formation within the context of auto-guided formation is ineliminable. therefore, it is important to emphasise it, even if just briefly. they constitute the “guidance” aspect in the process of formation, for by their way of life, instructions, and lectures, they guide the seminarian. in this wise, the seminary must be adequately staffed. to be adequately staffed does not just mean quantity in terms of the number of priests on the formation team or lecturers in the various departments. neither does it just mean academically intelligent formators and lecturers. it means having qualitative formators and lecturers. qualitative here describes priests who in the honest judgement of their bishops are tested and trusted; “priests whom their bishops can vouch for in terms of commitment to responsibilities, sound doctrine, spiritual, moral and social maturity, priestly decorum, intellectual soundness, economic and financial discipline, with ecclesiastical personality.”14 the same applies at its own degree to the lecturers employed to teach the seminarians. they must be of good moral standing and ideas, matured and disciplined in their choice of expressions, dress code, and should have respect for the church’s teachings and hierarchy, as well as be able to keep their 188 formation of the human person in the 21st century personal opinions to themselves when they deliver their lectures. inappropriate guidance would lead the seminarian to malformation. all said, the seminarian is the first person responsible for his own formation. pdv n. 69 asserts that, “we must not forget that the candidate himself is a necessary and irreplaceable agent in his own formation: all formation, priestly formation included, is ultimately a self-formation. no one can replace us in the responsible freedom we have as individual persons.” in the same wise, the new rfis n. 130 emphasises that: each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation, …and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels. in the above statement, the new rfis directs attention to the formative attitude of the seminarian, which is the personal input or selfguidance inclusive in the notion of auto-guided formation. the personal input of the seminarian requires that he must be “available and docile to learn from the various circumstances of his life, in all the dimensions of his personality.”15 the concepts of “availability” and “docility” are imperative here. a seminarian who lacks availability just goes to the chapel, the class, the play field, the refectory and the library because he should be there according to the horarium but does not personally and actively participate in what goes on at these places. consequently, he just goes through the activities without the activities going though him. in other words, even though the seminarian is guided, he refuses to apply himself to guidance – he has been given formation by the design of the horarium but he has not taken formation. it is one thing to be guided and another thing to apply oneself to guidance. a seminarian’s unavailability implies his lack of formation because he refuses, ipso facto, to be formed. availability and docility are complementary. to be docile is to open oneself to learn. a seminarian who goes to class with his mind already closed to whatever the lecturer would say cannot learn. such a seminarian sits in positions where he cannot be noticed, stares at the lecturer all through the lecture with the grimace that may be translated into “finish and leave joor,” he takes no notes in class, asks no questions and avoids been noticed to be asked a question. sometimes, he is reading through some other materials of interest to him that have no relevance to the lecture going on. such a seminarian is not docile and he is lacking in the aspect of self-formation. even when the aspect of the guidance is there, the seminarian would be malformed. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 189 the availability and docility of the seminarian enables him to achieve the fundamental openness required to advance the necessary freedom to allow oneself to be accompanied and to receive positively the help of his formators. seminarians that are selective of the formator they want to listen to are doing harm to their self-formation. in the same vein, formators that play to the gallery with seminarians; who would overlook formative issues because they do not want to disturb the seminarians or make them think they (formators) are “wicked” (to use the common term of seminarians), are not only obstructing the self-formation of the seminarians but also neglecting their role in the dialectics of auto-guided formation. dialectics of auto-guided formation dialectics refers to “a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.”16 it is a form of reasoning that involves a dialogue of arguments and counterarguments that results in a synthesis of advocating propositions and counter-propositions. it is an inquiry into the truth of opinions with the aim of seeking a resolution or reconciliation. as a philosophical method, it is a discourse between two or more discussants who hold different opinions, but aim at establishing the truth of their positions through reasoned arguments. within hegelianism – georg w. f. hegel’s system of thought, with which dialectics is mostly associated – dialectics has a specialised connotation; it describes the contradiction between ideas that ultimately determines the relationship between the ideas. it consists of three stages of development. the first stage is the thesis or statement of an idea, it gives rise to the second stage, which is a reaction or antithesis. the antithesis negates the thesis. to resolve the negation of the thesis by the antithesis, the third stage, which is the synthesis is produced, thus, the synthesis resolves the differences between the thesis and the antitheses. it is in this sense that dialectics is understood as “the tendency of a notion to pass over into its own negation as the result of conflict between its inherent contradictory aspects.”17 this is exactly the sense in which karl marx and friedrich engels popularised it in their social and economic analysis referred to as dialectical materialism. it is characterised by the interaction between the thesis and antithesis in the production of the synthesis. by the dialectics of auto-guided formation therefore, i mean the interaction between the formation-given, which constitute the thesis of the dialectics, and the formation-received, which is the antithesis, in the production of the formed – that is, the output of the resolution between the thesis and antithesis – is the synthesis. the formation-given is the input of all the agents of formation, moderated by the formators, in the 190 formation of the human person in the 21st century formation of the formandi. the formation-received is the way and manner the formandi receives the inputs of all the other agents of formation. in particular, it describes the formandi’s positive or negative disposition (availability and docility) towards formation. the formed is what the formandi turns out to be at the end of his formation. the thesis alone (formation given) cannot constitute the synthesis; the way and manner it is received, which is either favourably or nonchalantly or rejected (antithesis) determines the end-product of the formed, which would be either properly formed, malformed or not formed at all (synthesis). in the dialectics of auto-guided formation, the seminarian’s role as an agent of his own formation is crucial to how he is formed. if the seminarian is positively disposed, he will be open to the inputs of the other agents of formation and he would allow himself be guided by such inputs. he would mould himself; intellectually, spiritually, pastorally and humanly, into the character and person of christ, following the template of the formation-given. with determination and commitment to be properly formed, he would courageously confront the negativities that constitute antithesis to the formation-given. these negativities include: not wanting to be told what to do, wanting to be like other young men outside the seminary, wanting to sleep a little longer in the early hours of the morning rather than having to get up for morning prayers, questioning the rationale for manual work and the necessities for the mandatory lectures, dress code, etc. on the hand, the seminarian that is not positively disposed, would not only lack the determination and commitment required to confront these negativities, but would rationalise and justify them. consequently, he would react, in one way or another, against the inputs of the other agents of formation. even though formation is given, the seminarian would be malformed because of his negative disposition and lack of openness to accept the inputs of the other agents of formation. because he disagrees within himself with the manner of formation, he would not be properly formed. it is germane at this point to consider some of the possible attitudes towards formation by seminarians. there are, at least, four easily discernible possible attitudes that a seminarian can have towards formation. i. lack of interest towards formation. ii. pretentious interest towards formation. iii. uncommitted interest towards formation. iv. genuine interest towards formation. for those in group one, there is nothing about the seminary that interests them; they grudgingly do everything, from going to the chapel for prayers to going out for games. they are interested in such things section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 191 that give them pleasure or make them free, for example, outing and lecture free days. whatever the formators say does not make sense to them, they just stare at the formators and say “thank you fr” when the formator is done talking to them. deep in their heart, they mean “leave me alone.” their minds are made on what they want to do and how they want to be priests, they are in the seminary to count the years as they roll by and get out there for ordination. from the day they finish their oral b.th. exams, chapel is a no-no for them. they go around with an air of freedom thereafter. seminarians like these cannot be properly formed because they lack the basic fundamental disposition of availability and docility. for group two, they are of the same category in terms of disposition as those in group one but sneaky and more dangerous. they are very good seminarians in the presence of their formators and anyone who matters as far as their seminary formation is concerned. when no one is looking they do everything they should not do but which is actually what they desire to do. they can have a very strong negative influence on their fellow seminarians, which makes them dangerous. they are like the biblical wolves in sheep’s clothing. the third group have the genuine interest in being formed, but on their own terms. they listen and participate in formation activities and programmes as it is convenient for them. when it is not convenient for them, they participate all the same but without any attention at all just to be counted as present. seminarians in this category have a fair idea what the priesthood should be, but more often than not, their idea is orientated towards their “ideal priest” who is usually not jesus christ as it should be but one priest somewhere that they admire so much, for whatever reasons. if their ideal priest is one of those striving to do the right thing, those in this category have chances of being well formed, but if he is one of those doing his own thing in the priesthood, they are not likely to be well formed. the fourth group involves seminarians who are wholeheartedly positively disposed towards formation. they actively participate in formation activities and programmes with the genuine intention of getting the maximum results in terms of acquiring knowledge and the priestly character after the mind of christ and the church. they are attentive in class and eager to learn. they do not hide in the crowd because they have no intention to break the rules and regulations of formation. they feel free with their formators and share their worries with the hope of being assisted to overcome their difficulties. those in this category are, unfortunately not many. those in groups one to three would hardly ever see themselves to be wrong, they always consider themselves victimised and would 192 formation of the human person in the 21st century always justify themselves. if they are accused of any wrong doing, especially those in groups one and two, they are quick to tender and apology – “i am sorry fr”, what they are sorry for, you do not even know because they have not accepted that they were wrong. it is usually an indication of seminarians who are not ready to learn or improve. if for any reason, they are expelled from the seminary, they consider themselves as victims of injustice. those in group four are, at times unfortunate to be expelled but even then, they never hold grudges against the seminary or any of their formators. conclusion the aim of this paper is to analyse the dialectics of auto-guided formation and emphasise the fundamental role of the formandi/seminarian as an agent in his own formation. no matter the formation given and the wholesome role of all other agents of formation, the seminarian is only formed to what extent he makes himself available for formation. where he lacks the requisite docility towards learning and polishing his character to conform or configure himself to the person of christ, the activities of the other agents of formation will have no positive impact in his formation. aniagwu avers that we should always note the contradistinction between “formation given” and “formation received.” he asserts that it is not always the case that the formation received corresponds to the formation given and the reason for this lies in the quality of the response of the seminarian to formation.18 i am not unaware of the claim by some liberalists that we are in an age where youths have a high tendency towards unrestrained freedom and would want to do what they want, when they want and how they want. based on the excessively permissive nature of today’s society, they argue that seminarians should be allowed some latitude. i am not taking a position on this in this paper, however, i insist that allowing seminarians latitude or not is not a primary issue, what is primary is the disposition of the seminarian towards formation. irrespective of societal and environmental influences, a seminarian that does not make himself available with the required docility for formation would not be properly formed. therefore, the seminarian should evaluate how he forms himself under the guidance of the other agents of formation. the measure a seminarian puts into his own formation determines the effectiveness of the measure his formators and other agents of formation put into his (seminarian) formation. pdv n. 69 affirms this with the words, “the actions of the different teachers become truly and fully effective only if the future priest offers his own convinced and heartfelt cooperation to this work of formation.” section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 193 endnotes 1 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis (vatican city: libreria editrice vaticana, 1992), 43ff. 2 t. h. akaabiam, “seminary formation,” the aquinas’ journal 5 (june 2012), 1. 3 jorge carlos patrón wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” www.clerus.va>clerus>dox, pdf, 1. (accessed 2/9/2019). 4 donatus ogun, “being true disciples in a changing world,” homily delivered at the ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary, bodija, ibadan on the occasion of the celebration of the solemnity of saints peter and paul and installation of the ministries of lector and acolyte (june 28, 2019). 5 john k. aniagwu, faith and social action: perspectives on the church and society (iperu remo: ambassador publications, 2011), 214. 6 aniagwu, faith and social action, 213. 7 anselm jimoh, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese,” in diocese of auchi at 10: history, growth and perspectives edited by j. a. onimhawo and f. e. ikhianosime, 31 53 (ibadan: safmos publishers, 2013), 44. 8 jimoh, “priestly formation,” 44 – 45. 9 anaigwu, faith and social action, 222-223 and jimoh, “priestly formation,” 46. 10 “what is seminary formation?”, https://vocationsboston.org, 2. (accessed 2/9/2019). 11 ogun, “being true disciples in a changing world.” 12 “what is seminary formation?”, 3. 13 wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” 3. 14 jimoh, “priestly formation,” 48-49. 15 wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” 2. 16 julie e. maybee, “hegel’s dialectics,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegeldialectics. (accessed 29/2/2020) 17 “dialectics” in http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectics. (accessed 3/9/2019). 18 aniagwu, faith and social action, 211. 270 20 personhood and formation: a philosophical insight from african perspective francis fabidun department of philosophy, st. albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran francisfabidun@gmail.com abstract the paper identified a direct link between the concepts of personhood and formation. the establishment of this link is warranted by the interdependency in their functionality analogous of the metaphysical theory of matter and form. formation does not take place in vacuum; human beings are the ones formed for the office of the shepherds of souls in the church. it follows necessarily, therefore, that the person of the seminarian avails the formation program the bedrock for its functionality. the paper acknowledged the importance of formation as it is obvious in the plenitude of documents from the church at different levels and epochs emphasizing that the seminarian be formed after the mind of christ. moreover, it noted that such documents are very often grounded on various perspectives and theories on the human person from philosophy and theology. nevertheless, the paper argued strongly from the african purview on the human person that understands the human person as a being ontologically connected and in a relational existence with other realities. recognizing this in the formation process will go a long way in enhancing the formation program of seminarians. to achieve its aim, the paper consequently employed the tools of critical, analytical and comparative methods of inquiry. this revealed that with a philosophical insight from an african perspective, there exists an understanding of the similarity between personhood and formation, the latter being a series of conscious activities which an individual is not born with, but something one sets out intentionally to achieve. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 271 keywords: personhood, formation, matter and form, african perspective, christ-like shepherds introduction an individual is usually considered in african culture in relationship with others in the community. the relational consideration among africans always emphasizes the need to consider others. mbiti’s philosophy of inclusiveness rightly captures this communal orientation in the expression – ‘i am because we are’. this constitutes an underlining factor in african postulation on personhood. this paper considers the african notions along different perspectives on personhood and formation noting that the african consideration on the issues of personhood and formation of an individual might prove to be more insightful and fruitful when applied to the formation of african seminarians than what is bequeathed to us in western philosophy. furthermore, the paper uses the aristotelian theory of form and matter to show the connection on how african consideration of an individual person informs the nature of the formation given to him. personhood in the general parlance, the term, person is considered as an individual. it is a term which is employed to give a comprehensive name to man’s being – a name expressing itss entire reality in an unequivocal way. it never refers to animals or plant but only man.1it is a term that describes man in a unique manner, and as possessing abilities which are exclusive to the human race. such abilities include reason, morality/freedom, consciousness and personal identity among others. this is in line with the philosophical consideration of man as a being characterized by consciousness, rationality, and a moral sense, and traditionally thought of as consisting of both a body and a mind or soul.2 aristotle aptly captures this that among animals “endowed with sense” humans were distinct in that “the human race exists by means of art also and the powers of reasoning”. batista mondin traces the origin of the concept of personhood to christianity where man is understood as a being with his singularity, unique and unrepeatable, with substantial equality and dignity one created in the image of god (imago dei).3 this “image and likeness” of god in man is understood as be a man’s soul. the christian notion explains what is generally held in greek philosophy that there exists in personhood is a manifestation of the combination of the spiritual and the no-spiritual. the greek and latin cultures existed before christianity but do not recognize the absolute value of the individual, rather absolute value depend essentially on class, ranks, wealth and race.4 hence race 272 formation of the human person in the 21st century superiority was common before the christian era when personhood attained an important position as against race because of the effect of the salvific events of christ's paschal mystery on the salvation of the soul of an individual regardless of race, colour or tribe. interestingly, early greeks philosophers have a long history of postulations on the human person. for instance, plato presents a dualistic theory on the human person as comprising of the body and the soul. he goes to say that the soul is the principle of life and movement – the essential core of the human person, while the body is inanimate and therefore susceptible to physical actions by this principle of life.5 furthermore, plato holds that the soul is not completely unified, because there are competing forces warring within the human person which are known by personal inner experience. consequently, he divides the soul into three factions: the appetitive soul which pulls man to the direction of physical gratification and material acquisition; the rational soul which is the voice of reason; and the spirited soul which is the willful and dynamic faculty within the soul.6 plato found intelligence as “the most divine thing in man, the most essentially human attribute because (it is) the only part of himself which he does not share with the animal kingdom.7 augustine, in line with the platonic understanding of the human person, holds that the human person is composite of the body and soul. he also further attributes specific roles to the soul such as the self on which the highest truth can be attained. it is the soul alone that can attain communion with god – the highest truth. it is the image of god and is immaterial.8 this was the beginning of using philosophical principles for christian postulation on imago dei that which augustine defined as “that principle within us by which we are like god, and which is rightly said in scripture to be made ‘after god's image”’9 rene descartes, the father of modern western philosophy, also argues along the dualistic conception of man, namely that the human person is a composite of soul (mind) and body. the body for him is made up of physical substances that interact with the physical world, while the soul is a spiritual substance; it is the “i” (ego), the thinking self, the seat of pure thought that generates ideas.10 this power of the soul enables man to be conscious of himself without at the same time being conscious of the world. this view will be rejected later on by the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century, particularly martin heidegger who conceives man as a-being-in-the-world.11 battista mondin broadened the understanding on the human person beyond issues of man's composition, noting that the human person can be understood on the ontological, dialogical and psychological levels. the ontological understanding entails the person as an individual of the human species; a unique individual substance with a rational nature. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 273 this involves the “i” in my being that can neither be represented by another nor inhibited in another – the person as he remains in himself. on the psychological level, the person is the fact of consciousness, which is being aware of reality pertaining the existence of the ‘’i’’. on the dialogical level, the person is understood as a relational being that interacts with the world and other beings.12 mounier supports mondin’s claim on the dialogical person by introducing the concepts; vocation, action and communication. for mounier, the person has a meaning that cannot be substituted, his place in the universe of persons cannot be occupied – this is his vocation. action explains that the life of a person is a research until death, an anticipated unity that cannot be actualized – a person is an incessant action. he further points out that communication explains that the person is a being that encounters others, a being who interests himself with another in such a manner that he respects his “i”.13 furthermore, martin buber in contributing to the discussion on man proposes that the meaning of the person lies in his relational ability with things other than himself. in other words, man derives meaning through the rapport man has with things. this is because man lives on the shoulder of things; he alters them, uses them, and governs them14. in a nutshell, the person is the “i” – the individual that is composed of body and soul and constantly interacts with other beings and with world. formation formation is a common practice in human communities. it consists of series of activities geared toward making an individual or communities imbibe certain knowledge, tradition, morals and value system. in the earliest times, formation was mostly meant for those to be charged with leadership responsibilities to prepare them for governance. in the ancient egyptian civilization, for instance, princes were given special and exclusive education by the priests serving at pharaoh’s palace. amedeo cencini posits that formation has three dynamisms which are the educative, formative and the accompaniment. the educative dynamism seeks to draw out the level of awareness of what the person is, so that the person gets the maximum fulfillment of his potentialities; this leads to self-awareness and self-fulfillment. the individual is assisted to develop his natural potentials and encouraged to perfect them for the enhancement of his personality. the formative action implies that the subject is trained to acquire a new identity – formation becomes a discovery of the new and truer self, molded with the truth of the ideal.15 this is the result of a process marked with shelling of certain aspects of the individual and acquiring positive qualities of the task in view. 274 formation of the human person in the 21st century a consideration of how the church views formation will enhance this discuss; the second vatican council emphasizes the importance of formation in its remark that the renewal of the church depends in great deal upon the priestly ministry animated by the spirit of christ; hence priestly formation is of critical importance to the church.16 furthermore, formation is not a private affair or instantaneous; it does not take place at a particular moment, like a season. rather, it touches upon the past, present and future of the individual as a pedagogical, theological, initial and permanent process that prepares one to consecrate oneself to god. formation is offered to whoever has discovered a plan from on high for the self. this is because it is a mystery and divine action which shapes the image of christ in the heart of those called by god.17 this entails being accompanied in a journey of transformation. accompanying means a journey of faith; formation then entails helping the subject to journey towards god and to experience god18 furthermore, pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis highlighted four areas of formation; human formation, intellectual formation, spiritual formation and pastoral formation. human formation helps the individual to attain affective maturity, form his moral conscience, attain series of good human qualities, balanced personality, and good use of freedom. this is the bedrock for other aspects of formation. according to the document, “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”19 a balanced human formation cannot be substituted for or with anything. spiritual formation helps the seminarian to share in the holiness of christ by entering into an intimate relationship with christ. along with other faithful, the candidate to the priesthood strive towards deeper communion with god. according to the holy father, the educational process of a spiritual life, seen as a relationship and communion with god, derives and develops from this fundamental and irrepressible religious need.20 spiritual formation, as we have just seen, is applicable to all the faithful. nevertheless, it should be structured according to the meanings and connotations which derive from the identity of the priest and his ministry.21 an integral part of the spiritual formation is prayerful contemplation of the word of god (lectio divina) through which the seminary is familiar with the god whom he humbly listens to, and he response to him in prayer. this will be his guide as he seeks christ in the people. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 275 next is the intellectual formation which seeks to help the individual acquire academic knowledge; it requires proper training in philosophy and theology. according to the pope, intellectual formation is deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation: it is a fundamental demand of the human intelligence by which one "participates in the light of god's mind" and seeks to acquire a wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed toward knowing and adhering to god.22 these three areas of formation are geared towards pastoral formation which seeks to build the candidate into a priest – shepherd of souls, after the example of christ, the good shepherd.23 the whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of christ the good shepherd. hence their formation in its different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character.24 this is the most practical aspect of formation. it is the most vivid expression of how well other aspects are properly integrated in the individual. it will be the manifestation of an inner disposition to make christ in a way that is peculiar to the people he pastors. hylomorphism this section is important because it provides the theoretical framework for this discuss. aristotle developed the concept of hylomorphism as he completed issues connected to the process of “changing” and “becoming”. while rejecting the atomist conception that everything is made up of tiny fundamental building blocks of matter, and that change is a rearrangement of these fundamental units, aristotle holds that all things in nature are composed of form and matter – they are intrinsic principles that make a body come to be as what it is understood to be.25 put succinctly, hylomorphism is the theory that all physical things are composed of two principles of being: the prime matter which is an undefined primitive, and a substantial form, which is a definite mode of existence.26 for aristotle, all material things are characterized by two elements of mutability and the different individuals of a species. form also called formal cause is the essence which accounts for the actual existence of a thing. it is that which determines matter – it defines matter to a particular individual substance. it is also conceived as the design or arrangement of a body in nature. matter – material cause, indicates the material constituents of a body. it is substance by which a body is made. matter is indeterminate in itself but determined by form. it is a principle that makes form physical.27 these two principles are co-dependent and 276 formation of the human person in the 21st century intrinsically necessary to the existence of a natural body. they share a key relationship simply expressed in the position that form actualizes matter.28 as regards the human person, the soul or the mind; which is the principle of life, is regarded as the form, that is, the essence of the human person. the body is understood as the material cause of the human person. this is because the body is the substance or material aspect of the human person and the soul is the principle of individuation that defines what it means to be human; it is that which primarily makes the human different from other natural bodies.29 the formation process vis-à-vis aristotle’s hylomorphism it is with this understanding of the complexity of the human person that formation is discussed here. formation is aimed at the salvation of souls, but this salvation is achieved through the discipline of the body (1cor. 9: 27). hence the body serves as a necessary and indispensable channel to the salvation of the soul. as regards the person to be formed, this principle of form and matter helps the understanding that the body is intrinsically connected with the soul. so, the final point of formation is the mind of the individual – it is formation of the mind. the mind holds the basic principles that inform the voluntary operations – human actions, of the rational man. this emphasizes the position that the body is not the end point of formation but the soul that bears the rational capacity of the human person. all the elements of formation are internalized in the nonphysical aspects of an individual. the priest – shepherd of souls the goal of priestly formation can be expressed in the phrase “until christ is formed in you”. the church expresses this as being formed into another christ – alter christus and even in the exercise of the sacraments, the priest is not only another christ but ipse christuschrist himself. the various activities in the years of formation prepare the candidate for the catholic priesthood, a position that places him at the service of god’s people to humbly and carefully guide them to attain the salvation of their soul. this explains why formation necessarily concentrates on providing the human, spiritual, academic and pastoral development required to enable the ordained priest to respond faithfully and effectively to both god’s call and the needs of the church represented in the pastoral demands of his flock. priestly formation must provide the spiritual and personal growth guidance that elicits from the candidate for priesthood, a prayerful and mature commitment to the way of christ. this is so that he may speak from the context of the church tradition; fully and authentically section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 277 articulate the gospel of christ; and appreciate god’s word and the efficacy of the sacramental life of the church.30 the emeritus pope benedict xvi, however sounds a note of warning on the tendencies of being drawn away from focusing on these when, in his homily at a priestly ordination on the 3rd of may 2009 in rome, commented that the priest is in the world, but runs the risk of also being “of the world”. this emphasizes also that formation must instill in the priest the discipline of detachment from the material things of the world. an essential element of the priestly formation is clearly pointed by pope benedict xvi in his remark that catholic priests appear to spend most of their days serving catholics, but the role and mission of the priest includes the service of all of humanity. according to him, the priest works to translate the elements of the faith into a language that is accessible to all in the society; he dialogues with and expresses the truth of god, that the human consciousness may be nourished with the fullness of life only attainable through christ. by preaching christ, the priest is called to be a peaceful, uniting and joyful presence among christians and all people of goodwill. and in living the mission of christ, he further participates and serves in christ's threefold office as priest, prophet and king, already shared through baptism.31 there are further insights from the present pope who opines that priests must be deeply involved in the daily experience of the flock. for pope francis, the priest being a shepherd must ‘smell like the sheep’. this means that he is to be out amongst the flock entrusted to him – he should be personally close to them. he is not to just available for the office of celebrating the sacraments alone as central and primary to the priesthood that might be, but be engaged in the lives of parishioners and others in the community entrusted to him.32 the pope further emphasizes that a priest is not ordained for his sake but for the sake of god’s people. following the example of christ the true shepherd, the priest must be a shepherd ready to lay his life for the flock through selfless service; he must not only feed the flocks with spiritual food but be sensitive enough to their physical needs. by this the gospel message of love will make more sense; in practice and not just spoken words.33 a priest is a good shepherd when his motivation is the salvation of the people. hence, he makes the doctrines of the church available and teaches the true faith. pope saint john paul ii had emphasized this saying that the supreme act of a priest is the direction of souls: he must be available to his flock; impart the faith; and be humble to the prompting of the holy spirit that he may transmit fruits of love and peace.34 finally, federico suarez puts this in another way when he says that the success of 278 formation of the human person in the 21st century the priestly ministry is not judged based on its efficiency but on the impact it has on the lives of people.35 the african perspective on personhood and formation personhood the african understanding of the person has two dimensions; the normative-social and descriptive-metaphysical. the descriptivemetaphysical dimension explains that the human person is made up of a material aspect (body) and an immaterial aspect (soul) which are inseparable while on earth.36 this is exemplified in the igbo conception where man is made of ahu (body) and mmuo (spirit).37 from the yoruba perspective, man is a composition of at least three elements namely the soul, the spirit and the body. the body is material while the other two elements are non-material. furthermore, in their metaphysical postulation, man is a composition of body (ara), soul (emi) and innerhead (ori), the last being the metaphysical symbol of human destiny which is externally represented by the physical head.38 the normativesocial dimension explains the person in relation to the community – it is the communitarian perspective. here, the person draws his identity and essence from the already existing values of the society; this has a social and moral derivation.39 this goes with both social and moral commitments as an individual within a community. hence, ifeanyi menkiti opines that a person can only be explained with reference to the environing community. as far as africans are concerned, the reality of the community takes precedence over the individual world and history. it is in an ongoing human community that the individual comes to see himself as a man; it is in first knowing his community as a fact of the psycho-physical world that the individual comes to know himself as a durable, more or less permanent fact of this world. the sense of identity of an individual only makes sense with reference to the community.40 from the above it is clear that human relationship is a primary element in the determination of the personhood of an individual. this goes a long way to emphasize and show that the human person in african thought system is one that is inherently and intrinsically connected to other individuals in the society – founded on community. this is also built on the belief that the physical is inherently connected to the spiritual in the african worldview. the activities of traditional or native doctors will make this vivid. even when he lives in isolation and far from the main community settlement, the native doctor is kept abreast with the happenings in the community and constantly intervenes as situations warrant. he is dutiful and maintains a sense of the sacred in an appreciable distance, and yet very close to the people as an section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 279 intermediary and a check to the community. above all, he does not neglect the people in their need or fail to provide prompt directives. formation formation in africa is centered on how personhood is achieved. this is because personhood is not something that is given but shown by the society and accepted by the individual. an african has to go through processes of incorporation or initiation. through initiation an individual is transformed from what he was into who he ought to be. according to ifeanyi menkiti, to attain personhood, the individual must undergo a long process and ritual transformation until he or she attains the full complement of excellence seen as truly definitive of man. during this long process of attainment, the community plays a vital role as catalyst and as a prescriber of norms. as far as africans are concerned, personhood is something the individual could fail to attain.41 this implies that the individual must take the ritual of incorporation serious in order to learn the social rules by which the community lives and then attain the necessary excellence in character. formation is not just about growth in wisdom as one ages, it is in gathering of the traits considered to be definitive of full personhood which necessarily affect the very core of one’s being. in other words, for africans, formation is internalization of traditional or societal virtues to the decree ascertainable that one is qualifies for the appropriate rite in the process of initiation. hence, dominic umoh writes that in africa, initiatory rites constitute a crucial mechanism which guarantees the authentic growth and development of individuals in their communal settings.42 moreover, augustine nwoye puts it that formation of the person in africa is influenced by a number of cultural groups. according to him, socialization occurs through dance, songs, story-telling and heroic recitation. these are avenues through which africans are taught individually to reflect high level of emotional maturity as projected by the community. the formation program in an african setting include teaching of virtues like, verbal sobriety, diligence, perseverance, patience, moderation among others. these virtues help young africans to be active and responsible members of the society. the agents of this formation include older adults, school leaders, and social models. hence, there is a saying among the yoruba that oju meji li n b’imo, igba ojo lo n wo d’agba (it takes two pairs of eyes to bear a child i.e father and mother, but two hundred eyes are required to train him). this expresses the traditional belief and practice that a child is not just the child of the parents, but he is the child of the community. therefore, the upbringing and training is the responsibility of all. 280 formation of the human person in the 21st century in line with this, dama mosweunyane holds that formation in africa is done within the platform of communalism; children are formed within the community, their wellbeing seen in the welfare of the group and society. children are trained to participate in the culture and work for the sake of common good. formation is characterized by transmission of skills and attitudes from generation to generation by words of mouth and the mode of apprenticeship. the teachers are individuals with lifelong learning and experience. hence, the children learn from their teachers by listening to them and imitating their actions in the society.43 formation in african traditional society is done within the community and for the good of the community. the individuals learn the values that are necessary for active participation, sustenance and growth of the society. formation is seen as initiation into the society to attain personhood. it is pertinent to note that personhood is possible through dialogue because it through dialogue that the moral vision of culture is transmitted44 in the community. an insights from african insight into the formation of the catholic priest through the varied activities that complimented the seed of faith sown by the early missionaries characterized by unceasing evangelization, catholicism has grown and has reached many lands of the earth with a variety of cultures. africa is one of these lands that have received the catholic faith despite having a culture that is uniquely different from the jewish and roman culture in which it grew. many africans have imbibed the culture of the catholic faith in their african societies. for the catholic priest to get to the heart of the african society, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of the peculiarity of his flock– its philosophy, methods of socialization and the ideology that feeds its actions. this community orientation would help the priest to better understand his role in the society as one sent to work for the growth of the immediate society he finds himself and the community of the church at large, after all, every high priest is chosen from among men to represent men in their relationship with god. (hebrews 5:1) being aware that he is intrinsically a being connected with others will help him to acknowledge that he is equal with others in the sight of god and still a man like others. this help the priest to consider himself as a servant and not a king or master over his flock. this will enhance his interaction with the people even outside the celebration of the sacraments. the emphasis here is that the priest needs to be one among the people – like christ, participating in their life, constantly communicating with them in preaching the gospel and leading all to god. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 281 furthermore, african traditional practice of formation is largely be imitation “watch and do-as-i-do”. the entails that apprentice focus on the master to understand and be able to do what he has seen the master do. this type of formation is not based on theories. in the same way, the african paradigm suggest that priestly formation should can go beyond theories but lived principles applied in practically lead the people to god. another way to consider formation is i regards to how africans see reality as a whole and ultimately sacred; there is an ontological connection between the visible and the invisible. this understanding when put into formation would help the seminarian develop a deeper understanding of the sacred. this understanding would also inform a deeper understanding of communal existence through which he learns to share in the community life respecting the customs, traditions, ethics and social boundaries of the people. conclusion the various perspectives of examined in the paper show a connection between personhood and formation. in this paper, personhood refers to what it means to be a human person, while formation can rightly be referred as a conscious activity to fortify personhood, which can simply be expressed as the nature and nurturing of an individual. from the african perspective, it is emphasized that priestly formation, like initiation rites, always focus on grooming priests to be human, insightful, mature, instructed, developed and community oriented persons. this is line with the catholic bishops’ conference of nigeria’s advocacy that “seminary formation should enable priests to lead a truly priestly life and at the same to be men of their people. it is in the bid to achieve this that the paper posited that formation should be taken to the hearts and custom of our people to enable the priest/seminarian to adhere to beliefs and practices that, in spirit of the gospel, help him to maintain a communal-oriented individuality as entrenched in traditional african heritage. endnotes 1battista mondin, philosophical anthropology, bangalore: theological publications,1985, p. 243. 2 "person (philosophical)." the great soviet encyclopedia, 3rd edition. 1970-1979. the gale group, inc. 23 mar. 2020 https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictiona ry.com/person+(philosophical) 3battista mondin, history of medieval philosphy, bangalore: theological publications in india, 1991, p. 7. 4ibid,p. 244. 282 formation of the human person in the 21st century 5 samuel stumpf& james fresier, philosophy: history and problem, new york: mcgraw high education, 2003, p. 59. 6william f. lawhead, the voyage of discovery, a historical introduction to philosophy, 4th ed, usa: cengage learning, 2015, p. 65. 7 g. m. grube, plato's thought, boston: beacon press, 1958, p. 121. 8samuel stumpf and james fresier, op.cit., p. 130. 9 augustine ca. 397/2002. 10william lawhead, op. cit., p. 257. 11martin heidegger, being and time, new york: 1962, p. 25. 12 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology,p. 255. 13 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology,p. 255. 14 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology, p. 255. 15amedeo cencini, spiritual and emotional maturity: guiding young people in religious and priestly formation, nairobi: paulines publication africa, 2004, p. 9. 16 “presbytorum ordinis”, austin flannery, o. p., vatican council ii, vol, i, usa: ambassadors publications, 1988, p. 863. 17amedeo cencini, spiritual and emotional maturity, p. 9. 18ibid,p. 11. 19 pastores dabo vobis. no. 43. 20 pastores dabo vobis, no. 45. 21 ibid. 22 pastores dabo vobis, no. 51. 23pope john paul ii, i will give you shepherds: apostolic exhortation: pastores dabo vobis, nairobi: paulines publications africa,2004, pp. 67-88. 24 pastores dabo vobis, no. 57. 25s. v. aristotle, robert audi, the cambridge dictionary of philosophy, second edition, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1999. 26www.catholicculture.org 18/03/2020. 27william f. lawhead, the voyage of discovery, a historical introduction to philosophy, 4th ed, usa: cengage learning, 2015, pp. 82-84. 28block, irving. “the order of aristotle's psychological writings.” the american journal of philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable/ 292006. accessed 11 mar. 2020. 29block, irving. “the order of aristotle's psychological writings.” the american journal of philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable /292006. accessed 11 mar. 2020. 30paul kehinde oredipe, saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today, benin city, floreat publication, 2018, p. 17. 31https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/priest-as-pastor-servant-and shepherd-9183, accessed on the 10th march 2020. 32dennis coday, pope quotes: the smell of sheep, http://www.ncronline.org /6l0gsfrancischronicles,pope-s-quotes-smell-sheep, october 29, 2013. (8/3/2020) 33paul kehindeoredipe, op.cit., p. 59. 34johnpaul ii, novo incipentenostro, 6th april 1979 in austin flannery op, vatican ii,vol ii, mumbai: saint paul,p. 377. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 283 35 federico suarez, about being a priest, london, scepter publication, 2005, p. 18. 36ikuenobe, polycarp. “relational autonomy, personhood, and african traditions.” philosophy east and west, vol. 65, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1005–1029., www.jstor.org/stable/43831225. accessed 12 mar. 2020. 37isiguzo, andrew i., et al. “the igbo concept of a person.” africa: rivistatrimestrale di studi e documentazionedell’istitutoitaliano per l’africa e l’oriente, vol. 59, no. 2, 2004, pp. 231–243. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable/40761740. accessed 12 mar. 2020. 38 samuel ade ali, human destiny, reincarnation and personal identity 39.ikuenobe, polycarp. op. cit. 40ifeanyi menkiti, person and community in african traditional thought, in richard wright (ed), african philosophy; an introduction, 3rd edition, lanham: university press of america,1984,p. 172. 41 ibid., p. 173. 42 dominic umor, rites of passage and priestly formation (a compendium for theologians, philosophers and the lay faithful), akwa ibom: akwa ibom university, 2016, p. xi. 43damamosweunyane, the african educational evolution: traditional training to formal education,bostwana: department of adult education: university of botswana, 2013. 44 scielo.org.za/pdf/pins/n54/o4.pdf accessed on 10/03/2020. 298 22 sex slavery as dehumanisation: a contextual appraisal in martin buber’s dialogic approach benedict egbuchunam department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma emechunam@yahoo.com abstract sex slavery is an evil that denigrates the human person. it is a criminal form of enslavement which limits one’s autonomy, freedom of movement and power to decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. unfortunately, this apparent evil has become widespread especially in nigeria and has reached an alarming rate. despite modernization and technological advancements, this modern form of slavery has taken another dimension. this paper discusses sex slavery in nigeria and seeks to demonstrate how it not only denies full humanness to others but is accompanied by cruelty and suffering; the human person is treated as less human and women, who are mostly affected by this evil, are stripped of their dignity. martin buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relationship as an approach to resolving the dehumanisation of the female gender is the essence of this paper. the fundamental fact of human existence is simply a person with another person, a man with a woman and a human being is a creature capable of entering into living essential relations with others. this paper attempts to show that buber’s philosophy of dialogue serves as a means of resolving sex slavery in nigeria and beyond. it requires the reorientation of the human mind in seeing the other person as a thou instead of an it’ this paper, which is basically expository, descriptive and analytic, approaches this issue from an existential perspective using buber’s philosophy in understanding the human person as relational for authentic human relationships. keywords: sex slavery, dehumanisation, sexual activity, dialogue, interpersonal, relationship. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 299 introduction slavery is a practice that militates against the human person because through it, a person or group of persons are subjugated, oppressed, victimized, objectified and discriminated against. it is an evil that goes against man’s essential nature which is to be relational and his purpose of existence. being intensely engaged in a relationship with another person is one of the greatest joys of being human. human communication is at the core of our existence. it is an indubitable fact that being-with-others fundamentally characterizes our existence. we come into existence and notice other human persons as co-existents, and as persons we must have to deal with in one way or the other. unfortunately, slavery is a form of cruelty that denigrates an individual and is symptomatic of the inability to fully exist as genuinely human. this negative trend that slavery portends raises questions such as: how may i understand the other person, who is different from me? how may i relate to this other with whom i must have to deal in my concrete everyday existence? what is the philosophical basis for interpersonal relationship? how is person to person relationship different from person to things? to what extent can we enhance respect for human relationships so that we built a society that is more egalitarian, free and healthy? what is at issue here is the question of the relationship between persons. interpersonal relationship is something we experience daily. that is what keeps us moving forward. that is what makes us human. this paper, is therefore, an attempt to address the evil of sexual slavery/exploitation using the philosophy of martin buber. this paper advocates a reordering of our mindsets and modes of thought in seeing the human person for what he or she really is – a dignified being that is to be respected, loved and treated as an existential subject. this reorientation is to be done and achieved through the lens of the relational existentialist, martin buber. for the purpose of this work, the terms, sex slavery and sex trafficking, will be used interchangeably. overview of slavery slavery could be said to be as old as man. it refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others who control where they live and what they work; to the legal, economic, political and social rules that allow one group of people to own people belonging to another group for their own benefit. essentially, slavery involves domination, oppression, control and so on. it existed in many cultures in early human civilizations and has continued to exist in some form for thousands of years in societies around the world. although, it could be found in almost every society, slavery, as we have studied in our history lessons, has its legacy in colonialism and imperialism which served as fuel to agricultural 300 formation of the human person in the 21st century industries till end of the of the 19th century. the freedom granted to slaves by governments in europe and america were not followed up by social, economic and psychological supports. consequently, slave like conditions and mentalities persisted. according to the economist, october 30, 2016, more than 200,000 adult slaves remained in africa’s sahel until the 60s. the negative consequences of slavery are obvious when one looks at the uneven social and economic development of nations that were not only victims of slavery but were suppliers of labour to these countries that have now being termed ‘developed’. hence, the compartmentalization of the world into categories of first and third, developed and under-developed, rich and poor. it is very probable that there are probably more slaves now than at any other point in history because, in all its forms, slavery has always existed in modern societies long after the 19th century.1 the most common form of modern slave trade is referred to as human trafficking. trafficking in human beings is a “phenomenon that involves a variety of areas and diverse aspects and its multidimensional extensiveness contributes to an often unfocused perspective”. human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation."2 this definition has three essential constituents: first, the action of trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons; second, the means of trafficking includes threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability; and third, the purpose of trafficking is geared towards exploitation. exploitation includes, “at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”3 in other words, human trafficking has many forms of exploitation. the objective of this essay is to examine the form of exploitation that has to do with a person’s sexuality. sex-trafficking is said to be the most common form of humantrafficking in the world today. it refers to the “recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years.”4 from the foregoing, sex trafficking is a sub-category within the wider framework of human-trafficking and is for the purpose of sexual exploitation including sexual slavery. so, sex trafficking necessarily includes sexual slavery but not all forms of sexual slavery fall under the umbrella of sex trafficking. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 301 sex slavery/trafficking sex slavery, which could also be described as sexual exploitation, is the attachment of the right of ownership over one or more persons with the intention of compelling them to engage in sexual activities. in other words, the victims are deprived of their sexual freedom, choice and rights and are subjected to the sexual manipulations of their enslavers. according to mark klamberg: sexual slavery is a particular form of enslavement which includes limitations on one’s autonomy, freedom of movement and power to decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. although it is listed as a separate offence in the icc statute, it is regarded as a particular form of enslavement. however, whereas enslavement is solely considered a crime against humanity, sexual slavery may constitute either a war crime or a crime against humanity. it is partly based on the definition of enslavement identified as customary international law by the icty in the kunarac case.5 from the above, sexual slavery is seen as a form of enslavement with a sexual component. it includes the wielding of any or all of the powers attached to ownership over one or more persons, such as by buying, selling, lending or bartering such a person or persons, or by imposing on them a similar deprivation of liberty. also, the person would have been made to engage in acts of a sexual nature. the evil also includes forced marriages, domestic servitude or other forced labour that ultimately involves forced sexual activity. in contrast to the crime of rape, which is a completed offence, sexual slavery constitutes a continuing offence.6 sex slavery has its roots in ancient history. in the ancient world, the greeks and the romans amongst others made a practice of forcing captured young women to be consigned to a life of servitude as concubines or domestic servants. in the 13th century, african slave trade was not limited to slaves for servants, agriculture, or the labor industry but also extended to women who received a higher price than men, primarily because of the sexual appetites of their owners.7 however, in recent times, the rise in the harm and suffering associated with transporting women and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation has taken an alarming rate. the trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual purposes lies in the expansion and ever growing sexual entertainment industry, which is most importantly a demanddriven phenomenon. unfortunately, women and children are perceived as the most exploitable and controllable and are therefore deemed to be the most in demand to contribute to this expanding and very competitive economic market, driven by maximum profit gaining.8 302 formation of the human person in the 21st century there have been a significant rise in the magnitude of this form of trafficking and it is said to be reaching severe dimensions worldwide in the recent context of globalization despite the laws and sanctions that have been put in place. several reasons have been adduced for the continued rise in trafficking including gender discrimination, war and armed conflict, poverty, persistent unemployment, lack of education, lack of information, gender discrimination, poverty and deprivation, lack of legislative and policy protection, harmful socio-cultural practices, and economic inequality, which is said to be the most convincing factor because it results in neighbouring cities, regions or countries being attractive destinations for people in poverty stricken cities, regions and countries. these factors in themselves are, however, not regarded as the causes of trafficking in persons; rather, they merely contribute to the vulnerability of victims and render them more prone to a variety of harms.9 the likelihood that a country will become a source of trafficking is greatly influenced by the economic and political instability of that country. internal armed conflict, civil unrest and natural disasters furthermore displace populations and increase their susceptibility to exploitation and abuse. enslavers and traffickers make false promises of good working conditions and higher wages in foreign countries to lure victims into their traps.10 the unsuspecting victims, who seek a better life for themselves and their families, are easily deceived by these lies and they fall prey to the enslavers and traffickers and become objects of dehumanization and indignity. even though victims of sex trafficking crime are encouraged to leave the economic struggles of their home countries in search of better opportunities, movement itself is not what constitutes the crime of trafficking. the force, fraud or coercion that is exercised on a victim by another person to perform sexual activities and remain in the service of that person, are the determining and defining elements of this crime of trafficking. sex slavery involves a variety of crimes and exploitation including violence, cruelty and ill-treatment of victims. the exploitation of victims for profit through the use of force, fraud or coercion remains the common denominator of this crime and the trade of human beings continues to evolve into new and more multifaceted forms of exploitation, using debt contracts and other means to coerce people for the purpose of profit gain.11 the victim’s human rights are taken away and the person is stripped of dignity and is reduced to a level below that of animals. this is what constitutes dehumanization and objectifies the human person. the concept of human rights is based on the belief in the dignity of the human person. it recognizes that the human person requires section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 303 certain minimum standards in order to fulfill a basic life of dignity. furthermore, as they are derived from the dignity of a human being as such, these rights belong to all human beings and cannot be removed by any authority, under any circumstances. human rights are held by every human being, simply because one is a human being and for no other reason.12 in other words, no one, for whatsoever reason, has the ‘right’ to take away the rights of another human being. unfortunately, the human rights of the victims of sex slavery are trampled upon, taken away and made to perform indignifying acts. this is what criminalizes the actions of sex enslavers and traffickers and renders their actions evil in itself. the cost of the sex slavery industry is most difficult to measure. the cost is more than just dollars being spent on sex. it also includes the damage done to individuals. there is also the cost in both physical and mental health with sex slavery. the self-esteem of the unfortunate victims is usually extremely low. it only takes a few days to break a woman; it takes many years to help her to rebuild her life. victims of sex slavery/trafficking go through physical, psychological and emotional trauma associated with the exploitation. those who are trafficked face violence that may occur during various stages of the trafficking process – from recruitment to destination which has a profound impact on the health of the victim. the physical, sexual and psychological abuse experienced by victims of sexual exploitation, combined with the forced or coerced use of alcohol and drugs, isolation and manipulation has longterm implications for victims’ overall well-being and present a challenge for rehabilitation. the psychological harm experienced by victims exposed to severe and persistent trauma and abuse are similar to those observed in victims of torture and repeated sexual abuse. escaping from the slavish or trafficking situation does not free the victim from the consequences of the period of exploitation, which she or he has endured. chronic physical, psychological and social issues often affect sextrafficked victims throughout their lives, whether they are free or enslaved.13 in his nicomachean ethics, aristotle developed the concept of human flourishing or eudemonia. for him, the aim of ethics and politics is to show people how to achieve eudemonia, which can be interpreted as well-being. the well-being of an individual is to be achieved by living a life in society and living a life concerned with the society. aristotle’s consideration of well-being, human flourishing and fulfillment is firmly situated in the context of society.14 thomas aquinas, like aristotle, situated his consideration of harm and liberty in a social context. the frustration of basic needs or potentialities of human beings is perceived to be morally bad and harmful, for it reduces the ability of a person to be fully actualised as a human being. thus, harm consists in not just the 304 formation of the human person in the 21st century absence of physical injury but also obstacles or lack of resources that prevent us living fully human lives. harm, then does not just occur at the one to one level, which is often easily visible, but at the institutional and systemic level whereby human flourishing is constrained.15 thus, sex slavery militates against the flourishing and fulfillment of the human person. where the human person is not allowed to flourish, dehumanization takes place. and as such, sex slavery, trafficking, and every form of exploitation are evil per se that is, they are intrinsic evils. martin buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship martin buber was a jewish-german existential philosopher; and as a theologian and a biblical translator, he was said to be one of the most influential figures in the twentieth century intellectualspiritual life. his ontology or theory of existence revolves around a concept of relation. persons and things are seen to exist only in relation to other things and persons. the word, relation implies a state of affairs which connects two separate entities. the very essence of any existence is this connecting state of relation which buber calls the between.16 relation, as an event or action, occurs between two entitles, that is, between a person, whose attention is completely turned toward someone or something other than himself, and another person or thing who confronts him. buber says that essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relation. the individual is a fact of existence in so far as he enters into relation with other individuals.17 he defines man as a creature capable of entering into living essential relations with the world and things. the fundamental fact of human existence is that an individual steps into a living relation with other individuals. the essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relation.18 according to buber, the principle of human life is not simple but twofold, being built up in a twofold movement which is of such kind that one movement is the presupposition of the other. he calls the first movement the primal setting at a distance and the second, entering into relation.19 so, man is man in virtue of his sense of distance and relation. it is obvious that entering into relation presupposes the primal setting at a distance. man can only enter into relation with a being that has been set at a distance which has become an independent opposite. only man can perform this act of setting at a distance because only man has a world an unbroken continuum which includes not only all that he and other individuals know and experience but all that is knowable now and in the future.20 in other words, one can only enter into relation with that which is not himself an independent other, a being which has been set at a distance. the primal setting at a distance involves the self understanding itself as being separate and apart from the being which is section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 305 not the self: the self identifies the other as an other. identifying the other as an other allows the self to enter into a relationship with it. this setting at a distance which makes entering into relation possible is proper to the human category.21 man's two basic relations to the world from the foregoing, entering into relation means entering into an ithou relation, and at the same time one cannot identify distance with iit. when an individual fails to enter into relation, however, the distance thickens and solidifies, so that instead of being that which makes room for relation it becomes that which obstructs it. this failure to enter into relation corresponds to i-it, and distance thus becomes the presupposition for both i-thou and i-it.22 the underlying principle in buber’s philosophy is the idea that man has two modes available to him through which he can engage the world. the first mode (i-it) is that of experience, while the other mode (ithou) is that of relation/encounter.23 according to him, there is no i taken in itself but only the i of the primary word i-thou and the i of the primary word i-it; and when a man says i, he refers to one or other of these. the i to which man refers is present when he says i. the existence of i and the speaking of i are one and the same thing. the i of man is both the i of the i-it and the i of the i-thou and thus the i of man is twofold. man's two basic relations to the world are fundamentally different modes of self-expression and so the 'i' in these relations has different meanings. the i of the i-it is spoken where and when the beings around are observed and treated as mere objects of observation; and the i of the i-thou relationship is spoken where and when one stands with the whole of one's being over against another and enters into essential relationship with him. buber opines that the i-thou precedes i-it, both logically and in the history of the human consciousness. through the thou a man becomes i, and this implies that man’s i-consciousness develops only gradually from relational events. this means too that the abstracted i, which is the prerequisite for the primary word i-it, is inextricably embedded in the web of relation, in the relation to the thou. the first primary word can be resolved, certainly, into i and thou, but it did not arise from their being set together; by its nature it precedes i. the second word arose from the setting together of i and it; by nature it comes after i. this is why buber declares that in the beginning is relation.24 buber makes a distinction between the person and the individual. the person is the man who has become truly or authentically human, that is, attained being or spiritual existence as the i of the i-thou relation, through his encounter of the other as thou. the individual, 306 formation of the human person in the 21st century however, is the i who has only experienced or used the other as his it, the object of his intent or purpose.25 the life of dialogue the heart of buber's philosophy might be considered to be in his conception of dialogue. in the buberian conceptual scheme, then, genuine dialogue is not simply a conversation, a way of communication, a means towards other goals. dialogue becomes the goal in itself, the central purpose of human life. it is quite obvious that dialogue typifies, in a superlative way, what buber has described as an i-thou attitude towards an other. a dialogic relationship is one where genuine dialogue occurs between partners.26 buber identifies certain defining features of the life of dialogue which are the constituents of the structure of i-thou relationship. the absence of any of these will mean the absence of relationship. these features include accepting and confirming the otherness of the other. such confirmation does not mean approval; but no matter what the person has against the other, by accepting that person as a partner in dialogue, the person has been affirmed.27 the act of acceptance and confirmation belongs to the very structure and actualization of real human existence of i-thou relationship. another feature buber identifies is mutuality or reciprocity of relationship. only in the mutual or reciprocal saying of thou, relationship comes into being and i and thou become co-partners. the mutuality is the mutual participation of both the partners in each other's existence. the mutual conditioned nature of relationship is not one sided; and i-it is unilateral.28 a third feature buber highlights is opening up and making present of everything, that is, not investigating the other but courageously and intensively stirring one's own being to enter into other's life. the exclusiveness of relationship is another feature which refers to total and unlimited presentness. the other (thou) in relationship is not more a thou beside other thous' but he becomes a thou who cannot be replaced or exchanged.29 the encompassing or inclusion of everything is the last feature buber highlights which means living or experiencing through what the other is living or experiencing through. application of buber’s philosophy to sex slavery and trafficking buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship is a salient panacea to the evil of sex slavery and sex trafficking in nigeria and by extension, the entire human society. buber promotes a philosophy of mutuality, reciprocity, genuine relationship and genuine dialogue. it is a philosophy that generates peace through mutual interaction and conversation, that is, section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 307 ‘i-thou’ relationship. the concept of dialogue perceives the human person as ‘thou’. in a society where genuine relations that ought to exist between individuals has been largely obliterated by the objectification of the human person through sex slavery and trafficking, buber proclaims that man can achieve authentic human existence only by turning to one another as a whole being in the posture of i-thou, in which the other is made really present in his concrete wholeness and uniqueness and where there is a genuine response to the irreducible claim of the encounter itself. at a time when mutual understanding and intimacy of communion are threatened by sexual exploitation, buber has with earnest insistence appealed to those healing powers which may be awakened by man meeting his fellow man and woman. buber’s central message and insight is, therefore, that human beings are ordained to find fulfillment and authentic selfhood by living with each other in a relationship of genuine life of dialogue.30 it is important to note that underlying the practice of sex slavery and sex trafficking is the objectification of the human person where an individual is seen as tool to be used. so, the evil of sex slavery, sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation persists because the human person and probably the female sex are not perceived as ‘thou’; instead, they are perceived as ‘it.’ according to buber, the i-it relationship is a subject –object relationship which does not possess genuine dialogue, listening and response. in this relationship, an individual is regarded as an ‘it’ that is tossed around as a mere thing other than thou. buber’s philosophy would orientate individuals in upholding human dignity and foster respect for human rights and by inclusion, women and children.31 buber’s concept of confirmation which can be described as acknowledgement and recognition of the other would go a long way in curtailing sexist tendencies. in confirmation one meets, chooses and recognizes the other as a subject with the capacity to actualize one’s own potential. in order for confirmation to be complete one must know that he/she is being made present to the other. there must be this reorientation by individuals that recognizing other including women and children as subjects actualizes their own potentials and is a tonic for positive growth as an individual and the life is not about greed, money, making profit while disregarding the dignity of fellow human beings. unfortunately, they may exist this fear that confirming others may lead to poverty or a lack. this is a problem of mistrust which buber considers mistrust as one of the hindrances of dialogue. mistrust leads to oppression, discrimination and criminality. the issue of mistrust can be resolved with mutual dialogue which brings trust and love. 308 formation of the human person in the 21st century furthermore, the notion of i-thou relationship stems from mutuality, reciprocity, relation and genuine dialogue. it is a concrete encounter, because individuals meet one another in their authentic existence, without any qualification or objectification of one another. buber’s i-thou relationship opens an avenue for encounter in which people could engage with each other fully through dialogue. in other words, human beings – both enslaver/traffickers and victims can encounter each other authentically without objectifying one another. when such occurs, the victims and every individual would be treated with utmost respect as fellow thous who have the right to experience life and contribute to it. buber’s notion of inclusion and relation becomes relevant here. inclusion, according to buber, means the ability to develop a dual sensation among those engaged in dialogue: experiencing oneself and simultaneously perceiving the ‘other’ in its singularity. the inclusion of a person causes one to experience and know one’s fellow human being. that quality of inclusion will help those involved in sexual exploitation to experience and understand themselves as well as experience and understand what their fellow existents go through in their situation and experiences. accordingly, relation is mutual. my ‘thou’ affects me as i affect it.32 there is deep sense of reciprocity and mutuality in relation. it is only when people overcome their self-centredness, greed and lust and see one another as thou that mutual, inclusive, reciprocal, relational and genuine dialogue in love would occur which would promote peaceful harmonious co-existence and human beings to flower, flourish and contribute uniquely in a no small measure to the development of the entire human society. to have a genuine relationship of dialogue, both men and women must recognize the “thou” of the other: only persons who are capable of truly saying thou to one another can truly say we with one another. conclusion this essay has been concerned with the application of buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relationship to the evil of sex slavery and trafficking with a view to resolving it. the basic foundation on which buber’s whole project is built is his insight that man has two distinct ways of engaging the world i-thou and i-it. modern society largely ignores the i-thou mode of encounter through which man enters into relation with the other; and canonizes the i-it mode of experience through which man treats the other as an object to be analyzed and utilized. buber’s contention is that inasmuch as the latter (mode of experience) is important and indispensable for human survival, it is not section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 309 sufficient. as a matter of fact, a human being is not fully human unless he also opens himself up to the mode of relation (i-thou). in buber’s philosophy, men and women are essentially relational beings. all true living is meeting, and dialogue is the ridge on which we meet. in dialogue, men and women penetrate the polite superficialities and defenses with which they habitually armor themselves; they listen to one another with an authenticity that forges a bond between and among both sexes. upholding and respecting the human person and entering into a living and essential relation with another is an act of incredible bravery. this is because it requires leaving behind false notions of selfishness, dominance, superiority and arrogance in a realm of experience in which we can understand and predict and master and enter into a realm that cannot easily be predicted and manipulated, and which exposes us to grave risks such as betrayal and exploitation. man becomes what he essentially is in relation to others. a pragmatic application of buber’s concept of dialogue would definitely go a long way in curbing sexual exploitation of different forms. it will encourage a spirit of mutual togetherness, genuine conversation, genuine wholeness, and genuine connection between individuals men and women. there is need for confirmation and inclusion of one another through dialogue which brings closeness, mutuality and reciprocity. there is emphatic need for recognition of the dignity of women and children who are mostly victims of sex slavery and trafficking. thus, the human person should be seen as an end in itself and never as a means to an end. buber’s philosophy does not in any way suggest that there would not be failures, errors and mistakes considering the fact that it is human nature that is being dealt with but it simply entails that in the midst of friction and tension, there could be need to understand one another as persons with dignity and essence. sex slavery and trafficking is difficult to curb. despite the numerous laws and attempts to stop it which are commendable, it still thrives. while appreciating the efforts of the government, non-governmental organizations, religious institutions and individuals, there is a need to go back to the source; the education of the young which buber emphasized greatly in his works. while individuals in the society need a reorientation in seeing one another as ‘thous’ the young one – the future of the society – need to be educated and taught to build up a society where mutual respect is upheld, the dignity of the human person is held holy and fellow existents treat one another as thous. that would mean introducing the young to philosophical ideas especially what we may refer to as relational existentialism and inculcating in them the values of the i-thou relationship. 310 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the “i-it” relation, the individual deals with the world and other persons functionally, manipulatively as things to be investigated and used. this type of relation is wrong as it has been a major cause of many problems in modern life as reflected in the educational systems of nations that see schooling as a production factory. in the i-thou relationship, the individual encounters other persons and god as thou (you). this involves interpersonal dialogue, an encounter which opens up the true depths of reality that engenders direct connection and a sense of unity for the individuals and the community with the necessary ethical underpinnings. to buber, education is relational between the teacher and the learner on one hand between the educational system and the community on the other. education is subjective. the active role of the learner in selecting and building his/her own knowledge as to be effective in his relations or encounter with people. education should generally be seen as a relation based enterprise in that the nature and the direction of the society determines the essence of its educational system.33 endnotes 1 jennifer clark b. and sasha poucki, human trafficking and modern day slavery, (london: sage publications ltd, 2018), p. 51. 2 gabriel temesgen, “root causes and solutions to human trafficking in ethiopia,” international journal of science and research 3 (2012): gabriel temesgen, “root causes and solutions to human trafficking in ethiopia,” international journal of science and research 3 (2012): 1578 3 ibid. 4 lisa connell, human-trafficking for sexual exploitation in australia: the deafening silence on demand, (melbourne: centre for strategic economic studies, 2012), p. 42. 5 mark klamberg, ed., commentary on the law of the international criminal court, (brussels: torkel opsahl academic epublisher, 2017), p. 51. 6 ibid. 7 victor, lewis & james larson, “sex slavery: a new look at the world’s oldest profession,” journal of international business and cultural studies 9(2015): 3 8 juanida suzette horne, a critical analysis of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, (pretoria: university of south africa, 2014), p. 100. 9 ibid. 10 ibid, p. 99. 11 ibid. 12 ‘connell, human trafficking, 141. 13 connell, human trafficking, 45-47. 14 aristotle, nicomachean ethics, bk. 1, 1102. 15 connell, human trafficking, 145. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 311 16 maurice friedman,. martin buber: the life of dialogue. (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1960), p. 57. 17 martin buber, i and thou. (edinburgh: t & t. clark, 1937), p. 6. 18 martin buber, the knowledge of man: selected essays. (amherst: humanity books, 1998), p. 7. 19 ibid., p. 50. 20 friedman, martin buber 80. 21 ezeihejiofor, uchenna, martin buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship. (ibadan: dominican institute, 2004), p. 45. 22 friedman, martin buber 83. 23 buber, i and thou 3. 24 buber, the knowledge 3. 25 winright, elaine. martin buber's i and thou as model for relationship between artist and visual artwork. (texas: texas tech university, 1991), p. 38-39. 26 buber, martin. between man and man. (london; routledge classics, 2002), p. 24. 27 buber, the knowledge 75. 28 buber, i and thou 11, 33. 29 ibid. 78. 30 ezeihejiofor, martin buber’s philosophy 88. 31 ezeogu, uchenna a., john u. ezugwu & daniel u. obi. “herders-farmers conflict in nigeria: applying martin buber’s dialogic approach.” nnamdi azikiwe journal of philosophy. 11:1 (2019), 141. 32 buber, i-thou 15. 33 akinkuotu yemi ambrose and quadri, y. ayodele, “martins buber’s philosophical idea of “i – thou (you)” and its relevance to modern education in nigeria”, british journal of arts and social sciences. 8:1 (2012), 89. 327 24 the human person in yoruba culture and philosophy prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract the question: who is a human person? has remained a perennial question in the study of philosophy and religion. in spite of the fact of the establishment of the fact that the human person is an individual substance of a rational nature, different cultures continue to reflect on the question of the human person from the particularity and peculiarity of their cultural category. thus, this paper investigates the concept of the human person from the perspective of the yoruba people. the yoruba believe that a human person consist of a body, which is physical, and a soul which is spiritual. at creation, yoruba mythology of creation has it that olodumare worked in collaboration with some gods to bring the human person into existence. these gods are orisanla (god of creation) who was responsible for molding the body, ogun (god of iron) was the beautifier; who for example cut the hands into fingers and olodumare gave the soul. this paper is aimed at giving an explanation to what makes 328 formation of the human person in the 21st century a human person among the yoruba. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: human person, yoruba culture, body, soul, olodumare, orisanla, gods. introduction the purpose of this work is to discuss human person in yoruba culture. a human person is a living being that contains a real and existing power to direct its own development toward fulfillment through perfect, unconditional, and infinite truth, love, goodness, beauty, and unity, and will do so if all the proper conditions are met. a human being is referred to as “eniyan” in yoruba context, which connotes a good or responsible person hence the saying “kii se eniyan” that is person is not responsible or reliable. this by implication means that a human person must be dependable with total sense of readiness to be there for others. if a human person is not making any contributions to the community in which he or she is part, then to yoruba people, he is not a human person per se. although he has the features but not the competence. this idea has earlier been presented by gbadegesin (1983) that “the normative concept of a person evolves from the way in which man is understood in a given community in terms of his relations to other living beings and his role among other men.” therefore human person in yoruba context mean somebody that is part of the community in all ramifications. this is in line with the understanding of akan people about human person. “in fact, a person of high moral standards or conduct would be described approvingly as oye onipa paa—literally; she is a real (human) person. in contrast, an individual who fails in his striving in the akan community may be judged as onipa hun, which literally means “useless person,” an opprobrious expression. (wingo 2006) in the lesson note of open university on person and persons, there is an agreement that “someone who has suffered some catastrophe that has put them in a permanent coma, a ‘persistent vegetative state’. their biological classification has not altered; they are still a human being. they have lost something, however. in a sense, they have ceased to exist…. a being in a persistent vegetative state is a case of something human that might not be a person.” therefore a human person must be alive, active and productive. who are the yoruba? yoruba people according to atanda (1989) constitute one of the major ethnic groups in modern igeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 329 a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). in agreement, omojola (2015) states that, the yoruba live in the south-western part of the present day nigeria and they occupy the states of ogun, oyo, osun, ondo, lagos and ekiti. they are also found in some parts of kogi, kwara and edo states and beyond the lower niger northwards into nupe land. they could also be found beyond the boundaries of the present day nigeria in dahomey (republic of benin) and togoland. since the result of the last census in nigeria is controversial, it is difficult to give the accurate total population of the yoruba people. all that is known about them is that they are regarded as one of the most advanced communities in west african in; religion, agriculture, commerce, education, art, intelligence, government and warfare. this group of people has as part of their values collective community development, cultural observes reflecting in their interaction with othersmode of dressing and diets. they also value honesty, humility and diligence. and more importantly, they value communal life. all these are taught in their informal training beginning from home. according to kanu and omojola (2018), yoruba values are inherent in their formation as they assert that “at rising, children are taught to greet elders, sweep the surroundings, they are also taught from time to time to respect elders, to have value of honesty, charity, industriousness, cleanness, humility, supportmembers helping themselves in developing someone’s project, as a group or people of the same trade helping themselves. formation of children was even taught to be done collectively. most africans gain this knowledge ever before they grow up to form associations according to age groups and they begin to compete and use themselves as yardstick for success, development and progress. all these are taught through proverbs, songs, art, communal life, and folk tales/ lore during moonlight play. the human person in yoruba culture and philosophy the understanding of human person in yoruba culture therefore is seen beyond ordinary because it has to do with physical and spiritual. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) put it this way “yoruba religious thought makes a distinction between the physical body (ara) and the spiritual elements that inhabit it and give it life and individuality. still, there is the conception that the two are inseparable entities that make up human personality. the spiritual elements consist of both the head (orí, the inner head) and breath (èémí), which are the vital components without which the body dies. orí, which is more than a physical head that carries human brain, controls one’s destiny and direction through the use of one’s ẹsẹ̀ (legs). ese (legs) is regarded by the yorubas as a vital part of the 330 formation of the human person in the 21st century human personality make-up, both in a physical and spiritual sense. this is the symbol of power and activity. it is therefore an element which enables a man to struggle and function adequately in life so that he may bring to realization whatever has been marked out for him by the choice of ori. makinde (1983). orí also guides one’s deeds and actions; a bad and good choice depends on one’s choice of orí. in essence, orí is the element that predetermines a person’s success or failure in the world.” therefore, human person consists of physical in body (ara) and spiritual body in head and breathe (orí and èémí). abimbola (2006), added that one's oriinu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must grow in order to consummate union with one's "iponri" (ori orun, spiritual self). makinde (1983) alludes to this by saying that “apart from the body and soul which, in yoruba thought, are the two main elements (the physical and the spiritual) of a person, there is a third element, also spiritual, of a person, known as ori (inner head) whose function it is to determine human destiny.” makinde went further to say that the yoruba concept of the choice of destiny through ori also emphasizes the need for hard work to bring to fruition the potentiality for success represented by the choice of a good ori. this leads us to believe in ese (leg) as an important ingredient of human personality. this means to a very large extent, success determines a human person. this success in human person is what yoruba people refer to as “eniyan” not just the person with features of a human being. reflecting on what make a human being (eniyan) and how they come about, gbadegesin (1983) is of the opinion that “eniyan” is the combined effort of “olodumare”, the supreme deity, and some subordinates. yoruba conception of a human person refers to all the tangible elements that make a person both externally and internally such as brain, intestine, liver, and so on. emi (soul) is believed to be the immaterial element that provides the energy without which a person is said to be living or being conscious. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) in their attempt to draw the relationship between body, soul and head referred to ifá verse that the body (ara) was molded by òrìṣà-ńlá, the orí (head) is provided by àjàlá and the ẹ̀mí is provided by ọlọ́run (olódùmarè), god in yoruba believe. this relationship has been grouped into physical-material and mental-spiritual by gbadegesin (2003) as follows: “ara” – body belongs to the first, èmí –soul, to the second, and “orí”head and “okàn”-heart has physical and mental aspects. in another version, makinde (1983) asserts that the yoruba people believe that the human personality has two main elements: the physical and the spiritual body and mind (soul). and that the creation of the physical elements of a person by orisanla does not include hands and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 331 legs. it was the duty of ogun (the god of iron) to cut the hands into fingers and also cut the legs out of the shapeless trunk. the researcher finds this ogun assignment as beautifier very interesting. being the god of iron according to yoruba people, he would have enough instruments like cutlass and others apparatuses to do the separations. the physical head which is said to be the first to be molded is regarded as the beginning of all things from which the body was made and gbadegesin (2003) explained the importance of this (ori) as follows “the idea of orí as a spiritual component, chosen by the individual and having the power of a guardian and protector over him/her, seems too deep-rooted in the yoruba world-view to be given up. it is therefore the “ori” so chosen, with the destiny wound up in it that determines the personality of the individual. and though the orí is symbolized by the physical head, it is not identical with it. for the orí is construed as the inner—or spiritual—head (orí-inú).” from these two versions of the creation of human persons, it can be deduced that olodumare (god) worked in collaboration with some gods to bring forth man. they were orisanla and ajala according to akíntúndé and fálọlá. makinde says orisanla and ogun. as an extension to the above concept of human person in yoruba culture, abimbola (2006), opines that yoruba belief holds that all human beings possess what is known as "ayanmo" (destiny, fate) and are expected to eventually become one in spirit with olodumare. also, the thoughts and actions of each person in ayé (the physical realm) interact with all other living things, including the earth itself. each person attempts to achieve perfection and find their destiny in orun-rere (the spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things). impact of the community on human person taking lead from the fact that a human person must be responsible and reliable, indigenous yoruba community comes together to raise a child for his good and good of the community. at pregnancy, ‘ifa’ priest is consulted to know the type of child that should be expected. even at times, a prediction of a particular type of child may come to a family and how to prepare and care for such a child will be discussed along with the announcement before pregnancy. a woman who is carrying a future king will know before birth for example. at arrival, naming ceremony will be done to welcome the child to the community and everyone in the community has it as a responsibility to care for him through proper formation or informal education. hence the saying in yoruba that “eniyan kan lo n bimo, igba owo lo n to” literally means that it is only one person that gives birth to a child and two hundred hands bring him up. 332 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the typical yoruba culture, a diviner must be consulted before any serious decision is taking because as idowu (1966) opines …the full responsibility of all the affairs belongs to the deity…through all its changing scenes, its joys and troubles; it is the deity who is in control”. sacrifices are used regularly to appease the gods because it is equally believed that evil world can change destinies. therefore regular prayers in form of sacrifices are important to one ori as will be needed in the mind of abimbola (2006). “iwapẹlẹ (or well-balanced) meditative recitation and sincere veneration is sufficient to strengthen the “ori-inu” of most people. well-balanced people, it is believed, are able to make positive use of the simplest form of connection between their oris and the omnipotent olu-orun: an adura (petition or prayer) for divine support”. what happens in this type of prayer is this: “eshu elegbara” (a god) initiates contact with spiritual realm on behalf of the petitioner, and transmits the prayer to ayé; the deliverer of ase or the spark of life. he transmits this prayer without distorting it in any way. thereafter, the petitioner may be satisfied with a personal answer. in the event that he or she is not, the ifá oracle of the orisha orunmila may also be consulted. all communication with orun, whether simplistic in the form of a personal prayer or complicated in the form of that done by an initiated babalawo (priest of divination), however, is energized by invoking ase. (so shall it be) abimbola (2006) the community guides individual to a matured age and at times initiate them especially male children to a cult for support and protection. human person are guided through choosing a trade that is suitable as dictated by the diviners. even in marriage, the community still pays attention to the choice of partner. in times of trouble, they still run back to their family and community for solutions. in case there is any failure after all these efforts have been put in place, they resign to “ayanmo” (destiny or fate) hence, the saying that “ayanmo ko gbo oogun”. (destiny has no remedy). this is as well related to the choice of ori (head), hence those with difficult cases without remedy are termed to be “oloriburuku” that is, having a bad head. this however will lead us to whether yoruba believe that human person lives after here, that is, the physical realm (heaven) that abimbola (2006) is pointed at earlier. human person and after life primarily, africans believe in life after here or live beyond here or ancestral world. in the explanation of abanuka (1994), that “ ancestors are an aspect of the african experience of the universe… the dead are not considered as very far removed from the living, and those who are still living are conscious of their journey to join those who have gone before them to the land of the dead”. in the mind of mbiti (1969) however, “a section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 333 person dies and yet continues to live: he is a livingdead, and no other term can describe him better than that”. to the family members, the diseased continues to live as and remembered as if he travels. keeping the dead in the temporal sight by his loved ones is what mbiti describes as the cult of the living –dead in all african societies. ige (2006) added that they even move round and “it is only those who possess special power or medicine that can notice their presence.” being particular about yoruba people, mbiti insists that “they are uncertain about the final lot of the departed: some are put in a good place, others in a bad place; the first group meets relatives and lives more or less as the people did in this life, but the second group is thought to suffer without end.” this is the story of the ancestral world that the researcher heard in the oral tradition of yoruba people. the second group may not be able to survive and they disappear without attention hence, they emphasize good relationship here on earth so that they can reunit with the ancestors and continue to live here after. also, yoruba believe that after a while, the diseased will leave the ancestral world and return to their families to live again or to fulfil some uncompleted assignments hence they have names like“yetunde”, “yejide”, “yewande” or “iyabo” – mother has returned, and “babatunde” “babajide” or “babade” – father has returned. in the mind of idowu (1966), ancestral world exist and there is an annual festival in their honour especially for those that have been deified. remembrance of the ancestors is not only particular to the deified members because that is what is being celebrated annually in “egungun” festival as opposed the idea of idowu (1966). ige (2006) attests to this that “communal ceremonies are done in honour of the ancestor and to remind the people of the great deeds of their ancestors. some of these festivals include ‘oro’ and ‘egungun’”. apart from this, ige continues “the ancestors have shrines where sacrifices and prayers are offered to them. among the yoruba it is called igbo igbale’. there are priests and priestesses attached to the shrines. the priests and priestesses are usually the most elderly men and women in the family. it is however not a woman married into the family. the above consequently establish the fact that human person continues to live here after. it implies that life is not end by death as mbiti (1969) affirms “death stands between the world of human beings and the world of the spirits, between the visible and the invisible.” conclusion an attempt had been made in this paper to discuss the understanding of human person in yoruba culture and philosophy. the physical element of a person is collectively known as ara (body), a creation of orisanla (the yoruba god of creation) who is charged by olodumare (god of heaven) with the responsibility of molding human beings out of clay, with ogun 334 formation of the human person in the 21st century (god of iron) to beautify the body while olodumare gives the breath “eemi”. in the analysis, “ara”, (body) “ori” (head), “emi” (spirit), and “eemi’ (breath) form a human person. prayer to one's oriorun is important regularly as it produces an immediate sensation of joy. this must work directly with “ese” legs to bring to fulfillment all that one has been destined to achieve. it was equally established that the community in which one is part must have influence on human person from the beginning to the age of maturity for his good and the good of the community at large. however, even after death, a human person lives on in yoruba land especially those who have lived well and they are regularly celebrated as ancestors. finnally, in the yoruba belief system, olodumare has ase (final say) over everything hence, it is considered supreme. references abanuka b. (1994). a new essay on african philosophy. nigeria, snaap press. abimbola, k (2006). the yoruba concept of human personality. birmigham, iroko. abimbola, kola. (2006). yoruba culture: a philosophical account, birmigham, iroko. 2006. atanda j. a. (1980). an introduction to yoruba history. ibadan. the caxton press. balogun, o.a. (2007). “the concepts of ori and human destiny in traditional yoruba thought: a soft deterministic interpretation” nordic journal of african studies 16 (1). gbadegesin, o. (1983). the yoruba conception of a person and its implications on fatalism, determinism and human destiny. https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/person idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba culture. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ige a (2006). the cult of ancestors in african traditional religion. https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html. kanu i.a and omojola i.o. (2018) mitigation of african indigenous knowledge. tansian university journal of arts, management and social sciences (tujamss). issn: 2449-0334. vol. 5. learning from open university. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-thearts/culture/philosophy/philosophy-the-nature-persons/content-section-1 makinde m.a (1983). an african concept of human personality: the yoruba example. nigeria journal of cultures and ideas 1: no. 1 (december). mbiti (1969).african religions and philosophy. britain. morrison and gibb. omojola. l. t. (2015). catholic church in ekitiland: yesterday, today and tomorrow. akure: don bosco. wingo a (2006).akan philosophy of the person. standard encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/akan-person/ idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba belief. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. 407 30 islam and the formation of catholic priest in nigeria emmanuel i. ukpebor department of religious management and cultural studies ambrose alli university, ekpoma, nigeria emma2002ukpe@yahoo.com or emmaukpebor@aauekpoma.edu.ng abstract the nigeria society is dynamic and distinct in its pluralistic nature. multiplicity defines the features and elements that make up the nigerian state. the choice of becoming a vanguard of religious tradition by an individual in such a nation with plural political, cultural, social and religious belief systems demand rigorous formation processes. this paper examines islam, one of the religious and cultural traditions most assertive and influential in nigeria’s religio-political space against the training of catholic priest of the christian religious belief system. the work employs the historical, analytical and evaluative methods to examine the transformative stages of islam from its inception and the challenges its poses to the christian evangelical mission in nigeria. the work hinges on the geothe’s paradox theoretical framework “he who knows one knows none” adapted by max muller (1823-1900) in his comparative study of religion. the findings reveal that islam which came through commercial activities has become a powerful influence in nigeria society and the knowledge of its dynamic influences is of essence in the formation of catholic priest as it enhances the strategies of priestly mission of evangelization and re-construction of a better society for peace and harmony with members of other religious groups. the enforcement the law of freedom of religious participation by political authority of the society is part of the recommendations of the paper which concludes that the commitment to interreligious dialogue and cooperation in a diverse society as nigeria by the catholic church will continuously be effective if the elements of knowing the dynamics of islam are embedded within the context of the training of seminarians who hold the posterity of the catholic mission. 408 formation of the human person in the 21st century key words: islam, catholic priest, formation and nigeria. introduction the nigerian society is a complex society. there are multiple and diverse elements in the various systems that make up the entity. the religious space is characterized with several religious traditions three of which are dominantly subscribed namely; the indigenous traditional religion, christianity and islam. the peoples that answer the corporate name called nigeria share diverse ethnic nationalities numbering no less than 250 ethnic groups with diverse socio-cultural heritages. history has it that each of these ethnic groups of which three are predominant ( hausa/fulani, yoruba and igbo) had and operated different political and legal systems before the 1914 amalgamation that brought the differing groups together. religion as an inevitable phenomenon in human activity has a function of unifying people together and giving meaning to their existence on earth and assurance of what is to come in the afterlife. the diversities in the practices of religion in nigeria with the presence of multiple religious traditions and the ethnic and cultural variations of the people influence the general administration of the nigeria state creating numerous issues that threaten collective peace and harmony needed for the nation’s optimum growth and development. islam and christianity stand as the most influential and assertive religions in nigeria’s religiopolitical space. the events of struggles, rivalry and competition visible in nigeria’s political engineering more often than not received interpretation along the line of these religions (islam and christianity) (odey, 2014). there are inconsistencies in the population figure of religious affiliation census in nigeria. though the 2006 nigeria population census did not censor religious affiliations but the world fact book (2003) cited in wotogbe (2012) reveals muslims population in nigeria to be 50%, christians 40% while the followers of the indigenous traditional religion 10%. another source, the religious freedom nation profile puts it that christians in nigeria are approximately 46%, muslims 44% and members of the african indigenous religion 10% (imaekhai, 2010:56). the polarization of the society along the two major religious divides has earned the nation series of religious crises that had resulted in great fatality both human and property. islam with its political dynamism appears to be more influential and assertive than the christian counterpart in nigeria’s religio-political space. many of the religious crises that have occurred in nigeria have been attributed to islam (ukpebor, 2018). this made islam to be commonly referred as a religion of violence. however, there is more to be known and understood about section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 409 the islamic religion and the muslims besides the common view about them especially by the members and the upcoming leaders of the counterpart christian faith. denominationalism characterizes the christian faith in nigeria. the roman catholic church is the largest christian denomination in nigeria. it has about 39 million worshippers from the over 140 million population of nigeria closely followed by the anglican church with over 18 million members (imaekhai, 2010:56). the catholic church with this status has represented the christian voice in the maintenance of peace and harmony through its engagement with other religions in dialogue. the positive results of this engagement by the leading catholic clerics create the need for its sustenance by the church’s successive ministers. it is on this note that this paper looks into the formation of catholic priest with the aim of exposing the religious and political dynamics of islam in nigeria with the view to arm the intending catholic priest with a balanced knowledge that would aid the church effective mission of evangelization in nigeria society. theoretical framework this paper adopts the geothe’s paradox: “he who knows one knows none” as the framework that guides the study. the geothe’s paradox was first used by the students of comparative philology in the study of language. max muller adopted this paradox “he who knows one knows none” in the new discipline of science of religion otherwise called comparative study of religion which he developed in late 19th century (muller, 1873). the import of the paradox lies in the fact that one has a balanced knowledge, when one has knowledge of more than one religion or religious traditions in the society and the process of achieving this is known as the comparative study of religions. thus, comparative study of religion in essence is the inquiry into the religious traditions of man. it is a study that takes into account the fact that there are in the world of men various religious traditions each of which makes sense to the adherents or the believers of the faith (wotogbe, 2005:7). although, this paradox received criticism when it was first used for the study of comparative language on the premise that learning too many languages may lead to the risk of losing firm grasp of one’s own language. but muller explained that the result in doing comparative study of languages leads to a higher level of order, knowledge and wisdom which in a similar vein extend to the comparative study of religion. he thus concluded that contrary to the position of the critics of comparative languages, inquiries in comparative study of religion besides the benefits of higher order, knowledge and wisdom attainment, lead one to more firm grasp on one’s own religious tradition (muller, 1897). the theory is apposite as it justifies the aim of 410 formation of the human person in the 21st century this paper which is geared towards exposing the dynamics of islam, a different religious tradition to the catholic tradition which would enhance the acquisition of higher and balanced knowledge in the formative processes of priesthood vocation. conceptualizing priest and priesthood the word priest is an english word derived from the greek word presbyterous (elder) but in usage and meaning it is the equivalent of the greek hiereus, latin sacerdos and hebrew kohen meaning the offerer of sacrifice and revealer of oracles (tasie and okinedo, 2005:124). this translate that a priest is a channel of divine communication that makes the wishes of the deity known to men and in turn offers to the deity the worship and sacrifices of men. priesthood as a terminology is an institution referring to a body of persons who perform religious functions and mediate between men and the supersensible being. in catholic tradition, priesthood refers to the sacrament of holy orders through which the mission entrusted by christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the church until the end of time (ccc, 1536). the seminary formation is the process the catholic church instituted to ensure the continuation of the apostolic ministry. as the priests are to be taken among men to live with other men as brothers (vatican ii no.3), it is expedient to arm them with the dynamic nature of the society especially one with plural features. defining islam islam is one of the semitic and prophetic religious traditions that share an uncompromising monotheism and belief in god’s revelation, his prophets, ethical responsibility and accountability, and the day of judgment (esposito, 2005:1). the word islam is from the arabic root “silm” which means peace and submission. it is a term use in arabic language to designate surrender when one wants to submits to his opponent in a battle field during the pre islamic days. it was adopted to describe the religion brought by prophet muhammad and that is why in religious context the word (islam) came to mean submission to the will of allah and obedience to his law. kilani describes it as a noun formed from the infinitive of a verb asalama meaning “to accept “, “to submit”, “to commit oneself” which invariably means to submit or surrender to allah (18). the qur’an in chapter 3 verse 85 jealously distinguishes islam when it says, “if anyone desires a religion other than islam (submission to allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good)”. by implication this means that it is through submission to the will of allah and by obedience to his law can one achieves true peace section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 411 and enjoys lasting purity. a muslim from this understanding becomes one who submits to the will of allah. islamic incursion in nigeria islam entered the territory now known as nigeria from two directions; the north and south. in both directions, the opening of trans-saharan trade facilitated the penetration of the religion in the area. raiding, a legitimate and legal act in arabia before the revelation that gave birth to islam came to muhammad was still been carried out by the arabs that had converted to islam. one of such arabs was uqba ibn-nafi whose raiding venture in 667 ad into the central sahara opened the route to kanem and borno in northern nigeria and it lasted till the end of the 19th century (kenny, 2001). in each of the towns uqba raided, he imposed a tribute of 360 slaves and that made the central african trade route to be known and specialized in slaves taken from the hinterland of borno. the business was later extended to western sudan where gold was discovered. this precious commodity attracted the interest of the umayyad governor who sought for ways to enhance the continuous supply of the commodity from west africa (kilani & ukpebor, 2016). the trans-saharan trade routes were then developed to serve a secure and efficient link with the western sahara. the settlement established by the arab muslims’ merchant along the trade routes which made them stayed with their indigenous customers to the extent of contracting marriage with them provided the stimulus for the islamization of west africa in general (kilani, 2008). the free mixing of muslim merchants with west african people created the avenue to organize african trading agents and associates which the muslims traders needed to facilitate their trade. this led to the emergence of a community of african muslims around the arab muslim merchants. thus, the trans-saharan trade stimulated the beginning of the formation of “state in islam” in subsaharan african. african kings welcomed the presence of muslim traders in their communities as they saw the economic benefits the long-distance trade had to offered and which stood higher if they (the kings) embraced islam. their compliance would also provide them the status of citizenship in the larger muslim umma (community) with equality and brotherhood with the far away arab miuslims in saudi arabia. as islam gained ground, large scale marketing and transportation became muslim monopoly and this put pressure on traders to join islam to become part of the club. the presence of muslim scholars who provided the written communication in arabic, a vital element in the infrastructure of longdistance trade also appealed to the people of west africa. it is interesting 412 formation of the human person in the 21st century to note that the arabic language was the only international language of west africa before the arrival of the portuguese on the coast in the 15th century and french and english in the 19th century (kenny, 2001:3). muslims clerics that were present during the trans-saharan trade had several religions medicine to offer which somewhat stood superior in it efficacy to that of the indigenous traditional religion. the medication is in form of specific prescriptions for every conceivable disease and any other issue of life and the dosage is taken by drinking the ink washed from a slate with quranic writing. there is talisman to be put on and prayers to be said. the islamic rites of worship in its entirety were of high attraction as it were commonly performed in an opened environment, dramatic and with all seriousness of minds. the spirit of brotherhood brought by islam to those who accept it provided a sense of security to them as it gave them legal immunity from attack by other muslims. this became another strong motivation for the african king to become a muslim as it served a pre-emptory defense against attack (kenny, 2001). the kings therefore found islam a convenient support to their imperial authority as it was a unifying ideology bridging many tribes and presenting to them a wider brotherhood, citizenship and nationality. this was how the phenomenon of “state islam” emerged. the religion from its inception in west africa was controlled and used to promote the interest of the rulers. islamic reformation and the spread of islam in nigeria another prominent factor in the spread of islam in nigeria is the military factor. beginning from the long-distance trade, islam spread peacefully through muslim clerics and traders until the reformation carried out by usman dan fodio in early 19th century among the hausa/fulani nation. reformation as a concept is derived from the arabic word tajdid meaning to reform or revive. it is an ideology derived from the prophetic tradition which states that “the muslims community will be assisted by those who will renew its faith for it”. the objective is to recreate or recapture the ideal sunni islamic society by mobilizing the people along the paradigms of the quran and prophetic tradition (ukpebor, 2018:42). it is popularly referred as the jihad of the sword. thus, the jihad of fodio was conceived to revive and purify islam in hausa land, to eliminate all syncretistic beliefs and rituals, jettison all innovations that are contrary to the quran and sharia, and bring the muslims backsliders back to orthodox and pure islam (umejesi, 1992:87). however, the religious motive turned out to be a political revolution. all the hausa dynasties were overthrown and the fulani were installed as emirs with sokoto chosen as the caliphal centre. islamic caliphate system replaced the traditional political system and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 413 islam thereafter became firmly established in places where it had not had a stronghold before in northern nigeria. the all-inclusiveness of islam is justified by this holistic revolution. islam does not separate the political from the religious and this makes muslims expect that the establishment of islam in the society will bring a better and more prosperous society as well as a greater enjoyment of the goods of this life and that of the hereafter. this is the notion of state in islam. it is contrary to the christian teaching to render to caesar what is caesar’s and to god what is god’s. in islam, caesar and what he owns belong to god, the one (al-qaradawi, 1998:3). colonial phase islam the violent intolerance tendency of islam that stares at the non-muslims especially the christians and their evangelical mission today was stimulated during colonial rule in nigeria. although, the militant tendency of the jihadists stopped before the colonial era, the spread of islam continues during the colonial period but in a peaceful mode of dissemination like as it was during the trans-saharan trade. if the british had swept away the caliphal system of islam they met as their french counterpart did in their territory the tale of nigeria would have been different. but the british propped and increased their authority through what umejesi (1992) refers to as “a symbiotic arrangement” otherwise known as the “principle of indirect rule”. in addition, the british introduced the pax brittanica which permitted muslims and everyone to move freely throughout the country in pursuit of trade or livelihood (kenny, 2001:8). this enable muslims to build mosque and interact with local people throughout the country while the christian though were still free to move around the country as well but restricted in building churches in muslims areas and their priests were forbidden to evangelize the muslims. this was enunciated by the british who feared that the policy of indirect rule might not succeed if the trapping of islam was not preserved. takaya (1987) quoted in umejesi (1992) averred: lugard assured them that their religion and customs would not be interfered with and that all structures would remain except that power was now effectively in the hands of the british. on their part, the muslim leaders, nay the jihadists, promised to put an end to the jihad of the sword and stop slave raiding, human mutilation and other acts antithetical to the interests of the british economy as pursued through the lugardian philosophy of dual mandate in africa (umejesi, 1992:89). 414 formation of the human person in the 21st century this confessional neutrality adopted by the british in the north gave way to partiality as the latent import was the recognition of islam as the state religion and the entire north regarded as muslim land while the south considered a christian area. this impression was far from the reality. however, the lugardian partiality and politicized view of religion were attributed to various reasons: respect for islam, fear of a general muslim uprising against the government and a strict cum conservative interpretation of the indirect rule system. the christian missionaries themselves equally added to the negative attitude that stared at them from the northern/islamic leaders. the negative attitude resulted from the missionary strategy of acting as liberators of the oppressed hausa from the perceived fulani hegemony and it imperiled the attempt to penetrate the muslim stronghold. this cardinal mistake as anyanwu and nwanaju (2014: viii) put it, hardened the attitude of the rulers and their loyalists against the missionaries whose activities were seen as subversive to the established system and order. islam in independent nigeria at independence in 1960s, islam became a reckoning force in nigeria politics. the british colonizers not only promoted islam during the colonial period but equally set the stage for the supremacy of muslims and islam in the infrastructural elements of nigeria’s government. they did this through the schools they established to train young members of the ruling stratum in the skills necessary for native administration under the indirect rule system (umejesi, 1992). katsina teacher’s training college was one of such schools that produced ahmadu bello, the erstwhile sardauna of sokoto. the college was an exclusive training ground that produced most of the nigerian muslim political leaders of the north. in addition, the british ensured as a form of compensation to the north for their cooperation and compliance that the heirs of the sokoto caliphate controlled the northern region (kenny, 2001). consequently the first republic was headed by tafawa balewa, a northern muslim. but the real power rested on ahmadu bello, the sardauna of sokoto and premier of the northern region. the political party, northern people’s congress (npc) that brought them to power overtly and covertly bears the touch of islam. scholars describe the features of this political party in various ways. duddley (1968:143) affirmed that the npc represented the consensus of the muslim societythe ijma and that any iota of its rejection by any member of the society signified a sinful islamic act. falola (1998) described it according to the meaning given to symbols in the logo of the party. he reported that the ‘one raised finger’ in the logo of the party represents the unity section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 415 of god of the islamic monotheistic faith which in the same way passed a message to its people that the ‘two fingered v’ for victory symbol of its opponent in the south portrays polytheism which islam prohibits out rightly. in the bid to gain upper hand, ahmadu bello, the sardauna embarked on the policy of northernization informing the people in his campaign tours that the north was in danger of coastal colonization when the british left. he made this assertion because many skilled southerners had occupied some of the best position in the north. as such to avert this tragedy, the north should come together under one umbrella against the south. besides, this northernization policy, ahmadu bello second agenda was to completely islamized the entire north. he was fully committed to this as the great-grandson of usman dan fodio. he wanted to perfect the work of his ancestors and he dip the quran into the sea with the intent of total islamization of nigeria. the sardauna’s assassination in the coup of 1966 successfully brought to an end his islamization agenda of the north and by extension the entire nigeria. leadership is a vital substance in islam and muslims are under obligation to participate in the societal business of leadership. for the fortunes of islam to continue especially as it is believed that islam is a complete way of life, there is need to perpetually hold on to power so that any perceived anomaly could easily be addressed at any point in time. thus, northern muslims have continued to struggle to hold on to power in the reign of government in nigeria. coup after coup continues to feature in post independent nigeria with prominent islamic figures. the 1970s saw the promulgation of the public education edict by the military administrators announcing the takeover of primary and secondary schools run by voluntary agencies. the catholic church was most hit by that edict as she had invested much in those institutions. initially, the policy was not seen as an attempt to foster any religious affiliation but with key positions in the national education planning been held by muslims, it became clear that the education policies were designed to protect and foster muslims’ interests. the words of a muslim scholar doi (1978) is an attestation: the policy has given freedom to islam to foster its cause, and in a way it has imposed restrictions on christianity, which had so far dominated the educational and social scene of the country. some of the muslim organizations laid down in their constitution that their aim was to remove the educational imbalance between muslims and christians (doi, 1978:342-343). the political well-being of the muslim community is a matter of supreme importance (amstrong, 2000:xi). this assertion was demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s as muslim intellectuals that had 416 formation of the human person in the 21st century developed in nigeria began to seek a new identity for islam in order to give islam a better and beneficial status in the muslim world, and to balance the perceived religious imbalance in nigeria’s religio-political space. thus, there emerged the shariah debates with the advancement by the protagonists that the islamic law (shariah) be incorporated in the constitution. they hinged their argument on the notion that of the three laws in nigeria: (the islamic law, english law and the native law), the shariah has not been given due consideration in the constitution (ebhomienlen and ukpebor, 2013: 168). the provisions of sharia on the draft constitution were: 1. there shall be a federal sharia court of appeal which shall be an intermediate court of appeal between the states’ sharia courts of appeal and the supreme court of nigeria. 2. the court shall be composed of the grand mufti and such a member of muftis (not less than three) as the national assembly may prescribe. 3. in each state of the federation that so desires, there shall be a sharia court of appeal to be established by the constitution of the state ( kukah, 2011:118). the background of these political events was the fundamentalist tendency of reverting to prestine islam taught and practice by the prophet enunciated by abubakar gumi, the influential spiritual heir of the sardauna. he mentored the izala society group (jama’a izala al-bida wa-iqama as-sunna meaning, movement for the removal of innovations in islam and a return to prophetic tradition). they espoused the saudi wahhabism and spread intolerant views and actions which were principally against the traditional muslims who belong to the sufi brotherhood, the tijaniyya and qadiriyya (kenny, 2001), but their actions later extended to the non-muslims especially the christians. they were for the full establishment of sharia not as enacted by a nigeria government but as the supreme and only law of the islamic umma which they considered as their authentic nationality. subsequent islamic groups later emerged with full impacts in nigeria religio-politico space such as the shiite movement, the maitatsine and the boko haram with a host of others. the perfection of nigeria’s islamic status was carried out by the later military dictatorships of general ibrahim babagida and general sani abacha with total disregard to the secularity of the nigeria state. babagida in 1986 registered nigeria as a full member of the organization of islamic conference (oic) while abacha signed a secret pact that smuggled nigeria into another islamic group made up of eight developing countries known as the d-8 in 1997. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 417 evaluation and conclusion the discussion so far has shown the dynamic nature of islam, a religious tradition in the social, economic and political settings of nigeria. beginning from the trans-saharan trade through which islam penetrated nigeria, its influence has revolutionized commerce and trade. its military transformed the traditional socio-political organization of the north and south west to emirate system and paved way for the triumph of muslims’ hegemonic control of power. the colonial masters did nothing but promoted islam with their policies which consolidated the political well-being of the muslims over the non-muslims in the geographical entity of plurality they formed as nigeria state. finally, nigeria’s independence opened the chapter of perpetual struggle for supremacy between muslims and non-muslims in the direction of leadership and general administration of the country with attendant rivalry between the adherence of the two religious divides (islam and christianity). the relevance of this analysis to the formative processes of the catholic clerics is the need for understanding of islam physical processes on muslims in nigeria by the seminarians and the logical background behind the complex numerous issues which confront the peoples of the contemporary nigeria society they are to serve. this is important as the way out is not to continue in the suprematic struggle but to engage in dialogue no matter the cost so that the mission of the church’s evangelization will continue to flourish in the society. it is the recommendation of this paper that the non-violent attitude of christ during his redemptive mission on earth be the guiding principle of christians especially the would-be catholic priest as the catholic church to a great extent represents the christian faith in nigeria. also, the government authorities should be engaged in modalities that promote freedom and impartiality in service delivery to the people including the provision of effective strategy that will ensure safety and security of lives and property for all citizens. references abdulati, h. 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(2005).themes in comparative religion, ado-ekiti: hamaz global publishing co. 463 34 impact of religion on societal value development chikodi josiah, wachukwu, ph. d department of religious cultural studies, rivers state university, npkolu, oroworukwo, port harcourt, wachukwu54@gmail.com abstract the article examined the impact of religion on societal value development. discourse on social values as they relate to environmental and sustainability issues has almost exclusively been conducted in a secular intellectual context. however, with a renewed emphasis on culture as defining and shaping links between people and nature, there has been an increasing level of scholarly attention to the role of religion and spirituality in defining, molding and understanding social values in the society. in this article we explore the intersection of religion and social values for sustainable development. first, we consider this nexus as it has been explored in existing scholarship. we acknowledge a body of research that has suggested that many religions are broadly associated with self-transcendent values. however, the degree to which they are translated into pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour varies according to context and application. second, we argue that while there is much potential support for human values for sustainability within religious traditions, it is essential that religion is seen as a complex, multi-scalar and multi-dimensional institutional phenomena. consequently, analysis of the relationship between religion and social values must account for the context of narratives, histories and practices. third, using this lens, we show how religious perspectives can contribute to operationalising theories of systemic change for sustainability. finally, we outline key principles for further sustainability research seeking to advance knowledge on the relationship between religion and societal values development. keywords: religion, social value and development. 464 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction the contributory role of religion to societal value formation and development cannot be overruled. this is based on the established fact that religion is one of the most prominent and wide-reaching social institutions, touching and shaping virtually every sphere of culture and society (ibikunle, 2015). in corroboration, according to the pew research centre, approximately 84% of the world’s population are affiliated with a religion (pew research centre, 2017). given this ubiquity and social influence of religion, it is argued that articles or publications on social values development ought to consider the place of religion carefully in order to establish the relationship between religion and societal value development. there is a diversity in the practices and worldviews across (and even within) different religious traditions. this makes identifying a clear definition of religion difficult. however, haluzadelay (2014) provided a concise definition of religion by defining religion broadly to include “beliefs, worldviews, practices, and institutions that cross borders, time and scale from the level of individuals all the way to transnational and transhistorical movements”. he also noted that the western notion of equating religion with an established set of beliefs does not represent many eastern or traditional religious systems, which often emphasise collective practices as much as cognitive beliefs and may lack firmly established institutionalised teachings. religion is a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". ezeanga, (2010) opined that religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. religions may contain symbolic stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life, the universe, and other things (odudele, 2006). traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has been considered a source of religious beliefs. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 465 having reviewed briefly the concept religion, it is pertinent that the variable societal value development be reviewed. this will help provide the fundamentals needed to establish the relationship between religion and societal values development. the concept of social values is gaining increasing attention within sustainable societal value development. the word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability and the respect something gets in return (soykan, 2007). as a sociological concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. social values are moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the majority so as to ensure the continuity of a society (ergil, 1984). values, in addition to these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be there in a society in form of moral imperatives (inkeles, 1964). in that sense, values are accepted as truthful opinions and criteria set for what is expected by a society. establishing the relationship between religion and societal value development ibikunle (2015) argued that religion form the basis by which individuals in the society learn, develop and maintain values in the society. he went further to say that a greater number of the attitude exhibited by individuals is largely dependent on the morals and values taught by religious organizations. available researchers have indicated that there is little or no efforts made by previous researchers to establish the relationship between religion and societal value development. thus, available studies have been unable to provide concise information on the essence of religion in developing and maintaining social values needed in ensuring the smooth operations of the society. furthermore, most research institutions do not encourage the study of religion, reason being that people do not exhibit interest in religious studies. as most people view knowledge obtained from such field as irrelevant and practically applicable. hence, little or no interest is displayed in carrying out studies to provide factual information on the nexus between religion and societal value development. similarly, the relevance of diverse cultural resources is acknowledged in this scholarship, there is little explicit recognition of the more specific role of religion in establishing and shaping social values in society. in this article we refer to societal values as a broad term which encompasses human values held or expressed at different scales of aggregation and it influence development of values within the society. religion religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements (morreall, 2013). nongbri (2013) opines that religion 466 formation of the human person in the 21st century is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. it is also seen as the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and actions and signs that refers to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. according to james (2010) religion is a relativelybounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. religion fosters national unity and development. it offer people the understanding of existence and provide rules and regulations which controls people behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life according to one’s religion is to carry out one’s duty both to god and men. religion is also characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the sense that it contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of equilibrium. values the word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability and the respect something gets in return (soykan, 2007). as a sociological concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. social values are moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the majority so as to ensure the continuity of a society (ergil, 1994). values, in addition to these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be there in a society in form of moral imperatives. in that sense, values are accepted as truthful opinions and criteria set for what is expected by a society. in fact, when we say we enjoy similar things and we find the same things beautiful, we refer to shared content of values. what sociologists call collective consciousness are called by philosophers objective soul are the domain of common values (ülken, 2001). it is clear that without society, there will not be any biological, psychological, and sociological value. only in society, language, religion, morals, arts, and traditions can appear the result of which is the accepted core of a society. coming to the world as an organism, human beings come to learn societal dreams, ideals, norms, morals, arts and religion by means of growing into an identity (produce) from an organism (türkdoğan, 1992). function of values values in social system always take part at the beginning of activities, inside and at the end of the process because they are the powers which begin in the world of consciousness and conscience. human beings and societies exist together with their values (lawal, 2002). physical wealth of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 467 a society is also based on the perception, belief and values that the society has. those cultural codes are road maps in a way to determine the routes of an individual and the society. as a result, in almost every society people take values seriously, sacrifice their interest, struggle for them and even they die for them. in this context, some functions of values could be the following: 1) they show the ways of thinking and behaving ideally. 2) values are used as means in judging. 3) they make people focus on useful and important cultural objects. 4) they play a role as a guide to adopt and realize social roles. 5) they perform as social control and restraint tools. 6) they provide solidarity (fichter, 1990). religion and social values the term ‘value’ can connote a range of different meanings and interpretations. values can equally refer to broad underlying principles in life, important features within a landscape, or monetary figures assigned to goods or services. but as it applies in this context, values are standards, principles or ideals with which we evaluate actions, people, things, or situations. tadaki et al., (2017) helpfully outlined a broad typology of value concepts in an environmental context. in exploring the intersection of religion with social values, we focus our inquiry on transcendental or ‘held’ values. most commonly, these values are associated with the work by shalom schwartz on ‘universal’ human values (schwartz, 1994). kluckhohn and strodbeck (1961) first theorised that universal values might be arranged along various continua, and this was refined by a range of scholars, most prominently by schwartz. most important were two continua: (1) from self-transcendence (e.g., protecting the environment) to self-enhancement (e.g., social power), and (2) from openness to change (e.g., freedom) to tradition (e.g., self-discipline). scholars have found strongest support for pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes within the self-transcendence dimension of human values (de groot and steg, 2007). religion and societal values: a complicated relationship as we have already hinted above, while religion certainly can be viewed as a fertile source of values that align with sustainability, simply equating religion with certain sets of values does not adequately capture the more complex interplay of religious belief, belonging, and environmental values (ayuba and alex, 2006). any serious consideration of the intersection between religion and values for sustainability must not 468 formation of the human person in the 21st century simply force religion into existing value frameworks, despite the empirical relationships described in the previous section. one of the dominant discourses that has considered human values is within the field of social psychology. although social psychology has amassed detailed knowledge of the structure and composition of values in societies around the world, few scholars of social values have explored why certain values emerge in different contexts. recently, some social psychologists have emphasised the systems view of values, namely that values are not simply static constructs in people’s minds, but are deeply embedded in culture and ecology (kitayama 2002; manfredo et al., 2014). we also adopt this perspective, but suggest that values are in part an expression of dominant narratives within cultures, withheld narratives providing a locally inflected mesh in which values carry their meaning. taking the broad view of religion that we outlined above, even ‘secular’ narratives can been seen to have some religious or quasi-religious dimensions. moreover, in reality, there is a melding of myriad narratives within most societies. these narratives may be considered as forming part of a larger ‘worldview’ out of which individuals operate. according to research by hedlund-de witt (2012) and hedlund-de witt et al., (2014), worldviews are comprised of inter alia axiology (core values), as well as ontology (including a cosmogony), anthropology (the purpose of the human being) and societal vision (how society should be organised or function). understanding values (axiology) apart from these other dimensions is, therefore, a superficial reading of society. another key factor which must be considered in seeking to understand the role of religious values in sustainability is the way that religious identity and belonging works at multiple scales, from individuals to groups to international bodies and values across these scales do not always align. for ease of explanation, we conceptualise religious values as present across three scales: the individual scale, the community scale, and the formal institutional scale. these three levels interact with one another and are permeable to the (often notionally secular) socio-cultural and ecological context within which they are embedded. the formal institutional scale includes public statements by major religions or denominations. for example, the buddhism faith statement on ecology (fossey 2003), the world council of churches “justice, peace and creation concerns” (world council of churches 1983) or the bristol faith commitments compiled by the alliance of religions and conservation (the alliance of religions and conservation 2015). the community scale would represent the teachings and viewpoints of particular churches, temples or faith communities. the individual scale is the values held by individual members of these section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 469 communities, which may be highly diverse and conflict at times with the values espoused at the other scales. to demonstrate the complex dynamics across these scales, we take as one recent example the roman catholic encyclical by pope francis, laudato sí (which is examined in depth by christie et al. 2019). the publication of encyclicals are major events, occurring infrequently, and carrying particular normative force as formal religious teaching by the leader of the roman catholic church. laudato (2015), the first encyclical on the environment, was widely hailed as precipitating a change towards (or intensification of) pro-environmental values among roman catholics, who number nearly a billion worldwide. interviews conducted by kidwell (unpublished data), indicated that there was indeed a boost perceived by elite actors (priests and denominational leaders). again, our point here is not that values are uninfluenced, but that the dissemination and mobilisation of values is complex (kidwell et al., 2018). popular views often hold that the roman catholic church is hierarchical and top-down. however, in practice, this research suggests that within the american roman catholic context, values are often consolidated in free-standing ways at different scales: from individual, to parish, to diocese, to regional ecumenical partnerships, to global community. as li et al., (2016) suggest, at each of these levels, actors may be subject to different cross-pressuring effects, whereby political and religious affiliations are in conflict around an issue like “sustainability” may itself also be unstable (johnston, 2013). it is impossible to locate a universally agreed upon definition of sustainability and as such scholars and practitioners have developed definitions to fit specific purposes (white, 2013). in this ambiguous context, we may appreciate a range of ways that religion doesn’t always sit comfortably with ‘sustainability’ as a concept. not only may religious communities emphasise particular dimensions of sustainability—emphasising human health over ecological integrity for instance—religious perspectives may also challenge sustainability as a normative goal. the concept of the “common good” discussed by christie et al., (2019) within catholic teaching as an alternative (albeit not inconsistent) aspirational goal to sustainability is a good example. appreciating narratives and worldviews of faith communities relevant to conservation activities has recently been emphasised as best-practice (schaefer and higgins, 2017). role of religion in the society religion permeates every aspects of man’s existence in the universe, be it politics, social, cultural or economic life of the people (bankston and zhou, 1995). it has been used as the most important instrument in the 470 formation of the human person in the 21st century social control of man and the society. it performs the social functions such as providing aims, purpose forms, defense and sense of direction. the role of religion in promoting peace security and eradicating the youth’s militancy cannot be over emphasized. 1 religion stimulates social habits and checks antisocial behavior. religion is “an efficient means of social control, stimulates social habits and checks anti-social tendencies”. it offers the whole society a concept of its own scared value. it prescribes a particular kind of behavior or conduct to its adherents in terms of knowledge, thinking, reflection decisions, choices, tastes, opinion, habits, feelings and freedom of actions (benson, leffert, scales & blyth, 1998). such particular life styles are created, maintained and sustained through religions doctrines, ethics, and laws safe guards are prescribed against deviation from these life styles. religion polishes and fashions morality in positive dimension. to neglect religion is to do away with morality, without religion moral development of the society will be meaningless. 2 religion gives emotional security, spiritual and material support. religion is an instrument for defense. it provides belief and attitudes that help to defend the people against vexing doubts, anxieties and aggression. as people do struggle with life of uncertainties, powerlessness and insecurity religion provides answer to the things that threaten people’s life and survival. it was even noted that religion offers emotional, spiritual and material support to its members in times of tension, stress or hardship (lawal, 2003). the poor and wretched ones are to be given alms or gifts from the rich ones among them. victims of natural hazards or wars are to be aided and their life must protect as a sacred entity and peaceful coexistence of the society. also religion offers resistance against frustration, hostility, suffering, anxiety, despair and hatred 3. religion reforms and resettles deviants a deviant is person who is deficient in moral and social standards from what is normal and accepted. religion can be used to call the out law persons or sinners back to repentance, and makes them become socially integrated into the society (odudele, 2006). religion struggles with the ultimate problems of human life that deprive man from behaving in the morally and socially accepted ways. it gives a sense of direction and makes people to perceive, feel, think, act and behave in a specifically desired ways. it moves people a way from despair and restores confidence in them. armed robbers, adulterers, drunkards, drugaddicts, lawbreakers and frauds to mention a few have been changed to behave section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 471 in a socially approved manners and society see and treat them with trust and confidence. 4. religion fosters social solidarity and friendships. religion serves as a powerful means for the solidarity among its members and nearly all the great social institutions have been born in religion (ezeanya, 2010). also, religion regulates social life of the society by creating some sort of order for its members to live together. religion encourages solidarity, consensus, cordially, harmony, cooperation, unity, stability, security and peaceful co-existence. religion creates several fellowship groups for the adults and youths alike. out of these fellowships, friendships, marriage and brother hoods emerged. it allows the adherents to coordinate their activities in submission to rules and regulations under the guidance of values, so that they can live harmoniously with their fellow human beings. 5. religion helps to bring about social change. a change haves place in religion as a social phenomenon. in nigeria, religion helps to bring about social change. social change has described as the change that occurs in world views, ideas, values, beliefs, rules, relationships, institutions, symbols speech, languages, style of thinking and behaviors and the means of production and distribution of goods and services (fadiyimu, 2004). a social change is the alteration in the patterns of social action and interactions. religion introduces and disseminates new idea and information about education, medicine, literature, agriculture, games, markets organization and administration. religion brings establishes new form of education, dressing, marriage, law courts and languages in nigeria. 6. the relevance of religion in cultural development. religion helps in transforming the society by introducing new cultural elements. religious doctrines, laws organizations, modes of dressing, dogma, buildings, patterns of marriages, training of children, burying the dead and many other items of culture are influence through religion. morality is used to give meaning and purpose to the cultural behavior (obikunle, 2015). wherein the culture deviates from the real religious meaning, then it has to be checked, so that there is balanced relationship between the cultural elements and religious ideology. indecent modes of dress, is discouraged for the sake of modesty and moral implication given. 7. religion ensures the retinues existence of the society. ayuba and alex (2006) opined the positive role of religion is to holding society together as a form of “social glue”. religion serves as a social bond that holds the society together. it strengthens the basis belief and values of the society. it stresses for the social cohesion of all its members 472 formation of the human person in the 21st century to live in unity and peace. religious ceremonies are performed to remind people that they have a common history and identity, thereby ensuring the continuity for the existence of the society. there are events in the life of an individual and in the life of a society that point to the fact that god is working out this purpose for the common good of the individual and the society. impact of religion on societal value development man as a human being, cannot exist without religion because it is intrinsic in his nature. one cannot isolate religion from the life situation. religion determines its true value from the role it plays in the enrichment of the quality of life. it has a role to play, a contributive role in the evolution of man and developmental of societal values, by providing society with ethical codes, social rules and ideals, rituals and devotion that guide the activities of man in the course of social interaction. religion also enhances human values and self-awareness (bjarnason, 1998). religion helps one to lead a disciplined and purified life. religions always stand for the betterment of human soul. the different religions, though devotedly called by different names, show a surprising likeness of spirit and life. it is a unique specific expression and cannot be equated with anything. there is no religion which does not stress one form or other of universal brotherhood, and which does not advocate kindness to all living things. in the religions of the nonvegetarian people, there is an acceptance, in principle at least, of the nonkilling commandment. and there is the general acceptance by the semitic religions that a form of grace accompanies fasting and abstention from meat eating on certain days (lawal, 2003). buddhism in principle is solidly based on non-hurting (ahimsa), and jainism makes the high level of this principle. when religion is not influential in a society or has ceased to be, the state inherits the entire burden of public morality, crime and intolerance. it then must use punishment and police. yet, this is unsuccessful as morality, integrity and self-respect not already inherent in the individual, cannot be enforced with any great success. only by a spiritual awareness and inculcation of the spiritual value of these attributes can they come about. there must be more reason and more emotional motivation to be moral, etc., than threat of human discipline. conclusion we have explored in this article the complex relationship between religion and development of societal values development in the society. while there are consistent trends regarding values promoted by major faith traditions and certain values operationalised within universal section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 473 human values theory, religion comprises far more than the promotion of particular values. to progress research on the intersection of human values and religion, we suggest that religion must be understood as a multi-faceted embodied institution of substantial social and political relevance. this broad understanding of religion thus enables scholarship on social values for sustainability to connect with theories of social transformation. we encourage scholars pursuing such a research agenda to recognise that values are not freestanding but are connected to social practices and institutional dynamics, to pay attention to local expressions of values embedded in religious contexts, and to embrace more embedded vernacular than that of social psychological theory (e.g., concepts such as compassion/love rather than self-transcendence). thus, it has been established that religion contributes significantly to the development of positive societal values. recommendations based on the observation made in the course of the theoretical review on the impact of religion on societal value development, the study suggests that the teachings and activities of religious organizations in nigeria should be encouraged, since it contributes significantly to positive societal value development. more so, similar study should be pursued by potential researchers on the impact of religion on societal value development as this will help the researcher pursue the objective the current study was unable to pursue owing to the limited timeframe allotted to this study. references ayuba, c. and alex, z. t. 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(2013). before religion: a history of a modern concept. yale university press. odudele: r. (2006). religion and moral instructions in schools: al-hafiz publishers, 1423 tsai, w., & ghoshal, s. (1998). social capital and value creation: the role of intrafirm networks. academy of management journal, 41, 464–476. wagener, l. m., furrow, j. l., king, p. e., leffert, n., & benson, p. (2003). religion and developmental resources. review of religious research, 44, 271–284. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 35 c h a p t e r 3 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science: priestly formation and the praxis of eruditio1 stan-william oshiozekhai ede human formation ought to have as its aim the fuller development of priests’ humanity so that their humanity can be a “bridge” for communicating jesus christ to men and women today … human formation entails contact with the culture: the arts, sciences, and politics of human life. these studies and involvements keep priests in touch with their own lives and the lives of those whom they serve.2 introduction the myriads of contrasting opinions that have trailed the agelong questions of existence and essence inevitably engender endless arguments regarding the fons et origo, hypostasis and goal of nature. the argumentative enterprise thereof has for many centuries been borne on the wings of dialectics between faith and reason, a core ground for the infinite catalogues of diverse and divisive views about the universe and our place in it. the calls for a separation between the two categories of faith and reason have been well-matched or sometimes even outmatched by the quest to strike a healthy balance or lasting accord between them. such a quest which is believed to be a potential icebreaker for the unity of ideas and universal harmony has been one of the most challenging tasks of humankind. 36 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in contemporary times, the scientific, technological and internet revolutions have taken the challenge beyond the intellectual realm, situating it within the very core of our day-to-day existence. attempts to create a chasm between religious truths and scientific truths is changing the world, evident not in the gradual loss of the sense of the sacred but also in the befuddled clime that currently besets the human sense of morality. this will get worse if we do not confront the general misconceptions that reason and faith on the one hand, and religion and science, on the other hand, are contraries on bipolar ends of the spectrum respectively, and incapable of meeting without conflict. what is frequently lost in all these misconceptions, however, is that both the history of philosophy and the history of science are rich with christian thinkers and scholars, and at the same time the progress of both disciplines have been facilitated and enriched through the centuries by christian thinkers and scholars. as a matter of fact, from the early history of christianity till date, christian scholars have been at the forefront, made remarkable breakthroughs, and registered indelible impacts in the disciplines of philosophy and science. while great christian philosophers and thinkers like st. augustine, st. anselm and a host of others are very well known, there is incontrovertible evidence that christianity provided the ideal culture for the origin of modern science. this paper will discuss a few christian philosophers and scholars whose works made a leading impact in the discipline of philosophy, and some of the top scientists who happen to be christians whose works also revolutionized modern science. the aim is not only to show that christianity has been, and is still, at the forefront of philosophy and science, but to sound a wake-up call to today’s generation of seminarians and priests who have been trained in philosophy and various other disciplines, to engage in active eruditio, so as to perpetuate the trend and to imprint positive impacts upon the changing world for the overall betterment of humankind. that is to say, besides the religious functions of saving souls, we can commit the fruits of our training to active scholarship and scholarly productions, tirelessly until those efforts combine into a supernova force that is strong enough to rewrite the world’s changing narrative and restructure the world on the prop of a healthy faith albeit human and technological progress. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 37 1. the biblical-christian perspective on philosophy and science for a christian, the logic and assumptions of philosophy, as well as the characteristics and assumptions of science are founded on the belief that the universe was created by the almighty god who is faithful and consistent. the creation of the universe by the all-powerful, intelligent god (cf. gen 1:1-2:4¸wis 13:2-9) explains why the universe is so intelligible and open to our scientific investigation. in addition to the belief that the universe was created by god, both the old testament and the new testament of the bible are so rich in ‘cosmology’ and ‘cosmological’ motifs that serve to explain the world and the real effects behind the natural order of things. in the old testament, motifs drawn from astral reflection are almost certainly present in places like isaiah 14 and ezekiel 28. although the worship of heavenly bodies are regularly condemned, yet the foundational text of gen 1:14 leaves room for positive engagement with ancient astronomy, which could, of course, stretch easily into more astrological speculations based on the ‘threeheavens’ scheme of creation. the first heaven is the firmament, the part closest to the earth (cf. gen 1:8), the second heaven is the home of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars (cf. deut 4:19), and the third heaven is where god the most high dwells (cf. isa 14:13; also 2 cor 12:2). the supremacy of yhwh meanwhile, could be effectively demonstrated by noting that he is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who calls the stars by name, the lord of the heavenly host.3 drawing upon the old testament foundation, the new testament carries the cosmological reflection even further. in the prayer of the community, the creation is chanted as one of the magnalia dei (acts 4:24; cf. rev 4:11; 10:6; 14:7),4 with a plan for the fullness of time in which god will unite all things, both in heaven and on earth, in christ (eph 1:10). when perspectives from both the old testament and the new testament are brought together, one would imagine that the holy grail of biblical cosmology was the precise determination of the number of ‘layers’ or ‘tiers’ of the cosmos, with early theological debates raging between two, three, four, seven, nine or more layers. this provided a fundamental setting upon which future philosophers and scientists would research and 38 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age propound theories regarding the nature of the universe, and the principles governing the manifestation of things in nature. it is important to note that the cosmological reflections of early christians thinkers and writers fit analogically into modern cosmological theories. the ‘three heavens’ scheme, for instance, has been variously interpreted. concomitant with the aforementioned categorization is the view that they refer to the regions below the moon, above the moon and above the sun – or might be a tripartite division of the night sky, with the milky way at the apex, with other regions dropping into the north and south. st. paul, for instance, used this particular schema in 2 cor. 12, just as one can explore the use of huperouranos, ‘the heaven above’, and duly compare it with plato’s self-consciously fictionalized depiction of the ascent of the soul in the phaedrus.5 generally, the cosmology of the new testament writers provides a solid basis for the philosophical and scientific reflections for so many who came after them, many of whom would eventually become leading figures in the fields of philosophy and science. 2. christian scholars in the history of philosophy and science many christian scholars and catholic clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to philosophy and science. the catholic church, in particular, has produced many philosophers, scientists and mathematicians, from among clerics, religious brothers and the lay faithful. there have been many others as well from other christian denominations, and so we group all of them together using the broad categories, such as “christian philosophers” and “christian scientists”. some notable christian philosophers and scientists include such illustrious names as paul of tarsus, st. augustine, st. anselm, st. thomas aquinas, st. albert, nicolaus copernicus, gregor mendel, georges lemaître, albertus magnus, roger bacon, rene descartes, pierre gassendi, roger joseph boscovich, marin mersenne, bernard bolzano, , robert grosseteste, christopher clavius, nicolas steno, athanasius kircher, giovanni battista riccioli, william of ockham, s. l. jaki. we must also not fail to mention the catholic church herself and some of her groups and associations from the medieval times to the present, amongst which are religious orders such as the jesuits (esp. in philosophy and science), the dominicans (philosophy and christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 39 science) the opus dei (esp. philosophy and communication), the salesians (esp. classics and communications), the legionaries of christ (esp. philosophy, bioethics and science vis-à-vis neuroscience). we shall briefly discuss a few of the scholars and one of the religious orders mentioned above. (a.) paul of tarsus (died 67 ad) over the centuries in the history of thought and scholarship, there have been scores of philosophical thoughts, discourses and treatises from renowned theologians who were also distinguished philosophers. we have the examples of st. augustine, st. bonaventure, st. thomas aquinas, teilhard de chardin, paul tillich, etc. no serious mention is usually made of st. paul when philosophers are being counted or cited because he has always been regarded as a theologian, one of the finest the world has ever produced, and the greatest christian evangelizer of all time. recently, there is a growing trend in which scholars have begun to identify standard philosophical principles and theories in the writing of st. paul, and more people are beginning to appreciate the great philosophical resorts inherent in the thoughts, teachings and writings of st. paul who hitherto, was viewed and studied mainly within the theological endeavour. 6 earlier, we have hinted on paul’s contribution to science through his cosmological theories. within the same framework, paul contributes enormously to philosophy, but it suffices to say that his views and contributions to philosophy and science are intertwined. much of the philosophy of paul is centred on the “concept of truth”, on which he based various other reflections on the meaning and purpose of life. for st. paul, there was always “truth in order to goodness”. goodness has its perfection in god, and the real truth is the perfection of certainty realized in god, and knowing god as the ultimate being who created and rules over the universe.7 a careful study of paul would reveal that paul has both idealist and realist views of truth. from the realist perspective, paul’s concept of truth has some bearing with the philosophy of aristotle as interpreted by st. thomas aquinas. realists argue, in line with common sense, that truth is the conformity of mental images and ideas with what is “out there”. if two people see a dog, one might say, 40 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age “that is a dog”, while the other says, “that is a fox”. the first statement is true because it conforms to reality; the other is false because it does not. this is more or less in a logical tune with the “adequatio intellectus et re”, that is, the correspondence theory of truth, wherein what is in the mind or what is stated corresponds to what the case is in reality.8 also for st. paul, besides observing and reasoning about the physical world, one can attain truth by reasoning from abstract principles, via a committed procession from the depth of faith, rising through the gradation of love unto its highest expression, realized only in the almighty and infinite god, the creator of the universe and lord of time and history. faith constitutes the abounding ground for the abstract principles upon which the reasoning progresses, as well as for making the perception real, because “faith” paul says, “is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”, and “for those who have faith or believe, all things work together unto good” (cf. rom. 4:16; 5:2; cf. heb. 11:1; 12:2).9 that is actually his main standpoint on truth – the idealist intent. in this, st. paul resembles plato. plato believes that the human mind could arrive at the truth only by apprehending certain ideas existing in a realm apart from everyday reality.10 a synthesis of the pauline thought, therefore, is that everyday reality owes its existence and meaningfulness to the one, infinite and omnipotent, god, the author of the universe, “in eo vivimus, movemur et sumus” (“in whom we live and move and have our being” (cf. acts 17:28). following from this, every human person who exists is baseless and empty until he discovers the truth and lives in it; to discover the truth is to know god and serve him with an abiding faith (cf. rom 3-5). (b.) st. thomas aquinas (1224-1274) thomas aquinas was a catholic priest of the dominican order, theologian and philosopher, one who is said to have had the greatest influence on both philosophy and theology in all of history. the mainstay of aquinas’ philosophy is a rethinking of aristotelianism, with significant influences from stoicism, neoplatonism, augustinianism, and boethianism. it also reflects some of the thinking of the greek commentators on aristotle, and of cicero, avicenna, averröes, ibn-gabirol, and maimonides. this may christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 41 suggest that we are dealing with an eclectic philosophy, but actually, aquinas reworked the speculative and practical philosophies of his predecessors into a coherent view of the subject which shows the stamp of his own intelligence.11 the impact of his effort will, however, be far-reaching covering all the various aspects and branches of philosophy, even through centuries after his life. one of the significant hallmarks of aquinas’ work in philosophy is the conscious tendency to seek the middle ground on questions that have been given a wide range of answers. this spirit of moderation is best illustrated in his solution to the problem of universals. for centuries, philosophers had debated whether genera and species are realities in themselves (e.g. plato, boethius, william of champeaux) or mere mental constructs (roscelin, peter aberlard). what made this odd discussion important was aquinas’ conviction that these universals, such as ‘humanity’, ‘justice’, ‘whiteness’, ‘dogness’, are primary objects of human understanding.12 thomas’ spirit of compromise as a philosopher was balanced by another tendency, that of innovation. his original latin biographers all stress this feature of his work. thomas introduced new ways of reasoning about problems and new sources of information, and he handled his teaching in a new way, and thus stood in advance of his contemporaries in the philosophical endeavour. (c.) nicholas copernicus (1473-1543) nicholas copernicus was a brilliant renaissance man in every sense of the title, a mathematician, astronomer, physician, artist, translator, scholar, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat, economist and a third order dominican. he attended various european universities and became a canon in the catholic church in 1497.13 he was the first astronomer to formulate a heliocentric suncentred model of the solar system, i.e. the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun. he demonstrated in the book on the revolutions of the celestial spheres, published just before his death, that the motions of the planets could be explained without presuming the earth was the centre of the system. his uncle was the bishop of warmia, to whom copernicus served as secretary and in whose castle he lived and began work on his heliocentric model. 42 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age his new system was actually first presented in the vatican gardens in 1533 before pope clement vii who approved and urged copernicus to publish it around this time. (d.) galileo galilei (1564-1642) described as the “father of modern physics”, the “father of modern science” and the “father of modern observational astronomy”, galileo di vincenzo bonaiuti de’ galilei was a pious catholic, who travelled to the jesuit college in rome in 1611 to argue his support of a copernican sun-centered universe (galaxies and stars as other suns were unknown in galileo's time), even though the church favoured the ptolemaic and aristotelian earth-centred theories. he took his telescope with him to rome so that the philosophers and mathematicians could view jupiter's moons for themselves, which he considered strong support for heliocentrism. the next year the clergy denounced his views and he was forbidden to advocate or teach copernican astronomy. galileo's writings on astronomy proved to be invaluable in the study of the earth and stars, challenging a past system of backward science that leapt from disorganized speculation drawn from a set of already established outcomes. these writings on astronomy attempted to draw conclusions about the earth and the heavens based on lengthy, meticulous recordings of his observations and subsequent data gathered from his findings. his work in the field of astronomy is certainly suggestive of galileo's "modern" approach to science as a whole. prior to galileo's time, the milky way was believed to be nebulous. galileo studied it and found it to be a multitude of stars packed so densely that they appear from the earth-like cloud. he noticed and located many other stars lots of distance away and impossible to be seen with the naked eyes. among the stars he observed is the double star mizar in ursa major in 1617. his most important works were experiments and investigations in the realms of physics. during those eighteen years, he changed the foundations of traditional physics – or, as others see it, established an entirely new science. however, remarkably few people outside padua realised this. for various reasons, he did not make his results public until well into old age, and when he did finally become famous all over europe, it was for quite different things.14 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 43 the formulation of the concept of inertia has been described as galileo’s greatest contribution to physics. the concept states that: an object in a state of motion possesses an “inertia” that causes it to remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it. in order to arrive at this conclusion, galileo had to abstract from what he, and everyone else, saw. with regards to objects and their state of motion, aristotle held that objects at rest remained at rest unless a force acted on them, but that objects in motion did not remain in motion unless a force acted constantly on them. galileo carried out a catalogue of experiments and came to the conclusion that aristotle’s theory was inconclusive, perhaps incorrect, because the frictional force between surfaces of inclined planes and the object objects sliding down these planes (hidden force) is not properly accounted for. in galileo's observation, when an object is pushed across a surface, two opposing forces act on each other, the force associated with the push and the force that is associated with the friction that acts in the opposite direction.15 galileo also made a number of contributions to technology. between 1595 and 1598, galileo devised and improved a geometric and military compass suitable for use by gunners and surveyors for gunners, it offered, in addition to a new and safer way of elevating cannons accurately, a way of quickly computing the charge of gunpowder for cannonballs of different sizes and materials. as a geometric instrument, it enabled the construction of any regular polygon, computation of the area of any polygon or circular sector, and a variety of other calculations. under galileo's direction, instrument maker marc’antonio mazzoleni produced more than 100 of these compasses. in 1593, galileo constructed a thermometer, using the expansion and contraction of air in a bulb to move water in an attached tube.16 in 1630 galileo returned to rome seeking approval to publish his dialogue concerning the two chief world systems, which was published in florence in 1632. he was ordered to appear before the holy office for papal trial. he was confined to house arrest for the rest of his life. in 1992 that pope john paul ii apologized for the galileo affair, affirming that the earth is not stationary or the centre of the universe or even the solar system. 44 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age (e.) rene descartes (1596-1650) descartes was a french mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the “father of modern philosophy”. his school studies made him dissatisfied with previous philosophy: he had a deep religious faith as a roman catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth. at the age of 24, he had a dream and felt the vocational call to seek to bring knowledge together in one system of thought. his system began by asking what could be known if all else were doubted, suggesting the famous “cogito ergo sum” (i think therefore i am). actually, it is often forgotten that the next step for descartes was to establish the near certainty of the existence of god for only if god both exists and would not want us to be deceived by our experiences can we trust our senses and logical thought processes. god is, therefore, central to his whole philosophy and mathematical principles. what he really wanted to see was that his thoughts be adopted as standard roman catholic teaching. in essence, rene descartes and francis bacon (1561-1626) are generally regarded as the key figures in the development of scientific methodology. both had systems in which god was important, and both seem more devout than the average for their era. (f.) blaise pascal (1623-1662) pascal was a french mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and theologian. in mathematics, he published a treatise on the subject of projective geometry and established the foundation for probability theory. pascal invented a mechanical calculator and established the principles of vacuums and the pressure of air. he was raised a roman catholic, and in 1654 he had a religious vision of god, which turned the direction of his study from science to theology. pascal began publishing a theological work, lettres provinciales, in 1656. his most influential theological work, the pensées ("thoughts"), was a defence of christianity, which was published after his death. (g.) gregor mendel (1822-1884) mendel who was a monk, and later elected abbot of his monastery, was the first to lay the mathematical foundations of genetics, in what came to be called “mendelianism”. he began his research in 1856 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 45 (three years before darwin published his origin of species) in the garden of the monastery. our modern understanding of how traits may be inherited through generations comes from the principles proposed by gregor mendel in 1865. however, mendel didn't discover these foundational principles of inheritance by studying human beings, but rather by studying pisum sativum, or the common pea plant. indeed, after eight years of tedious experiments with these plants, and – by his own admission – “some courage” to persist with them, mendel proposed three foundational principles of inheritance. these principles eventually assisted clinicians in human disease research; for example, within just a couple of years of the rediscovery of mendel's work, archibald applied mendel’s principles to his study of alkaptonuria. today, whether you are talking about pea plants or human beings, genetic traits that follow the rules of inheritance that mendel proposed are called mendelian.17 on the cell theory, mendel was indebted to unger’s work on the role and behaviour of cells in pollination, and his observation of the production of new varieties through crossfertilization, in particular, the notion that his involved the union of just two cells. through his experiment with pea plants, mendel further explored the question of how the union of two cells produced a new organism, the enigma of generation. he concentrated on what, until then, had remained overlooked: the importance of considering pairs of observable characters and the statistical law governing the pattern of their reappearance in the off-springs. the impact of the genetic theory is no longer questioned in anyone's mind. many diseases are known to be inherited, and pedigrees are typically traced to determine the probability of passing along a hereditary disease. plants are now designed in laboratories to exhibit desired characteristics. the practical result of mendel's research is that it not only changed the way we perceive the world but also the way we live in it.18 (h.) georges lemaître (1894-1966) georges lemaître was a catholic cleric, who earlier in life had discerned his call to both the priesthood and the life of the mind as a research scientist around the time of his high school graduation. in july of 1913, georges lemaître earned his bachelor's degree in 46 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age mechanical engineering and began work as a mining engineer.19 he studied theoretical physics, and in 1923 was ordained as an abbé. the following year, he pursued his scientific studies with the distinguished english astronomer arthur eddington, who regarded him as “a very brilliant student, wonderfully quick and clear-sighted, and of great mathematical ability.” lemaître then went on to america, where he visited most of the major centres of astronomical research. later, he received his phd in physics from the massachusetts institute of technology.20 georges lemaitre was born in charleroi, belgium at a time when most scientists thought that the universe was infinite in age and constant in its general appearance. some theories, such as those by isaac newton and james c. maxwell suggested an eternal universe. indeed, when albert einstein first published his theory of relativity in 1916, it seemed to confirm that the universe had gone on forever, stable and unchanging. lemaitre reviewed the general theory of relativity. as with einstein's calculations ten years earlier, lemaitre's calculations showed that the universe had to be either shrinking or expanding. but while einstein imagined an unknown force – a cosmological constant – which kept the world stable, lemaitre decided that the universe was expanding. he came to this conclusion after observing the reddish glow, known as a redshift, surrounding objects outside of our galaxy. if interpreted as a doppler effect, this shift in colour meant that the galaxies were moving away from us. lemaitre published his calculations and his reasoning in annales de la societe scientifique de bruxelles in 1927. few people took notice, however. it could actually be said from the foregoing that lemaitre was the first person to propose the theory of the expansion of the universe, which is now popularly misattributed to edwin hubble. what is known as hubble’s law actually was derived by him and he made the first estimation too of what is now called the hubble constant, which he published in 1927, two years before hubble’s article. he founded the big-bang theory of the origin of the universe which is today called the “hypothesis of the primaeval atom”.21 among the many things that can be said of lemaître legacy, is a statement in 1933, by rev. vecchierello, o.f.m. which is still valid today: christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 47 it is a point of great interest nowadays when there are so much loose thinking and still looser writing and talking about the non-existence of god … to see a man who is both a priest and a scientist fraternizing on the most intimate terms with the world's most illustrious scientific geniuses. he not only associates with them, but he is their peer, and in that is the lie given to the old and empty charge that the study of science means the loss of belief in religion. lemaître, of course, is usually an object of great curiosity — not so much to his coreligionists as to many not of the faith who marvel at the "phenomenon" of a catholic priest being a scientist, yes, not only a scientist of the regular run, but a genius whose theories are most daring.22 perhaps lemaître’s greatest gift to the world is a religionscience/faith-reason intellectual framework. in addition to its logical, practical benefits compared to an openly hostile sciencereligion approach, it also is filled with optimism and hope.23 (i.) teilhard de chardin (1881-1955) teilhard de chardin was a french idealist philosopher, palaeontologist, geologist and jesuit priest. he did a lot of work in the aspect of creation and evolution, advancing arguments to prove creation in the midst of scientific facts, and he settled for ‘evolutive creation’. god is the creator and preserver, the active centre of centres upon which the evolutionary process derives motion for action and sustenance.24 his life-long search was for synthesis: of reason and authority, of matter and spirit, between past and future, between body and soul.25 teilhard’s basic premise is that all of reality, the whole of the cosmic order is in movement (evolution), by the very fact that god who is almighty creator “makes things make themselves”. evolution as he saw it is a process in space and time that generates new levels of a more complex organization. all observable phenomena of the universe are involved in this process, particularly the phenomenon of man. but evolution is not only a process in which the material or 48 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age quantified aspects of the matter have moved from the simple to the more complex; it is also a process in which primitive psychism has moved to more intense consciousness. man presently climaxes the process of evolution as the most complex expression of cellular structures and the most intensely conscious.26 in his characteristic way of further explicating his ideas, teilhard explains the situation thus: the whole of the cosmic order is moving towards a goal (the omega point), gradually progressing from one stage of development to another, each one more unified than the preceding. the highest stage of material development is life. the highest stage in the development of life is human life. with human life, consciousness achieves a level of self-reflection. we not only know, we know that we know. human existence, therefore, represents a new and unique order of being.27 teilhard’s perspective on omega point takes account of a personal, transcendent centre to the creative-evolutionary process. this centre is outside and above the process – or to use more traditional language, is transcendent to it. omega point is active in history, not only through the provision of motive for action but principally through its own personal effectiveness. teilhard names this active “centre of centres”, god.28 (j.) stanley l. jaki (1924-2009) stanley l. jaki, a hungarian-born catholic priest of the benedictine order, was distinguished professor at seton hall university, south orange, new jersey. with doctorates in theology and physics, for more than forty years he specialized in the history and philosophy of science. the author of over fifty books and over four hundred articles, he served as gifford lecturer at the university of edinburgh and as fremantle lecturer at balliol college, oxford. he lectured at major universities in the united states, europe, and australia. he was an honorary member of the pontifical academy of science, membre correspondant of the académie nationale des sciences, belleslettres et arts of bordeaux, and the recipient of the lecomte du noüy prize for 1970 and of the templeton prize for 1987. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 49 jaki was profound and persuasive in upholding the view that thinkers and writers of the enlightenment period up to the present have been mistaken about christianity and science. he refuted their submissions that christianity was opposed to, and even oppressed, science. instead, he argued that christianity has made a great positive impact on science. in the savior of science (2000), jaki revealed the christian foundations of modern science. according to him, christian monotheism alone provided epistemological underpinnings for the scientific endeavour, where other ancient cultures of greece, china, india, and the early muslim empire failed to make an impact.29 following jaki’s four-point reasons for the unique birth of modern science in christian western europe, explicated in the book christ and science,30 the noted conservative thinker russell kirk has this to say: “modern science, father jaki points out, rose from the natural theology of medieval christian learning—a fact that philosophes and positivists sedulously ignore.”31 father jaki was sturdy in defending the view that catholicism has been and is still a blessing to science, not an obstacle, as many erroneously claim.32 through the rest of his life, jaki spearheaded the move aimed at establishing a friendly relationship between science and religion. he wrote more than two dozen books on the subject, expressing the notable theory that modern scientific inquiry can only exist alongside christianity because modern science arose from within a christian society, a society which alone afforded it the opportunity to thrive. for this, he was awarded the templeton award, which is given to those who do outstanding work in affirming a spiritual dimension to reality.33 after rising to be one of the most significant scientific minds in modern times, s. l. jaki died in madrid on april 7, 2009. conclusion belief in god has a much longer history than does the practice of philosophy or the ‘scientification’ of science. these christian thinkers and scholars we have discussed above, many of whom were catholic priests and who were products of their age, serve as models for our own age when the scientific study of the universe, technological revolution and contrasting standards of morality have become real issues within the gamut of our collective existence, 50 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age posing serious challenges to people’s faith in the one true god as the creator and sustainer of the universe and the process of the natural order. our model christian scholars familiarized themselves with the philosophical and scientific theories of their day and did not hesitate to appropriate them into their theological reflections, even giving them pastoral applications. they professed god to be the creator and sovereign of the heavens and the earth, through intellectually active engagement with the world and its objects. as the contemporary world continues to drift on the slopes of manifold crises – the crisis of faith, crisis of values, crisis of morality – and a host of other maladies, it behoves today’s generation of clerics who have been trained in philosophy and various other disciplines to follow the lead of the likes of those discussed in this paper by putting our training into active use for the service of the global community. we should not be afraid to actively and critically engage the philosophical and scientific systems of thoughts in today’s world with an eye to building a better world in which universal progress can be sustained. endnotes 1 this paper is dedicated to my formator, vocations’ director and lecturer in logic, epistemology and analytic philosophy during the period of my seminary formation, rev. fr. prof. anselm jimoh, as he marks the silver jubilee of his priestly ordination. 2 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 43; us catholic bishops, the basic plan for the ongoing formation of priests (2001). 3 s. m. mcdonough – j. t. pennington, (eds.), cosmology and the new testament (london: t & t clark int., 2008) 2. 4 p. smulders, “creation: theology”, in: k. rahner (ed.), encyclopedia of theology: a concise sacramentum mundi, london: burns & oates, 1975, pp. 313-319. 5 cf. e. adam, constructing the world: a study in paul’s cosmological language (edinburgh: t & t clarke, 2000) 3ff. 6 a. m. hunter, the gospel according to paul, (philadelphia: the westminster press, 1966) 1ff. 7 a. m. hunter, the gospel according to paul, 43. 8 j. omoregbe, epistemology: a systematic and historical study, (lagos: joja publishers, 1998) 43. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 51 9 cf. the letters of st. paul to the romans 4:16; 5:2; cf. the letter to the hebrews 11:1; 12:2. although it remains a major question in biblical scholarship who the author of the letter to the hebrews is, the view by some that its has some connection with the pauline school of disciples, rings a bell that brings a worthwhile intertextual connections between the quoted text and related texts in paul’s letters. 10 j. m. cooper – d. s. hutschinson, plato: the complete works, (indianopolis, in: hackett publishing company, 1997). 11 v. j. bourke, “thomas aquinas, st.” in p. edwards et al. (eds.), the encyclopedia of philosophy (new york: macmillan publishing co, 1967) 105116. 12 v. j. bourke, “thomas aquinas, st.”, 105. 13 although copernicus was highly engaged in ecclesiastical life, there are not extant documents to show that he he was ever ordained a priest. the fact that he was one of the four candidates to the assume the episcopal seat of warmia in 1527 gives credibility to the supposition that he was ordained a priest. cf. “nicolaus copernicus”, in new advent catholic encyclopedia [available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm (accessed 21 august 2019)]. 14 a. naess, galileo galilei: when the world stood still. trans by james anderson (springer, berlin 2005) 33. 15 g. galilei, dialogues concerning two new sciences. trans by h. crew – a. de salvio (william andrew pub, new york 2001). 16 cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/galileo_galilei 17 i. miko, “gregor mendel and the principles of inheritance” in nature education 1(1):134, 2008. 18 e. mayr, the growth of biological thought, the belknap press of harvard university, 1982, 720-740. 19 a. berger (ed.), the big bang and georges lemaître d. reidel publishing, new york, 1984, 365. 20 s. soter – n. tyson, cosmic horizons: astronomy at the cutting edge, a publication of the new press. © 2000 american museum of natural history. [available at : http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitr e.html (accessed: 14 august 2019)]. 21 wikipedia online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/georges_lema%c3%aetre 22 h. veccierello, einstein and relativity. lemaître and the expanding universe, st. anthony guild press, paterson 1934, 23. 23j. r. laracy, “the faith and reason of father george lemaitre” in homiletic and pastoral review, ignatian press, san francisco, ca 2009, 50-59. 24 t. de chardin, the appearance of man, (trans. by j. m. cohen) (new york: harper and row publishers, 1956). 25 d. carroll, “creation”, 183. 52 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 26 t. de chardin, the appearance of man. 27 t. de chardin, the phenomenon of man, (trans by bernard wall) (new york: harper and row publishers, 1959) 77-183. 28 d. carroll, “creation”, 252-253. 29 s. l. jaki, the savior of science, william. b. eerdmans, grand rapids, mi 2000. 30 s. l. jaki, christ and science, real view books, royal oak, mi 2000, 23. 31 r. kirk, “the rediscovery of creation”, national review 35 (10) (27 may 1983), pp. 640-41. 32 t. d. watts, “cosmology and the history of science” in social justice review (st louis, mo), vol. 100, no. 7-8, july-august 2009. 33 tyler huckabee, “nine groundbreaking scientists who happened to be christians” [available at: https://relevantmagazine.com/god/9-groundbreakingscientists-who-happened-be-christians/ (accessed on: 26 august 2019)]. 356 26 human formation, religion, and violence: a critical analysis of an unholy alliance. john segun odeyemi, ph.d department of theology dusquene university, pittsburg, pennsylvania, usa. frjay1368@gmail.com precis as our world continues to evolve and grow, we recognize a spike and an upward curve of violence across the world. within the complexities of our common humanity which has made remarkable advancement in scientific and technological developments we find an intricate and hydra headed space of unbridled capacity for carnage, terror and violence. in this essay, i seek to explore the idea of human formation, which ought to lead to wholesomeness and the creation of good citizens. i place the ideal especially against the idea of ‘religion’ and religious violence, which has become volatile and prevalent in various regions of our world. in this paper, i simply lay out a format, which challenges assumptions, and hopefully provokes further reflections and seeks to question the contradiction of religion(s) and why they breed violence. in addition, i will explore the ontological assumptions about human formation and the intersections of the nature of this unholy alliance. introduction we live in a complex world of multi dimensions and inter-dependence with many aspects of our existence constantly intersecting with or without our conscious awareness. in this essay, i intend to explore the varied levels of intersections between religion, the wholesome and moral formation of the human person in the society and how violence is yet a reality between human formation and religious beliefs. naturally, religion, among other factors is observed to be one of the fundamental bedrock of the formation of an ethically upright person and citizen. it is therefore a conundrum worth exploring, when religion itself becomes section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 357 violent and when religious persons embrace violence. to proceed, there is a necessity to clarify a subtle yet quintessential shift in terms used in the title of this paper. in my research, specialists in the area of life coaching in modern psychology and studies in human behavioral sciences have brought me up to speed that they no longer speak only of human formation; rather, there is a deeper reflection on the totality of the formation of the human person. the distinction between these two ideas will be explored further in the next section. for this essay, the term ‘religion’ will be employed essentially in reference to the abrahamic and monotheistic religions of judaism, christianity and islam. remarks will be made briefly about other religions only to buttress points and support arguments. even though many scripts have been written specifically looking at religion and violence, this paper adds a new dimension as it relates the formation of persons with all its implications and the propensity for the same religious persons and their religious beliefs to become agents of violence. the idea of human formation and the formation of the human person lou vallone is a leading figure among life coaching experts of the human formation coalition (hfc). they focus on helping individuals particularly people preparing or already in ministry within the catholic and protestant denominations. vallone makes the distinction between human formation and the formation of the human person understood from the perspective of development. he asserts that while human formation is viewed broadly as one aspect, the formation of the human person encompasses some aspects that comes together to build an integral whole. within the newer approach, the formation of the human person includes intellectual, spiritual, pastoral formation (or relational formation), and human formation. vallone and other coalition members insists that the program of the formation of the human person is more all embracing than the outdated model of a broad human formation approach. within the intellectual formation, the person undergoing formation is helped to understand their intellectual abilities/capabilities. they are intellectually reinforced to be successful in their ministry by their insertion into the appropriate intellectual traditions of where they belong and will function. here you build the mind. for an integral formation to take place, the spirituality of the tradition remains paramount with the hope that this formation leads to the development of a personalized spirituality. here you build the soul. within pastoral formation, vallone and the coalitionists speak of relational or professional formation, which creates a matured person who is able to interact with others in a healthy and balanced manner. here you train a 358 formation of the human person in the 21st century person, mind and body to re-engage and interact in the field. it is the combination of these various aspects of the human person when properly annexed that can produce a balanced citizen or a person who carries out a specific role within the society. finally, this is the kind of human formation that is geared towards behavioral and psychosomatic development of the individual, now approached under the title of the “formation of the human person.”1 the nature of religion religions broadly are a set of belief system, which forms a pattern of practices, behaviors, worldviews, morals that relates to the connection between the human and supernatural world. religions of the world, according to leading scholars cannot be classed, categorized or defined under one simple category. generally, religions have sacred stories, rites, rituals, symbols, holy places, and doctrines, which often times are preserved or transmitted by sacred texts. fundamental to the practice of religion is an attempt to understand the origins of human existence, the origin of our universe (and sometimes, its impending dissolution), and the notion of a transcendental being often referred to as god. in classic antiquity, particularly deriving from its latin etymological roots, religio is understood as a sense of moral rectitude, ethical obligation or duty towards others, nature and even god. at this stage, religio did not reference the idea of doctrine or ritual practices. religious beliefs and practices are many and varied around the world the usual common trends include the belief in the supernatural, omnipotent being/deity who is responsible for the creation of the world. this supernatural being expects a specific moral rectitude in this world as to earn a reward either in this world, in the next or in both. organized religions has been traced back by anthropologists to the neanderthal age, and religious speculations goes even further back to the earliest dawns of human history. religions remain relevant because it has the power, through symbols, texts, rituals, liturgies to evoke a sense of mystery that ‘legislate’ order in existence. according to raymond scupin and christopher decorse, “a religious worldview helps people to discern the meaning of pain and suffering in the world. sacred myths help people make sense of the world and also explain and justify cultural values and social roles.”2 while some claim that religion as faith contradicts reason, others argue that faith and reason are interlinked, so that when they are properly annexed religion tends to bring forth a properly mannered individual. religions of the world could almost be marked out distinctly by regions, however, the majority of self-professed practitioners of religion in the world belong to the three monotheistic and abrahamic faith of judaism, christianity and islam, hinduism and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 359 buddhism closely follow these. in recent times, a certain demographic known as religiously unaffiliated, who are either self-acclaimed atheists or agnostics are yet found to have some religious beliefs or tend to some spirituality especially of the eastern types. in the united states for instance, while many americans no longer go to the christian churches, many are found to be attracted by various eastern religious philosophies like yoga or meditation. while ontologically, religion should be the ideal space for an alternate world of peace, justice, truth and non-violence, historically, religion has been known to be the harbinger for violence. tikva frymerkensky sums it up thus, religions find themselves actively engaged in violence. islam confronts the rise of militant extremism and the world’s perception of islam as a violent religion. judaism is coping with the challenges of having military power and with the national struggle with the palestinians and the immediate threat of suicide bombing. hinduism faces the issue of the violent confrontations between hindus and muslims in north india. buddhism must deal with the ethnic conflict in sri lanka and the genocide in cambodia and its aftermath. even christianity, which has a past of violent conflict, now must reevaluate its concepts of just war, now that technology makes limited war very difficult and the issue arises of whether to intervene militarily in order to prevent genocide or other atrocities.3 it is important to note that from a purely historical perspective, when religions become violent, at the very root of that violence usually is found people who manipulate and hijack religion for personal purposes. it could be for political gain, economic gain, the oppression of minorities or for cultural gains. therefore, we can establish that innately, religion is not per se violent but it can be used to perpetrate violence. there are various reasons why religions may turn violent, and these reasons will be explored carefully later on in this paper. for now, it suffices to point out an underlying theological problem that is often not identified when there is a conversation about religions. most religions require faith, a strong belief based on personal spirituality and conviction, without physical proof, in the existence of a benevolent higher being known as god. religion can exist epistemologically but the true act of religiosity is faith. therefore, it is possible for an individual to be religious but the same individual is not a person of faith. religion can be likened to a container, and its content is faith. relying primarily on the abrahamic and monotheistic religions of judaism, christianity and islam, and even though we can trace a history of violence among them in gargantuan proportions, yet we can find littered all through history, great men and women whose goodness and positive 360 formation of the human person in the 21st century contributions continues to inspire humanity even today. the relations between religions and violence or in a more specific manner the relationship between practitioners of religions and the religions they practice are quite diffused; in proximity, religions, persons and their environment can be violent and can be kind. i argue that most people are introduced to religion but never quite make the next step; a personal growth into faith. it is my position that it is within the various camps of religionists that the world has produced extremists thereby giving birth to religious violence. some argue that violence is embedded deep in the dna of every human person. and given the right conditions, motivations or even provocation, the beast in everyone can come to the surface. there are also those who opine that there is a natural cosmic evil, an eternal battle between light and darkness, between good and evil, and more succinctly when couched in religious language; it is the eternal battle between god and the devil for the human soul. j. harold ellens debunks these assumptions by arguing, “the notion that evil is cosmic and that reality is split, from the transcendental level down to our empirical experience, is profoundly untrue. there is no evidence on the basis of which to conclude that there is such a thing as cosmic evil or that some grand warfare between good and evil, god and the devil, rages in the universe or in our personal world.”4 ellens continues, “…the suffering of this world arises from our actions or our failure to act, either from inadequate or bad will, or from inadequate or bad information, or from inadequate or inefficient effort, or from lack of power or ability to do better or indifferently.”5 ellens submits that religious violence is born out of the nature of humanity still grappling with understanding the power of nature and the complexities of the world around us. outside of the erroneous belief in ontological evil or cosmic conflict between good and evil, ellens avers that violence by humans broadly “…are just communities of inadequate, ignorant, and sick humans trying to find their way to meaning in a world of radical freedom, constant growth, the perpetual change attendant upon growth, and the pervasive pain that accommodating change always brings.”6 ellens surmise that humanity is naturally capable of devising violence, “without metaphoric prodding or genetic pathogenesis. the palestinians and israelis have no mortgage on violence; al qaeda is not unique, but typical, of the universal human pathology; we need only to look within our own psyches or souls.”7 faith is personal, dynamic and specific that requires a commitment of the will to something abstract and otherworldly. when religion leads to faith, it requires a certain kind of clarity and self-understanding that makes one commit to justice, equity and not perpetuating hate and violence. conversely, religion without faith creates fundamentalism of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 361 the negative type. it believes narrowly and exclusively, insisting that he or she possesses a monopoly of god and true religion. the definition of ‘violence’ violence has become commonplace in society that many people have become inured to its effect. we encounter violence on our streets on daily basis; in the beatings meted out by the police or the army to protesters, to the pickpocket who is caught and summarily condemned by mass hysteria and set on fire on our streets. the simple acts of jostling to get on a public transport is violent in nature but accepted as the norm. when a worker eventually makes it home and settles into the sanctity of his home, he encounters violence on the tv news, violence from a spouse bitter for lack of adequate funds to run the house. when eventually he attempts to sleep, he is confronted with the violence of high temperatures without electrical power to combat it by the use of any kind of cooling device, and sometimes, the singsong of mosquitoes who remind you of how poor you really are. all of these may be perceived as a collage of separate actions, however, violence of all sorts are interconnected, “by a web of actions and behaviors, ideas, perceptions, and justifications. while the individual and situational dynamics of violent behavior may vary somewhat, they all share a number of essential characteristics that bind them together into what we can call the unity of human aggression.”8 one must not presume definitionally or otherwise that violence is limited only to physical aggression, bodily harm or injury; violence can also be emotional or psychological. in this light, i find leonard berkowitz’s definition of violence apt, “any form of behavior that is intended to injure someone physically or psychologically.”9 an attempt to trace the continuum of violence exemplifies the depth and range of how violence subtly has become a subculture in modern times. within the spectrum of violence, we can include, physical assault, murder, serial, mass, spree killings, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, crime of passion, street crimes, hate crimes, mob violence, genocide, verbal and psychological abuse, terrorism, kidnapping, gang violence, ethnic violence and religious violence. religious violence are usually born out of delusions that subjectivises and personalizes truth. harold ellens encapsulates religious violence very succinctly thus, violence is always the product of such worldviews. whether it is violation of the truth, or violation of persons, property, and appropriate procedures for human social and juridical order, it is violence. whether it destroys persons, the necessary conditions of healthy human existence, or useful understandings of the real world, it is violence. whether it 362 formation of the human person in the 21st century corrupts freedom, constraints legitimate liberty, or fouls the human nest with mayhem and bestiality, it is violence. whether it oppresses persons or peoples with the force and power of empire building, represses hope and the resilience of the human spirit with mass-casualty fear and intimidation, or terrorizes the tranquility of children with media reports of those kinds of mayhem, it is phenomenally destructive violence.10 religious violence therefore is a creation of a person or persons whose ethical formation is flawed and thriving on absolutists’ and fundamentalistic positions degenerates into psychosis. this is a dangerous psychosis because wherever it is found it is usually dogmatic, ideological and exclusivist in nature. it cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be reviewed or critiqued, it is rigid, unchanging and cannot tolerate any other truths outside of its own, neither can this position accept amendments or new insights. whenever the absolutist feels cornered or threatened by an opposing idea, in their demented mind, to defend their own truth is to result into violence. when religion become violent: from fundamentalism to extremism core to religious violence is the conflict between orthodoxy, liberalism and modernism at crossroads for the modern person in contemporary times. overtime, religious violence has been fomented by those who claim orthodoxy, be it the catholic crusades, the never ending jihads of radical islam and the jewishpalestinian conflict; they are grounded on orthodoxy. however, it has become even more problematic when it is re-translated as orthodoxy against liberal post modernity. events of 9/11 remain a poster child and watershed for an outrage incomprehensible or imaginable to the normal human psyche until it happened. beyond perhaps, political and economic reasons, this act of brazen terrorism is primarily an ideological one. in one act of savage violence, the world experienced the collision of extreme islamic orthodoxy against a perceived extreme western liberalism and the ‘waywardness of western modernism.’ sadly, and according to ellens, “the tragedy of that terrorism is severe enough at the physical and material level to gain global attention and concern.”11 this writer states that the real tragedy of this violence lies in the fact that “it is a state of the soul or psyche, conditioned and twisted by specific religious archetypes. those terrorists apparently really believed that their action was an execution of the will and intentions of god and for it they would have ‘exceedingly great reward’.”12 conversely, we must consider what andrea riccardi refers to as ‘the decline of religion’; a situation where postmodern liberalism has jettisoned the idea of religion and twentieth century industrial and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 363 technological civilization has found a new god. some contend that modernity with its new humanism has sounded the death toll for religious belief. within modernity is the evolution and creation of the new political order, the state. riccardi states, “the state’s view has been a secular one, and the secular view has even been an ethic that has become as it were a lay religion, with its own social rites… society has ceased to identify itself with religion.”13 in this view, summarily, the twentieth century continued with the idea that modernity was sweeping religion away from its role as a protagonist in history… religion came to be associated with fanaticism or with the memory of the wars of religion which had stained europe with blood or which had been fought between the christian world and the muslim world. the elimination of religion from social life was regarded as a factor of progress and stability.14 subliminally we must also reflect on the relationship between the origins of the political state and religions. while islam and judaism can lay claim to a religion that is embedded strongly in the culture and nationhood of the environs in which it originated, christianity does not share the same history. in fact, for the first three centuries of its infancy, christianity was persecuted by the state and its political machinery. in contemporary times, the infractions of the state against religion, albeit, christianity as a religion in the separation of church and state is worthy of evaluation in another paper. it suffices to say that religions can become violent depending on how the political state impinges on religious liberties or how it favors one religion against the other in a multi-religious space. emmanuel ojeifo in a newspaper piece written and published by this day newspaper on march 19, 2020, while reflecting on religion and violence argues that when people become entrapped in what he calls “mental and theological prisons of sectarianism”, they become blind and unable to perceive what is valuable due to globalization and how it impacts the religious sphere. ojeifo states, “they think to welcome this good [of globalization] is to put their faith at risk of extinction. the reaction to this is therefore, one of intolerance to difference, which finds expression in the rhetoric of ‘we’ vs ‘them’ or ‘the chosen vs. the rest.’ when this intolerance is pushed to the extreme, it leads to the vilification and demonization of the other.”15 and in the classic wole soyinka saying, we then move quickly from “i am right, you are wrong,’ to ‘i am right; you are dead’! it is within this scope that poorly formed individuals turn into a menace to society. while religious formation, formal education, societal education, peer education all fail to produce a worthwhile citizen, you end up with a maniac, closed minded absolutist ready to cause mayhem if his way is not the only way. 364 formation of the human person in the 21st century edward schillebeeckx extrapolates on two claims made by religious adherents, which quickly devolves into violence; first, he points out the claim made that one religion is the only true religion. according to him, “here the right of the other religion to exist is consistently denied. in a multicolored society such a negation is in itself a virtual declaration of war.”16 second, is what he calls the established guarantee of the wellbeing of human society based on ‘my god alone’ syndrome. he avers, “this second foundation for religious violence is the conviction… on the basis of its claim that the god whom they confess is the direct guarantee of the wellbeing of human society.”17 schillebeeckx, submits that “even if a religion recognizes itself as one alongside many other religions, it can incite violence because of all kinds of alliances or presumptions, hidden or open, which are in fact bound up with it and therefore because of an implied distorted picture of god.”18 in his final summation, schillebeeckx states, …the whole of human kind is the elect people of god. all historical forms of belief in a religious election must be at the service of and subject to the criticism of universal election; otherwise the self-understanding of election in individuals, peoples, or faith communities also pose a threat, involves danger and violence, to those of other faiths or none at all. this can prove a breeding ground of violence.19 religions therefore, to remain through to its classical definition and foundational authority remains true in so far as it does not make absolutists claims to truths about god-even when there are doctrines or scared texts that make these claims. no government or persons can legitimize this sort of claim without leaving the back door open for violence. anyone can choose to believe in what they believe in, but no one can impose their beliefs on others even when it implies an eternal or temporal damnation of body or soul. fundamentalism usually is born of orthodoxy and it is not limited to the religious sphere alone. according to j. harold ellens, “fundamentalism is a psychopathology that drives its proponents to the construction of orthodoxies in whatever field it is in which those proponents live or work.”20 ellens is of the opinion that “today we would certainly be forced to include in that category of most dangerous movements both islamic religious fundamentalism and fundamentalistic israeli politics. all three of the great western religions that derive from ancient israelite religion of the hebrew bible are plagued by the presence of this sick psychology and its heretical products.”21 most dangerous of all is the danger of misinterpreting sacred texts. religions mostly approach their sacred text as revealed or divine. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 365 as such, the message of sacred texts are taking seriously. history has shown that many times, religious violence erupts because of the interpretations without context, without an understanding of history, worse still, without education in the field. d. andrew kille opines that, “to understand the role of sacred scriptures in shaping violent attitudes and behavior we must recognize that texts do not do anything in themselves. it is only in the dynamic encounter between the text and a specific reader, in a specific community, in a particular historical and cultural context that individuals engage, interpret, internalize and ultimately act on these texts.22 it is therefore easy for individuals to take a text out of context and run with it. the sacred texts can be approached from proper exegesis or simply from the point of eisegesis. the combination of wrong interpretation of sacred texts coupled with fanatical extremism is the most dangerous recipe that can quickly result into religious violence. proposals even though religions may have been used historically as a tool to back up violence, to maintain power, to subjugate others and often times to disenfranchise the less powerful, religions remain essential to the equilibrium of persons and the society. religion wields its own power over people’s minds and lives. it affects how many relate peacefully or otherwise in a largely pluralistic society. religion can be used to form cooperation between nations and it can be used to cause wars among sovereignties. no matter how much contemporary culture lays claim to civility, the litmus test is found often in how we employ religious tenets to build or tear down communities. in olusegun okedairo’s work, titled africanism, he asserts, …a country may have all the means of modern technology but should it lack the necessary properties… then rather than be said to be civilized is uncivilized. a country’s constitution that features the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion among other rights is a civilized one. in the same vein, one of the indices of a country’s holy writ that is uncivil or a man’s incivility or lack of culture is the absence of these fundamental rights. hence anybody who discriminates, ridicules, attacks, maligns, maims or kills another on account of religion is not only wicked…but strictly speaking, he is not civilized, he is a pagan, bush man or ill mannered. call him a zombie, you will not be wrong, because you would have beyond this planet to find a more striking example of mechanical religionists, blind adherent to a verbal 366 formation of the human person in the 21st century formula without any regard for conscience or common sense.23 politicians, religious leaders and all who hold positions of authority over others must turn away from the seduction of using religion to illegitimately maintain and perpetuate personal gain and power. rather, leaders ought to explore means by which religions can be a tool for ameliorating all sorts of class misunderstandings. helena cobbans is right when she avers, “at their very best, religious ideals and precepts can, when confronted with the chaos and the bottomless tragedy and perversion of the natural order that are induced by war, be used in ways that provide succor to afflicted and healing at all levels of society from the individual person through the group to the nation.”24. if bad people can manipulate religion for personal gain, then good people must work tirelessly to make sure religion is a veritable tool for development and growth. in recapitulating as part of a few proposal, we can result to a simple antithesis of the problems already enumerated. namely, we need to pay attention to the fundamentals of the formation of the human person; rounded and wholesome. anything else creates the conducive atmosphere for the breeding of anarchists and extremists. the interpretative approach to the reading of sacred texts in all religions, when not attended to respectfully and intellectually will continue to be the ontological basis for religious violence. sacred texts are powerful and portends possibilities for peace or violence. the proliferation of religions around the world into conservative, moderate, liberal, ultra-modern, etc, and the re-interpretation of scriptural texts under these varying traditions remains an underlying factor for religious violence. unfortunately, very little can be done in correcting this error. it is important also to study and come to an agreement of the interaction between ‘church and state.’ there is a need for an anthropology particular to a place and its people to know the degree of separation. traditionally, some cultures are very religious and their civil codes derive from their religious worldview. in some other climes, this is not so, especially as it can be found in most of western democracies. most importantly, religions should not be used as a political advantage against other religions within a body politic or as a leverage for the maintenance of power. for religion not to turn violent, it must not be used to give undue advantage to adherents either for jobs, appointments or admissions. finally, wholistic human formation should create citizens whose altruism is not based on indices like religion, ethnicity or political alliances rather, these citizens must be focused on the thriving of the commonwealth, peace building and non-violence. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 367 conclusion as part of our efforts as religious people or civil society to engage in attempts at proper formation of the human person, we must keep in mind that the world will never embrace one faith or one religion. in living the reality of pluralism of religions, all citizens must accept the task of learning the maxim, ‘live and let live.’ on this andrea riccardi states, “reality and the religious traditions have constantly given rise to a demand for dialogue and understanding between the different religious worlds. this orientation contrasts with the tendency to retreat into narrow identity and to engage in conflict, and with the use of the religions for nationalistic or bellicose ends.”25 it is for this reason that many countries now create channels to engage differing religious groups within their enclave in constructive dialogues. in contemporary times, the monotheistic religions must take the lead in a new re-orientation of its adherents towards peace building through more ecumenical and dialogical relationships. hermann haring sums it up as a need for “a revitalization of communication, a democratic attitude and an appropriate differentiation of functions.”26 haring goes further to state that religions for modern man will be less violent if dissidents are not suppressed or condemned as kafirs or heretics but engaged and taken seriously as dialogue partners, violence then can be averted. according to haring, “those who want to overcome violence credibly must overcome its legitimization, whether manifest or concealed, in their own communities… that makes the chances for the future all the better, the less christianity and islam succumb to the seduction of worldly power.”27 we know from history that none of the great religions of the world can be exonerated of the complicity in violent conducts. it is the duty of religion in the modern context to oppose violence in all its forms and overcome its productivity. yet this nonviolence must not become passivity especially in reaction to political and class oppression of the masses. religion necessarily must be at the forefront of forming the human person in consciousness, social responsibility and when necessary civil disobedience and active resistance. more than at any other time in history, religion must become more a synonym for peace in practical ways. for instance, the gathering of world religions and their leaders in assisi to pray for peace at the invitation of the pope. we cannot but recall the role of the truth and reconciliation committee in post independent south africa and the same work done after the rwandan genocide. the work groups in islam, even though overshadowed by mainline political islam must be encouraged and given a spotlight. groups such as muslim peace fellowship, muslim civil rights protection center, and an emerging 368 formation of the human person in the 21st century number of muslim intellectuals and authors who all seek nonviolence and means of peaceful resolutions to conflicts. the eastern religions, hinduism, buddhism, taoism, confucianism, brahmanism and so forth, already notionally have the idea of nonviolence within their believe system. like the west, they have not always fared well in keeping peace. but they also have a chance to reclaim their own history and antecedents to do no evil to anyone. it is a duty binding on anyone involved in the formation and educating of others to seek to open the minds of those educated that the world does have grey lines, and so it is never directly black or white. for religious violence to be overcome we need a new generation devoid of the psychopathology of religious extremism of all sorts. the greatest challenge of all is to educate people who understand that responding to violence-by-violence will never yield any meaningful or positive results. true religion that has transited to faith will always seek the paths of grace, of peace and work for the welfare of the human family. true religion must abhor violence and imposition of its own creed on nonadherents. true religion must always be committed to the work of healing a broken world and uniting a fragmented people. outside of these, it is no longer a religion; it is a mechanism of oppression and suppression disguised by those who stand to gain by it as religion. endnotes 1 oral interview with rev. lou vallone, mdiv., ma jcb, coach/trainer hfc. interview was held at his residence on march 5, 2020 2 raymond scupin & christopher r. decorse. anthropology: a global perspective. 9th edition. (los angeles: sage publication, inc., 2021)(instructional copy) p. 467 3 tivka frymer-kensky. religions and violence: an analytical synthesis. the ecumenical review.* 4 j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion: violence in judaism, christianity, and islam. first edition. (westport, ct: praeger publishers, 2004), p. 3 5 ibid. 6 ibid. p. 8 7 j. harold ellens. sacred scriptures, ideology, and violence. first edition. op.cit. p. 256 8 alex alvarez & ronet d. bachman. violence: the enduring problem. (los angeles: sage publications ltd., 2021) (instructional copy), p. 3 9 leonard berkowitz. aggression: its causes, consequences, and control. (new york: mcgraw-hill, 1993), p. 3 10 j. harold ellens. sacred scriptures, ideology, and violence. fourth edition. op.cit. p. 122 11 j. harold. ellens. op.cit. p. 264 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 369 12 ibid. 13 andrea riccardi. “between violence and dialogue: the religions in the twentieth century” in wim beuken & karl-josef kuschel religion as a source of violence? concilium 1997 number 4, p. 72 14 ibid. p. 73 15 emmanuel ojeifo. “a global awakening of the spirit.” this day newspaper, march 18th part 1, march 19th part 2 16 edward schillebeeckx. “documentation: religion and violence” in concilium, op.cit. p. 132 17 ibid 1818 ibid. p. 133 19 ibid. p. 136 20 j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion: violence in judaism, christianity, and islam. fourth edition. (westport, ct: praeger publishers, 2004), p. 120 21 ibid. p. 121 22 d. andrew kille. “the bible made me do it”: text, interpretation and violence. in j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion. op.cit. p. 56 23 olusegun okediaro. africanism. (lagos, nigeria: kofo-david graphics, 2006), p. 165 24 helena cobbans. “religion and violence.” journal of the american academy of religion. dec., 2005, vol. 73, number 4, p.1125 25 andrea riccardi. “between violence and dialogue: the religions in the twentieth century.” op.cit. p. 80 26 hermann haring. overcoming violence in the name of religion (christianity and islam) in concilium, op.cit. p. 88 27 ibid. p. 91 165 12 the principles of formation of candidates for the catholic priesthood in optatam totius, pastores dabo vobis and ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis as paradigmatic of human formation anthony o. igbekele, sls, sld department of theology, ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodija ibadan. aoigbekele@hotmail.com abstract the catholic church has always considered the formation of candidates for the priesthood and the ongoing formation of her clergy among its greatest priorities and concerns, knowing that her overall good and the success of her mission are contingent on a well-formed clergy. consequently, the church has invested time and efforts to fashion out time tested principles that guide the formation of her candidates. the position of this paper is that these principles, stated in conciliar and postconciliar documents, because of the breadth and reach of their formulations, are paradigmatic of and applicable to the formation of the christian person. these principles, summarized as human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral, when faithfully domesticated and applied, could also be validly utilized for the formation of any christian person for the mission of the church and the good of the society. keywords: church, human formation, pastores dabo vobis, ratio fundamentalis introduction the crisis in the christian life and in the society today is occasioned by the crisis in the formation of the human person for the important roles that are to be assumed in life. in terms of the priesthood, such crisis can 166 formation of the human person in the 21st century be traced to the absence of sound formation or the presence of a faulty formation. the priest is fundamentally a man of sacrifice; a man for sacrifice; a man by sacrifice. the sacrifice motif is fundamental to his essence and nature. priesthood is therefore without soul if sacrifice is removed from it. sacrifice is the heart of worship and cult. it is the heart of liturgy. if sacrifice is the heart of the priesthood because to talk of the priesthood without it is to completely misunderstand the fundamental essence of what the priesthood is all about, then it stands to reason that the fundament of all formation to the priesthood is to form the human person to become a man of cult or worship. formation of a catholic priest is therefore formation for sacrifice. sacrifice here intended is the sacrifice that found its fullest accomplishment by christ jesus in his paschal mystery – that is, the passion, death, resurrection and ascension into glory of jesus christ. the crisis of the priesthood is therefore the crisis of authentic human formation for the roles that are meant to be assumed as priests. the most effective counter measure to this crisis therefore lies in quality of formation of the candidates for the priesthood. the structure of such formation, with some contextualizations and adaptations, are also valid propositions for the authentic formation of the human person in every age, time, season, generation, language, culture. this is because fundamentally, the priest is first of all called to be fully human before he can be fully priestly. the human substratum of his personhood is therefore of fundamental significance, import and relevance to the entire edifice of his formation. if this human edifice is faulty, corrupt, vitiated, corrupted at its fundament, the construction of any formative structure upon this sub-structure cannot therefore but be faulty. the insights and content of formation of candidates for the priesthood can also be seen to be paradigmatic1 of human formation because the church has experience in the formation of the human person. the church can lay claim to the experience of two millenia in which she has consistently and courageously been in the forefront of the formation and promotion of the good of the human person. on the basis of this experience, the church can rightly arrogate to herself the competence of not just formulating the fundamental principles of human formation, that is, the basis on which the formation of the human person should rest, but even more importantly, on the strength of her collective experience, the church is in a position to propose veritable enduring principles that can constitute into the kernel of a program of action for the wholistic formation of the human person in every age, generation, culture, time. the formation must be human, that is, it must proceed from the fundamentals of what constitutes into our humanity, be based on our section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 167 being as persons created in the image and likeness of god, with all our compositions and essence and what makes us who we are as persons. formation must also have a christian character, that is, be based on christian principles and values, ethos, norms. formation must have didactic or instructional character. the didactic aspect of human formation does not and is not circumscribed to the formal classroom environment or situation. it is the experience that a greater and more efficient aspect of the instructional character of human formation takes place in the non-formal sector, especially in the home. within the context of formation for the priesthood, a large aspect of the human formation of the candidates for the priesthood takes place in the substratum: that is, in the non-formal sector, among the candidates themselves. this is especially the locus for auto or self-formation, which is fundamental and indispensable to the overall realization of authentic priestly formation. the didactic nature of human formation makes especial use of the experience of the church in this regard. that experience is founded on the catechetical principles that are foundational to instruction in the faith. what is human formation? formation is from the latin word, formo-formare, which means “form, shape, fashion, model”2 formation, from the latin noun formatio, mean “something possessing structure or form“; “the act of assembling a group or structure.”3 ”an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking form: development.”4 in a general sense, human formation refers to the beginnings of man as homo sapiens, that is, when man came to be made or fashioned or evolve. formation is the entire process in which the human person is moulded, shaped, configured. human formation has to do with all the entire process, procedures, motivations, that are put to bear in the grooming of a human person. it is concerned with a part of human development that takes the entire human person, body, soul, affective self as the point of departure and point of arrival, with a view to promoting the emergence of right character, vision, attitudes, view on life. human formation has to do with the configuration of the human person to a way of life, an ideal, a standard, and well tested patterns; a growth that is gradual, consistent, insistent, practical, effective, based on nature and founded on grace. human formation is therefore a consistent development and cultivation of authentic human values. christian human formation assumes the basics of human formation. taking these basics as its point of departure, christian human formation is the configuration of the human person to the person and life of christ. christian human formation therefore has christ as the 168 formation of the human person in the 21st century fundamental referent, and therefore does not proceed ab nihilo, that is, from nothing. human formation makes use of objective referents that, over time, and with constant and consistent positive usage, have attained universal significance and import and have crystallized into objective norms, ethos and practices. christian human formation is therefore the conformation of the life of each individual christian to that of christ. the importance of formation of priests the priesthood, in the words of pastores dabo vobis 8, [henceforth pdv] 5 is best viewed as a “special witness to the primacy of “being” over “having,” and as a recognition that the significance of life consists in a free and responsible giving of oneself to others, a willingness to place oneself entirely at the service of the gospel and the kingdom of god….”6 furthermore, “the priestly ministry in the life of the church and in the world knows no substitute.”7 the importance and necessity of priests are also stressed, since “without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (mt. 28:19) and “do this in remembrance of me” (lk. 22:19; cf. 1 cor. 11.24), i.e:, an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.”8 pdv emphasized that “the priest is a living and transparent image of christ the priest. the priesthood of christ, the expression of his absolute “newness” in salvation history, constitutes the one source and essential model of the priesthood shared by all christians and the priest in particular. reference to christ is thus the absolutely necessary key for understanding the reality of priesthood.”9 the documents we shall examine individuate four areas that are fundamental to formation of the candidates for the priesthood. these four areas are: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral. when any of these is lacking in the formation of any human person, that person becomes defective in his formative character. the content of formation in pastores dabo vobis the overall aim of pastores dabo vobis is pastoral: the commitment to the realization of the promise of christ not to leave his church without shepherds. it is dedicated to the formulation of principles that would guide the formation of pastoral persons for the mission of christ and his church in the world. formation in the church and christian formation is imitation of christ: christ formed those he called and gathered around himself. christian formation is therefore nothing but a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 169 continuation of the work of christ and in imitation of christ who gathered disciples around himself, taught them and sent them out to preach and cast out demons (mk3,13-15)10 the context, environment and basis of every human formation is the human society. this is because every person who is called to formation comes from the womb of a human society or community and from particular contexts and circumstances.11 formation must have the capacity to confront and provide solutions to the problems, contradictions and potentialities of the society. the situation and condition of man in the world, especially with regards to rationalism, individualism, materialism, secularism, human sexuality and the family, inhuman capitalism, subjectivism, multi-racialism and multi-culturalism, demand that there be a robust and well-articulated formation of the priest for today’s world. formation must lead to the confrontation of values that are detrimental to the gospel and to christian life. for instance, it should confront modern problems identified as wrong interpretation of human existence; consumerism; subjectivism of the faith; a rejection of sacrifice and religious and spiritual values; a distorted sense of freedom that leads to a rejection of god and religious indifference; a debased and degraded interpretation of sexuality, in which sexuality becomes a turning inward to oneself of this precious gift, which results in exploitation and the reduction of this gift to “a consumer good” and is a caricature of a balanced view of sexuality that should lead to affective maturity and “growth in personality”.12 every form of formation of the human christian person must have the ideals of the christian life as its goal and aspiration. these ideals are enumerated as true and genuine freedom; the value of the human person; love for authenticity and sincerity; a new understanding of the reciprocal rapport between men and women; a move towards a just and sympathetic world; openness and dialogue; commitment to peace; the resurgence of ideals voluntary service can help youth and young men to follow the path of complete consecration to god as a priest.13 the fundamental characters and foundation of formation of the christian person the formation of the human person, for it to be christian, must have three indispensable and fundamental characters and foundations: christocentric and christological, trinitarian and ecclesiological. in terms of its christocentric and christological foundation, it must be based on the contemplation of christ, the high priest, in whose priesthood the ministerial priesthood is a participation. the entire ministerial priesthood is a participation in the life of christ himself.14 170 formation of the human person in the 21st century christian formation of the human person must have a trinitarian foundation, origin and source. this is more so for the life of the priest: “the priest, by virtue of the consecration which he receives in the sacrament of orders, is sent forth by the father through the mediatorship of jesus christ, to whom he is configured in a special way as head and shepherd of his people, in order to live and work by the power of the holy spirit in service of the church and for the salvation of the world.”15 the missionary and relational dimensions of priestly formation16, ministry and life are brought out through and in this trinitarian foundation lastly, the christian formation of the human person must have an ecclesiological foundation. the church is mystery, communion and mission. 17 the human person is a mystery based on the connection with god who is mystery in himself. the human person is called to relational communion relationship with others, that is, the communion and sharing of life. the human persons who discover themselves in mystery and communion are the same persons called to express these dimensions in mission, that is, taking the good news out and witnessing to the world. human formation in its discussion of human formation, the ratio fundamentalis (henceforth rf) concentrates on four principal and indispensable dimensions: psychological formation which “focuses on the constitution of a stable personality, characterized by emotional balance, self control and a well integrated sexuality”;18 moral formation which entails the formation of a good conscience, that is, the formation of “responsible persons able to make the right decisions, gifted with right judgement and able to have an objective perception of person and events”19; aesthetic formation which indicates capacity to relate with the environment and appreciation of beauty and goodness; historical formation which involves the personal history of the persons for formation, their socializations prior to entrance into formation and how this has affected the growth of their personality. formation is to help them to guard against attachment or preferences of certain persons over and above others; to be inclusive rather than exclusive in their social and relational preferences and choices. human formation also exposes them to the dynamics of self-formation, that is, a formation of the self that is guided and accompanied by trained formators and experts. in this regard, there must be openness to the formative contributions of women “who, by their witness of their lives, give an example of prayer and pastoral service, a spirit of sacrifice and self-denial, of care and tender closeness to their neighbours”20 human formation is fundamental to and is the first of the dimensions of formation. everything a human person wants to be is built section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 171 upon the human substratum or the humanity of that person. holiness perfects humanity, and does not replace or diminish it. “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation”21. the foundation of all human christian formation is configuration to christ. human formation determines christian and priestly identity. the qualities acquired in human formation are important for candidates to the priesthood if they are to be balanced, strong, free, with the capacity to bear the weight pastoral responsibilities.22 human formation is therefore to be understood as ontological configuration to christ. the priest is called by god. he is chosen by god for a special mission. his human formation therefore has to be christic and christo-centric. his vocation is a gift, and not merited. he therefore has to cooperate with the giver of the gift for the gift to blossom and arrive at its fullest maturity and realization. as a person called to serve the people, the priest needs to “sharpen his human sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their demands, perceive their unvoiced questions and share the hopes and expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people.”23 the human aspect of formation has to do with the ability of the person in formation to be at home with his humanity, personal history and limitations and rise above all of these limiting and militating situations. the person to be formed has a fundamental role to play in his formation. consequently, “each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation … and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into count his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospel”24. formation helps candidates preparing for the priesthood to be “balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities, to be educated to love truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to have genuine compassion, to be men of integrity and especially to be balanced in judgement and behavior.”25 human formation is formation in essential good attributes: courage, magnanimity, humility, common sense, discretion, transparency, right judgement, honesty, love of truth26 both pdv and rf are agreed that the foundation of formation would be faulty if the human dimension of it is not properly taken care of.27 human formation is formation of the humanity of the person, the radical transformation of the core of a human person. 172 formation of the human person in the 21st century the person to be formed is taken from a human community, has a human personality. in terms of the formation of a priest, the humanity of the priest should be a bridge and not an obstacle.28 consequently, human formation should lead to personal maturity, in their spiritual, emotional, physical, sexual, intellectual, psychological and social dimensions. human formation must lead to the perfection of the image of christ in the person being formed and reflect the perfection found in the humanity of christ, the perfect man. a solid human formation makes the relational, relatedness and interactive dimensions of the human person possible. it leads to the development of solid human qualities. human formation should lead to affective maturity, the ability to love and to receive love. this love takes the whole person as its point of departure and forms the candidates in responsible love and the authentic meaning of sexuality, which will also include education to true meaning of friendship and “fraternal affection”. human formation, that leads to human maturity, must also concentrate its creative energy and attention on formation to the responsible use of freedom. this responsible freedom will help the candidates to overcome the problematics of selfishness and individualism and advance the education of the moral conscience.29 human formation should lead to commitment to the truth, respect for others, justice, truth telling, compassion, integrity, balance in judgement, self-control, strength of character, development of a high sense of responsibility.30 it should also focus on self-determination and responsibility for one’s actions, which translates into a balance in relationships. consequently, the entire life history, the ability of the person to be reconciled to and integrate that personal history, family influences, awareness of personal weakness, are very important for human formation. human formation of the candidates for the priesthood should also take into cognizance the importance of interpersonal relationship and relationship with the environment31; relationship with women; the ability to take responsibility; selfdetermination; awareness of personal weakness; the care for physical well-being; cultivation of good habits; emotional stability; development of leadership skills; cultivation of interactive skills; capacity for dialogue; openness; respect; affective maturity; understanding of self and others and sympathy; compassion; patience; tolerance; love of the truth; honesty; moral excellence; transparency. spiritual formation the second important dimension of formation which human formation leads to and in which it finds its completion is spiritual formation. there section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 173 is in every human person the religious “character” or dimension: the openness to transcendence and the absolute.32 spiritual formation has to do with communion with god, with christ, submission of life to the spirit, “in a filial attitude toward the father and a trustful attachment to the church. spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.”33 spiritual formation is the core “which gives life” to the being of the priest and to his activities in the world. it should lead to union with the trinity, drawing close to and living in intimate union and communion with christ, living out the paschal mystery, seeking christ through meditation on god’s word, participating in the divine mysteries of worship, in filial obedience to the bishop and in veneration of the blessed virgin mary.34 spiritual formation opens candidates to the mystery that the christian religion is: “the gift, of a personal covenant of love and life between god and human beings.”35 it is communion with christ, that is expressed in the deepest act of love and friendship with him. it is search for jesus which if assiduously carried out, will lead to finding him, following him and being in communion with him.36 this seeking or search for jesus would be achieved if three important steps or paths are covered: “a faithful meditation on the word of god, active participation in the church's holy mysteries and the service of charity to the “little ones.”“37 the fundamental and primal way of responding to the word of god is prayer,38 which is nothing but that deep intimacy with god, which expresses itself in a total gift of self “to christ and through christ to the father.”39 formation for prayer will include formation for the appreciation of silence. formation for christian commitment to prayer finds its highest expression in the eucharist, the “‘summit and source’ of the sacraments and the liturgy of the hours.”40 spiritual formation will also include formation for the liturgy of the church, the expression and continuation of the paschal mystery of jesus christ. it will include formation and appreciation for the other sacraments, especially penance, the cultivation of the practices of asceticism and self-sacrifice; the understanding of the meaning and centrality of the cross, the heart of the paschal mystery, in the life of every believer and identification with christ crucified.41 spiritual formation will also teach the candidate to seek christ in people, to offer himself as a gift to others, to be a man of charity and to teach others what the commandment of love truly entails,42 and to understand the core spiritual values inherent in the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience as the free expression of the total gift of self in imitation of the charity of christ.43 174 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation this aspect of formation of the human person has to do with the formation of the mind, and the scientific acquisition of knowledge, which is not intended to be a mere acquisition of knowledge but a knowledge that is directed towards knowing and adhering to god. intellectual formation is important because of the nature of the ministry to which the candidates will be called to share in, the need for evangelization and the necessity to defend the faith.44 being called to collaborate with christ in the salvation of their brothers and sisters, they have the responsibility “to seek an ever deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.” owing to the challenges of modernity and post modernity, the formation of candidates must equip them intellectually to have the capacity to proclaim “the changeless gospel of christ.”45 this formation needs a stable institution and a formal atmosphere for it to take place. in the formal environment in which the formation of candidates to the priesthood takes place, there is need for a corp of persons who by virtue of their preparation and training, are equipped to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the intellectual formation of the candidates for the priesthood. intellectual formation must take place in a suitable environment. formation candidates must demonstrate commitment to intellectual formation, 46 which must have focus and content. this intellectual formation is carried out through the study of philosophy and theology, two disciplines that must be coordinated effectively “so that they supplement one another in revealing to the minds of students with ever increasing clarity the mystery of christ, which affects the whole course of human history.”47 this dimension formation must not be simple expression of rarified truths but equally pastoral application of same and concern for the challenges and preoccupations of the times. with a firm intellectual formation, formation candidates are equipped to thoroughly assess the negative teachings and philosophies that are bandied about in the modern world and proffer solution to counteract them, based on the truths of the gospel. intellectual formation must also focus on the “unity of the educational process in its diverse aspects.”48 consequently, the “commitment to study, which takes up no small part of the time of those preparing for the priesthood, is not in fact an external and secondary dimension of their human, christian, spiritual and vocational growth. in reality, through study, especially the study of theology, the future priest assents to the word of god, grows in his spiritual life and prepares himself to fulfill his pastoral ministry.”49 what this implies is that intellectual formation must not be carried out as if it is an end in itself, as pure abstract knowledge that has no bearing with real life, but must be “integrated with a spirituality marked by a personal section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 175 experience of god. in this way a purely abstract approach to knowledge is overcome in favor of that intelligence of heart which knows how 'to look beyond,' and then is in a position to communicate the mystery of god to the people.”50 the study of philosophy will lead to a “deeper understanding and interpretation of the person, and of the person’s freedom and relationship with the world and with god.”51 it will also lead “the students gradually to a solid and consistent knowledge of man, the world and god.”52 it is also vital because of the links that exist between the great themes studied in philosophy that find expression in theology. philosophical studies will also help to dethrone “subjectivism as a criterion and measure of truth…”53 and lead candidates to appreciate the truth that can never be given by man but is a gift from god himself. the second part of intellectual formation of the candidates is theology, the discourse on god. theological studies must have the true faith as its point of departure and point of arrival.54 this faith is one about which questions are asked and answers are given, on the basis of divine revelation, tradition and the living magisterium of the church, in order to arrive at its deeper understanding. this faith is faith in jesus christ, which is expressed and exercised in the church. thus, the faith has christological, ecclesiological and ecclesial foundation, implication and dimension. these dimensions should help the candidate to develop a deep love for christ and his body, the church. intellectual formation must be integrated with spiritual formation and the prayer life, otherwise it regresses into pure abstraction and theological gymnastics and sophistry. the aim of theological formation should be the arrival at “a complete and unified vision of the truths which god has revealed in jesus christ and of the church’s experience of faith.”55 it should integrate the scientific study of theology with its pastoral aim and seek the inculturation of revealed truths within the cultural expressions that the church is called upon to preach the message of salvation.56 pastoral formation the last aspect of formation of the human person for the priesthood is pastoral formation. pastoral formation has to do with the configuration of the candidate to become shepherds after the image of christ, the good shepherd. this is stated so well in optatam totius that recommends that candidates should be trained for the ministry of the word, of worship and sanctification, of the shepherd. the other three dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual should be directed to “a specific pastoral end.”57 pastoral formation should consist of “mature reflection and practical application”58 and taking cue from pastoral theology, must not be seen just as an art, but as “a scientific 176 formation of the human person in the 21st century reflection on the church as she is built up daily, by the power of the spirit, in history; on the church as the “universal sacrament of salvation, as a living sign and instrument of the salvation wrought by christ through the word, the sacraments and the service of charity.”59 it must concern itself with the practical application of the principles encountered and acquired during the scientific intellectual formation that the candidate has to undergo. these principles are to be put into practice in the various pastoral trainings, experiences and services that are to be carried out during the formative years. pastoral formation should lead the candidates to “deeper communion with the pastoral charity of jesus christ”60 pastoral formation is therefore “a type of formation meant not only to ensure scientific, pastoral competence and practical skill, but also and especially a way of being in communion with the very sentiments and behavior of christ the good shepherd: “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in christ jesus” (phil. 2:5).”61 pastoral formation, which is not mere apprenticeship, should “seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work.”62 it should expose the candidates to living out the charity of christ in terms of the care for the less fortunate, the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the normads, and to various forms of social works, all with the intention of expressing the closeness and the love of christ to those who are most in need of it. it should teach the candidate to defend the rights and dignity of man, created in the image and likeness of god, wherever such appear to be jeopardized, and inculcate in the candidate the capacity to live out his mission as a service in the community.63 it should help the candidate to understand and see the church as mystery (work and presence of the trinity), communion (community, collaboration, cooperation) and mission (the missionary dimension of the life of the church).64 the formation for the priesthood as paradigmatic of formation of the human person the four principal areas that are foundational and fundamental to the formation of candidates for the priesthood could also be validly contextualized and utilized as paradigms and directional principles for the formation of any human person in order to arrive at fullest christian maturity and attain the deployment of their latent potentials and the realization of their possibilities. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 177 human formation the insights gained in the documents studied can be validly proposed for the formation of any human person, and especially of a christian, in any circumstance. the documents proposed that human formation is the bedrock of all formation. the formation of any person is fundamentally based on human formation. human formation is the formation of the humanity of the person, the radical transformation of who a person is. this human formation has the ontological configuration to christ as its principal point of departure and arrival. it involves sensitivity to the needs of others, ability to be at home with one’s humanity and rise above personal history and limitations. human formation has to do with formation to be balanced persons, to love truth, justice, be loyal, respectful, compassionate, to be persons of integrity and be balanced in judgment and behaviour. human formation will therefore include formation in affective maturity, self-responsibility, self-determination, development of leadership skills, cultivation of interactive skills, moral excellence and transparency. these are foundational principles that should form the bedrock of the formation of human persons for the good of society and humanity in general. consequently, the insights of the documents are very valid in this regard for the authentic formation of persons. spiritual formation in the formation of the human person the important insights and guiding principles used in the spiritual formation of candidates for the priesthood are equally of valid importance in the formation of the human person. the documents describe spiritual formation as predisposition to transcendence and the absolute, communion with god and with jesus christ, the good shepherd and submission of life to the holy spirit,65 and that it is central to the life of the faithful and “unifies their being and living as christians, that is, as new creatures in christ who walk in the spirit...”66 it consists in living the life of christ, living in union and communion with christ, communion with christ, search for jesus, meditation on god’s word, participation in the mysteries of worship, and dedication to the service of charity. these ideals of the spiritual formation of candidates for the priesthood are also important in the overall formation of the human person in terms of cultivation of the ideals of self-sacrificial love, love of the cross, dedication and commitment to the paschal mystery, participation in the liturgy of the church, living out ascetical practices that help in the promotion of the life of man in the world. the insights in these documents clarify the fact that man’s push towards transcendence can be validly assisted through authentic formation in spiritual values that are cognate to his nature. 178 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation the documents studied emphasized the formation of the mind and the indispensability of the scientific acquisition of knowledge, which should, however, not be for the sake of mere acquisition but a knowledge that is god-centred and directed towards knowledge of god and the good of others. the formation of the mind is important in today’s world. this need is especially seen in the propagation of the culture of death, moral relativism, flight from commitments; consumerism; hedonism and pleasure seeking. intellectual formation will equip the human person to make differential judgment and determine in a personal, informed way, the course of action to take. we are aware and are living witnesses today to the power and influence of the modern means of communication in the shaping of behaviour and conduct. a well-integrated, well informed, balanced and systematic presentation of truths within the programme of intellectual formation, will help every human person to make the right decisions about the course of actions to pursue. pastoral formation every human person, to arrive at full maturity, needs the important insights on the formation of the pastoral person as enunciated in the documents and teachings of the church. the person and character of the church through history, the lessons the church has learnt, will be of invaluable aid in the pursuit of such a pastoral endeavour. pastoral formation principles could be used in the development of certain values in the human person: the charity of christ in the care for others; commitment to social work; work for the promotion of human dignity with christian principles; living out one’s christian mission as a form of service that benefits other people; recognition of one’s identity and that of others; capacity for communion, collaboration, cooperation, coresponsibility; understanding; trust and love for the church. the principles of pastoral formation could also be validly deployed in the search and actualization of the different vocations, for instance, “marriage, social services, apostolate, ministries and other responsibilities in pastoral activity, the consecrated life, involvement in political and social leadership, scientific research, teaching.”67 the fruits of pastoral formation will be valuable in teaching the lay faithful “in their vocation to be present in and to transform the world with the light of the gospel, by recognizing this task of their and showing respect for it.”68 the principles of pastoral formation of the candidates for the priesthood are equally important in the area of the missionary content of the life of every baptized and of every human person. every human person should live with the self-recognition that life has a mission. in the context of the christian person, that mission is christ himself, the way and the truth section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 179 and the life. that mission of christ is prolonged and carried on in the activities of the church, called upon to continue and carry on the mission of the saviour until the end of time. that mission includes living out and proclaiming the gospel of christ in the events of life and even sometimes as lay missionaries, witnessing to the truths of the gospel, in cooperation and collaboration with the ministerial priests. conclusion the four formative principles, pillars or dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral, formulated and stated in conciliar and postconciliar documents on the formation of the candidates for the sacred priesthood, especially optatam totius, pastores dabo vobis and the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis and used for the training of candidates in preparation for the assumption of responsibilities as catholic priests, are valid instruments that could also be used for the formation of any human person. the underlying strength of these timetested formative principles lies in the fact that they would ensure, in a wholistic way, the configuration of the human person, to the person of christ, the perfect model of formation. the reasonability of these principles reveals the church as that great teacher that strives to make disciples for christ, since everyone who encounters the church, cannot but be formed after the image of christ, the bridegroom of the church. however, as consistently maintained in this paper, the wholistic formation of the human person gives absolute premium to the humanity of the human person who is called to witness to jesus christ. the humanity of every individual sets the fulcrum or pivot around which the other dimensions turn. thus, a faulty human formation cannot produce a formed individual in the wholistic sense. the dependability of the other dimensions of formation on human formation is clearly cut. the point of divergence between the dimensions of the formative processes under the jurisdictions of human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral indicates the various cardinal aspects of the human person; the point of convergence is largely the integration of these aspects of the human person, to be formed in the image of christ, thus, becoming another christ in the society. these formative principles, though insufficient in themselves, when taken together, become sufficient in building up the candidates for the sacred priesthood and the human person called to live out their mission in the society. hence, there must a successful synergizing of the results of the various dimensions of formation to attain holistic formation of the human person. 180 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 the word paradigma is originally a greek (and later latin) word. etymologically, the word paradigma is from two greek words, ‘para’ meaning ‘beside’ and ‘deiknynai’ meaning ‘to display or show’” and these two words “were combined to form ‘paradeiknyai’, which possessed the literal meaning ‘to display side by side’”. the word “was used to refer to 'a model or pattern',” [“paradigm” in https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/paradigm, accessed 08.03.21, 08.45 am]. it could also mean a method, a well-tested and proven to be reliable form that could be replicated. paradigm is thus “a standard, perspective, or set of ideas” [“paradigm” in https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=paradigma &sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8, accessed 08.03.21, 09.16 am.] paradigmatic is the adjectival form of paradigma and it means “serving as a typical example of something” and “of or denoting the relationship between a set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.” it is also “a fancy word for describing something that is an ideal or standard. ... you'll come across it if you study the subject of linguistics, where "paradigmatic analysis" is one way of analyzing a text, by examining patterns within it.” “paradigmatic” in https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=v8y&ei=a9pfylwolbho1fapki mnya8&q=paradigmatic+meaning&oq=paradigmatic&gs_lcp=cgdnd3mtd2l6eae yatikcaaqkqiqrhd5atifcaaqkqiyaggamgiiadiccaayaggamgiiadiccaayagg amgiiadohcaaqrxcwa1dmhqnyqoodyjdva2gbcaj4ayabwwoiadmikgejmc4x ljiumc4xmaeaoaebqgehz3dzlxdpesgbcmabaq&sclient=gws-wiz, accessed 08.03.21, 9.34 a.m 2 “latin definition for: formo, formare, formavi, formatus” in https://latindictionary .net/definition/20903/formo-formare-formavi-formatus, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.31 p.m 3 “formation”, in https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/formation, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.39 4“definition of formation”, in https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/forma tion, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.15pm 5 pastores dabo vobis is the post synodal apostolic exhortation written by pope john paul ii at the conclusion of the eighth ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops, from 30 september to 28 october, 1990, dedicated to “the formation of priests in circumstances of the present day. this post synodal apostolic exhortation has as its focus the formation of priests for the modern age and time. formation must know the present situation of the world full of ambivalence and contradictions, difficulties and potentialities, and have genuine courage to discern, interpret and find solutions to it [cf. pastores dabo vobis 10] formation of persons for the priesthood must therefore have gospel discernment at its heart: the ability to discern and interpret the situation of the world in the light of the gospel of jesus christ, that is, in the light of christ himself [cf. pastores dabo vobis 10] 6 pastores dabo vobis 8 7 pastores dabo vobis 10 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 181 8 pastores dabo vobis 1 9 pastores dabo vobis 12 10 pastores dabo vobis 2 11 pastores dabo vobis 5 12 cf. pastores dabo vobis 8 13 cf. pastores dabo vobis 9 14 cf. pastores dabo vobis 11h 15 pastores dabo vobis 12 16 cf. pastores dabo vobis 12 17 “as a mystery, the church is essentially related to jesus christ. she is his fullness, his body, his spouse. she is the "sign" and living "memorial" of his permanent presence and activity in our midst and on our behalf. the priest finds the full truth of his identity in being a derivation, a specific participation in and continuation of christ himself, the one high priest of the new and eternal covenant.” pastores dabo vobis 12 18congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocationratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, liberia editrice vaticana, vatican (2016), n. 94 19 ibid. n. 94 20 ibid. n. 95 21 pastores dabo vobis 43 22 optatam totius 11 23 pastores dabo vobis n. 72 24 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, 130 25 optatamtotius 11 26 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, no: 93. 27 pastores dabo vobis, no: 43. 28 pastores dabo vobis, no: 43. 29 cf. pastores dabo vobis 44 30 cf. optatam totius, no: 11. 31 cf. ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, no: 94. 32 pastores dabo vobis 45 33 cf. pastores dabo vobis 45 34 cf. optatam totius 8 35 pastores dabo vobis 46 36 cf. pastores dabo vobis 46 37 pastores dabo vobis 46 38 cf. pastores dabo vobis 47 39 pastores dabo vobis 47 40 pastores dabo vobis 48 41 cf. pastores dabo vobis 48 42 cf. pastores dabo vobis 49 43 cf. pastores dabo vobis 50 44 cf. pastores dabo vobis 51 45 pastores dabo vobis 51 182 formation of the human person in the 21st century 46 congregation for the clergy, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, n.141 47 the second vatican council, optatam totius 14. 48 pastores dabo vobis 51 49 pastores dabo vobis 51 50 pastores dabo vobis 51 51 pastores dabo vobis 52 52 optatam totius 15 53 pastores dabo vobis 52 54 cf. pastores dabo vobis 53 55 pastores dabo vobis 54 56 cf. pastores dabo vobis 55 57 optatam totius 4; cf. pastores dabo vobis 57 58 pastores dabo vobis 57 59 pastores dabo vobis 57 60 pastores dabo vobis 57 61 pastores dabo vobis 57 62 pastores dabo vobis 58 63 cf. pastores dabo vobis 58 64 cf. pastores dabo vobis 59 65 cf. pastores dabo vobis 45 66 pastores dabo vobis 45 67 pastores dabo vobis 59 68 pastores dabo vobis 59 229 17 man, religion and philosophy: towards a normative vision of the human person anthony ifechukwude akalue department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, edo state ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com abstract this paper seeks to give a formidable normative structure that is geared towards human development. this is premised on the fact that the human person has a composite nature. that is, man, having a material and a spiritual nature. these natures cum dimensions in the human person does not in any way reduce the religio-cultural and social dimension of the human person. in fact, they enhance it the more. this paper argues that man is yet to fully realize some level of satisfaction in the way it relates with its fellow human being as a social being; this is evident in the different crimes against humanity that are perpetuated everyday for instance, abuse of minors, rape, robbery and other sexist practices. these anomalies are still very much evident in the religious palace wherein religion that ought to give a kind of solace to humanity, is being used as a tool for exploitation thereby creating an unhealthy religious belief system in the way religious beliefs are being handled. the paper further argues that the human person will only progress if there is a perfect use of reason to actualize his belief system, and further enhances the best way to relate well with his fellow human being. this is where the irreplaceable tools of philosophy come in as it will help in no small measure in sharpening the belief system of the human person on how to leave a sound life in the society and to get rid of the unhealthy sexist tendencies, abuses of minor and other atrocities. keywords: man, religion, society, philosophy, ethics, interactionism 230 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction the different theories on the origin of mankind like that of charles darwin, big bang, creation story of the semitic tradition as recorded in the holy bible and a host of others, have presented an aspect of the human person that cannot be denied by any successive theories. this aspect is the fact that the human person is a social being that interacts. many social institutions like the family, school, age grade, political party and so on, have laid credence to this fact. in other words, the different evolutionary theories have further proven that the human person is a relational being. as the human person continues to evolve, this relationship continues to spread also; both from the vertical perspective and the horizontal perspective. this simply means that man who is a social being is also a religious being; this is where his vertical relationship with the supreme being is also a cause for concern. this is so because it is believed that the supreme being has strong influence in the daily growth of the human person and as such, an effective relationship with him becomes expedient. be that as it may, there are certain actions and activities that have posited threats to the sincerity of these interactions and relationships judging from the fact of negative socio-religious trends: where the human person no longer values the sanctity of their relationship with the supreme being; where people use the name of the supreme being to cajole and deceive people; where human beings no longer have fear of the sacred and of sacred places; where humanity no longer appreciates the uniqueness of their interaction and relationship with their fellow beings. while some have tailored these disappointing acts to modernism, some others have said that all of these atrocities have long been there and as such there is no remedy. the question now is, is it really true there is no remedy to the atrocities that have threatened peaceful coexistence? can there be a remedy to the way people are easily deceived to do things in the name of the supreme? can human relationship ever improve in the light of modernism? or is it the case that the older the crime, the somewhat impossibility of a solution? now, this work does not intend to dwell on what has been in the past and in the present but to suggest that there is a remedy in view. this remedy is borne out by the rich tools of philosophy as a normative discipline that helps in interrogating certain anomalies in the society. the method to be adopted in this work is speculative, prescriptive and critical. a close look at the methods that will be employed in this work shows that they are methods that are sole exclusive of philosophy. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 231 however, let it be known here that the use of the term ‘man’ is for both sexes. it means human kind or human being as the case may be. these are names that are all inclusive, in embracing both sexes-male and female of this species of organisms, known by the biological name of homo sapiens1. following, the descriptive dimension of man, dualists holds that man is a composite being that is made of matter and spirit. this means that man is believed to have a material body and a nonmaterial soul. while, the dualists are of the view that both dimension of man are parallel, the integrationists say that both dimension constitute one substance, man. be that as it may, the underlining truth is that man who has a material aspect, is known to have a vital force that is nonmaterial. man and the society: three sociological theories will help present the path through which this aspect will be taken. the sociological theories are structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and conflict theory. there is no doubt these theories have their shortcomings because of their adherence to scientific principles and methods. however, attention will be paid to their sociological principles and how they apply to societal interactions. structural functionalism depicts the society as a social system consisting of various structures, organizations and institutions, influencing each other and affecting the whole system. it focuses on the function of the institutions and their contribution to the continuity of the social system.2 this theory is suggestive of the function or the role an organization play in the growth of a society. symbolic interactionism is interested to know how an individual acquires personal and social characteristics, in particular, self-identity. the theory concludes its assertion that people were not born with the sense of the self. they acquire it through interaction that takes place between them in the society3. there is no doubt, therefore, that this places primacy on the indispensable role of the society as it is the one that is responsible in forming the self-identity of the human person conflict theory presents society as an arena of widespread conflict and struggle at every level of it. thus, conflict theory sees society to be structured on the patterns that retain the discriminatory status quo. it favours some sides and side-lines others. however, the aspect of conflict theory that will be of utmost concern here, is the one that is open to reconciliation in the area of conflict resolution; wherein parties disagree to agree. a close look at all of these theories, show the reality of interaction and how the society is necessary for the growth and development of the human person. it shows the strength to which every 232 formation of the human person in the 21st century institution is built. these theories carries with them a normative character in that the society or if you like the community has a strong influence in determining the integrity of the human person. man we all know is a social animal. the reality of this assertion is in its ability to be able to interact with its fellow peers. the different areas of socialization are fully suggestive of this reality in the human person. primarily, man learns cultural discipline and societal norms from the family community which is very important for influencing the human person. sociologists have postulated different theories of society. this ranges from the fact that the society is a structurally built system that helps to empower the human person in ascertaining his set goals. a close look at most of the theories of societal development, will help discover that it is centered on the human person. a. spirkin itemized collective interactions that further strengthens man’s existence in the society. according to him, they include the family, the play or instruction groups, the production team and other types of formal and informal collectivity.4 it is important to note that the family plays an important role in the psychological development of the human person. the family is a crucial instrument for the development of personality. this is because it is here that the child first comes to know about the basics of existence. in other words, it is here that the child first becomes involved in social life, absorbs its values and standards of behavior, it ways of thought, language and certain value orientations. from the family, the child finds itself in some other association as he grows older. apart from the family, other groups and institutions play significant roles in the social development of the human person. these groups or associations have a way of influencing an individual’s personality whether for good or for bad but one thing that is sure, is the fact of an influence. such a group can be the school institution or peer group. all these are societal institution that the human person cannot shy away from because they produce a kind of interaction that is needed in human development. in the different schools for instance, they meet another level of interaction under the influence of non-family members. this is not to say the family level of socialization is in sharp contrast to this institution’s form of socialization rather, both run concurrently in that the child while in school realizes that they are judged by their performance and no longer being accepted unconditionally. this is where a partial level of independence emerges from the human person. this is so because they learn a new culture that extends beyond their narrow family culture. this new culture requires a high level of efforts in learning outside the scope of a family but to the wider community. upon finishing from this institution, are lunched into a more intense section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 233 level of socialization that sees them responsible for forming and building the interaction of younger generation. here most of them are lunched into the life of full adulthood in marriages, work and even colleges. here they take full responsibilities for all their actions. the human person is a being that is always in touch with his environment or society as the case may be. this is why it is impossible to separate an individual from the society; because the individual is a product of the society. their relationship is very cordial. the individual lives and acts within the society. man is biologically and psychologically equipped to live in the society. this is where the social life of the individual is formed; f.m anayet hossain & m. d. korban ali note that “social life are dependent on the following such as political life, economic life, voluntary associations, educational associations, method of communications and family 5. this is why man is at the center of every political system like the unitary or parliamentary system. this same also holds way in the economic palace where man is at the center of every economic policies like socialism, capitalism, communism and communalism. man is said to have survived all of these economic systems in their own uniqueness. man, who is a social being, is said to be religious too. in fact, some scholars refer to man as a religious animal. some traditions and culture have opined that you cannot separate religion from their ontology. for instance, the africans see themselves as notoriously religious. the question now is what is this religious dimension of man all about? this will bring to bare another important aspect of this work. religion and man since the main thrust of this work is to build up a healthy religio-social dimension of the human person, it is fitting that having discussed man and his place in the society, man and the notion of religion be also explicated. the word religion means different things to different people since there is no universally accepted definition of religion. however, from its etymology, the word religion according to bernard haring is derived from three latin words as its root namely, ligare which means ‘to bind’ relegare which means to unite, or to link and religio which means relationship”6. from the etymology, one can immediately see that the underlining truth about the term religion is that it has to do with interaction that fosters relationship in order to bind and to link people together. however, the link or relationship here is one that exist between a person and a supreme being that is believed to exist. this divine supreme being that is transcendent is an object of worship by the human 234 formation of the human person in the 21st century person. this is what truly constitutes the essence of religion as joseph omoregbe argues: religion is essentially a bi-polar phenomenon. on the one end is man (religious man) while on the other end is the transcendent being, the deity he believes to exist and which he worships. whether such a deity really exists or simply the figment of his imagination of the religious man is not important to the concept of religion, as long as the deity is really believed by the religious man to actually exist. for him, the deity is a reality. the concept of deity is essential to the concept of religion. hence, where a belief in a deity is lacking, there can be no religion since religion, as we have said, is essentially a relationship established between man and a deity, that is, a transcendent personal being, believed to exist.7 the point therefore is that religion carries with it a relationship between man and the supreme. this simply means that the truth of religion is centred on the existence of a supreme being that is transcendent. this supreme being is said to be very powerful in that it can determine the life of man to a very large extent. since this is possible, man is supposed to have good rapport with the him by a sincere worship of him. this is where some persons also feel that religion is also a human activity. this is because religion also affects the human person. the belief and reliance on the supreme being is an indication of the limitations and weaknesses of the human person. this worship and appeal done to the supreme being further shows man’s dependence. this is where gallowaay’s definition of religion becomes necessary. according to him, “religion is man’s faith in a power beyond himself whereby he seeks to satisfy emotional needs and gains stability of life, and where he expresses in acts of worship and service”8 religion is likened to a law that is inseparable from man’s nature just as the laws of physics and life are inseparable from matter and living beings. this is because the supreme being who is believed to be the creator of the world (as evident in many traditions), has given man the longing for his creator and directed man towards him. ever since the history of mankind began, man has been practicing different forms of worship and piety. in fact, some scholars say there was no nation on the earth that was unattached to a religion and performing its rites in oneway or another. this is because piety is an instinct, a natural feeling deeply rooted in man’s being. it can neither be hushed, nor muted in an individual’s conscience, nor can the human conscience be prevented from sensing it, or going towards it9 different theories have been postulated for the evolution of religion. we have the sociological, psychological theories of religion and anthropological theories of religion. the anthropological theory of religion is propagated by ludwig feuerbach in his work, the essence of section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 235 christianity. here, he states that religion is the creation of man and worship of a projected human self. this projection of himself is a product of the mystery of religion where one seeks help from a higher being. for feuerbach, the higher being that is projected is man himself whose good deeds or evil deeds are not indifferent to god. he argues thus: manthis is the mystery of religionprojects his being into objectivity, and then again makes himself an object to this projected image of himself thus converted into a subject; he thinks of himself, but as the object of an object, of another being than himself. thus, here, man is an object to god. that man is good or evil is not indifferent to god.10 the psychological theory of religion is advocated by sigmund freud in his works, totem and taboo (1913), the future of an illusion (1927), and moses and monotheism (1939). in all of these works, freud argues that religion is a projection of man's childhood neurosis, the continual need of a father and a reflection of infantile mentality. this simply means that for freud, religion projects man's inability to grow up; it is like a puerile fixation and stagnancy where man depends on his parents for everything and this have so affected him that he has extended this dependency to an unknown supreme being for help. there exist different sociological theories of religion, but the most prominent of them is in the works of e. b. tylor tiltled, primitive culture (1871) and emile durkheim's, elementary forms of religion (1912). tylor concludes that religion evolves from ancestor worship. he says: "using the phrase ancestor worship in its broadest sense, as comprehending all worship of the dead, be the of the same blood or not, we conclude that ancestor worship is the root of every religion"11. joseph omoregbe states that religion for emile durkheim, is a principle of control by the society to continually dominate her citizens. it is the principle of influence, which personified social forces of control in society into a god with all the attributes of society as its qualities12. giving the fact that these three theories of religion are of different perspectives, yet one striking thing is that they have the reality of man as their subject matter. religion and its role in the society religion plays an important role on culture of a society. every religion is the product of a particular culture within which it grew13. it is hard to comprehend any religion without understanding the culture from which it developed. every culture would certainly have impact in the methods of religion. certain trends in history will help accelerate this view. for instance, christian religion grew from the jewish culture and 236 formation of the human person in the 21st century one can understand why there is somewhat interrelatedness in both religion notwithstanding some differences though. this is because every society is unique in her cultural displays. religion is said to play very vital aspect in the human society where human person interacts in the different institutions whether domestic, economic and political institution. in fact, shanjendu nath gave some instances on how religion affect the social structure of the human person. they are in the realm of internal feelings, an external form of social control, and to help in the character formation of the human person.14 according to him, an important aspect of religion is prayer and different classes of people belonging to different castes of society assemble in religious institutions for performing prayer and worship15. this praying and fellowshipping together has a way of building the sentiments among themselves and this further influence what they do as a group in the building of the different social institutions. religion also has a form of social control following the second aspect of nath’s bifurcation of the roles of religion to society. this is because according to him, the different activities and their different spheres of social life are still influenced by religious rites and ceremonies; such that it becomes possible for people to express their religious feelings through rituals and ceremonies. this is evident in the different occasions of social life like marriages, birth, harvesting, hunting, death and so on. here, you see the reality of ritual and other ceremonies performed in these occasions. this same rite can be extended to the economic aspect of the society and even in the aspect of the inauguration of a building structure and oath taking. all of these points to the fact that religion plays an important role in the further structuring of the society and its institutions. nath went on to state that religion also help to shape the character of an individual16. according to him, religion brings a sense of social value in the mind of people. this will enable the human person to work in tandem with the norm of society that coheres with basic religious belief. he expresses this thus “in obeying the social laws or to respect the elders and to show sympathy towards the feelings of others, or to discharge the social obligations faithfully, the role of religion is immense”.17 this further proves the indispensable role of religion to the character formation of man wherein he is able to show civility in the ethical dictates of social life. this view can be liken loyal rue’s description of the function of religion. he sees the function of religion in the achievement of personal wholeness and social coherence18. for him, the mythical and the ancillary strategies of religions, shape the emotions and motivations of individuals section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 237 in a way that allows them to overrule the innate intuitive morality of their biological heritage in favour of the culturally defined values encoded in myths. this is premised upon the notion that religious myths actually do promote a morality that induces behavior leading to personal wholeness and social cohesion. looking at the above roles of religion within the context of human interrelationship, one can see that the role of religion to human society is to lead to a healthy humanity. be that as it may, there exist some maladies that threatens this strength of humanity. the next session of this work will deal with some challenges that posit threat to human interrelationship. factors militating against human interrelatedness in the society this aspect will bring to bear the different ills that are in the society and religious institution that further proved that man is yet to attain the full realization of socio-religious essence. a close look at society, one will notice certain mishap which can be translated as man’s inhumanity to man, the ‘survival of the fittest’ instinct and certain corrupt practices, that have tied down man’s destiny from the will of progress. it is in the identification of all of these deficiencies that we now ascertain the role of philosophy in enhancing a formidable structure for the formation of the human person. the assessment of these maladies will be taken from different perspectives. sexist practices. there is no doubt that the society in which we live is characteristics of different agents, agencies and institution. however, outside this reality is the fact of gender awareness. according sandra bem, a psychologist “one cognitive process that seems nearly inevitable in humans is to divide people into groups. we can partition these groups on the basis of race, age, religion, and so on. however, most of the times we split humanity on the basis of gender. the first thing we instantly determine when meeting someone new, is their gender”19. this view shows the reality of gender consciousness, where people make a great divide of humanity on the basis of gender. with this in mind one is tempted to say this gender realization at people to be done is almost habitual and automatic as issabela crespi puts it “this process of categorizing others in terms of gender is both habitual and automatic. it’s nearly impossible to suppress the tendency to split the world in half, using gender as the great divider”20. it is interesting to note that this great divide is not bad it in itself since nature has made it so. but the part that seem problematic is the reality of subjugation and denigration. where a particular sex claims to be superior than the other; where a particular sex sees itself as the only qualified sex to attain a particular 238 formation of the human person in the 21st century height. this has led to the contention between what i call feminism and masculinism. in a society where the reality of sexist practices abound, one can lay claim to the sad scenario of denigration. this is evident in burial rites, ownership of properties, domestic chores, political position, naming ceremonies and the likes. ceremonies like these in some cultures are avenues for such sexist tendencies to be shown. rape: this is another act of man’s inhumanity to man. it is a violent and forceful sexual act on another. some to adult, while some others to minors. a. s hornby defines rape as the crime of forcing somebody to have sex with one especially with violence”21. this means that rape involves the use of force. in other words, it is against the will of the person who is under compulsion to do so. in the same vein, briganeti and egbonimali see rape as an act of sexual violence that involves intercourse without consent or against someone being willing to engage in the act22. samuel okafor-udah brought about another dimension of rape that occurs. according to him, this does not have to do with physical violence as such but a deception of a kind with the use of gift. he argues thus “an adult of any age range tactfully seduces a child of a tender age for either marriage or sex with an enticing gift and the child after collecting same willingly gives in for it with the adult, it is said to be rape as well23. he also went further to state that this form rape is viewed as “a sex crime carried out by pathological men or women who were unable to control their own sexual desires24. in a nut shell, rape is an unlawful sexual intercourse with someone with or without the use of force inorder to achieve sexual gratification. different countries and societies have had a share of this anomaly. samuel okafor gave the nigerian situation on rape when he noted: rape is a global problem with women and children being mostly vulnerable. they are the ones bearing the brunt of this evil in every society of the world … there are several cases, which are very irritating. now and then, it is reported that a teacher has raped a student. a religious leader his flock. robbers have raped their victim. a man has raped a sister-in-law or daughter –in-law. a master has raped a housemaid. a security man has raped his master’s wife. a boss has raped his staff. a father has raped his daughter. a young man has raped his grandmother. a minor has raped a fellow minor. a traditional ruler has raped a subject. an 80 year old man has raped an 8 year old girl.25 a close look at the above shows that the case of rape has crossed through different sections of a society, ranging from the political, religious, social, traditional sphere. such exploitation have eaten deep into the fabric of section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 239 the system. thus the progression of the percentage over the cause of years has always been in the increase. child abuse: this another anomaly that has threatened societal cohesion. a child is one who has not attained the status of an adult. the child is often judged as one between the age brackets of 7 to 14. any harm done to persons of this age bracket is termed child abuse; however, it is interesting to note that the society have been guilty of this over time. according to slavka michancova, research reveals that about twenty percent of women and five to ten percent of men worldwide were victims of child sexual abuse (csa)26. beauty, following the scope of child abuse problem u.s. 2005 data, asserts that: child abuse is a worldwide problem which is carried out by the strong on the weak, affecting children from birth to 18 years plus of age. the most recent us data on the scope of child abuse problem dates from 2005, during which 3.3 million reports of abuse and neglect were filled. about 60 percent of these reports warranted investigation with one-half of these allegations substantiated. it further stated, that these data indicate the incidence of child abuse and neglect to be 12.1 per 1,000 children; 1,460 children (four percent per day) died in 2005 as a result of inflicting trauma with more than 77 percent of these deaths in children less than 4 years of age.27 from the above, it shows that child abuse cuts across different states of the world giving the fact that it is a worldwide affair. this act is often done by the strong to inflict pain on the weak. it should also be noted that parents are also part of those who abuse their children. they do this on the ground that they have absolute control over the affairs of their children as such, their biddings must be obeyed. care must be taken because this act is a crime that is punishable by law. thus, michancova states that child sexual abuse is a serious crime that represent massive violation of human rights and generates long-term negative impact in various aspects of victims’ lives.28 violence: religious and social violence have become the order of the day where conflicts between people of different religions and social sects reigns and where the different religions try to prove the supremacy of their religion via violence. for example, in some areas of nigeria, muslims cannot live peacefully with christians. commenting on the bane of ethno-religious crisis, george asadu says: 240 formation of the human person in the 21st century though religion has played vital role in the society, and has contributed immensely to the national development of this country, it has also been wrongly used by some ethnic groups to afflict this country severally with conflicts leading to wanton destruction of properties and loss of human lives. obviously, there has been too much blood letting in this country resulting from ethnic and religious conflict which is threatening the very foundation of nigeria’s corporate existence as a nation. the menance of ethno-religious conflict in nigeria is fast eroding the core socio-cultural and religious value which forbids murder, coverteousness … this has hampered the economic growth of this country to such a great extent that poverty has engulfed the majority of the citizen. worst still, the mayhems have produced many disabled persons, orphans and widows and (widowers) …29 the same is true of the political sphere of the state, where political actors do not really understand what political rivalry is all about. people see the differences in party alliances as differences of humanity and as a result all forms of violence are being perpetrated to pull the other person down. the same is true of the educational and social sectors. this is evident where members of a particular schools resort to violence to prove the supremacy of their school. where some school proprietors resort to blackmail and give negative and unfounded reasons why students should not be enrolled in another school due to unhealthy competition. racial discrimination/tribalism: racism and ethnic bigotry are another forms of malady that has affected the society. this is almost synonymous with religious and social violence. this is where people gets what and how due to cultural affiliation. where a black man feels comfortable with his fellow blacks and does not want to associate with the white. on the other hand, when a white man sees himself as superior to the blacks. this is also evident in a multicultural state like nigeria for instance. in a situation when there is social hegemony and nepotism about who get a particular position. where a yoruba man feels comfortable with yoruba people alone, or hausa people do same with their fellow hausa. or the igbo the same with theirs. this racist cum ethnic biases further strengthens the wrong use of son of the soil syndrome. such a myopic view about life has a way of playing negatively in the normative vision of the human person other maladies include deception and exploitation by some religious ministers on their subjects. this is evident when so called ministers of god blackmail the conscience of their faithful in order to get something material from them. where the sacrilegious acts have become section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 241 the order of the day. the sin of simony have so rocked some religious institutions that you now begin to ask the way forward about authentic worship. is it the case of the parading of a white man in kenya whom they claim is jesus? or the one who asks his believers to eat grass and serpent? or the religious leaders who ask his followers to kill in the name religion? all of these threaten societal cohesion. even the different corruption practices in the different states are not left out. this ranges from stealing, robbery, kidnapping, electoral fraud; academic fraud and other social menaces. all of these menaces serves as clogs in the will of progress in any given state. philosophical principles and religio-cultural relationship: towards a normative vision of the human person here, the irreplaceable tool of philosophy will be harnessed. philosophy as a normative discipline is from two greek words, philos and sophia, meaning love of wisdom. a close look at the nature of philosophy will show that man is placed at the center of it all. this is as a result of man’s quest to know more about reality. williams aso captures this clearly when he says “man as the subject of philosophy has unquenchable thirst for knowledge not only for empirical realities alone but also phenomenal realities and everything that concern human experience and the universe in general”.30 it is in this quest for the normative vision of the human person that the ethical principles of philosophy will be harnessed. the ethical principles will help in carving out a normative vision of the human person; this is because ethics which is a core branch of philosophy is one that permeates virtually all aspect of life. it is a descriptive, prescriptive and normative discipline. its normative vision will see to the formulation of the moral order of actions that are not adjudged by personal feelings or emotions, but within the overall ground of moral values and norms. morality is not ruled by what a person feels alone or think alone. there must be an objective way of looking at morality that will help get rid of socio-religious maladies. in doing this, there must be a consideration for others. this is where the moral justification of ‘otherness’ comes in. in paul ricoeur’s work titled oneself as another, ‘otherness’ is tied to the self and this self has a responsibility of preserving ‘others’31. martin buber’s intersubjectivity philosophy of dialogue, came up with the i and thou interaction that presents the human person that is always in constant interaction with themselves giving the fact that all are of one substance. edmund hurssel gave a phenomenological approach to this normative vision when he came up with the theory of experiencing ‘others’ as myself32. here, the consideration of the well being of others must first be considered. 242 formation of the human person in the 21st century anyone who thinks of this will not rape, or cajole people in the name of religion. even the case of unhealthy sexist practices is not left out in the struggle to build a normative vision of the human person. thus, in simeone de beauvoir’s work the second sex, it clearly stated that she was out rightly against patriarchy supremacy and labeling of women. in this work, simeone argues that women is the other. it is from this notion, othering as a philosophical term takes on the notion of prejudice, inequality, marginality33. this is so because while othering is used to describe those who belong to a subordinate social category, otherness on the other hand, refers to the characteristics of the other that is not to be stereotype as inferior. as for the case of racial discrimination and ethnic bigotry, our knowledge of substance and accidents in metaphysics (a branch of philosophy) shows that every human person shares one substance – the humanity of the human person. the humanness of the white man or the black man or as evident in the different ethnic groups in nigeria, the hausa, igbo, yoruba, efik or ijaw is not lesser or higher than the humanness of the fulani, tiv, idoma, esan or egede as the case may be. we all share one humanity. the fact that one is a white man or a black man or igbo, yoruba or hausa is simply accidental to the being of the individual person.34 emmanuel levinas theory of alterity and otherness is not out of place. the french philosopher highlighted the need to think of the other. his alteririty expresses yet again a normative vision of the human person. this means considering the wellbeing of others. it is in doing this francis ikhianosime says that levinas in his alterity is “trying to safeguard the other from violation, oppression and inferiorization, hence, his use of alterity begins with a sense of responsibility to the other”.35 levinas preoccupation here is in the case of having a responsibility towards the well being of others and not for the other to be discriminated upon all subjected to all forms of denigration. a furtherance to this normative formation of the human person can be assessed from immanuel kant’s categorical imperative. “act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”36. this formulation seeks an objective method of doing things in the society and in religious palace. the second formulation of his categorical imperative “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only”37 since we live in a society, the wellbeing of others must be considered. none should let his non-challant attitude or negligence to cause harm to another as richard wollheim says argues “every action that occurs within a society and rises at all above the level section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 243 of triviality is bound to impinge upon other members of that society”38 this simply means that any act of neglect done by one is capable of causing damage to everyone. wollheim went further to state that “ the only actions that are unconditionally exempt from the jurisdiction of the state are of the order of brushing one’s teeth”39 however, i beg to disagree here that not brushing a teeth affect the individual alone, it also affect those he communicate with; that is, those of low immune system. john. s. mill’s philosophical influence is evident in his defense of utilitarianism and liberalism. mill’s utilitarianism assesses actions and institutions in terms of their effects on human happiness and enjoins us to perform actions and design institutions so that they promote in one formulation, maximize human happiness40 this further shows that mill’s utilitarianism is a progressive theory for human development. although, mill’s utilitarianism has its own shortcoming, yet his principle on liberty, individuality and solidarity has much to say on the dignity of others. it should be noted that human freedom is not meant to be an impediment to authentic relationship between persons rather it should be a bridge to aid human advancement and foster morality. it is painful to note that people use freedom in the wrong way. for some the freedom of the will is an avenue for them to be violent and as a result see their views as the most superiror. the normative vision of the human person here calls for a proper harnessing the rational ethics of freedom. this means the kind of freedom that is guided by rationality. it therefore means that the human person must continually live in a manner that justifies rationality. this is because, if man does not take advantage of his rationality, he may be steeped on a path of self-annihilation”41 philosophers down the ages have been passionate about doing a defence for an authentic relationship of the human person. they do this because of the belief that the human person is a relational being. even the african traditional society recognizes this interaction of the human person. this is because africans conceive of the human person from the descriptive point of view and the normative point of view. while the descriptive point of view refers to the biological frame work of the human person; but the normative aspect of the human person draws strength from the sense of the community. in order words, africans holds that for one to truly realize himself, he must be a part of the community. african ontology is communalistic; it is part of the unique identity of africans thus frank ndubuisi says “in african metaphysics, the self is conceived essentially towards others; that is, a ‘being-with-others’. the african is not just a human being but essentially a ‘being-with’. consequently it is the community who makes the individuals, because of his relationship with others in the community’42. 244 formation of the human person in the 21st century jack aigbodioh on his part holds that, .african traditional (i.e. indigenous) cultures are noted by anthropological and sociological scholars alike for their communalistic form of life, which emphasizes the humanistic values of the co-dependency ethos with its universalistic appeal to equality and intersubjective recognition43. in fact, in african ontology, the human person fully realizes itself in the community. when mbiti says that, the african says to himself, "i am because we are, the “we” referred to here is not an additive 'we' but a thoroughly fused collective 'we'44. to further buttress this, aigbodioh concludes that communalism, or its cognate communitarianism (from community), is a term used to express the peculiar cohesive and integrative character of african traditional society45. it becomes pertinent to state that man relates as long as he exists and keeping with the norms of authentic relationship will help make the society a better place conclusion in this work, we have succeeded in making an exposition of the notion of man and how he cannot be separated from the activities of the society. this is translatable from the perspective of the domestic interaction that exist in the family, the school and other social institutions. all of these sociological strata depicts the reality of interaction. the work also made an assessment of religion from its etymology to the different theories that are associated with it. in fact the sociological theory as exposed by emile durkheim, the anthropological as espoused by ludwig feuerbach and the psychological as espoused by freud shows that the religion has man as its subject matter and this man in in constant relationship whether with his fellow men or with the supreme. the work also argues that although man is seen as a being that is in constant relationship, yet this relationship has not be fully realized judging from the fact that different ills are perpetrated daily in our world. ills like rape, sexist practices, ethnicism, violence, nepotism and the likes. be that as it may the paper concludes that only the principles of philosophy can provide a normative tools from the enhancement of the relationship and interrelatedness of the human person. to achieve this, there must be a proper adoption of some ethical moral principles that helps to foster cohesion in all strata of humanity. this principle is the need to consider one’s good and the good of the ‘others’. this means seeing others as having the same essence with set goals. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 245 endnotes 1 ayo fatubarin & olusegun alokan, “religion, man and his environment” british journal of education vol. 1, no.2 2013 pp48-61 2 hayatullah laluddin “a review of three major sociological theories and an islamic perspective”. international journal of islamic thought vol. 10: 2016 8-26 3 bryjak & soroka in hayatullah laluddin “a review of three major sociological theories and an islamic perspective” 1992 ibid p. 24 4 alexander spirkin dialectical materialis. moscow. progress pub. 1983 p.88 5 f.m anayet hossain & m. d. korban ali “relation between individual and society” open journal of social sciences. vol. 2 n. 8 2014 6 bernard haring, the laws of christ, (new york: newman press, vol iii, 1964 p.119 7 joseph omoregbe: a philosophical our look of religion lagos: joja educational research and publishers limited, 2000 p.3 8 geroge galloway: the philosophy of religion, new york charles scribner’s sons 1914 p.184 9 http://www.ezsoftech.com/akram/manandreligion.asp lassed assesed 21st january, 2020 10 ludwig, feuerbachthe essence of christianity, trans. by george eliot, new york: harper touchbooks, 1956 pp 29-30 11 henning, charles. "on the origin of religion" in american anthropologist, 11(12), 1898. 374 12 joseph omoregbe. a philosophical look at religion opcit p.10 13 ibid p.300 14 shanjendu nath. religion and its role in society”. iosr journal of humanities and social sciences vol. 20 2015 pp 82-85 15 ibid 83 16 ibid 17 ibid 18 michael stausberg, contemporary theories of religion: a critical companion. london: routledge taylor & francis group london and new york 2009 p.233 19 sandra bem. the lenses of gender: transforming the debate on sexual inequality. new haven: yale univerity press 1993 p.9 20 issabella crespi “ socialization and gender roles within the family: a study on adolescents and their parents in great britain” http://www.mariecurie.org /annals/volume3/crespi.pdf 21 hornby, a. s. 2006 oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current emglish, 7th edition, new york: oxford university press p.2 22 brigneti, p & egbonimali, s. 2002 “rape in nigeria: theory & reality retrived from: http://www.quardian.co.uk/world/2002/auq/20/qanda.islam on july 4, 2013. p.4 23 samuel okafor-udah “ ethical problems of rape as a social cnkerworm in our present day society” retrived from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrhr/article/ viewfile/119696/109156 p. 161 24 ibid 25 ibid 162 246 formation of the human person in the 21st century 26 slavka michancova “ ethical dilemmas in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse” in sorbye, l. w. (ed) ethical challenges in professional praxis: experiences from slovakia pressov: 2011 pp 119-137 27 beauty o. biokoro. “the bane of child abuse and the rights of the nigeria child to education” journal of resourcefulness and distinction, volume 8 no. 1, august, 2014 p. 2 28 slavka michancova “ ethical dilemmas in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse” in sorbye, l. w. (ed) ethical challenges in professional praxis: opcit p.135 29 george asadu. “ethno-religious conflict: the bane of nigeria unity” hofa: african journal of multidisciplinary research hajmr. vol. 3, no.1, 2018, p. 38-51 (38) 30 william aso. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduate; lagos. fropiel international ltd 2018 p. 3 31 paul ricoeur, oneself as another, trans. k. blamey (chicago & london: the university of chicago press, 1992 p.26 32 moran dermot, introduction to phenomenology, london: routledge taylor and francis group, 2000. pp 337-338 33 jimoh anselm “justice and the othered minority lessons from africa communalism” in elvis imafidon (ed), handbook of african philosophy of difference: switzerland: springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-049416_12-1 34 j. o. ndubuisi ‘the role of philosophy in contemporary society: the nigerian experience’ humanity & social sciences journal 10 (1): 40-46, 2015 35 francis ikhianosime, “levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching of an epistemology of otherness”. ekpoma review vol 5 n. 1 2019 p.128 36 immanuel kant, foundations of the metaphysics of morals, translated by lewis white beck, indianapolis: bobbs-merill, library of liberal arts, 1959 p.39 37 ibid 38 richard wollheim “john stuart mill and the limits of state action” social research vol. 40 p. 1-30 39 ibid 40 david brink. “mill’s moral and political philosophy” https://plato.stanford.edu /entries/mill-moral-political/.lassed assessed 1/03/2020 41 francis ikhianosime: “fundamentals on ethics and their consequential imperative” unpub 2019 p.14 42 frank ndubuisi “the philosophical paradigm of african identity and development,” open journal of philosophy vol.3, no. 1a, 2013 p.224 43 jack aigbodioh. “stigmatization in african communalistic societies”. cultura: international journal of philosophy of culture and axiology. viii . 1 (2011): p. 27. 44 menkiti, j.‘‘person and community in african traditional thought,’’ in r. wright (ed.), african philosophy: an introduction (lanham, md: university press of america). 1984 p. 1 45 jack aigbodioh “stigmatization paradigm of african identity and development” opcit p.28 487 36 seminary formation and modern means of communication: issues and possibilities hilary oseabulu odenore, ph.d catholic diocese of uromi osichair@gmail.com abstract the means of social communications in modern times have developed to such an extent as to be able to exert profound influence on every aspect of human endeavour. this development has coincided with a gradual shift in the church’s hierarchy's overall attitude towards the said means of social communications, from one of suspicion and rejection (especially in the early years of the cinema), to critical understanding and appreciation. this shift in approach invites ongoing critical reflection on how the church can better understand these providential gifts to man, so as to engender a responsible use of them that will result in better persons, faithful christians and a more committed, evangelizing church. the formation of future priests is an important locus for the deepening of the church’s appreciation of these means of communication. it is imperative for future priests, a good number of whom are digital natives, to develop a keen understanding of the culture of the modern means of communication, and it’s implication for the church’s mission. using the extant situation in the major seminaries of the old lagos ecclesiastical province as a case study, this paper attempts to raise issues bordering on the implications of the present state of the means of social communications for the human person as a whole. these issues will be correlated with possibilities that can be applied to seminary formation, so as to highlight some valuable lessons for the church. keywords: social communication, formation, digital, seminary 488 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction in 1986, the pontifical council for catholic education issued the guide to the training of future priests concerning the means of social communication. the rationale behind this was… …so that the preparation of future priests in this regard may be less inadequate and may better meet their needs in the work that awaits them, the congregation for catholic education, having consulted widely with experts in the matter, and especially with the pontifical commission for social communications, is pleased to offer to seminaries the present "guide" in the hope that it will help in some way in carrying out their responsibilities. whatever possible future developments and local diversity of situation there may be, all institutes of priestly formation must today urgently face a common core of fundamental questions concerning the personal conduct of receivers, the pastoral use of the mass media, and specialized formation for particular works.1 this was a landmark document, in so far as its subject matter is concerned. it showed the church playing her maternal role and appreciating the influence that the means of social communications exercise on every aspect of human endeavour, influence which while largely positive, could also be damaging to the fabric of human society. thus, the guide sets out to ensure that “future priests [are] trained in the seminary in the correct use of these instruments. this provision had a threefold purpose, namely, that the seminarians might impose discipline on their own personal use of the media, that they might be able to train the faithful in their turn to exercise similar self-discipline, and that they might learn how to use the media in their apostolate”2. since 1986 till date, the world has undergone transformation in many ways, not least of which is that fact that we are now witnessing the entrenchment of the digital age, and its implications for the humanity. unlike what obtained then, which was largely restricted to the print and electronic media, the inception of the world wide web (www) in march 1989, coupled with the proliferation of computers in portable forms, radically transformed the means of social communication and the ways persons make use of them. the advent of the smartphone as well, has created ‘a whole new world’ as regards how people communicate. this ‘new world’ needs priests, just like other ‘worlds’ or epochs have always needed priests. these priests need to be prepared and trained in how to effectively serve in this ‘world’ after the example of the good shepherd, jesus, who has such a relationship with the sheep that he knows them, they know him, and they listen to his voice and do what he asks them to do (cf john 10:1-21). section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 489 this paper argues that in the spirit of the 1986 guide, we need to update our present approach to the formation of future priests on the means of social communication, so that they can function more effectively as pastors post priestly ordination. the paper will have the following sections:  the essence of seminary formation (according to the magisterium)  communication formation within seminary formation  modern means of communication – overview  modern means of communication – possibilities for formation  modern means of communication – issues in formation  the baby or the bath water? the essence of seminary formation: the setting up of seminaries for the training of future priests, can be traced to the council of trent. in its legislation de seminariis, the sacred council “…made it obligatory for every diocese to erect a seminary for the purpose of educating the local clergy. whenever possible, this institution was to be built near the cathedral church so that young aspirants to the priesthood might serve a sort of apprenticeship there by participating, each according his rank, in the divine offices presided by the bishop”3 before this decree of the council, seminary formation had always tried to mirror what jesus did with his disciples, in the three plus years they spent with him. during this period, they learnt from him, before being entrusted with the mission to go into the whole world and baptize those who received their teaching about jesus (matthew 28:1920). it was similar to what paul did with timothy, and what continued in the early centuries of the church, leading up to the patristic era and to the middle ages. we observe that there was always some form of training of future clerics, and this training was not cut off entirely from the community where they would serve in the future. there is the opinion that “with the breakdown of feudalism and the rise of universities, this ancient system of clerical formation became either impoverished or generally abandoned. as a result, a large segment of the late medieval and pre-reformation clergy received inadequate training and were very often ordained for an office they were not sufficiently equipped to exercise”4 the council of trent therefore, concerned with the laxity in clerical life and the harm that this was causing the church, used de seminariis to set the motion for a uniform but high standard for priestly formation, imperative on all the dioceses in the world, so as to 490 formation of the human person in the 21st century checkmate the possibility of unsuitable and poorly prepared candidates being ordained as priests. this has remained the essence of seminary formation. in the words of optatam totius, the second vatican council’s decree on priestly training, …major seminaries are necessary for priestly formation. here the entire training of the students should be oriented to the formation of true shepherds of souls after the model of our lord jesus christ, teacher, priest and shepherd. they are therefore to be prepared for the ministry of the word: that they might understand ever more perfectly the revealed word of god; that, meditating on it they might possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and in example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that through their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they might perfect the work of salvation through the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make christ present to men, him who did not "come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (mark 10:45; cf. john 13:12-17), and that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more (cf. 1 cor. 9:19). therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards this pastoral end, and to attain it all the administrators and teachers are to work zealously and harmoniously together, faithfully obedient to the authority of the bishop.5 the rinovamento brought about by the second vatican council, was keenly felt in the seminaries. while what obtained prior to the council was not inadequate, the changes the council advocated in the liturgy and the pastoral life of the church, coupled with the stress on the dignity of the laity, meant that future priests needed to be trained diligently in the demands of the pastoral life. priests, more than before, are to be immersed in the life of their flock, so that they can better direct them spiritually. hence, “…those capabilities are to be developed in the students which especially contribute to dialogue with men, such as the ability to listen to others and to open their hearts and minds in the spirit of charity to the various circumstances and needs of men”6. in 1990, we had the 8th ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops, with the theme ‘the formation of priests in circumstances of the present day’. the synod has been described as very pastoral in tone, and directed towards placing stress on priestly formation and the person of the priest himself, before and after ordination7. in the postsynodal apostolic exhortation following the assembly, pastores dabo vobis, we read; this same synod also sought to answer a request which was made at the previous synod on the vocation and mission of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 491 the laity in the church and in the world. lay people themselves had asked that priests commit themselves to their formation so that they, the laity, could be suitably helped to fulfill their role in the ecclesial mission which is shared by all. indeed, "the more the lay apostolate develops, the more strongly is perceived the need to have well formed holy priests… the more the laity's own sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out."8 it is instructive therefore, in the light of this expressed desire to redefine or re-emphasize the identity of the priest, to consider what the synod fathers considered the essence of seminary formation. so, after reflecting on the challenges to priestly life, the present state of vocations in the church, and the spiritual life of the priest, the synod fathers then reflected on the formation of candidates for the priesthood. …in this sense, the "seminary" in its different forms and analogously the "house" of formation for religious priests more than a place, a material space, should be a spiritual place, a way of life, an atmosphere that fosters and ensures a process of formation, so that the person who is called to the priesthood by god may become, with the sacrament of orders, a living image of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church. in their final message the synod fathers have grasped in a direct and deep way the original and specific meaning of the formation of candidates for the priesthood, when they say that "to live in the seminary, which is a school of the gospel, means to follow christ as the apostles did. you are led by christ into the service of god the father and of all people, under the guidance of the holy spirit. thus you become more like christ the good shepherd in order better to serve the church and the world as a priest."9 suffice it to say that the same synod fathers had already outlined what is expected of the priest. “it is equally certain that the life and ministry of the priest must also "adapt to every era and circumstance of life.... to be as open as possible to light from on high from the holy spirit, in order to discover the tendencies of contemporary society, recognize the deepest spiritual needs, determine the most important concrete tasks and the pastoral methods to adopt, and thus respond adequately to human expectations."10 other documents that address the theme of seminary formation, have more or less the same idea.11 seminary formation is basically a period when candidates who feel called to the serve in the ministerial 492 formation of the human person in the 21st century priesthood, are accompanied in shaping themselves after the example of their lord jesus christ, so as to be able to serve the people of god, for whom god bestows the gift of priestly vocations in the first instance. communication formation within seminary formation the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis identifies four major pillars of seminary formation, viz, spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. to successfully situate communication formation within these pillars, it will be important to define communications as a reality. etymologically, communication is directly from the latin comunicationem, which means ‘making common or imparting’. it can also be considered from the past-participle stem of communicare, which means ‘to share, divide out, impart, inform, join, unite, participate in’.12 lexically, communication refers to “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs and behaviour”.13 in addition, scholars of communication proffer different definitions of the reality. popular definitions however tend to all accept the fact that communication has to do with the sharing of meaning through some commonly understood language. if we accept this understanding of communication, then we will see that it actually cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation of spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. for instance, as regards human formation, it has been said that “formation for the priesthood must necessarily provide adequate means to allow for maturation in view of an authentic exercise of the priestly ministry. to this end, the seminarian is called upon to develop his personality, having christ, the perfect man, as his model and source”14 for the seminarian to make progress as regards his human formation, communication is essential, as “the use of the media and ease with the digital world are an integral part of the development of the personality of the seminarian, because, using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ”15 the same is true of spiritual formation. all the tools of spiritual formation listed in the ratio fundamentalis depend on communication. personal union with christ through prolonged and personal prayer needs a combination of intrapersonal and interpersonal communication to be effective. lectio divina is based on the printed medium of the sacred scriptures, just like the liturgy of the hours. the sacrament of penance and spiritual direction involve dyadic communication, through which the spiritual director and the confessor serve as god’s instruments to get the seminarian to open up with sincerity, trust and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 493 docility. daily participation in the eucharist is also a deep communicative experience at different levels. the fact is that in the real sense, there is no formation without communication, as it underlies everything that goes on in the seminary. and even when the concept gets restricted to the tools that facilitate it, otherwise known as the means of communication, it still cuts across the four pillars, as these means are always being used in the formation process. modern means of social communication: an overview traditionally, the study of communication takes into consideration the different levels at which people communicate. these are; 1. intrapersonal level, where communication that takes place within a person or carried out by a person that he/she does not intend to share with others. 2. inter-personal communication, which occurs between two persons, and is also known as dyadic communication. 3. small group communication, which refers to communication that takes place within a group of persons, with a minimum of three and a maximum of twenty. 4. public communication, that is, communication between a person and an audience beyond 20 people. 5. mass communication, which is communication involving a person or an entity and a usually large and undifferentiated number of persons. each level of communication has the possibility of making use of a medium to facilitate the communication process. it is such media that are referred to as the means of communication. another way to define them sees them as “the various methods of sending information between people and places, especially phones, computers, radio, et cetera”16 since man became self-aware, and saw the need to reach out to others, he has made use of different techniques to do so. the human voice for instance, is a very important means of communication, and based on this we have language and by extension, writing, as other examples of the older means of communication. in modern times, and in the light of the available body of knowledge on the different levels of communication, it is difficult to proffer an exhaustive list of the means of communication currently used by persons. however and in no particular order, we can talk of the following; voice, books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals, pagers, computers, word processors, radio, facsimile machines, telephones, smartphones, telegraph, television, and so on17 494 formation of the human person in the 21st century while not exhaustive, the means of communications mentioned above cuts across the different great epochs of communication that humanity has experienced, viz, the phase of primary orality; the age of writing; the period of the press; the age of the electric media; and the digital age.18 courses on the history of human communications use these epochs to help students situate the development of communications from the earliest men and women till now, acknowledging the fact that innovations in successive epochs tend to build upon the achievements of preceding ones, rather than obliterate them. presently, we are in the digital epoch, the beginning of which we can attribute to the invention of the first computer, and the birth of the possibility of representing phenomena in numerical form. in this epoch, we have witnessed the passage from analogue to digital systems in communications; the computerization of the systems of communications and the creation of integral multimedia networks, especially in the case of the internet. we have also experienced the movement of media towards portability, so as to facilitate the accessing of services at any point in space, and the passage of the mass media into personal media.19 it is in this wise that we will consider one of the most significant inventions of the digital age; the smartphone. the dictionary defines the smartphone as “a mobile phone that can be used as a small computer and that connects to the internet”.20 this definition is quite modest. in fact, the typical smartphone has advanced computing capabilities, with which it can access web pages and browse the web using data networks or wi-fi support and mobile broadband. it also has the capacity to interact with other devices using bluetooth and near field communication, such that information can still be passed across in the absence of internet connectivity. the smartphone can view, edit and share different types of documents, since it can run applications that enable such. it can download different types of files, take photos and record videos, offer music playback and view movies, amongst others. it can serve as a radio, language translator, store dictionaries and encyclopedia, compass and magnifying glass and so on. the smartphone can serve as a calendar, a clock, a directory containing list of contacts, can download, store and read maps for navigational purposes as well as give weather updates. it can assist the user carry out financial transactions, keep accounts and make budgets, track funds and finances, make travel arrangements, monitor heart rate, organize ones activities as well as provide entertainment. it can serve as a library where e-books and downloaded content are stored for further reference. and with the advent of the ‘internet of things’21 we now have section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 495 users who use their smartphones to secure and operate their homes and appliances. the smartphone can do all these because it is actually a “modernized personal digital assistant (pda) with wireless connectivity compact in design with a high-resolution touch screen, multi-touch interface and qwerty keyboard22. the smartphone is not essential for healthy living, but in this digital age, it enhances and makes life easier. modern means of communication – possibilities for formation: in his message on the 44th world communications day, pope benedict xvi said …priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. priests are thus challenged to proclaim the gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources, which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis. using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ. they will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the lord. yet priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to christ. this will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the “web”. 23 we have tried to argue earlier, that communication as a reality, cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation, and the means of communication are already being used in formation. in addition to this, it is a truism that “those who begin the seminary journey are, for the most part, already naturally adept and immersed in the digital world and its instruments”. 24 indeed practically every student in the three major seminaries of the old lagos ecclesiastical province for instance, is a digital native25 this is why it has been recommended that 496 formation of the human person in the 21st century …social networks should be integrated into the daily life of the seminary community in a particular way (by a use that is vigilant, but also serene and positive). they should be experienced as places that offer new possibilities from the point of view of interpersonal relationships, of encounter with others, of engagement with one’s neighbor, of the witness of faith. these may all be viewed from the perspective of formative growth, which cannot fail to take into consideration every place in which relationships are formed and in which we find ourselves living. 26 the modern means of communications offer many possibilities for formation. we can consider this especially from two of the pillars of formation which we left out earlier, intellectual and pastoral. intellectual formation is “aimed at achieving for seminarians a solid competence in philosophy and theology, along with a more general educational preparation, enough to allow them to proclaim the gospel message to the people of our own day in a way that is credible and can be understood…”27 the means of communication will help to open up for the individual seminarian, fonts of knowledge that will be otherwise difficult to access. the presence of electronic libraries in nigerian universities and major seminaries is testament to the fact there are inadequate materials in the physical libraries of these institutions. this fact has been lamented for a long time, and if truth be told, as it affects universities, so it affects seminaries. the e-library simply makes it possible to gain access to materials otherwise impossible to get. going forward, there is the need to progress beyond the idea that the presence of an e-library with a certain number of computers in a seminary completely fills this need. this is especially true of seminaries in the old lagos ecclesiastical province, which each boasts of functional and relatively well equipped e-libraries. but can we say that 30 computers in an e-library are sufficient for over 180 students? or 50 for 400 students? one of the ways the seminaries have employed in getting around this dearth of computers is the use of computers owned by liturgicocultural groups and other associations by the students, in a designated area. this helps to lessen the burden, but there is still a long way to go, as there remains a significant shortfall in the number of available computers vis-à-vis the population of students. the academic contemporaries of these young men in formation (undergraduate students in universities) do not have the same challenge. it is either the universities (mostly private universities) insist on each student having a personal computer, to facilitate learning on-line, or the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 497 students are allowed to use their smart phones for the same purposes that the computer does. the fact is that such institutions have made advancements in the digitalization of their processes, and any student without the relevant accessory to function in that environment is as good as being a ‘non’ student. this is because apart from being cut off from the academic activities of the school, he/she will end up being grossly unprepared for life after the university, in a world where 58.7% of persons (or roughly 3 out of every 5 persons) has access to the internet.28 it is our considered opinion that seminarians in formation should be able to take advantage of the available technologies which add value to their training. a seminarian with a smartphone, can have access to countless materials, books, documents and sources, which may not be in the physical library (and if there, not in sufficient quantity for the time needed for in-depth study), and which while accessible via the e-library, he may also not be able to use it properly due to reasons given above. he can use his smartphone to prepare and submit assignments, which will be beneficial in three ways; one, it will help lecturers enforce deadlines, through platforms that will be time-limited (thus improving the discipline of the seminarian); two, it will reduce cost and waste to be incurred via printing on paper; and most importantly, it will eliminate plagiarism from the seminary system, as such soft copies can easily be uploaded to anti-plagiarism software for checks and assessments. in addition, the seminarian who is open to formation will be assisted to develop a healthy reading habit, in consonance with the best traditions of priestly life. this is because, while there appears to be a worldwide decline in the number of persons reading books29, there is an appreciable increase in the number of hours spent online. this is one of the effects of the phase of digitalization that we are in currently, and while no one can predict the future as to whether this trend will be reversed or it will become more entrenched, there is wisdom in preparing the future priest to spend this time online constructively. he can be trained to create virtual reading libraries, and challenged to read works on-line with his smartphone. as regards pastoral formation, being schooled in the means of communication helps the seminarian to understand his flock, who are completely immersed in this new world. increasingly, priests are having to carry out pastoral ministry online. this is the reason why dioceses, parishes, institutions and even certain individuals have webpages/websites, and maintain an online presence, conscious of the implications of web 2.0 for such webpages/websites. in addition, the presence on social networks and the floating of blogs, vlogs, youtube channels and podcasts, are efforts made to reach 498 formation of the human person in the 21st century the people in that space where many of them prefer to be. it is a response to the signs of the times, already articulated by pope benedict xvi, when he stated …responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. the world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more saint paul’s exclamation: “woe to me if i do not preach the gospel” (1 cor 9:16) the increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the word. 30 it is while in the seminary that the future priest will learn how to not only use the means of communication in his pastoral ministry, but also how to be a shepherd to his flock, who are fully immersed in this digital environment. this can be seen as a variant of anticipatory socialization31, whereby the future priest learns how to manage the pastoral challenges that are associated with the digital age, by assuming these roles while in formation, and thus benefits from his experiences. modern means of communication – issues in formation: it is instructive that in the same section where it is said that “the church, in virtue of the mandate received from christ, looks confidently at the possibilities offered by the digital world for evangelization…”32, we also read the following; “it is necessary to pay prudent attention to the inevitable risks that come with frequenting the digital world, including various forms of addiction, which can be addressed with suitable spiritual and psychological supports”33 there is need for vigilance in the use of the modern means of communication. the digital age and its main facilitator, the internet is neither morally ambivalent nor wholly positive. indeed, “people in emerging and developing nations say that the increasing use of the internet has been a good influence in the realms of education, personal relationships and the economy. but despite all the benefits of these new technologies, on balance people are more likely to say that the internet is a negative rather than a positive influence on morality…”34 the seminarian in formation is yet to complete his journey of personality integration and configuration to the person of christ. this means that when he has a smartphone in his possession, it could expose him to some harm, especially in the following ways; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 499 1. illegal downloading of copyrighted materials: as prevalent as this is, downloading of copyrighted materials without the permission of the owner of the intellectual property is wrong (and in some cases liable to prosecution). 2. negative impact on human socialization: one of the effects of smartphones and by extension, social networks, is that persons now interact more via such platforms than face-to-face communication. this is impacting negatively on families, religious communities, rectories, offices and so on. there is the danger that with the smartphone in his possession, the seminarian will also be guilty of this trend. 3. disorientation on-line: there are virtually no rules in cyberspace, and anyone with the right gadget can post anything online, without the rigour of confirming its veracity. this causes confusion that can affect the seminarian, should he frequent misleading websites. 4. pornography: the possession of a smartphone will accentuate the temptation to view pornography on-line. 5. anti-social behaviour: one of the features of social networks is the increase in harassment, threats, hate speech, and similar illegal, immoral or inflammatory behaviour. when the seminarian has a smartphone, he may be more prone to carrying out such actions. 6. effects of virtual reality: studies have shown that increased exposure to the internet increases the risk of internet addiction disorder35. in addition, the longer the time spent in the virtual world, the less attention that is given to real life issues. these can affect a seminarian in possession of a smartphone. 7. financial fraud of any sort, et cetera, can be carried out via the smartphone with ease. these issues can pose real threats to priestly formation, and it is understandable that in order to prevent them, many seminaries in nigeria, following the directives of their proprietors, enforce an outright ban on the use of personal phones and computers by seminarians in formation while in the seminary. this ban has been in force for quite a few years now. but should the presence of such dangers justify the continuance of this ban, given the possible benefits that are lost in the process? conclusion: the baby or the bath water? as far the means of communications are concerned, it is fair to say that as a church, we have always displayed an attitude of suspicion, due to fear of its negative effects. it suffices to examine the tone of the first few magisterial documents on the means of communication to appreciate this 500 formation of the human person in the 21st century point. at the same time, this attitude is not as dominant as it once was, as more study of communications as a reality has helped the cultivation of a corresponding attitude of critical understanding, in order to make the best use of these gifts from god. but the suspicion is yet to fully go away, and often exists side by side with efforts to maximize our understanding and use of the means of communication, to the extent of even vitiating initiatives that promote the latter. but we do not need to throw away the baby with the dirty bath water. we are of the opinion that it is better to return to the inspiration behind the publication of the 1986 guide in this question of the means of communication. the idea of that document was that …social communications training … which is specifically pastoral, is to be given to all students without distinction during their philosophy and theology courses. it has three aims: a) to train those concerned in the correct use of the instruments of social communication (and in general, of every technique of expression and communication) in their pastoral activities, when the circumstances permit it; b) to train them to be masters and guides of others (receivers in general, educators, all those who work in the mass media) through instruction, catechesis, preaching, etc., and as consultants, confessors, spiritual directors; c) above all, to get them into a state of mind in which they will be permanently ready to make the necessary adjustments in their pastoral activity, including those demanded by the inculturation of the christian faith and life in the different particular churches, in a world psychologically and socially conditioned by the mass media and even already by telematics and informatics.36 consequently, it will be better on the short and long run, to expose seminarians in formation to more means of communications rather than less. we are in a situation where the authorities have to consider providing seminary formators with the necessary wherewithal to be able to effectively mentor and journey with their students, as regards proper, responsible use of the means of communication, especially the smartphone. it will not be easy to correct them when they misuse the smartphone or personal computers, if these are not mainstreamed into the regular seminary curriculum. at any rate, that seminarians do not have smartphones in the seminary does not mean that they do not have smartphones outside the seminary, which they use during vacation. is that period not part of their formation for the priesthood? similarly, and in the light of what has been said above, there is the need to have experts in communications science among the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 501 seminary staff, who will be responsible for teaching communication courses that span through the entire duration of the formation of the future priest. what we now have in the seminaries under consideration in this paper, are seminar courses on aspects of communications located either at the final year of the formation program, or carried out during inter-semester breaks. these are better than nothing, but still far from the desired point, if the 1986 guide is taken into proper consideration. the presence of such an expert will reasonably guarantee that the seminarians understand from the outset, how they are to use the means of communications, and transform them from possible distractions to critical aids to their integral formation, and future priestly life. additionally, we humbly state that there is a flaw in the reasoning that the ban on smartphone usage in the seminary helps the candidate avoid the dangers associated with it. it only postpones the proverbial evil day, as instead of making ‘low profile’ errors, while in formation, with the possibility of correction, we will expose ourselves to the possibility of high profile ‘gaffes’ being committed by the same person, with the difference being that he is now a priest, and unfortunately, may not be as eager to accept that sort of correction. and as for teaching the lay faithful how best to use the means of communication, it will be a case of nemo dat quod non habet37. therefore, in the question of seminary formation and modern means of communications, the possibilities in permitting full exposure to these communication tools significantly outweigh whatever benefits that would come from shielding those in formation from these tools, in the light of the present digital epoch. endnote 1 congregation for catholic education, (1986) guide to the training of future priests concerning the instruments of social communication, presentation, accessed from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/docu ments/rc_pc_pccs_doc_19031986_guide-for-future-priests_en.html (retrieved march 05, 2020) 2 ibid, no 4 3 "seminary education ." new catholic encyclopedia . (retrieved march 04, 2020 from encyclopedia.com) 4 ibid 5 decree on priestly training optatam totius, (october 28, 1965) in flannery, a. (ed) (1995). vatican council ii: the concilliar and post concilliar documents, bombay, st. pauls’ no.4 6 ibid, n.19 502 formation of the human person in the 21st century 7 see http://www.synod.va/content/synod/en/synodal_assemblies/1990-eighthordinary-general-assembly--the-formation-of-priests-.html 8 john paul ii, post synodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, (march 15, 1992) no 3. retrieved march 05, 2020 from www.vatican.va. 9 ibid, no. 42 10 ibid, no. 5 11 for instance, the revised ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, authored by the congregation for the clergy, (no. 35) we read “priests, who are configured to christ, head and shepherd, servant and spouse, participate in his one priesthood and saving mission as co-workers with the bishops. in this way they are visible signs of the merciful love of the father in the church and in the world. these characteristics of the person of christ help us to understand better the ministerial priesthood in the church. under the guidance of the holy spirit, they inspire and guide the formation of seminarians so that they can be conformed to christ by their immersion in the mystery of the trinity” 12 see https://www.etymonline.com/word/communication (retrieved february 24, 2020). 13 merriam-webster. (n.d.). communication. in merriam-webster.com dictionary. (retrieved march 06, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ communication) 14 congregation for the clergy (2016) the gift of the priestly vocation ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, vatican city, l’osservatore romano, no 93. 15 ibid, no. 97 16 cambridge. (n.d). communication. in dictionary.cambridge.org. (retrieved march 03, 2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication). 17 we have deliberated left out the internet or the worldwide web, from this list of the means of communication, because of its unique characteristics. in the words of m. a. dennis & r. kahn, the internet is “a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect. sometimes referred to as a “network of networks,” …the internet provides a capability so powerful and general that it can be used for almost any purpose that depends on information, and it is accessible by every individual who connects to one of its constituent networks”. see brittannica.com 18 for a detailed treatment of these different epochs, see gronowski, dariusz (2007) teoria generale della comunicazione, roma, edusc, (dispense per uso degli studenti) pp 89-126. 19 gronowski, ibid, p. 121 20 cambridge. (n.d). smartphone. in dictionary.cambridge.org. (retrieved march 04, 2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication). 21 the internet of things is a proposed development of the internet in which many everyday objects are embedded with microchips giving them network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data. see "internet, n.". oed online. march 2020. oxford university press. https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/entry/248411 (retrieved march 06, 2020). section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 503 22 lenovo. what is a smartphone. (retrieved 2020, feb 24 from https://www.len ovo.com/gb/en/faqs/pc-life-faqs/what-is-a-smartphone/) 23 benedict xvi, “the priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word” message on the 44th world day of communications, 24 january, 2010, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/messages/communicati ons/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20100124_44th-world-communications-day.html (retrieved february 27, 2020) (emphasis mine). 24 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 99 25 digital native is a term used to describe a person who has grown up in the digital age, and is used to digital systems as a result. it is used to contrast digital immigrants, who had to acquire familiarity with digital systems as an adult. 26 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 100 27 ibid, no. 116 28 according to available statistics, the world population as at december 2019 was estimated at 7,796,615,710, with 4,574,150,134 having access to the internet. https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (retrieved march 02, 2020). 29 this has been the subjects of many academic papers and newspaper articles, but we will just refer the reader to one; twenge, j. m., martin, g. n., & spitzberg, b. h. (2019). trends in u.s. adolescents’ media use, 1976–2016: the rise of digital media, the decline of tv, and the (near) demise of print. psychology of popular media culture, 8(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000203 30 pope benedict xvi, ibid. 31 anticipatory socialization “involves the informal adoption of norms or behaviour appropriate to a status not yet achieved by the individuals concerned, so providing them with experience of a role they have yet to assume. for example, children may anticipate parenthood by observing their parents as role models, and the careerist may anticipate promotion by emulating the occupational behaviour of his or her superiors”. (see "anticipatory socialization." a dictionary of sociology. . (retrieved march 05, 2020 from encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/socialsciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/anticipatorysocialization) 32 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 98 33 ibid, no. 99 34 see https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/03/19 (retrieved march 06, 2020) 35 internet addiction disorder has been defined as “a maladaptive patter of internet use, characterized by psychological dependence, withdrawal symptoms when offline for prolonged periods, loss of control, compulsive behavior, and clinically significant impairment of normal social interactions or distress” (see internet addiction. (n.d.) segen's medical dictionary. (2011). retrieved march 6 2020 from https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/internet+addiction) 36 congregation for catholic education, ibid, no. 30 37 this latin saying means “you cannot give what you do not have”. 148 11 harnessing our resources for the formation of seminarians to the priesthood in the post-modern age peter egbe, ph.d st. albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran abeokuta, ogun state. revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk abstract formation is a divine assignment and those involved in it must be conscious of the gravity of its demands. no one forms another whosale and no one forms himself all alone. education is a systematic effort between a superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. education environment is an academy of individuals with at least a vision. it is a mission to give birth to another through the process of intellectual midwifery to use the words of plato. its content is a heritage based on set values that humanise and imbued the individual with the character adequate and noble for a set goal. it is harnessing available resources to realise a personality immersed in a world that is experiencing exponential growth in technology, but with less capacity of an authentic integration of the true and needed values. the human person is entangled in the drive to know and improve the self, even unconsciously so as to be able to rule one’s life and possibly dominate others. but since culture regulates this drive and direct human affairs; information becomes both a possession and a heritage. it is about character building and a journey of an entire life of a person in society in diverse engagements. this project seeks to draw attention to the fact that the present circumstance requires a re-evaluation of the system of formation; not just in the seminary but a far-reaching endeavour in the light of a world that is redefining anthropology. it calls for a more rigorous incarnation of the ever-relevant resources of the church and especially the recent document on the formation of candidates to the catholic priesthood. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 149 keywords: formation, seminarian, priesthood, education, information, seminary. introduction i am constrained to say that no one forms another whosale and no one forms himself all alone. education is a systematic effort between a superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. education environment is an academy of individuals with at least a vision. it is a mission to give birth to another through the process of intellectual “midwifery” to use the word of plato. in the words of edith stein, “education is not an external possession of learning but rather the gestalt which the human personality assumes under the influence of manifold external forces,…”1 in relation to this claim she further opined that: the first fundamental formation happens in the soul. just as an inner form resides in the seed of plants, an invisible force making the fir tree shoot up here and beech there, there is in this way an inner mold set in human beings which urges the evolution into a certain direction and works towards a certain gestalt in blind singleness of purpose, that of personality which is mature, fully developed, and uniquely individual.2 the drive to know and improve oneself is one that the human person is entangled with and even unconsciously so as to be able to rule one’s life and possibly dominate others. but since culture regulates this drive and direct human affairs, information becomes both a possession and a heritage. it is about character building and a journey of an entire life of a person in society in diverse engagements. the theoretical foundation of the choice of topic the theoretical background to this presentation is the latest official document released by the vatican for the formation of candidates to the celibate catholic priesthood. in the mind of the church; “the intellectual formation of candidates for the priesthood finds its specific justification in the very nature of the ordained ministry, and the challenge of the ‘new evangelization’ to which our lord is calling the church …”3 added to this is the overall formation activities ranging from academic and cultural dimensions. moreover, it should be emphasised that the intellectual dimension, with the prescribed study of philosophy and theology, is not the only factor to be considered when evaluating the journey completed by the seminarian in each stage, and the progress that has been made. rather the overall discernment by the formators regarding all aspects of formation will allow only those seminarians to pass on to the next stage who, in addition to having passed the necessary exams, have reached the level of the human and vocational maturity required for each stage.4 150 formation of the human person in the 21st century the above citations summarize the aim of this paper as the human, spiritual, intellectual and cultural formation of seminarian in the western region and elsewhere in nigeria. i will try as much as possible to pay attention to the new document on formation and harness the possibility of a daring audacity for credible reasons. i wish to, in particular, emphasise the integral link between our various disciplines and then ask for a concerted effort among all to pursue a synthetic formation. this will demand a lot of sacrifice from all of us formators, to create a harmony of knowledge in view of a wholistic education that makes gentlemen and men of the church. the simple rationale for this approach can be stated thus: “to ensure adequate intellectual formation of future priests, all disciplines must be taught in such a way as to make their intimate connection stand out clearly, avoiding fragmentation.”5 this poses a challenge to all formators who should see their duty as a sacred function and humanitarian service to the world in the church. humans learn by fragments, but care must be taken not to yield to the modern tendency to fragmentation. “philosophy [and indeed all disciplines] can reflect the fragment nature of the human ability to acquire knowledge; but when it leads to fragmentation of knowledge it becomes inimical to its wellbeing…”6, and might not augur well for evangelization. the last two quotes are not just good for the envisaged purpose of priestly formation of seminarians to the catholic celibate priesthood; it is also recommended in my opinion as the quintessential requirement for training in any well-founded society of human dignity. it is also crucial to the success and failure of any future endeavour that merits integrity not only in a religious institution in the 21st century. is it possible to attain such a system in our world today? the answer is no and yes. no because, if things continue the way they are now, this will be a mirage. yes because, the only thing it takes is a conscious and honest decision by all stake-holders to make a difference. the state of things at the moment: everything that is known about order, prognosis and prognostications is giving way to chaos, irascibility, uncertainty, rashness and populism. there is a new world order that is emerging in the history of humanity. the world is at a crossroad. capitalism in my opinion has not satisfied the yearnings created at its advent. so, it is becoming more compelling to agree with those who claim that capitalism has failed and there is no certainty of what comes next. the western world is labouring under the yoke of self-imposed scourge that is inflicted by liberalism, unrestrained licentiousness and over-ambitious hedonism. the east block is surging and a new partitioning of the world is crystallizing. here africa is section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 151 experiencing a metamorphosis that is not clear-cut (this is an issue for another research). a region that has been and represented as a figure of endless battle ground for new and potential powers. all known symptoms of a revolution are whimsically present and what emerges from this new interregnum is the problematic that researchers have to deal with and all well-meaning institutions have to follow with keen interest. the world is hungry and confused, but there is no political foresight to the direction that will lead to a more cohesive globe and a safer life. mechanical development is taking a dionysian trend in technological and digital advancements, but the sophistication needed by the human mind to handle the teleological complexity that it requires is not equipageous. there is a lop-sidedness that calls for attention. “at…times we have our talks and end up not implementing anything to the disappointment of millions and millions of people around the world who look up to this body to provide leadership in a world that is constantly oscillating between advancement and doom.”7 this statement reveals a hypocrisy that is discernible in global politics and its complication in an already exacerbated world. stating the problem of the present why is this paper a product of curiosity and concern about the reality of the moment? your guesses can be as good as and even sometimes better than my own. the reason this is true is that there is a subtle but obvious fact of mediocrity and indolence in the world today. the human capacity to know has been broadened in all ramifications. there are great achievements in infrastructural development in terms of technologies for industrial and food productions, but the quality of integral life has not been attained comparatively in its welfare and safety. we live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. breakthrough in science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve. but each day also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we cherish and value. terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and spread to every region of the planet. rogue regimes represented in this body not only support terrorists but threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.8 there are so many meanings one can draw from such statement above and many other presentations during the same assembly. but the question is, if every leader is aware of the difficulty and threat of the time and knows how inimical it is to human progress and the crucial peace that has become more of illusion than a mirage; what is missing? one 152 formation of the human person in the 21st century can imagine that there is need for honest dialogue among leaders and leaders among their people. the seminary and seminarians to state this problem and its extension one needs to look at the problematic from various points of reference. since our focus is the formation of young men for the purpose of ministerial priestly life; it will be right to be specific. the problems highlighted above are not just reverberating only in the political arena, but they are widely diffused in all facets of human life. the seminary is not exempt in this beleaguering and odious world order paradoxically orchestrated by science. science provides the foundation and marks the development of hierarchic power. science is but one of the forms of knowledge, yet it exists today in a manner that makes all other forms of knowledge look insignificant, of little value or even harmful. one of the features of today’s science is the possibility to obtain high-level knowledge in universities. what you can’t learn at the university is not scientific; at best – it can be made scientific.9 today, there is so much information that no one bothers about retention of information. there is hardly any need for profundity. this is a scourge of secularism aided by pragmatism which has made depth and rigour of inquiry anachronistic and abhorrent to the vast majority. the seminary and seminarians are not insulated against such pretexts. the word “seminary” is from the latin word seminarium, which means plots where plants are raised from seeds. a garden where seeds are nurtured and nourished to grow, become strong and bear fruits. it means breeding ground. when this is used in reference to the priesthood, it means breeding ground for priests. it means in my opinion an academy as in the most ancient available record of the socratic peripatetic school and the rabbinic school of discipleship. a seminarian is usually a male member of the faithful (who ought to be baptized and confirmed), who feels called and presents himself or is presented for training as priest. he is then accompanied by those with requisite competence. and so pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work. thanks to an initial and gradual experience of ministry, future priests will be able to be inserted into the living pastoral tradition of their particular church. they will section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 153 learn to open the horizon of their mind and heart to the missionary dimension of the church's life. they will get practice in some initial forms of cooperation with one another and with the priests alongside whom they will be sent to work. these priests have a considerably important role, in union with the seminary program, in showing the candidates how they should go about pastoral work.10 the critical nature of the programme of formation is outlined in the above citation and one can only call the attention of all concerned to reflect sincerely on them so as to be able to truly fulfil the task of formation. one major issue that constitute and could continue to be a problem in formation is the apathy of seminarians. the apathy of seminarians here means a general attitude prevalent among seminarians towards the various levels of formation. in retrospect, i am forced most of the time to question myself about motive when i see the rate of shallowness among young men who present themselves for formation to the priesthood. one is further concerned by a disposition of dismissiveness. here seminarians rather than pay attention to the critical parts of formation; that is aspiration to heroism, they settle for mediocrity and materialism. what is more? in many cases, rather than take instructions and obey them by executing them, there is a general attitude of negotiation of what seminarians choose to do rather than obey and carry out instructions. to cap it all, what seminarians in the major part engage in nowadays is to resort to what they refer to as “psyching” the formators and priests in their dioceses to make their way to the priesthood. many have succeeded in this and they are in the field of ministry. these are disturbing trends. concerns from the above/tendency one of the gravest concerns of today is the fact that for the majority of those trained in the seminary probably believe that the priesthood is the point of arrival. in the ordinary sense, the seminary is the nursery where the seed of the vocation is nurtured and come to maturity. the actual application of the self to the work only begins at ordination. in the major part, from parish experience and the opportunity of having to teach in two seminaries, it is a strong opinion of this paper that many seminarians get retired as soon as they are ordained. from personal experience and from pastors of souls, one can only conclude that personal entertainment in seeking pleasure most of the time take the energy or attention of many young priests. this is because for such people, the priesthood is the point of arrival instead of the beginning of the call to service. for the seminarian, the seminary ought to be a place of dreams and aspiration to self-immersion in the work of saving souls. instead, the seminarian sees 154 formation of the human person in the 21st century the ordination as the end of suffering and sacrifice and the beginning of enjoyment having conquered. here ordination becomes an achievement rather than an opportunity. at the end of the day, there is a suspicion that the aim of the church is contrived from the beginning. each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation...and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account of his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels11 very often the problems that arise can be numerous: in common experience, we have candidates who seem to respond and present themselves for formation who do not really wholeheartedly submit to formation. some also come into the seminary with a disposition that make it impossible for the process of the formation to be authentic and fruitful. cases abound in parishes and dioceses where seminarians who were highly esteemed in the seminary for discipline and maturity turn to have pretended all through their formation process only to reveal their true colours after ordination. some seminarians are also caught in the web of the confusion between the principles of their life in the seminary and the remarkable difference it comes to experience in the parish setting. what could be done to bridge the gaps between the authentic life that the call of the gospel demands on the individual and the reality of the personal experience and his environmental influences? the answer is a structural one. all stake holders are to be diligent in the discharge of their duties from the family to the parish community and the seminary. it will be the responsibility of the individual seminarian to be honest in the search for god and the direction of such a hunger for god in the right direction educational system another problematic that i wish to highlight here is the educational systems world-over. technology with all its beautiful results ought to be at the service of the human person. this is visible in many instances of our world events. but it is also true that technological advancement has led to a laziness that makes rigorous engagement of the human mind a waste of time and obsolete practice as we now have technological elements that can live our lives for us. at the same time and ironically too, we witness how different groups are organizing different programmes of natural brain engagement in complex calculus and rewards awarded to those who distinguish themselves. these, point to serious issues of confusion as a result of a misguided use of human section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 155 capacity in technological investigations. do we have to make people lazy by relying on robots even when they are not needed to lives? the nigerian experience? in the ordinary sense the above problem is true, but as if it were not enough; the decadence of such technological obscurity is further compounded by the inept tradition of penury in the nigerian society. the statement of the catholic bishop’s conference of nigeria after their second plenary session in a communiqué, has the following: “the inability of government to address the inequitable situation in the country has provided breeding ground for violent reactions, protest and agitations, which exploit the grievances of different segments of the country.”12 as member of the comity of nations and actors in a world that is becoming more and more a village, we are left with the refuse of technological advancement at the ‘admiration’ of those who reap the dividends of the victory of the human spirit over the natural world. the major part of ills like the one highlighted here is the lack of targeted educational programme, be it in the theoretical background and in its practical implementation. there is a challenge here and it is again global. in the theoretical world today, science and its method tend to redirect “technology” in a way that the aim of every human endeavour rather than seek the supreme good which is the hallmark of every particular goal now descends to seeking exclusive individual fragments. the negligence of a broader inquiry either by way of induction or deduction becomes the bane of illusive contentment and empty happiness. utility and immediate satisfaction and the empty pragmatic dogmatism have driven the taste of the majority of people. this in itself is transgression of science that has led to the yarning gap between the dionysian progress in mechanical science and the poverty of the fruitfulness of human satisfaction in the midst of the blessings of the earth. “the headlong development of the world and a keener awareness of existing inequalities make for the creation and aggravation of differences and imbalances.”13 this imbalance is the result of an increasing fragmenting bifurcation of reality into scientific and metaphysical. this is a condition that arises from the deep-seated crisis in the human person. “the dichotomy affecting the modern world is, in fact, a symptom of the deeper dichotomy that is in the human person himself. he is the meeting point of many conflicting forces.”14 consequences the symptoms of the above depravity of the human spirit are obvious to a reasonable mind. today more than ever before, human hunger for 156 formation of the human person in the 21st century peace and fulfilment is plenty and the helplessness of institutions as a result of this failure is aplenty. all these point to the fact of failure in the society. one basic fact that plagues the globe today is instability. the next point about the problems the world face is the failure of capitalism. this is linked with the political exigencies of our time. the political terrain is volatile and chaotic. the result of all these encumbrances and the role they play in human psychology is clear. there is a high degree of fear and vulnerability which has given rise to pseudo-populism. what can one hold? we can conveniently assert that the utopic promise of inexistent paradise appeals easily to the malnourished and disgruntled populace. the level of unpredictability of the world politics that our world has known is a clear case of the rot in the human mind that manifests itself in the various ways of our present predicament. the above analysis is simply a red signal in our society today. the least consequence of indifference is only a compound of accumulated disaster. among them are some of the current world affairs. in the world today, terrorism is a part of every household preoccupation and the scourge of civil society. since human wants are “insatiable” as the economic principle states, to use adams smith resources. the world is only at an elementary stage of wickedness and eventually nihilism. what substantiates this position is the fact that because man is naturally proud and power driven, he can descend low to bestiality to prove his capacity. today we are grappling with a nuclearized north korea. we have the power and exotic ego-driven president in the oval office in the united states of america. europe is going through a new metamorphosis with brexit. the middle east is only becoming more and more unreachable and the hope of a solution of a better region with arab-spring is only so far, a mirage. what about communist china? with its new infiltration and ubiquity in the globe. where will africa be left at the end of the current new order? what can be done? these are worrisome indices and to the fickle mind a sign of hopelessness. but the choice we have to make is inescapable. if we refuse to take the necessary though radical decision, we will be worse of. the decision we need to take is to be well equipped to face a new world order and become active players in a post-modern world. the church has and continues to make available opportunities and resources to her members to be well-equipped to engage the world for the good of the human person and the good of the universe. the church as a mother is under an obligation, therefore, to provide for its children an education by virtue of which their whole lives section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 157 may be inspired by the spirit of christ. at the same time it will offer its assistance to all people for the promotion of a well-balanced perfection of the human personality, for the good of society in this world and for the development of a world more worthy of man.15 to stress this further, the pope in his encyclical laudato si, emphasises that: we are always capable of going out of ourselves towards the other. unless we do this, other creature will not be recognized for their true worth; we are unconcerned about caring for things for the sake of others; we fail to set limits on ourselves in order to avoid the suffering of others or the deterioration of our surroundings. disinterested concern for others, and the rejection of every form of self-centredness and self-absorption, are essential if we truly wish to care for our brothers and sisters and for the natural environment…16 the problem most of the time is that it is one thing to have the opportunity and another to know and make responsible use of it. here the words of etienne gilson become crucial. as knowing being, man is able to distinguish between things, to be acquainted with their specific natures, and consequently to determine his own attitude toward things after his own knowledge of what they are. now to be not determined by things but regulated by one’s own knowledge of things is precisely what we call to be free.”17 this is not a task that seminarians by themselves can achieve alone. the need then arises for commitment that promotes a robust response from those who are undergoing formation and the willingness on the part of the formators to be selfless in responding to the demands of the human mind to be equipped for mission. it is the view of the new ration that; the task of the agents of formation can be defined as interior openness, rooted in an intense spiritual experience. it is aimed at constant discernment, which allows one to learn from life and from different circumstances, and to discover in them the providential actions of god in his christian or priestly journey. the quality of the service rendered to seminarians can be measured from the depth of this openness, and, at the same time, a calm formative atmosphere in the seminary depends on it18 the extent to which the formator is open to this task will go a long way to enrich his own life and lead to proficiency in his task as formator. this is so because: 158 formation of the human person in the 21st century while carrying out that mission, the formator has an opportunity for growth, and can discover the specific charism of vocational accompaniment and of priestly life as a call that belongs to him personally. in this way, the seminary can become a school that prepares those who will be responsible for ongoing formation. that is to say, he who has been a seminary formator acquires a particular sensitivity and a rich experience to be able, later, to assist in the ongoing formation of the clergy.19 there are many ways in which this programme can nurture the present for a future turn-around that helps to avert the impending crisis that the current situation of the direction of world event is moving. there are few things that this paper will elaborate as suggestions to help improve the present situation. those in training must seek ways to apply themselves to the current curriculum of their formation to the extent that the desired ‘personal-centred’ formation (auto-formation) can be realized. if seminarians can open up to the programme as it is at the moment; a lot can be achieved in the interim. but even at that there will still be a lot to be done. the new manual that the congregation responsible for the formation to the priesthood recently reviewed and distributed to houses of formation signal a need to overhaul formation outfit to respond to the present moment. “whenever it may prove necessary to make changes to the previously approved ratio nationalis, due to new or unexpected developments, the text may be amended by seeking the further approval of the congregation for the clergy.”20 we have to, in the spirit of this new terrain of world events; prepare ourselves to play our noble roles in rescuing the world that is beleaguered by avoidable crisis. the crisis in the world is only a reflection of the potential of the deep-seated depravity and corruption of the human person. to be able to address the problem is to renew the vigour to heroism and turn around the present disposition of selfenslavement to technology and make science serve the need of man and not make man a puppet to the work of his hands. review of the present programme since it is the conviction of this paper that the present programme needs a review and in consonance with the requirement of the congregation for the formation of clergy; there is so much to be done. besides the need to respond to the universal church, there is also another need as a local church. “each ratio nationalis must also specify the stages of formation and the programme of studies, the objectives and their length, respecting the norms of universal law.”21 that means that nigerian church must quickly realise and respond now to this dual perspective: section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 159 her immediate local needs as well as her effort at missionary activities. in one of my recent vacations besides the conference that took me out of the seminary before closing down for the 2017/2018 session, i participated in two other conferences: one was organized by association of black catholics in america from 6th to 9th of july. the other was organized by african conference of priests and religious working in united states (accrus). it was obvious that the nigerian church is ahead in the population of priests and religious among other african countries who are missionaries. what fascinated me is the fact that the american bishops had prepared a document of integration for such priests and religious when they come into their country. recommendations the need to emphasise our values the world under our watch has gone more individualistic and populistic. whatever interest such promote, one imagines that the dynamics of the present cannot be served by populism. but there is something that is crucial that needs to be emphasised; that is the fact of value. value is an accent to the commonality of a people and the heritage they make to the gamut of global civilization. although it is peculiar, it does not disintegrate the coalition of global alliance when it has to do with human solidarity. the task that humanity faces is to be conscious of and realise the importance of heritage and the endurance of a common experience even when they have to be looked at from different perspectives. this is a position that even some of the most fervent critics of objectivity in values will confirm. the issue is clearer now than of old, because we now have a more explicit standard whereby to decide what ontology a given theory or form of discourse is committed to: a theory is committed to those and only those entities to which the bound variables of the theory must be capable of referring in order that the affirmation made in the theory be true. … but utility need not imply significance, in any literal linguistic sense.22 we have a common experience in which everyone is immersed. but our relation with the objective becomes a matter of our own exclusive lived-experience that colour our worldview.23 1. the value of family and social ties one can still claim today that in nigeria and i believe in most part of africa that notwithstanding the consequence of globalization and western isolationism, there still exists a reasonable social bond. this is not just a family value, but it extends to the society. the importance of this point is to be able to harness this social opportunity in the selection 160 formation of the human person in the 21st century of candidates to the seminary for training as priest. the dioceses, parishes and vocations directors are to emphasise ties with people and employ such as instrument in the process of recruitment for seminary training. the knowledge of the family background for instance can go a long way to assist the diocese in making a well-informed decision on who to admit or otherwise. this is a method that some congregations have used and it has proven to be very helpful. the tendency is to say those values are disappearing in our time and no one really bothers. we can activate such values and let the civil society learn from us. it will not be a novel idea, but a return to the role of the church to the society. in the traditional system, the formator and the formed live out a very intensely close relationship. can we boast of such commitment from our system today? 2. document prepared or received by local church for formation i am aware that there has been a document on formation in the category of ratio fundamentalis by the nigerian bishops’ conference. but as i stand here, i have not set my eyes on such document despite all my efforts to acquire it. this is not the way we should go about our formation. what i am proposing is that, the nigerian church should prepare a document or update what is there to reflect the cruciality of present circumstances in the universal church and its relevance to local needs. the one and only catholic church subsists in the particular churches. even if formation for priesthood will normally take place in the context of a diocese, or in the institutions to which the candidates belongs, the priestly ministry is open to the universality of the church and, thus, carries within it an openness to the more pressing needs of other dioceses24 in the wake of the engagements of the nigerian church in providing missionary activities to the rest, efforts should be made to make allowance in the formation of seminarians who will eventually go for mission. this will from onset prepare everyone for the task ahead. 3. review of academic programme towards master’s degree another proposal that i am putting forward here is that our students be allowed to do professional courses in the relevant areas while they journey within these nine years only to earn first degrees. for instance, the university of benin which all saints and st. albert are affiliated to has and granted opportunity to ph.d programme in the last accreditation, should be a welcomed news to the church of this region. the robustness of the relationship between the seminary of all saints section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 161 and now st. albert contributed to the credit-worthiness that made the request pass for the university. our students can receive masters in relevant areas within their time in the seminary. in fact, the former hod of the department of philosophy in uniben has also discussed this possibility with me as he guaranteed that our materials are sufficient with a bit of adjustment at different levels. let us be audacious here and make history for the progress of the church of our region. for instance, in europe and north america candidates for the priesthood spend less time but graduate with a master’s degree. an upgrade of the academic programme will certainly be a great step forward. besides, the new world order makes it mandatory even to have such a review in the programme. 4. preparation of seminarians towards mission outside nigerian shores just as i talk about the documents above, i believe our seminaries need some more professional touch to the training we give to seminarians who become priests in our time and most of the time without any other training they go for missions outside the country. this will also help prospective formators who will come back to the seminary to teach others. i feel it is better to harvest when the grains are still very healthy and viable than to wait for them to lose all their sap. the principle of human formation will be enhanced if we pay more attention to particular area of interest and expose our seminarians to them while still in the seminary. the thinking might be ‘do not give them too much’ before they are ordained. it could even be that some might elope with such opportunity and the church is the looser. i think the time has come when we do not allow the fear of taking risk determine our decision that will lead to a vicious circle. we should take courageous risks and who knows the fruits that may come could be the solution to our problems. how to achieve these goals all these proposals need so much groundwork to be done and it will call for heavy financial commitment. here, there are at least three groups that must be battle-ready: the people of god– lay-faithful, the formators and the bishops who are proprietors of the seminary. the people of god are already doing a lot. but it is not possible to reach the state of equilibrium when it comes to commitment to the training of seminarians to the priesthood. it is also my conviction that if there were laudable project by the nigerian church, the likelihood is there that our people will be up to the task of rising to the occasion.25 on the part of the formators, we must be ready to step-up our effort to give more so as to be able to meet the need of the requirement that this new programme as proposed will be successful. in the same 162 formation of the human person in the 21st century vein, i address myself to those who collaborate with us in this task to help us with suggestions and resources needed to make this a reality and a pride to them. i am pleased that our mother institution on the academic part of formation is here represented. furthermore, all our lecturers from the different institutions including the university of benin also will agree with me that our students put in so much that our proposal is not overambitious. the next is the proprietors; our bishops need to constantly keep in view and respond consequently to the new world order. seminarians today must be well prepared to face the challenges of the new evangelization which the pope refers to and required the bishops to do something urgently to address the issue. “while safeguarding the authority of the diocesan bishop, the ratio nationalis seeks to harmonise the priestly formation across the country, in this way facilitating dialogue between bishops and formators, to the benefit of both seminarians and seminaries.”26 this is the rationale behind the joint seminaries commission meetings and the various governing councils. these are veritable organs, but there is need to give them more lease of life in the wake of present circumstances. the pope further stresses this point. seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, and not merely doctrinal, formation in the areas of engagement and marriage. their training does not always allow them to explore their own psychological and affective background and experiences. some come from troubled families, with absent parents and a lack of emotional stability. there is a need to ensure that the formation process can enable them to attain the maturity and psychological balance needed for their future ministry. family bonds are essential for reinforcing healthy selfesteem. it is important for families to be part of the seminary process and priestly life, since they help to reaffirm these and to keep them well grounded in reality. it is helpful for seminarians to combine time in the seminary with time spent in parishes. there they can have greater contact with the concrete realities of family life, since in their future ministry they will largely be dealing with families. “the presence of lay people, families and especially the presence of women in priestly formation, promotes an appreciation of the diversity and complementarity of the different vocations in the church27 there is also need for a national body to coordinate the activities of the seminaries on a regular and active basis. prospects nigerians are already making the nation and church proud abroad. my visit to us and participation in the conferences referred to above give me a first-hand experience to testify to the wealth of our nation. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 163 maximizing the gains of what we have and adding a bit of flavour to our present system will only put us at a comfortable position. this i believe because, as good and interesting the stories i heard during my sojourn in america, it was clear too that there are cases of casualties as a result of adjustment problems. a review of what is there and a conscious creation of a column for such programmes in the seminary will go a long way to bettering the chances of good adjustment experience for our seminarians and their readiness to face the work of evangelization at home and abroad as missionaries. there is already a programme of re-entering after a period of missionary activities by nigerian priests and religious. it will be appropriate to also have a programme of exit for such prospective missionaries. what might be useful is teaching the candidates for the priesthood the need to understand the various cultures of people in different continents and cultural experiences. conclusion permit me take a clue from the words of pastores dabo vobis once again. … that in the face of crisis of priestly vocations ‘the first answer which the church gives lies in a total act of faith in the holy spirit. we are deeply convinced that this trusting abandonment will not disappoint if we remain faithful to the graces we have received.’ to remain faithful to the grace received! this gift of god does not cancel human freedom; instead it gives rise to freedom, develops freedom and demands freedom.28 besides, therefore, all of us need to open our hearts to decision that will help build on the progress the church has made in the training of her candidates to the priesthood endnotes 1. edith stein, collected works; woman 2. p. 130 2. ibid, 130. 3. pastores dabo vobis, no. 51…. 4. new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacredotalis p. 10 5. new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacredotalis p. 97 6. peter egbe, harmony a philosophical investigation, from phenomenology to metaphysics, rome, 2008. 26. 7. uno president muhammadu buhari’s speech at the un general assembly, 8. citymirrornews.com/index.php2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of october, 2017. 9. remarks by president trump to the 72nd session of the united nations general assembly. united nations new york, www.whitehouse.gove/the-pressoffice/2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of october, 2017. 164 formation of the human person in the 21st century 10. maija kule et.al., ed. dilema of values and contemporary life-world, latvia-riga, 2007. 37 11. pastores dabo vobis. 58 12. new ratio fungamentalis, no. 130 13. a communique issued at the end of second plenary meeting of the catholic bishop’s conference of nigeria 14. (cbcn) at st. charles borromeo pastoral centre, jalingo, taraba state, 7-15 september, 2017 15. gaudium et spes, 7 december, 1965. no. 8. 16. gaudium et spes, 7 december, 1965. no. 10 17. vat. ii., gravissimum educationis, 28th oct. 1965. no. 3 18. laudato sí 19. etienne gilson, god and philosophy, yale nota bene copy, 2002, p.21]. 20. the new ratio, no. 152. 21. ibid. 22. ibid no. 3 & 8. 23. ratio fundamentalis no 7 24. willard van orman quine, from a logical point of view, harvard university press, cambridge, massachusetts, 2003. 13-15. 25. donald davidson, subjective, intersubjective, objective, oxford university press, new york, 2009. 84-88. 26. ratio fundamentalis no. 126 27. pastores dabo vobis. no. 68. 28. new ratio, p. 16. no. 6. 29. amoris laetitia 203. 30. pastores dabo vobis, no. 1 the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 53 c h a p t e r 4 the vocations director and the discernment of vocations: some considerations for priestly formation ferdinand nwanagu okafor introduction the twenty-first century is associated with advancement in information and communication technology (ict), like the fourteenth century which came with the renaissance that was associated with new knowledge and the scientific method which revolutionized virtually all sectors of life including the church and priestly vocation. the discernment of priestly vocations has become a herculean task for all those who are engaged in the discernment and formation of vocations to the catholic priesthood. with the challenges that are rocking the priesthood today ranging from sexual abuse, protestantism, materialism and secularism, the question: “how vocation directors and formators in the seminaries discern genuine vocation or discover candidates with genuine vocations” has become a front-burner question. this is the aim of this essay. this paper, therefore, attempts to discuss this topic issue with theoretical and practical insights and further make some proposals, that is believed would enhance the discernment process. without being overly presumptuous, it suffices to clarify some of the key concepts in this discourse. 54 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the concepts of vocation, vocations director and discernment denotatively, the term, “vocation is from the latin word vocātiō which means a call or summons. it is an occupation to which a person is specially drawn to, or for which they are suited, trained, or qualified.”1 in the 15th century, the term was first attributed to a spiritual calling.2 it was used in reference to those in the clerical order. it was martin luther who arguably later broadened the understanding of the term to mean all christian calling and every state of life. thereafter, john calvin gave it the notion of industry and commerce. it was the english puritans in the seventeenth century who eventually stretched the meaning of vocation to include any job or trade.3 in ecclesiological understanding, vocation is associated with “divine call addressed directly to a man’s soul, inviting him by means of a secret divine voice, to enter the clerical state.”4 on the other hand, when the term vocations director is employed, what easily comes to mind is any priest who has been given the mandate to recruit and present candidates for priestly ordination. in reality, this is a shortfall from the true meaning and task of who a vocations director is. the principal task of directing vocations rests on the bishop. he is the first representative of christ in priestly formation.5 however, just as candidates are ordained to share in the priesthood of jesus christ, so as to assist the bishop in his priestly functions; a priest who is chosen and assigned the responsibility of directing vocations is, in reality, assisting the bishop. therefore, a vocations director is a priest who has been assigned to recruit, direct and guide and evaluate the suitability of the candidates to the sacred catholic priesthood. the role of a vocations director is to direct and guide young boys or young men who express the desire to become priests, as well as future priests (seminarians) so that they may discover their calling to the priesthood as well as the nature of the calling. as the name implies, the vocations director has the obligation of directing. however, his function is not only to direct but also to inspire vocations in young boys; as well as to form and lead by word of advice, encouragement, explanation and example of life, those who express the desire to serve in the clerical orders as deacons or priests; and where one is discovered not to be a suitable candidate or have the ability to serve in the clerical order, he sincerely advises the candidate to withdraw and embrace another state of life. the function of a vocations director and formators is not about telling candidates what they need the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 55 to do, rather it is much more of modelling and encouraging vocations to the priesthood. to be able to function properly, it is important that they are exposed to some years of pastoral experience and formation course or seminars periodically. the vocations’ directors and formators should endeavour to rid themselves of personal biases, tribalism, injustice, emotions that may prevent them from truly evaluating the qualities that a candidate exhibits. st. francis de la sales emphasised the need for a guide for those who would enter upon and advance in the devout life. he referred to the spiritual guide as a heaven-sent angel, like the angel who guided tobias on his journey.6 the role of a vocation director is not in any way short of the task of guiding and accompanying candidates to the priesthood. this kind of journey together must be characterised by genuine love, mutual trust, prayerfulness, openness and sincerity to one another, and docility to the promptings of the holy spirit. although in every diocese or religious congregation, the task of directing of vocations is primarily assigned to a particular priest, nevertheless, every priest is in a certain sense, a vocations director. therefore, every priest must inspire vocations to clerical life and provide exemplary leadership and influence, as well as guide and direct every candidate who aspires to the catholic priesthood. all the priests are united with the bishop and share his responsibility in seeking and fostering priestly vocations. together with the bishop, they are agents of formation.7 be that as it may, since the earliest christian teachings, there has been a strong nexus between the human relationship with god and his ability to truly discern reality.8 as far back as the earliest days of the israelites, the notion of discernment was already invoked. the criteria for discerning a true prophet from a false prophet was already expressed, which were: leading the people to god and fulfilment of prophecy (see, deut 13:1-5; 18:21). in the early days of the church, st. john also warned the christians of his community against false spirits. he admonished them to test the spirits whether they are from god (1 jn 4:1-6). this process of testing of spirit is called discernment. discernment as an english word was borrowed from an old french word discerner. discerner was from two latin words “dis” meaning apart, and “cernere” meaning to separate. discerner in its old french original, meant “to separate, divide, distinguish or discern.”9 56 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discernment can be employed both in the secular as well as in ecclesiological sense. in this secular sense, it refers to the act of evaluating or judging or reviewing a decision. in an ecclesiological sense, it is the act of prayerfully evaluating or judging a decision through the guidance of the holy spirit. the concept when employed in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, refers, therefore, to the act of prayerfully evaluating or judging the suitability, motive, behaviours, the ability, as well as the natural and supernatural qualities of a prospective candidate to priesthood using both human reasoning and divine enlightenment. mcintosh (2004), outlined faith, impulses, discretion, divine will and illumination as the elements of discernment.10 the purpose of discernment is to know god’s will. according to mcintosh (2004), “human relationship with god was distorted, and the ability of human persons to see god’s ways in the world was drastically impaired-they could no longer recognise god’s truth shining forth in creation because they were no longer rightly acquainted with god.”11 discernment of vocations and evaluating the suitability of candidates priestly formation refers to the art and process of providing orientation, guidance, and training regarding priestly life to a candidate who aspires to the clerical order. priestly formation is an essential aspect of the priestly vocation. in view of the crises rocking the catholic priesthood and taking into consideration the challenges posed by the world of information communication and technology, it has become expedient to evolve new methods or techniques in formation. the task of formation and the selection of formators should be taken more seriously than ever before. vocations directors and formators should be truly formators and not just lecturers or chosen to fill up the gap. often times in the selection and formation of candidates, one is tempted to judge whether a candidate is called instead of judging the suitability of the candidate. this has often led to a serious error in the selection of candidates for the priesthood. it is a dangerous venture to create a dichotomy between discernment of call and deciding the suitability of candidates. deciding the suitability of candidates is in itself a process of discernment. using the words of blowick (1932), “the true doctrine of vocation is so straightforward and so simple that the question of ‘deciding a boy’s vocation’ is reduced to the exercise the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 57 of prudent judgement and sound common sense.”12 it is important that vocations directors and formators in the seminary know the nature and meaning of sacred calling in view of pastoral ministry, so as to be able to play their role well. the selection and evaluation of a candidate for the priesthood will be more difficult for vocations directors and formators if the essence of priestly ministry is not put into consideration. in evaluating the suitability of a candidate, basic virtues that candidates are expected to cultivate as well the current challenges in priestly ministry should be brought to the fore at the point of evaluation. right from the early centuries of the church to the seventeenth centuries, as far as the issue of raising men to the status of pastoral leadership is concerned, the emphasis of the church was always on the suitability of a candidate. this is what st paul emphasised in his letters to timothy and titus regarding the choice of overseers, deacons and women who rendered special services in the early church (1 tim 3:1-13; 5:22; titus 1:510). in recent times, the church has also emphasised this suitability of candidates in her documents on the formation of future priests. however, it seems some vocations directors and formators have shifted their focus from this trend of determining the suitability of a candidate to the clerical state, and have given room to bias and personal feelings. in matters of the priestly vocation, there are already basic requirements which are available in the various documents on formation to the priestly ministry. vocations directors and formators should, therefore, acquaint themselves with these documents. the task of directing vocations and formation of the candidate is to determine whether given the behaviour manifested by a candidate and evaluating such in the light of the gospel and the teachings of the church if such an individual will be able to fulfil the priestly functions. basically, in the discernment of vocation, the central issues are the mission of christ and the good of the church, faith and community building, and the salvation of souls of the christian community. these issues revolve around pastoral leadership. the process of discernment is to determine if the candidate has the human, physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, psychological, moral and pastoral ability to fulfil the role of a pastoral leader and make disciples for christ. the suitability of a candidate is evaluated and determined based on the observable human phenomenon, while the calling is the function of the 58 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age church through an appropriate authority (the bishop). here, the role of the vocations director and the presbyterium can never be underestimated. no doubt, “the vocation to the priesthood is a divine call; it is given by god. but god has empowered certain accredited ecclesiastical officials to issue it in his name. these alone can validly administer divine vocation.”13 in the selection and formation of candidates for the catholic priesthood, nothing should be overlooked. the first stage in the process of formation of candidates for the priesthood is recruitment. the challenge in this recruitment process is often the pressure from priests and the parents of the candidates, who may want to prevail on the vocations director or formators to consider a particular candidate for admission and to continue to ensure his stay in formation, even when he is not suitable for the priesthood. once parents, friends or relatives are the ones fronting the process of admission of a candidate or making an enquiry on behalf of a candidate into the major seminary, that is already in itself a red-alert that should be foreclosed. one who is 18 years old should be able to take basic steps that are necessary for the pursuit of his career or vocation. the first consideration for selection and formation of candidates for the priesthood is the genuine intention and desire to be a priest to serve the christian community. it should not be the intention and desire of the parents, brothers, relatives, friends, or the parish priest or a priest who is a friend to the intending candidate. it should be a personal desire to serve in the clerical state. the true test of one’s love for god is the capacity to live for god and for others. priestly life is one of service, sacrifice and commitment. it is a call to live not for oneself but for god. as jesus christ gave up his life for us all, and st. paul poured out his life as a libation for god (2 tim 4:6), so too, those who aspire to the sacred orders should be ready to sacrifice themselves totally to god, and should be seen manifesting this life of sacrifice already. j. blowick (1932) identified the following: a supernatural attraction for the priesthood, a strong and permanent inclination, good intention, possession of natural and supernatural gifts that will enable a man to properly discharge the sacred duties of the ministry, as signs of an authentic vocation.14 this genuine intention and desire to serve in the clerical order must be expressed throughout the period or years of formation. the work of formators will be most difficult if candidates who already manifest unsuitable behaviour or are known to possess terrible the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 59 behaviours such as stealing, lying, deceit, homosexual tendencies, fornication, materialism, and greed, moneygrubbing, nonchalant attitude towards the holy mass and church devotions, are sent to the seminary for formation. sometimes, it is difficult to identify such candidates once they are already in formation. and when such is discovered later in the penultimate years of formation, sentiments of sympathy begin to wade in. at this point, evaluation becomes a matter of sympathy to the individual and his family, but to the detriment of the church and the souls of those who will be entrusted to his care. if one knows the power or influence in little things to shape or change situations, then one will know that nothing should be undermined. this is not to undermine the possibility of one with such vices to experience conversion. experience has however revealed that candidates with these vices or dispositions can hardly be opened to the process of encountering christ in formation and be purified in the process of formation. the human person is a mystery whose life can be influenced by any situation. there are at least four results of those who are ordained into the priesthood. first, those who from the beginning manifested good behaviour but acted badly after ordination. secondly, there are those who manifested good behaviour as candidates and still remained good priests after ordination. thirdly, there are those who did not manifest sufficient good behaviour but were admitted on trial but in the process of formation were transformed are good priests and fourthly, there are those who gave red-alert as candidates but were admitted with sympathy with the hope of being properly formed, but they found their way into priesthood without getting changed or converted, and their performance in the priesthood was a reflection of the red-alert they manifested. priestly ministry goes beyond cultic and liturgical functions. it entails the proclamation of the gospel, the celebration of the sacraments and pastoral leadership, which is to guide the christian community in the name and in the person of christ.15 p. bernier, summarizes ministry to include five basic tasks: building community, storytelling (proclamation), prophesying, nurturing, and missioning.16 priestly ministry is a call to pastoral charity and leadership, and it is rooted in the vocation to the mission.17 leadership according to r. l. daft, is an influence of relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their 60 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age shared purposes.18 central to this definition is the fact that leadership is an influence relationship. the call to the priesthood apart from being a call to service is also a call to provide exemplary leadership to the faithful. leadership is an essential aspect of the priestly vocation. a candidate to the priesthood should possess leadership qualities that will enable him to influence the faithful with the gospel message. this dimension of the priestly vocation is often not taken into consideration. it is important that prospective candidates understand the power that is inherent in the priestly pastoral role. leadership is a gift and a call to service, and it is an inherent part of the call to the priesthood. not everybody possesses the gift of leadership.19 the focus of priestly vocation is mission, service, and leadership (msl). the challenges in the priestly ministry today revolve around bad leadership. that is, the faithful can no longer find exemplary leadership in some priests. st. paul in order to emphasize the importance of leadership in the early church, admonished timothy thus: “let no one reproach you on account of your youth. be a model to believers in the way you speak and act, in your love, your faith and purity of life. devote yourself to reading, preaching and teaching, until i come” (1 tim 4:12-13). bernier holds the view that the fundamental purpose of the new testament ministry is to preserve the self-identity of the christian community as the community of christ as well as to discover the gospel in the changing circumstances of life.20 those who were appointed elders in the early church were appointed not so much so that they might celebrate the eucharist, but that they might guide and conduct the community and proclaim the gospel. right from the time of moses down to the new testament era when the church was still evolving, all those who were appointed leaders were to essentially lead the people and help them to sustain their faith in god. whoever, therefore, must be admitted to commence the journey to sacred priesthood or promoted to the sacred orders should be seen to manifest authentic vocation and exhibit evidence of his ability to perform the priestly function and lead the faithful in faith. the sacrament of holy orders is not an individual sacrament, like baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance and anointing of the sick, which are received for the benefit of the recipient. like the sacrament of matrimony, the sacrament of holy orders is both individual and social, hence the need to ensure that there are no the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 61 irregularities and impediments, because the recipients will fulfil a social function, which is not primarily for the benefit of the recipient but that of the entire christian community. therefore, good intention alone is not sufficient to assume the office, but certain requirements are necessary and are insisted upon by the recipient. 21 in the early days of the church when celibacy was not regarded as part of the life of presbyters, the consideration for choosing a presbyter basically was the styles of life,22 centuries later, when celibacy became mandatory for those who are admitted into the clerical order, there was a shift from the styles of life to the states of life.23 today, in the selection of candidate the styles of life and the ability to assume the states of life of a priest are elements to be considered in determining the suitability of a candidate. the candidate before being admitted into the seminary, and even while in formation in the seminary and outside of the seminary, should manifest the evidence of his genuine intention and desire to serve in the clerical state in his styles of life, disposition and readiness to embrace the clerical state. intention and desire have a correlation in one’s behaviour and outlook. it is an aberration for one to desire the priesthood, yet adopt worldly mindset and style. it should not in any way be assumed that the candidate will change after ordination. the evaluation of the candidate to determine his suitability should go beyond keeping the seminary rules. his actions and inactions, his behaviours and dispositions should be scrutinised and interpreted in the light of the gospel, the teachings of the church and the challenges of the church and the situation of the world today, and how his actions and inactions and behaviour reflect and promote the gospel message or bear witness to the risen lord. also to be considered is the initial conversion of the candidate as well as openness to ongoing conversion. the initial conversion is evident in the reception of the sacraments of initiation, and the manifestation of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. these manifest in his prayer life, christian devotion and service in the church, as well as his detachment from the world. it is not enough to only be baptised, one must be open to conversion. otherwise, after ordination one may behave worse than a non-christian and do more harm than good to the body of christ, as alexander the coppersmith did to st. paul (2 tim 4:14). initial conversion will help a candidate get rid of such vices like stealing, lying, deceit, homosexual tendencies, 62 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age fornication, materialism, and greed, moneygrubbing, nonchalant attitude towards the holy mass and church devotions. natural and supernatural endowments of the candidates while in formation should be evaluated. the priesthood is a call to pastoral leadership. whoever must assume this status must be seen to possess some leadership qualities and must be free from canonical impediments and irregularities, which include: amentia, psychic illness, apostasy, heresy, schism, attempted marriage, voluntary homicide, procured abortion or cooperated in abortion, self mutilation or mutilated another, attempted suicide, or has performed an act reserved for those in the sacred orders.24 those who practice homosexuality or have deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support “gay-culture,” are not to be admitted into the seminary.25 the post-synodal apostolic exhortation “pastores dabo vobis” enumerates four dimensions of priestly formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation.26 these four aspects are so important that neglecting or undermining any of these dimensions is to do great harm to the entire work of formation and the church at large. the crisis in the priestly ministry today can be linked to an improper formation in these four areas. therefore, only those candidates whose human, moral, spiritual and intellectual gifts, as well as physical and psychological health and right intention, show that they are capable of dedicating themselves permanently to sacred ministries are to be admitted to the seminary.27 the tendency to sometimes downplay the intellectual capacity and formation of the candidate often arises. references are often made to st. john mary vianney, the cure of ars, who was regarded not to be intellectually bright, yet, was a model of holiness and pastoral life. the world we must know is constantly evolving, and the church expresses herself in every age in order to adequately meet the pastoral needs of the world. in the age of the martyrs, martyrdom was seen as a means of proving one’s holiness. after the age of martyrs, monastic life and celibate living became the ultimate way of attaining holiness. we are no longer in the era of john mary vianney when the priestly function was basically the celebration of the sacraments and proclamation of the gospel within the liturgical assembly. with the age of information communication and technology, the world where the church and clerics minister has become more sophisticated. it is no longer enough to celebrate the sacrament and proclaim the gospel within the liturgical the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 63 assembly. the church must move away from the liturgical assembly into the world. the church needs to understand and interpret the mandate of jesus christ in light of the present-day world. “go into the world and preach the gospel” (mk 16:15) must be understood as a call for the church to diversify her apostolate in the world in order to effectively fulfil her mission of bringing christ into the world. to this end, a myopic view of the world and reality will be dangerous to the gospel message. besides, it is only a person with a sound mind and intellect, who is constantly open to learning that can sufficiently present the church’s teaching to answer the questions of the modern-day human being. experience has shown that one with low intelligence suffers low self-esteem and myopic in world view. such a person finds it difficult to forgive and is more tribalistic, and so he excludes those who are not from his tribe or race from benefiting from his goodwill. since the candidate for the priesthood is trained to be a leader, whose life can influence the followers, it is important that the candidate is prudent in his actions. a candidate who is not prudent will be a bad leader and a negative influence. according to thomas reese (jesuit priest), “nothing chases a person out of the catholic church and away from christ faster than a bad priest. the priest does not have to be a child molester. he may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive or just stupid. more people leave the catholic church because of bad priests than because of disagreement over dogma.”28 “a good priest can spend years building a parish community, inspiring active participation in the liturgy, recruiting volunteers for the parish ministries and to help neighbourhood poor. a new pastor can destroy all that works in a few weeks.”29 it is not sufficient for a candidate to be spiritual. he must be devout. sometimes the spiritual life of a candidate is mistaken as a sign of suitability, to the detriment of other requirements. yet, such a candidate is unforgiving, malicious, and does not see the need to tame his emotions. one who has not been able to tame his emotions, no doubt, will be a scandal both in his words and in his attitudes. the task of directing vocation and forming candidates for the priesthood is an onerous one. and those who are appointed to carry out this task should be carefully selected. they should be people with mature minds and sincere in their approach to issues and evaluation of any candidate. these qualities do not necessarily come with years in 64 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the priesthood or biological age. it is much more a personal disposition informed by one’s background or situations in life. priestly vocation apart from being a gift to the recipient, it is also a gift to the church as a whole for the benefit of her mission. the faithful are also agents of the priestly vocation.30 so, in every diocese, there should be a vocation team comprising of priests and lay faithful who carry out the recruitment and evaluation of seminarians. concluding remarks the formation of seminarians today has become much more difficult than ever before. similarly, the role of the vocations director has equally doubled. the vocations director acts as a sentry for the church within his diocese, religious congregation, or society of apostolic life for which he is appointed, and as a guide for the candidate to the priesthood. the vocations director acting as a sentry on behalf of the church ensures that bad elements do not creep into the priesthood. this role has become so important as the devil masquerades to be an angel of light (2 cor 11:14-15). no doubt, he inspires his messengers as candidates to the priesthood, to be his ministers in order to carry out his mission of stealing, killing and destroying the priesthood and the souls of christians who believe in jesus christ (john 10:10). wherever the children of light are gathered, the devil too sends his angels there (job 1:6). clear evidence of inordinate missions abound in the priesthood today, with some young men trying to become priests at all costs. at any level of formation, after careful observance, where a candidate is found to be unsuitable for the clerical orders, he should in love and for the good of the church be advised to withdraw. it does not matter how many years he has spent in formation. he should not be promoted in sympathy. to deny one ordination is neither a denial of life or heaven. however, it is important that vocations directors and formator cultivate the virtue of patience in the formation of candidates. with the challenges facing family life, the task of formation will require greater patience than ever before. the key players in the process of formation are the vocations’ director, the formators in the seminary and the presbyters of the diocese or congregation the seminarian belongs. this is why it is expedient that the vocations’ director knows personally the individual candidate as well as the family background of those being admitted. the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 65 this can be achieved if there is a synergy between the vocations director and the other priests in the diocese. also, a candidate should be well known in his parish. so no candidate should be recruited who is not well known in his parish. in the early church, elders were chosen from their community and appointed for service in their community. conclusively, the vocation to the priesthood is both divine and human. it is the prerogative of the bishop to ordain young men who have been adequately prepared for the priesthood. in reality, the bishop may not really know, at a direct level the level of suitability of those he ordains. he acts on the reports that are presented to him. the vocations director and the entire presbyterium should work together to ensure that reliable candidates are admitted for formation. endnotes 1 cf. “vocation” in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vocation, accessed september 12, 2019 2 online etymology dictionary 3 hahnenberg, e.p, awakening vocation: a theology of christian call, minnesota: liturgical press, 2010, 3. 4 blowick, j, priestly vocation, dublin: m. h gill and sons ltd, 1932, 1. 5 pastores dabo vobis, n. 65. 6 https://introduction to devout life in catholicity.com, retrieved 19/9/2019. 7 pastores dabo vobis, n. 41. 8 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, newyork:the crossroad publishing company, 2004, 4. 9 see, “discernment” in wiktionary, https://en.m.wiktionary.org 10 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, 5. 11 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, 4. 12 blowick, j, priestly vocation, vii. 13 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 238. 14 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 2 15 pastores dabo vobis, n. 43. 16bernier, p, ministry in the church, (2nd ed), new york: orbis book, 2015, xii-xiii. 17 bernier, p, ministry in the church, ibid, xii 18 daft, r. l, , the leadership experience, ma: cengage learning, 2018, 5 19 bernier, p, ministry in the church, xii. 20 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 38. 21 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 315. 66 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 22 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 92. 23 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 93 24 code of canon law, canon 1041. 25 congregation for catholic education, instruction concerning the discernment of vocations with regard to persons with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission into the seminary and to the holy orders. 26 pastores dabo vobis, nn 43-57. 27 code of canon law, canon 241. 28 thomas reese, “bad priests, of all kinds, chase people away from christ and the church” in national catholic reporter, https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/bad-priests-all-kindschase-people-away-christ-and-church. retrieved 22/019/2019. 29 thomas reese, ibid. 30 pastores dabo vobis, n. 41. 207 15 promoting a seminary formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry idahosa amadasu, ph. d department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma. idahosaamadasu37@gmail.com abstract pope john paul ii’s encyclical, pastores dabo vobis, is most renowned for the four areas of priestly formation it proposes. but one who picks up this document and intends to immediately read about these areas might by disappointed. the document first examines the current situation of the priest today and the nature of the priesthood. only in the fifth of the six chapter work did the work discuss the areas of formation of candidates for the priesthood. the loud message of the structure of this document is that formation of future priests must be attentive to the nature of the priestly ministry and the context where it is to be exercised. considering the challenges facing the priestly ministry in nigeria today, especially a religious context characterised by an aggressive pentecostalism and a militant islam, this paper wishes to show that a sound theological formation, a spirituality that is informed by the great masters of the catholic tradition motivated by a strong pastoral zeal, marked by sincerity and openness and imbibed in a way that is continuous and not discontinuous with seminary formation is indispensable for a sound priestly formation today. keywords: seminary, formation, ministry, priesthood, pentecostalism introduction pope john paul ii’s pastores dabo vobis is well known for the four areas of priestly formation it outlines. with this vision, the post-synodal apostolic exhortation wishes to state that the seminary formation of the future priest should be anchored on human formation, spiritual formation, 208 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation, and pastoral formation. but one who picks up the document and hopes to immediately read these four areas of formation might be disappointed. it is only in the fifth of the six-chapter work that these areas of priestly formation are enumerated and discussed. the earlier chapters of the text are focused on the contemporary context where the priest would work today, and on the nature and mission of the priestly vocation. the clear message of the structure of the document is that the meaning of the priesthood and the contemporary context of the priestly ministry must inform the formation of candidates for the priesthood.1 this message also implies that the candidate for the priesthood should be trained in a way that seminary formation flows into priestly ministry. but the pontiff writes with an awareness of certain hindrances that might militate against this continuity when he states about the ongoing formation of priests: “with priests who have just come out of the seminary, a certain sense of "having had enough is quite understandable when faced with new times of study and meeting. but the idea that priestly formation ends on the day one leaves the seminary is false and dangerous and needs to be totally rejected.”2 what the pope identifies here is not a passing problem confronting the priestly ministry. in our own nigerian context, this problem resonates in the mentality of ‘i have arrived’ that often characterises how some view their priestly ordination. this mentality frequently promotes a certain rupture with seminary formation. we therefore often have the exhibition of certain characters in the priesthood whose modes of priestly ministry and service are alien to the formative program of the seminary. an example of this is the mad rush of many newly ordained priests to take up healing and deliverance ministries and to exhibit styles and patterns of preaching and the celebration of the liturgy that are inconsistent with their seminary formation. religious figures far from the practice and tradition of the catholic church are easily taken up by these priests as models. it is not books on the lives of saints and their teachings, church documents, classical catholic books, sound theological texts that dot their shelves; rather, the books and religious materials they consume are works of popular pentecostal pastors. while stating that the discontinuity between the way some priests exercise their ministry and their seminary formation expresses the heart of our problem, it however does not tell it all. it should be asked: what is responsible for this discontinuity between the way some exercise their priestly ministry and their seminary formation? if the seminary formation ought to have had the necessary formative ingredients that should help the priest exercise his ministry with integrity, then why has it failed to follow the priest into his ministry? or more concretely, one section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 209 may ask, is there something lacking in the seminary formation that facilitates its easy discontinuity with the priestly ministry? might we also ask if there are other causes beyond the seminary formation that contribute to this discontinuity? this paper wishes to respond to these problems by first examining the current style of priestly formation with special attention to the nigerian context. after a discussion of the problems inherent in the formation of priests, we shall proceed to propose a way forward on how this discontinuity can be overcome in order to have a credible seminary formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry. seminary formation of future priests the institutionalisation of priestly formation began in the middle ages, specifically, with the council of trent. it was precipitated by the problems that plagued the priesthood at that time, especially as it concerned the moral life of the clergy. there was, therefore, a certain vision of forming the future priest in a way that protects him from the dangers of the world. the idea of the seminary was thus envisaged with the model of a monastery. but with the pastoral renewal that vatican ii called for, while retaining the classical model of formation, there was a shift to a more pastoral style of formation. what this means is that while the enclosed system of seminary formation remains, there is also the need to form the candidate in a way that would make him equipped for the challenges of the priestly ministry in today’s world.3 pastores dabo vobis’ (pvd) outline of the four areas of priestly formation shows this post-conciliar emphasis that significantly builds upon the conciliar document on the training of priests, optatam totius (ot). it should be noted that in the decades before the council, as katarina schuth recalls from most published articles of seminary formators, the formation of seminarians was perceived to be too isolated and they were, therefore, not equipped to face the world and its challenges. one of such authors, stafford poole, a vincentian, recommended that “if the seminary is to keep abreast of the modern world, it is going to have to be reunited organically with lay education.”4 it was therefore not surprising that ot saw pastoral formation as the framework for all other aspects of formation.5 spiritual formation “should be closely connected with the doctrinal and pastoral.”6 the study of philosophy and theology should be taught in a way that their connection with the mysteries of christ and the faith and life should be evident.7 there is, however, no specific mention of human formation in ot. nevertheless, elements of human formation are present when it asks for the need to ascertain the freedom of the candidate, his ability to 210 formation of the human person in the 21st century bear the burden of the priesthood and also the maturity needed to undertake the obligation of celibacy.8 it is instructive to note that human formation, which was not clearly explicit in ot, was taken as the basis for all other areas of formation: spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral in pvd. while ot presents pastoral formation as the framework for all other aspects of formation, in pvd, human formation is taken as the foundation of all other aspects of formation. in fact, citing the synod fathers, pvd notes that “[t]he whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”9 pvd believes that a thorough human formation that is open to the truth comes to completion in spiritual formation.10 it shows how human formation is at the foundation of intellectual formation when it notes that the latter is a fundamental demand of the human intelligence by which one participates in the light of god’s mind.11 here one could read the intimate link between philosophy and theology. after affirming how human formation leads to spiritual and intellectual formation, pvd then shows how these form the content of pastoral formation, which “cannot be reduced to mere apprenticeship aiming to make the candidates familiar with pastoral techniques.”12 one can say that ot and pvd sought to harmonise the classical seminary training of monastic model with helping the future priests face the challenges of the contemporary world. ot shows how this is to be achieved by proposing that pastoral formation should be the framework of all other areas of formation. pvd seems to shift this framework to human formation, while at the same time giving more substance to pastoral formation. this did not however, concretely remove the tension between the monastic model and facing the challenge of the world that was already present in the introductory pages of ot.13 perhaps it is for this reason, that despite its clear vision of how priestly formation should go, ot asks that each bishop or episcopal conference should domesticate or inculturate its proposal on priestly formation.14 some countries and dioceses have attempted this domestication of the vision of the council by the periodic publication of a program for priestly formation.15 in nigeria, what is mainly obtainable in this regard are the handbooks/rules and regulations of the seminaries.16 they are usually anchored around the seminary horarium, content of courses, social behaviour of seminarians, and a brief philosophy of formation. the presentation of the four areas of priestly formation usually defines the seminary’s philosophy of formation. this presentation also tends to be elaborate in showing the formative principle behind each rule. here, one could find the tension between the monastic model of formation and training the candidate for the world. for example, one of the rules section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 211 and regulations published by ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodija, ibadan, states: “to avoid a diminution of their fervour for the interior life, and the distraction of their attention from sacred studies, seminarians shall not go out except at set times for outings, and in exceptional cases for a grave reason and with the approval of the dean of students. however, after christmas break, the year vii students have a general permission daily after lectures.”17 the seeming opposition that this rule reflects between the residency of the seminarian in the seminary and his outings is revealing. when this is put bluntly, it can be said that the seminarian who goes out often risks losing the fervour of his interior life and distracting himself from his seminary studies. anyone who has been to the seminary or is familiar with seminary formation would know that there is some truth in this rule. the ordinary horarium of the seminary is quite tight. so, if a seminarian goes out often or indiscriminately, then he may not properly apply himself to the seminary program. while this is a given fact, the way the rule is worded presumes some inability of the seminarian to make use of his discretion in going out, hence he is advised to only go out on outing days or with permission for a grave reason. only those seminarians in the final year, and after the christmas break, when they must have been promoted as deacons or deemed fit to be ordained deacons, can enjoy some general permission in going out. however, one could argue that since only adults are admitted to the seminary, that is, students presumed to be qualified for a university education, should they not be given more discretion in deciding when to go out, and thereby facilitate growth in training in freedom that ot and pvd speak about? here, one who is familiar with how some seminarians perceive the seminary as a prison yard would see how this impression resonates in the tension between the monastic model of formation and openness to the world. it can be said that this impression, justified or not, is what gradually grows to facilitate the discontinuity that manifests itself between seminary formation and priestly life. just as the tension between outing and residence in the seminary resonates the difficulty in harmonising the monastic model of formation and openness to the world, another area that reflects this challenge is the ban on the possession and use of private mobile phones by seminarians. like the presupposition on the rule on outings above, it is reasoned that the possession of a personal cell phone would greatly distract students from applying themselves to their program of formation. one thing clear about the ban on personal cell phones is that despite the strict punishments that go with possessing one, such as a probation or expulsion, some seminarians still keep their personal phones. there seems to be a deep lack of inner conviction about why they should not 212 formation of the human person in the 21st century have a personal cell phone. the consequence of this is that it could promote a subculture where the seminarian hides certain aspects of himself so that the whole self is not brought out for formation. such subculture could promote a general lack of sincerity towards formation. at this point, beyond the ban or permission of private cell phones, we could anchor a major reason why there is often a discontinuity between seminary formation and priestly life in the existence of a subculture in the seminarian that does not make the candidate fully open to formation. the lack of realization of the harmony that should exist between the monastic model of formation and openness to the world is the context for the growth of this subculture. generally, one could describe a subculture as the presence of some beliefs and practices that are at variance with the belief of the larger group. in this case, it means the existence of certain beliefs and practices in the seminarian that are at variance with the practices and expectations of elements of his priestly formation and priestly ministry. it could be credibly said that it is this subculture that comes into the open at ordination and manifests itself as a rupture between priestly life and seminary training. for example, what is also at stake in a seminarian possessing cell phones against a clearly stated ban by the seminary’s rules and regulations is the grooming of a subculture of disobedience. if the candidate is to be formed in learning how to obey for supernatural reasons, he should be ready to obey a law that is not sinful, even though he is not personally convinced about the reasonableness or validity of that law. no one can practice ecclesiastical obedience if he only wants to obey what he is convinced about. but it is one thing to state a problem and its consequences, while it remains a task to confront the root cause of a problem and work towards a solution. let us now move towards more effective ways to find a continuity between seminary formation and priestly life. continuity between seminary formation & priestly life the major cause of the discontinuity between seminary formation and priestly ministry that we have identified is the tension between the monastic model and facing the challenges of the world. this can also be described as the context of the problem. but it is not a context that is detached from the substance of the problem. there is need to harmonise the strength of the monastic model and the relevance of openness to the world. this is indispensable for domesticating a credible formative program that would be well assimilated and lasting. a significant point of departure here is that the monastic model or the isolated seminary environment should not be considered as existing against the world, the way the aforementioned rule of ss. peter and paul on outing seem to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 213 have been phrased. one central message that the future priest would have to teach the people is how lay persons in the middle of the world can have an interior life. the interior life is not something that should exist outside the world, but it must form how we live the world. this fact can be explained by the way joseph ratzinger understands the model of an open church. he first notes that there should not be opposition between the church and the world, because the church is not worldless (weltlos). the world is not a place that exists besides the church, just as it does not exist for itself because its history and development is closely tied to the history of humanity. the biblical picture, however, shows that the history of human relationships exists in ambiguity because of the goodness and the evil present in human history. for this reason, ratzinger notes that the dialogue between the church and the world should reject a one-sided demonisation of the world, and a onesided glorification of science and technology. the crucial element of this dialogue is not a matter of the degree of the church’s openness to the world, but how the church is open to the world.18 in the same vein, the enclosed set up of seminary formation should not be conceived as a place designed in opposition to the world. rather, it should be viewed as a place to prepare the future priests for the world they will live and exercise their priestly ministry in. when this is concretely understood, it would be easy to see that for example, it is more profitable that the seminary environment teaches the seminarian how to use and keep a personal cell phone than to have a ban on keeping one because of perceived abuses. in this way, a vital aspect of the self, that is, the use and possession of a personal handset, is made open to formation. such efforts at formation would be directed to drawing out formative ethics on the use and ownership of cell phones rather than disciplinary measures to ban them. in this way, one would be able to avoid the growth of a subculture that is at odds with the formative culture of the seminarian. what this example of the cell phone points to is that the more seminarians are made to be open, the better they can be formed. the affirmation of pvd that human formation is the basis of all other areas of formation can be interpreted along this line: only when the seminarian is open or the enabling environment is created for him to be open, can he be formed in all areas of priestly formation. when pvd states that human formation entails the capacity to relate with others, it implies that only one that can relate with others can also relate with god. if god is personal, without a capacity to form personal relationships the candidate will not be able to deal with god as a person. it is for this reason that the ratio fundamentalis says that a well-structured humanity is indispensable for a true spirituality.19 when a true openness leads to the development 214 formation of the human person in the 21st century of a sound spiritual life, the seminarians’ intellectual formation will be driven by love for the truth. it is a love for the truth that is founded on a genuine human inquiry and faith. in this case, fidelity to the church’s teachings or orthodoxy will not be viewed as a mere adherence to some prescriptions. rather, they will be a motivation of the human inquiry for the truth. just as being critical does not turn one to being sceptical, so being faithful to the church’s teachings does not make one uncritical or unable to ask mary’s question to archangel gabriel’s message: “how shall this be done, since i do not know man.” (lk. 1:34). in this respect, the seminarian will not see the expectations of his state and the priestly ministry as mere rules and regulations to keep. rather, they will be seen as truths to live out. he will not see himself as doing something extraordinary in taking up the obligation of celibacy. rather, when celibacy is understood and accepted with formation in the four areas, it will first be seen as a specific way to live out the virtue of chastity. the well-formed seminarian knows that every christian, including married persons are called to live that chastity. it is in this respect that celibacy will be understood as a joyful renunciation of what one considers great and beautiful. this frame of mind makes its easy to exercise vigilance and avoid any occasion of sin or compromising situations out of a firm conviction, and not simply to put up some external appearance. it is precisely for this reason that pvd identifies the formation of conscience and maturity as indispensable for human formation. this formation is the best guarantee for exercising authentic freedom and responsibility. the emphasis on formation must seek to address the conscience of seminarians, make them always recognise their freedom to be priests, and how that freedom could also make them to properly discern a choice for a different state of life. with such a mindset, just as the seminarian could in freedom decide not to continue in the seminary, so does the seminarian that looks towards the priesthood prepare himself beyond priestly ordination. the seminary horarium would be seen as a means for that formation, an aid to developing a plan of life. one significant fact of the horarium is the daily recitation of the divine office, which only clerics and religious are obliged to recite. seminarians recite it daily as a way of helping them to form the habit that would enable them to take up this future obligation. but on certain days in the week, like their free days and outing days where the regular horarium does not apply, seminarians are asked to say these prayers privately. this, i believe, is one of the best ways to gauge whether seminarians are imbibing a prayer life that will lead them into the priestly ministry. there are slim chances that the seminarian who does not say his prayers on those free days will do so in the priestly ministry. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 215 such days that seminarians are asked to do their prayers privately cannot be assessed by external disciplinary measures. this is where a good culture of spiritual direction is indispensable in the seminary. here, many seminaries in nigeria would need to do better. some don’t have sufficient number of spiritual directors compared to the number of their seminarians, and quite often, most spiritual directors do not have the training that is comparable to that of their other colleagues. it is not so common to find spiritual directors who have studied up to doctoral level as we have in those who teach other courses in philosophy and theology. there is need for more time, personnel, and resources to be invested in spiritual direction in our seminaries. a good culture of spiritual direction will help the seminarian assimilate the elements of his formation in greater depth. a seminarian who does not go for spiritual direction often, or who lacks a good culture of spiritual direction, will also not be able to give spiritual direction to others. little wonder that there are frequent complaints that most priests are not disposed for spiritual direction. what we often have are problem centered counseling sessions. a systematic culture of spiritual direction, where the christian is led to live a balanced interior life with the goal of holiness of life is frequently lacking for many lay persons. the root cause of this problem might be traceable to how seminarians have been formed in the culture of spiritual direction. this point on spiritual direction already draws our attention to how a good human and spiritual formation also leads to a good pastoral formation. this pastoral formation will be supported with clear ideas that are informed by a sound intellectual formation. philosophical studies must prepare the mind to think clearly; to appreciate the foundation of objective truth and knowledge and the subjective dimensions in which these have been expressed throughout history. such an opening creates the enabling environment for a theological formation that is orthodox and at the same time critical. with the guidance of scripture and the church’s teachings, in critical dialogue with other human disciplines, the seminarian will be equipped with the content of his pastoral ministry. such content cannot be a mere acquisition of knowledge to be dispensed, but it must always have depth in the candidate’s personal conviction and way of life. it is for this reason that the seminarian’s intellectual and spiritual formation must be sufficiently exposed to catholic tradition in a way that every seminarian would adopt models from the great spiritual masters and saints. this exposure, which should already begin in the spiritual year program, would help the seminarian to have tested guides and their rich experiences to draw from. when this is lacking, as people always look for models, in their craze for relevance, the seminarian or priest easily picks up models that are at variance with his formation as we see in 216 formation of the human person in the 21st century the corrupt pentecostalism that is afflicting the priestly ministry of some today. this lack of having true models is not helped by the fact that many of these practices that are contrary to a sound priestly ministry as we find in the preponderance of healing and deliverance ministries, seem to be tolerated in the dioceses. the seminarian could therefore grow with a mentality that certain practices not in tandem with his seminary formation could be practiced as priests. little wonder that one often hears that seminary formation is not practical for the pastoral ministry. but the fact is that it is a seminary formation that has not been well imbibed and the existence of a certain subculture groomed within and outside the seminary that is ultimately responsible for the rupture between seminary formation and priestly ministry. finally, one cannot rule out the role of formators in helping seminarians inculcate the seminary formation. it is a time-honoured recommendation of the church that only the best of priests or those who exercise their priestly ministry with integrity should be sent to be seminary formators.20 this must be followed religiously. while on-going formation of formators is important, the seminary system should have an internal system of accountability where formators can always have personal and communal review of their participation in the formation program. for example, at the end of every course, there should be a way of evaluating or getting feedbacks about how the course has been taught by the formator or lecturer. this helps to maintain a certain standard among formators. conclusion in this paper we have shown that the discontinuity that exists between seminary formation and the priestly ministry can be traced to the tension between the monastic or enclosed seminary set up and openness to the world. both dimensions have strengths that can be harmonised when they are not seen in opposition: the enclosed seminary set up is to prepare the seminarian for the world he is going to serve. therefore, rather than seeing the world as something to protect the seminarian from, he should be prepared to live in the world. as advised by pvd, human formation should be taken as the basis of this formation. here the emphasis on formation in conscience and openness would allow the seminarian grow in a maturity that would enable him to exercise his freedom responsibly. this would avoid the growth of any subculture, within and outside the seminary, that leads to hiding aspects of the self that become manifest after ordination to create a rupture between seminary formation and priestly ministry. with such a strong human formation, the candidate is disposed to having a personal relationship with god which makes him imbibe his prayer life beyond the mere section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 217 observance of routine or seminary horarium. the prayer life should be founded on an interior life that is open to the truth and founded on an intellectual formation that is orthodox and critical. this helps to shape a pastoral formation which flows from a deep interior life. the role of spiritual direction in helping the seminarian grow in this interior life cannot be overemphasized. the seminary must always be equipped with well formed spiritual directors, just as it should be for other formators who must have a systematic program of on-going formation. it is hoped that when the right environment is created for the seminarian to open up himself for formation with an exposure to the tested models of catholic spiritual and intellectual traditions, the seminary formation will find a continuity in the priestly ministry. endnotes 1 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis [post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests], vatican website, march 25, 1992, accessed february 23, 2020. 2 ibid, 76. (sic) 3 cf. katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history— current circumstances— new directions (collegeville, mn: liturgical press, 2016), 11, john w. o’malley, trent: what happened at the council (cambridge, ma: harvard university press), 201 4 poole, seminary in crisis, 14, 28–29; also as quoted in white, the diocesan seminary in the united states, 413. all cited in katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 23 5 vatican ii, optatam totius, 1 6 ibid, 8 7 ibid, 16-18 8 ibid, 4 9 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 43; synod proposition, 21 10 ibid, 45 11 ibid, 51 12 ibid, 58 13 katarina schuth notes how this tension was expressed: “from the first paragraph onward considerable disagreement is evidenced between the traditional and the progressive council fathers about the direction ot should take. in the introduction, the document first acknowledges the “supreme importance of priestly formation” and in the same sentence goes on to assure the more traditional bishops that it would strengthen the regulations that had long been in use and shown to be sound. at the same time, it promises those who see the need for a new kind of seminary that it has added new elements that “correspond with the constitutions and decrees of this council and with the changed conditions of our time” (ot introduction). the prescriptions of the decree directly concerned the training of 218 formation of the human person in the 21st century diocesan clergy but were to be appropriately adapted to all clerical training, including religious and monastic priests.” katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 14 14 vatican ii, optatam totius, 2. 15 for an example of such programs in the united states, for example, see katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 19-32. 16 see for example, catholic major seminary of all saints, handbook of the seminary of all saints (benin city: floreat systems, 2014); seminary of ss. peter & paul, rules & regulations (bodija, ibadan: claverium press, 1987); seminary of ss. peter & paul and seminary of all saints, handbook on the social behaviour of seminarians (benin city: floreats systems, 2015) 17 seminary of ss. peter & paul, rules & regulations, 44 18 joseph ratzinger, “der christ und die welt von heute.” in dogma und verkündigung, (donauwörth: eroch wewel verlag, 1973, reprint 2005), 179-189 19 congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocation: ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, vatican website, december 8, 2016, accessed february 28, 2020, 93 20 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 67 182 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 2 seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light of modern challenges kenneth adewole adesina introduction every organization or community of human beings that have an objective or goal to achieve must as a matter of necessity eschew a programme of formation that will empower its protagonists in the task of attaining the overall goal. this plan must take cognizance of the peculiarities and intricacies that define the identities, collective and individuals, of all the human, material and procedural elements involved in the quest to attain the set goal. it is within this general purview of orientation for goal achievement that we want to look into seminaries and priestly formation, examining their status vis-à-vis the goal and focus of the church as regards the catholic priesthood. how can we situate the catholic priesthood within the mission of christ and his church? what is the relevance of the seminary to this mission and how does it help in ensuring adequate preparation for the challenges and demands of the priesthood. in doing justice to the above puzzles, we shall be highlighting the various aspects of formation in the seminary, paying greater attention to the practical presentation of the contemporary situation in the seminary. similarly, we shall be dwelling on the modern challenges facing priestly formation in the seminaries, with a view to proffering new opportunities for seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 183 enrichment to a system that is poised to maintain efficacy and relevance of its core values in every age and situation. seminaries: relevance to priestly vocation when jesus called his apostles, he already had the plan to entrust his mission to them. at the moment of their call, the apostles were not ready for that mission, so, they spent time with jesus, they listened to him; they were with him on his journeys and witnessed his miracles. all these prepared them for the mission that would be entrusted to them later. similarly, “the priestly vocation is a continuation of the call to the disciples; the lord continues to call out to young men to participate in his salvific mission as priests”1. the seminary becomes a place of encounter between jesus and the disciple he calls. the relationship between them is expressed by the word: “vocation”, a word that is derived from the latin verb vocare, which signifies: “to call”.2 within the context of priestly formation in the seminary, the word “vocation” can be considered from three different perspectives: the calling authority, the person called and the manifestation of that call.3 at the first instance, it is an invitation given by jesus himself; the second instance shows it to be both a positive response and willingness to participate in the life of the one who calls; then the last connotes peculiar and active participation in the mission for which one is called. thus, as a nursery for vocation, the seminary prepares young people to become protagonists of the salvation that christ makes available to the world. achieving this goal will require a formative programme that is cognizant of the intricacies that surround the people, institutions and the peculiarities of the situations involved in the process of bringing the salvation of god to all nations. in the realization that the priestly vocation is “a treasure that god always puts in the heart of some men, whom he has chosen and called to follow him in this special state of life.”4 the seminary becomes not just a place, but also an opportunity, process and means of accompaniment that understands the various elements involved in the mission of the church. it seeks to understand the peculiarities of each individual invited by god to work in his vineyard as priests, and subsequently through 184 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age appropriate means, assists the invited young people not only to realize the values inherent in the priestly vocation, but more importantly, help them to discover and develop the necessary attitude that facilitate the attainment of the goal for which christ instituted the priesthood in the church. in the words of pope francis, seminary formation "is not a unilateral act by which one transmits theological or spiritual notions. jesus did not say to those he called: 'come, i will explain' or 'follow me, i will teach you'; instead the formation christ offered to his disciples was 'come and follow me', 'do as i do', and this is the method that even today the church wants to adopt for her ministers. the formation of which we speak is a 'disciplining’ experience, which draws men close to christ and to conform more and more to him"5 seminaries and contemporary challenges in meeting up with their responsibilities for the formation of priests, seminaries have structures and formative curriculum that facilitate the attainment of the priestly goal. while we shall be adducing more facts in the evaluative treatment of the present situation of seminary formation, it is pertinent to state that our seminaries have always been very loud in the profession of their faithfulness to the four cardinal dimensions of priestly formation – spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human. the various stages of formation are aided by an array of effective agents, who ensure that candidates for the priesthood are aided in the acquisition of the values inherent in these four dimensions of formation as eschewed by pastores dabo vobis and corroborated by other church documents. however, instead of giving a deeper treatment to these already known aspects of formation, this write-up shall be dwelling more on the evaluation of the present situation in our seminaries in order to accentuate necessary points that should be reviewed or reconsidered, abrogated or reinforced. without any particular order of importance, i want to start by examining the style of formation adopted in our seminaries. seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 185 pedagogy in adopting the classic freestanding model of formation where all aspects of formation are conducted in-house, 6 our seminaries attempt to make the seminarians realize that even though they are in the world, they are not of this world. so, spending more time in ‘isolation’ from the world, seminarians are equipped with sufficient spiritual, intellectual and moral strength that will enable them to function well in their mission to bring god’s salvation to all men. while there is no denying the fact that seminarians have enough opportunities for theoretical knowledge of what to do and opportunities to learn on the field during pastoral works; it is pertinent to note that seminaries need to do more in the area of training and workshop that would equip the student with practical skills on how to effectively transform their theoretical knowledge into practical situations of life for pastoral efficacy. in order to avoid the identity crisis that may come from this, the seminary formators and the various agents of formation must ensure that the adopted model of formation does not shy away from the reality of the ‘field’ where the seminarians will later work as priests. it must start inculcating in them, right from the seminary, the reality of the people among whom they are called to minister, and the urgency of getting ready to so mix with the ‘sheep’ they will pastor, so that they themselves may have the odour of the sheep.7 following this, there is a need for a review of the pedagogical approach in most of our seminaries. while there is actually no need to do away with or reduce the seminary’s emphasis on order, structure and discipline, seminary formators must realize, not only that their task actually goes beyond ensuring that candidates are vast and well-grounded in theological truth and priestly spirituality, but also that doctrinal orthodoxy, liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly spirituality do not sufficiently define optimum formation. consequently, it becomes expedient that seminaries get their pedagogical approach right and realize that the project entrusted to them goes beyond ‘training of priest’, and that their real duty is actually the ‘formation of the priest’. more than a mere exercise in semantics, understanding the task ahead of the seminaries as formation of priests, over and above mere training of 186 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age priests, will help seminary formators evaluate their pedagogical approach to see if their students eventually are transformed into ‘disciples’ and not just career pastors. this is a major paradigm change that the new ratio emphasizes and calls for. notwithstanding the models of priestly formation that is chosen in a seminary, the focus must change from ‘training of seminarians’ to ‘formation of seminarians in discipleship’. this is well captured by archbishop eamon martin when he adduces that “it has to be fundamental then, to every model of seminary, that we all – seminarians, rectors and formators, theologians – on the lifelong journey of discipleship, called to follow jesus christ. consequently, the distinctions between the steps (propaedeutic, initial, permanent), between the roles (of bishop, rector, formator, spiritual director), between the dimensions (human, spiritual, pastoral and academic) and between the stages (discipleship, configuration, pastoral) are all somewhat secondary and instrumental to the overall integral formation of each of us as pilgrims along the sequela christi – under the action of the holy spirit and sustained by the grace of god”.8 this emphasis on pedagogical approach carries with it a reappraisal of our general understanding of the priestly vocation as a gift – a treasure – gifted by god. in the words of pope francis, “this treasure, which needs to be discovered and brought to light, is not meant to “enrich” just someone. the one called to the ministry is not the “master” of his vocation, but the administrator of a gift that god has entrusted to him for the good of all people, rather, of all men and women, including those who have distanced themselves from religious practice or do not profess faith in christ. at the same time, the whole of the christian community is the guardian of the treasure of these vocations, destined for his service, and it must be ever more conscious of the duty to promote them, welcome them and accompany them with affection”.9 consequent upon the fact that the priestly vocation is a treasured gift to the entire human race, and that people gifted with such treasure must be assisted to appreciate, value and use it well through a whole process of discipleship, seminary formators must keep in mind that formation does not end in the seminary. as the ratio puts it, “the experience of discipleship of those called to the seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 187 priesthood is never interrupted… the priest not only learns to know christ, but under the action of the holy spirit, he finds himself within a process of gradual and continuous configuration to him, in his being, and his acting, which constantly challenges the person to inner growth”.10 so, while the seminary formator has a lot of roles to play in the discernment of the vocation of others, he must himself realize that his own discipleship is not ended; he must remain open to further guidance from the master; and his own attitude becomes an inspiration to the seminarian to allow themselves to be influenced and nourished by the holy spirit. not only from books, but the seminarians will also learn from the humility of their formators that “the priest can never consider himself to be definitively formed… [he] is certainly not the man who arrives at a parish perfectly packaged, with all the answers. there will often be people who are more qualified than him in facing particular problems, and the new challenges that emerge may well be beyond his seminary formation”.11 the priest, who is a formator, can also learn from the students he forms in various ways. in fact, instead of putting up a show of pseudo perfection because of its undermining effects on discipleship that characterizes seminary formation, formators must take to heart, the admonition of pope benedict xvi that “the faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and god”12 the indispensable role of the formators in ‘mentoring’ seminarians is well stated by pope francis in an address to the congregation for the clergy: “formation is… not a unilateral act by which someone transmits theological or spiritual notions. jesus did not say to those he called: ‘come, let me explain,’ ‘follow me, i will teach you’; no! the formation offered by christ to his disciples came rather as a ‘come, and follow me,’ ‘do as i do,’ and this is the method today too, the church wants to adopt for her ministers.”13 discipleship, both from the side of the seminarians and the formators means a proper understanding that formation is “not about mastering techniques or functional roles, but about following the path of discipleship: internalizing in co-operation with divine grace, the core virtues and ideals of disciples. put simply, one 188 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age cannot be a credible witness, shepherd, healer or proclaimer of the good news to contemporary culture unless one is rooted in a profound relationship with jesus with the zeal and attitude of a disciple that will last a lifetime”.14 so, the seminary, both as a school and process of formation in discipleship for both the formators and the seminarians must ensure a steady form of growth in church leadership; inculcating the leadership values that are christian, opening up to the guiding influence of the holy spirit, and understanding the view expressed by st. john chrysostom that “the most basic task of a church leader is to discern the spiritual gifts of all those under his authority, and to encourage those gifts to be used to the full benefit of all. only a person who can discern the gifts of others and can humbly rejoice at the flourishing of these gifts is fit to lead the church”.15 the challenge of discernment and personality formation while the spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human dimensions of priestly formation are well spelt out; there is an aspect that the present reality of formation demands that we pay closer attention. this aspect has to do with discernment, but i will like to put it as emotional formation. it has to be given greater attention in seminary formation, either as a new dimension of formation on its own or as a well-accentuated and integral part of the human formation. this view is coming, not just because contemporary studies have revealed the importance and significance of emotional quotient and the influence of the management of emotion in personality formation and overall performance of man (which is not within the scope of this write-up), but more importantly because of its centrality in discernment and pastoral efficacy. first and foremost, making choices is really not as easy as it looks, but at various stages of life, we have to make choices. what is the basis of the choices we make? important choices, such as demanded by priestly vocation, are so often accompanied by risks or laden with fear, that one cannot really make them right without courage and sincerity (at the natural level), and without divine assistance (at the supernatural level). thus, considering the whole complexity that revolves around senses, sensibility, emotion, action and sentiment in the whole process of personality seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 189 formation and decision-making, one cannot but ask the important question: how much of attention do we pay to all these in priestly formation? not to talk of the post-seminary experiences of priests and the frequent occurrence of depression (or desolation, to use a less stereotyped expression), the seminary formation needs to do more in assisting seminarians to really ‘understand’ themselves and the intricacies surrounding the decisions they make. like any sound human being, it is necessary that seminarians and priests understand the art of managing emotions (and avoid being managed by emotions), so that when such emotions are seeking transformation into action through sentiments, they are not only in good stead to make right choices that are in accordance to their priestly aspiration and identity, but more importantly, the adequate formation of their emotion will grant them an openness to sincerely engage every element of formation with openness. the seminary formation, even if it cannot pay great attention to it, must put seminarians through the basic steps of emotional formation, which include among other things: being sincere in giving a name to one’s feeling (feel your feeling); discovering the source of one’s feeling (be sincere and intelligent); discerning immediately whether the feeling is good or bad (be attentive and timely); comporting oneself in a coherent mode (be courageous in taking a good decision); paying constant attention to mastering one’s feeling (be vigilant and responsible).16 when this is done, the requirement of the ratio that accompaniment, engagement and discernment should be ensured to put the seminary formative programme into perspective that integrates well into the personality of the seminarian.17 considering the place of fear and hazardous effects of being controlled by one’s emotion and inordinate feelings, we shall appreciate the effect that emotional formation will have on overall priestly formation, especially in the areas of relationship, of trust between seminarians and the various agents of formation; honest assessment of strength and weakness, and disclosure of these to formators; willingness to receive and accept direction, guidance and correction; and building the capacity to live discipleship ad priesthood consistently. 190 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age recommendations and areas of further development in addition to giving adequate considerations to issues already raised above, priestly formation in the contemporary church will be enhanced for greater efficacy if the following points will be treated not only with great attention that they deserved but also given the urgency that will stem the rot that they are creating: i. call for a ratio nationalis for nigeria: as requested by the ratio fundamentalis, the episcopal conference should put up the necessary machinery that must include a deep and collegial co-operation of all our bishops with the lay faithful and experienced men and women in the area of formation, to formulate a ratio nationalis the deep import of this lies in “not only implementing the new ratio in a way that takes account of local traditions, customs and needs, but also courageously moving the whole formation experience beyond past and present methods, so that priests will be suitably prepared to engage and evangelize the secularized contemporary culture”.18 ii. evaluation of current admission standard and procedures: while the practice of lowering the standard of admission in areas of low vocation is not the best, we should also be wearied of raising the standard of those to be admitted so high that authentic vocations are destroyed. however, this is expressed without any prejudice to the fact that every aspirant should have the merit of his application considered by competent people, and the fact that greater attention should be paid to the prevalent falling standard of academic (and lack of interest in studies) into our various houses of formation. iii. how to help seminarians acquire a balanced view of the church: it should never be taken for granted that aspirants to the priesthood have the right view and image of the church. it is then pertinent that, even if it will be in a form of a workshop during their orientation programme, seminaries should ensure that seminarians have a good knowledge of basic ecclesiology – the mission of the church, their place and role in the entire missionary enterprise of the church. this will enable them to build seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 191 their entire formation into the mission of the church right from the beginning. iv. how to discern and understand the impact of secular society, culture and values on seminarians: since the church is called to show the light of salvation to the world, seminaries must not just resign to fate in the acceptance of deficiencies evident in the formation of young people aspiring to the priesthood. the formation team in the seminary must stay ahead of their society to identify values that are inimical to the priestly formation and device a way of helping seminarians shed the toga of evil or immoral values. however, while a compromise of value is no option, understanding is required to help aspirants understand the need to move beyond such ungodly values – even if the society sees nothing wrong in them. v. an understanding of the characteristics of the age from which seminarians come: every age has its peculiarities, which can be identified both in strength and weaknesses. it is pertinent that our agents of formation, especially, the formation team of the seminaries, develop a means of proper understanding the young seminarians with the intricacies that define their age and values. our approach to priestly formation must devise a means of channelling the winning mentality and readiness for challenge of the present-day youth into primary evangelization, and correct their disinterestedness in anything institutional; we must annex their hyper-connectedness in the social media for religious orientation and evangelization, without failing in correcting their weak human relations; and while formation takes cognizance of their naïve view of faith and gifts as personal belongings. it must never fail to teach them in charity, the true meaning of ‘communion’ and help them to strip themselves of self-sufficiency mentality through proper discernment. vi. the notion of human formation: in addition to issues already raised under emotional formation, seminary formation must pay attention to, and consider formation as a progressive achievement, a lifelong journey of 192 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age integration and discipleship, which must take note of the specificity of the individual seminarian. learning from the experience of the once buoyant and vibrant churches in the western world, the formation must pay attention to the rising tendencies of extreme clericalism and pride. the image of the priest as a servant leader must be underlined and defined to stem the cancerous tendency of viewing the priest as a ‘deputy god’ or a clerical chief. vii. integration of formation: consequent upon the insistence of the ratio on the centrality of integration and personality, “the process of formation must educate the person in the truth of his being, in freedom and in selfcontrol.”19 this must not just be assumed, but practical lessons in form of seminars and workshops must be organized to help the integration of the various elements of formation into the personality of the seminarian. it is not enough to evaluate the readiness or otherwise in this regard, seminaries must concretely prepare them for this integration and authenticity that the priesthood requires. 20 viii. research and teaching: considering the nature of many seminaries in nigeria and opportunities of researches and discoveries inherent there, the seminary should form the bedrock of the church’s response to many challenges. as charity begins at home, our seminary communities should be able to and create time for concrete researches and teaching modules on how to address specific challenges like the transition from seminary to parish experience, dealing with extreme clericalism, careerism, commercialism, healing ministry etc. ix. seminary formators: the importance of the issues already raised will require that our seminaries are properly staffed and that the ratio of seminarians to formator is kept as low as possible. most of our seminaries do not have enough formators to adequately guarantee the requirement of the ratio fundamentalis. it becomes expedient then, that more formators are sent to the seminaries; that more priests are sent for further studies to prepare them for seminaries; that the priests in the seminaries do not overstay their relevance to avoid burnout and redundancy; seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 193 and that where there are cases of lack of interest to go into formation by priests, their genuine reasons should be considered and addressed. x. special needs in formation: among the special needs of the seminaries that must be looked into, i will strongly recommend that each seminary should have a formator that is capable of addressing the issues that pertain to the emotional formation. while this is without prejudice to the presence and need of both spiritual directors and psychologist, i will show a greater preference for a pastoral approach to it. conclusion over the centuries, the church has been providing effective leadership to the world, this has been possible so far, because, in addition to the divine grace bestowed on the church, she has been able to so positioned herself to see things before the world sees, to see farther than the world sees, and to see more things than the world sees. by so doing, she has been able to stay above the destructive and manipulative schemes of the world. this experience has been incorporated into the formation of priests and it has proven beyond doubt to be effective. with the issues already raised, it is my candid opinion that the church in the contemporary world cannot afford to be disinterested or treat with levity, the formation of priests, and that all aspects and needs of formation must be prioritized not only because this will ensure the relevance of the church in our time, but more importantly because effective formation remains the only sure path we have towards the achievement of the church’s missionary goal of making disciples of all nations. endnotes 1 franc rode, il cristo della formazione: manuale biblico e teologico di formazione alla vita religiosa, (vatican city: libreria editrice vaticana, 2010), 190. 194 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 2 cf. charton lewis, a latin dictionary: founded on andrews’ edition of freund’s latin dictionary, (oxford: clarendon press, 1879). 3 cf. william addis – thomas arnold (eds.), a catholic dictionary, (london: kessinger pub. 2004), 840843. 4 pope francis, address to the plenary of the congregation for the clergy, 3 october 2014, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/ papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 5 ibid. 6 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xxx 7 pope francis, homily at the chrism mass on holy thursday march 28, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papafrancesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 8 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation: assessing the past, reflecting on the present and imagining the future, minnesota: liturgical press, 2019, p. xix 9http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents /papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html 10 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 80 11 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xviii 12 benedict xvi, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_polandclergy.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 13 pope francis, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/ papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 14 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. 20 15 john chrysostom, six books on the priesthood, trans. g.w. butterworth, crestwood: st. vladimir seminary press, 1964, p. 44. 16 cf. amedeo cencini, dall’aurora io ti cerco: evangelizzare la sensibilita per imparare a discernere, milano: san paolo, 2018. 17 cf. ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 43-53 18 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xvi 19 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 63 20 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 131 84 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 6 the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria: context and content paul ọlátúbọ̀sún àdajà introduction a priest must be convinced of two things. the first is the faith. faith in this sense means that his primary orientation must always be towards god. this is very similar to the understanding of joseph ratzinger when he avers that faith is “taking up a position, as taking a stand trustfully on the ground of the word of god.1 essentially, faith will, therefore, mean one “entrusting oneself to that which has not been made by oneself and never could be made and which precisely in this way supports and makes possible all our making.”2 the second is his vocation. vocation must also be understood in the sense of its etymology which means “to call, to name, to summon.”3 at the background, a call is a tensive dynamic. one is always called from something or somewhere. one is also especially in the christian sense of vocation called for something. there is, therefore, a call from something and a call for something. dietrich bonhoeffer’s statement that when “christ calls a man; he bids him to come and die” should, therefore, be understood not in the sense of annihilation but a death to something that makes living for something else possible.4 the certainty of a priest’s faith and vocation is not of a static dimension. it is a certainty that abides in a spectrum. it is a tensive certainty. a certainty that is subject to doubt. however, the permanent the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 85 character of this doubt is that one’s orientation of always towards god. in the words of the anonymous writer of the cloud of unknowing. you must also know that this darkness and this cloud will always be between you and your god, whatever you do. they will always keep you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your intellect and will block you from feeling him fully in the sweetness of love in your emotions. so, be sure you make your home in this darkness. stay there as long as you can, crying out to him over and over again because you love him. it is the closest you can get to god here on earth, by waiting in this darkness and in this cloud.5 this jarring subjection of a priest’s certainty to doubt has been captured best in the words of cyran that “faith consists of a series of contradictions held together by grace.”6 this certainty of faith and vocation in the life of a priest was what i saw some twenty years ago when i got to all saints’ major seminary, uhiele-ekpoma for my priestly formation. that was where i met fr anselm jimoh. the relationship has been one of respect of a brilliant scholar and of considerable distance since he was my formator and will always be. i do hope that the following pages i write will be a respectable testimony of what i have learned from fr. anselm jimoh. my aim in this paper is to argue that it is upholding the primacy of the logos in the context and content of priestly formation guarantees the faith and vocation of the formandi. what this paper will not do is to argue that the present priestly formation efforts in nigeria (of which i am a grateful beneficiary) is outdated or unproductive. my aim is to highlight our present remarkable efforts and argue that we can make them more productive with a better understanding of our context. the nigerian context and content the nigerian context today is that of a schizoid anthropological crisis. the average nigerian is today locked in two worlds. we live in our own world, but our lives are characterized by continuous contact and interaction with the west. this contact was and has never been of equal partners and yet the inequality of that contact is both the source of repulsion and attraction in this relationship. the most enduring effect of this contact has been a confusing picture of the human person that subsists afterwards.7 we are neither here nor there. we are neither fully 86 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nigerian nor western. with us, “nothing is purely local, nothing is purely foreign, everything is remotely global.”8 our orientation is to the west for an idea of humanity, but the western idea of humanity is also sufficiently diseased. the crucial reality that determines the fate of so many is that we are more than ever submerged by ‘white material,’ but still, have only limited access to its trade secrets.9 our bodies live in the land on the niger yet our souls are all over the world. our source of pride lies mostly on setting our feet outside our shores. home is never enough, not just for the young (which is normal) but also for the old. that we have even thrived at all in the midst of this is nothing short of a miracle. our desires as nigerians seem to have an anthropological disorder that is not only painful but crisis-ridden. unfortunately, it is a problem that ravages the african continent. the human person has never been so poor and yet our understanding of the human person has never been so impoverished. benedict xvi describes this anthropological crisis by saying that like the rest of the world, africa is experiencing a culture shock which strikes at the age-old foundations of social life, and sometimes makes it hard to comes to terms with modernity.10 i must note here that though both the west and africa are facing an anthropological crisis, they are of different kinds. everywhere the modern person, after all, suffocates in a world that offers everything except answers to the deeper ‘why ‘questions.’11 in the west, this crisis is borne out of a large-scale rejection of values that have mainly held the west together. ratzinger notes that “in this central question of man which still remains of the greatest importance, all the human problems of our time converge.”12 however, in africa, the anthropological crisis started as a result of the ‘violent’ disruption of life as it was known before the contact with the west. since this contact is still ongoing and will be ongoing for a while, it is the most significant background that shapes this anthropological crisis. this does not mean this contact is directly responsible for everything in nigeria presently, it simply means that our presently anthropological crisis is simply incomprehensible without the context of this contact. ela captures the reality of this contact when he states that: the problem is further complicated by the fact that the current generation does not necessarily look to african cultural traditions for answers to all its questions. because the young people of today have emerged from the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 87 school systems conveying alienating messages and few have experienced initiation rites, the totality of the african universe is not open to them, and they cannot draw on the knowledge transmitted by the great masters of oral tradition.13 every african (nigeria inclusive) value that has held for centuries can no longer be taken for granted. our value of family life is so overrated and exaggerated nowadays that we are often ashamed to admit it. how do we explain our respect for life amid the bodies lying in many parts of africa? suicides which in the past was a rarity and mostly occurs in the case of honor is now not only common but also has roots in the depression holding sway in many african societies.14 how do we understand the richness of the ubuntu philosophy with the xenophobia in south africa? how about many of our inter-tribal conflicts which now have a dimension that we could never have imagined. the context of the western contact has also transformed our capacity for conflict. for instance, a conflict between a citizen of nigeria and south african would have been unimaginable 200 years ago. we also deal today with the crisis of advanced fee fraud in which nigerian scammers are the role models who even have biblical links.15 how do we fit our increased level of poverty, human trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution into our understanding of the human person? what has happened to our ideals of orúkọ rere dára ju wúrà òun fàdákà?16 one of the saddest realities that mirror the anthropological crises in nigeria and across africa is child soldiers. how did we really get so low in our idea of the human person? a further appreciation of this contact between the west and nigeria has also introduced some ideas which could not have been imagined without this contact. the value of western medicine which has helped us understand more some of our common ailments like malaria cannot be overestimated. the fear and killing of twins were also a scourge which came to end with this contact. this contact has also transformed our world in terms of art. our array of the musical instruments has also been expanded, thanks to this contact. also, the rise of soccer in the continent especially nigeria is unimaginable without contact with the west. for the most part, in nigeria, this game keeps us united. in some cases, this contact has been for good and in some cases, it has left us for the worst. however, the worst outcome of 88 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this contact is the anthropological crisis our country suffers from today. yet, i am not sure we can resolve this crisis outside the context of this contact. while the context of nigeria today is the anthropological crisis, the content of that crisis is pentecostal. while pentecostal is immediately thought of a religious phenomenon, my understanding of this phenomenon extends beyond the religious connotations. it is a national phenomenon, especially in nigeria. however, this nonreligious aspect of this phenomenon can be well understood if we put attention to its religious manifestation. nigeria has some of the biggest pentecostal churches in africa if not in the world. the pentecostal presence in nigeria is not limited to the religious space. it has spilt into politics, organized crime, and education. a good number of private universities are owned by pentecostal churches (or more accurately pastors).17 anthonio spadaro describes pentecostalism as “the belief that god wants his followers to have a prosperous life, that is, to be rich, healthy and happy. this type of christianity places the well being of the believer at the center of prayer, and turns god the creator into someone who makes the thoughts and desires of believers come true.”18 spadaro makes an obvious link between the prosperity gospel and the american dream. this trend is not absent in nigerian brand of pentecostalism like john odeyemi argues that most prominent and at the forefront of pentecostal evangelism is material wealth, suppression of demonic forces, healings and miracles, and speaking in tongues.19 in a sense, material prosperity. hence the main prayers here are for “financial breakthrough, success in business or advancement by promotion at jobs, opening and begetting the “fruit of the womb,” success in exams, securing a life partner, and even the securing of travelling visa documents.”20 many scholars argue that the rise of pentecostalism can be linked to both factors of indigenous traditions and the social-economic conditions in africa. ebenezer obadare in, pentecostal republic avers that “not only does the pentecostal worldview draw directly from indigenous traditions of witchcraft, but pentecostalism also presents a unique blend of more traditional and modern perspectives.”21 odeyemi also thinks that “one of the earliest things that made pentecostalism appeal to a wide range of people is its experiential african world view of mystical and diabolical causalities. the african mind is always alive and aware of these realities.”22 he also thinks the socio-economic the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 89 realities have a part to play in this case since this form of christianity thrives because it provides a creative response to many destabilizing aftereffects of failing or failed political systems.23 the present socioeconomic as a result of these failed political systems include a plethora of problems like ethnicism, poverty, illiteracy, irresponsible and corrupt governments.”24 the idea that the problems that confront africans are sociological and a result of our socio-economic realities has led to african theologians arguing that theologizing in africa must always carry a political character. emmanuel katongole for instances argues that “the faith crises in africa is neither primarily nor predominantly cultural but political.”25 my concern is that seeing african problems as largely political is playing directly into the hands of the pentecostal orientation. one way it does that is to see religion as primarily as a message of socio-political redemption and hence lead to an exaggerated concentration on a form of liberation theology on the continent that neither liberative nor touches the question of the human person. this is evident as one scholar noted that “third world theologians are agreed that theology must be liberative and has to be a critique of “injustice, inequality, corruption, and authoritarianism.”26 éla also notes that “at a time when africans, like other peoples, are facing the shock of technological and cultural modernity, liberation of oppressed must be the primary condition for any authentic inculturation of the message.27 while it will be foolhardy to deny the socio-economic realities in nigeria, i want to argue that the origin of these problems is not sociological but anthropological. in fact, the argument that our challenges are sociological in character is to play directly into the hands of the pentecostal context of nigerian life. while i am not against a theology that critiques the power structures in africa, we must always acknowledge that the fact that politics is related to human salvation, does not mean that human salvation can be realized through politics.28 this is because a christianity that defines itself essentially in terms of social ‘involvement’ has contours that are too blurred and ignores a lot about the human person.29 such a christianity has attempted to bring god down to the level of a deus ex machina who becomes superfluous through the advance in man’s own capacity.30 i also think that more importantly, it is all scratching the problems on the surface. this is because our challenges are deeper than the social and political 90 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age dimensions, though, that is the more visible symptoms that we can observe. we are dealing more with a human person that is broken at the level of the understanding of the human self. a closer look at the modus operandi of pentecostalism in nigeria abundantly reflects an anthropological crisis. odeyemi notes that these new-age pastors are a crossbreed between motivational speakers, marriage counsellors, life coaches—even boot camp instructors and preachers.31 these pastors acting on an idea of how a human being should be and wants to create a new person in the shape of their ideas. interestingly, they are getting successful. smith, notes the individualistic mentality of pentecostalism, as many of these bornagain christians are more individualistic than their parents but less isolated than their counterparts in the west.32 odeyemi avers that “while in the older traditions, prayers seek a connection with the divine in the self, amongst the pentecostals, it seeks it in an explosion outside of the self.33 it shows we are really dealing with a problem of the idea of the human person. hence, our social under-development should be seen in its naked reality as representing a fundamental aspect of the anthropological pauperization of the african person.34 it is easy to dismiss rampant kidnappings, persistent corruption, child soldiers, bribery, examination practices and other punishing circumstances as indices of social realities but what does it tell us about the idea of the human person we now hold as a people. our orientation of the human person seems to be warped for the most past. we have in essence a restless human person whose main yearnings are both disordered, irrational and unfortunately unknown to him/her. i term this content of this crisis as pentecostal because the pentecostal spirit is the most pervasive spirit in nigeria today. the lure of pentecostalism for the nigerian christian is so much that pentecostal ideas have filtered into the mainline churches.35 politically odeyemi and obadare argue correctly in their works that, the pentecostals churches are rarely against the government because they are really thriving with the status quo. there are even catholic priests who are publicly linked to government officials. interestingly, these catholic priests’ modus operandi in worship and sermon is overtly laden with pentecostal themes. that is why i think the pervasiveness of the pentecostal spirit is more widespread, non-religious and more secular than we imagine. this strengthens my argument that we are dealing with an anthropological crisis. we use language like ‘it is well’ the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 91 profusely even when it is not well. some even say, ‘it is well even inside the well’. there is an unmitigated yearning for success that has no respect for the other person. interestingly, the idea of success is largely defined within the context of this continuous encounter (contact) with the west. we deceptively look as if we are oriented towards god but actually, we are not. we are oriented towards the west and its diseased idea of life and the human person. and how does this relate to the priestly formation? i think two ways. one is the fact that every seminarian today is a product of this anthropological crisis which has pentecostalism as its content. it is the world in which we move, live and have our being.36 some are even in the seminary and have as role models some of these pentecostal pastors. we may therefore not agree with the pentecostal content out there, but we cannot ignore it. secondly, this is the content they are being called out from and for. it is a very difficult situation when you combine this context and content. if we do not take time to think about this crisis now, there is a great danger ahead. to combat this situation, i propose the primacy of the logos the primacy of the logos. logos as a word has a significant wide range in the ancient world ranging from every day to philosophical usage. the root λεγ represents a comprehensive and overarching unity of meanings. these include gather, collect, select, report and speak.37 as a concept, logos was introduced into greek philosophy by heraclitus of ephesus (circa 6th century bce).38 the fluidity of the interpretation of logos is attested by the fact that over time, it acquired a variety of meanings and these include word, speech, language, narrative, statement, pronouncement, question, report, account, sermon, teaching, call, sense.39 an interesting usage of this term was by the stoics who saw in logos the universal divine reason inherent in the cosmos.40 hence logos moved from a particular understanding to the universal principle of rationality. this means we can now translate this ubiquitous word as wisdom, reason, speech or rationality. while, the septuagint translates the common hebrew word dbr (word, report, command, thing, matter, affair) especially in the pentateuch, the connection between wisdom and logos was made explicit in the wisdom of solomon around first century bce.41 92 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age thomas h. tobin notes that logos is an important concept in hellenistic judaism with a complex and long history starting from second century bce with the jewish writer aristobulus.42 however, it was in philo that this concept reached its full flowering in jewish literature. philo relying on the stoic idea of logos as the principle of rationality interpreted it to be the intermediate reality between god who was essentially transcendent, and the universe.43 in some instances, philo’s idea of logos has been translated to be a metaphor for god’s action in the world.44 however, tobin’s position on philo’s idea of the logos is worth quoting in full. for philo, the logos served as the intermediate metaphysical reality through which the universe was originally ordered and by which it continues to be sustained in an orderly state. it was not simply a metaphor; it was a real aspect of divine reality through which god was related, although indirectly, to the universe. although a derivative reality, the logos was not created as was the rest of the universe. in much the same way, the logos cannot aptly be characterized as either personal or impersonal. rather it was the source of intelligibility of the universe and so was itself intelligent in a way that transcended the universe and, in that sense also went beyond the categories either of personal or impersonal.45 logos made a significant presence in the new testament, occurring 330 times but it was in the johannine literature that its presence is most remarkable. logos was understood in the johannine prologue in the sense of the historical appearance of jesus, the eternal and divine giver of life on earth.46 thus, the logos of middle platonists (including philo) enters into history. tobin argues that identification of the logos with a particular human being was indicative of the author of the johannine prologue though keeping with the speculative character of hellenistic judaism but moving the conversation in a new and quite different direction.47 joseph ratzinger notes that john takes up again here a paradigm of theological thought that is extremely widespread in both the greek and the jewish intellectual world and naturally adopts a series of connotations that are already developed the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 93 within it, so as to apply them to christ. perhaps one could maintain, however, that the new element that he imparted the logos concept lies significantly in the fact that was decisive to him was not the idea of an eternal rationality—as the greeks supposed—or whatever other speculations there might have been previously, but rather the relativity of the existence that is inherence in the concept of the logos.48 as a result of this, ratzinger sees the christian faith, not as a renunciation of reason, but rather, is the acceptance of the extreme depth of divine reason.49 whether in the sense of the word or in the sense of a person, christianity must never oversee an amputation of reason.50 neither must it entertain within its ranks, a diremption of faith and reason. faith is not to be placed in opposition to reason since it has always been clear from its very structure that christian faith is not to be divorced from reason.”51 faith is also not the resignation of reason in view of the limits of our knowledge or even circumstances.52 faith “grasps reason in its whole breadth and depth and protects it.53 when the christian faith submits to any form of irrationality, not only is religion threatened, reason too is at risk.54 in its missionary activity in africa, western missionaries failed in many aspects but not in the reasonableness of faith. this is evidenced in the fact the investment the missionaries made into education in africa. today, the pentecostal content of our anthropological crisis attempts to view religious experiences outside the realm and sometimes against the realm of reason as the new way of approaching the divine. to be against the reasonable is the new definition of religious experience.55 i take as an example, the approach to human health. elnathan notes satirically that the nigerian god cures everything from hiv to high blood pressure.56 this is not only an attack on reason, but there is also little reason to develop our health sector if a majority of us have that understanding of god and humanity. our health sector was almost better when the missionaries were among us because they have an understanding of what humanity needs to do in terms of health; that is exactly where the pentecostal overlords want us. this phenomenon has become a challenge for priests of the 21st century since unfortunately, we have in our midst today priests who either intentionally or unconsciously oversee this diremption of faith and logos. we also live among people who daily do this. this reality 94 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age becomes absurd when one finds cases in which either priests or laypersons who oversee some liturgical events often pass off this diremption as the “new reason” creating an epistemological crisis.57 at the heart of our pentecostal content is the separation of faith and reason. this is so much evident in not only in the teachings but in many of the pentecostal attitudes that subsist in nigeria. when we separate faith and reason, what we have is this anthropological crisis in which ‘gods’ become a tool in the hands of man. that way not only is religion threatened, reason too is at risk.58 we have a marriage between faith and any other things ‘out there.’ and god has never stopped calling people from ‘out there’ the way forward my suggestion is that we need to devote a lot of resources in studying the idea of the man that has resulted in nigeria in the face of this continuous contact with the west. we should risk studying what sort of humanity we now have today. having this idea of what sort of humanity is prevalent in nigeria will also help know which ideas we need to hold on in this contact and which one we need to jettison. our philosophy classes in the seminary should have a course on the various ideas of the human person that subsists in nigeria today. as ratzinger states: “one must know oneself as one really is if one is to know god. the real medium, the primordial experience of all experiences, is that man himself is the place in which and through which he experiences god.”59 we can do this most by paying attention to works of fiction that come out of africa today. many of these works, aptly express desires or dreams than philosophical sobriety can.60 fortunately, we have an abundance of them nowadays, and they also have been gathering international awards (again the continuous contact).61 we also must pay attention to the music that trends nowadays. some of these songs not only reveal the influence of the west but also conceals some of the persistent african ideas.62 i think we need in our seminaries courses on contemporary african literature. future priests sitting down and analyzing the ideas of the human persons we have in this novel will equip them with a good knowledge of the context that they will work in. it will also give them an idea of themselves and how much of these ideas show up in their own thinking. it is a tremendous epistemological and metaphysical task that is necessary. if it is not done, we are going the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 95 nowhere. it is easy to think we can change our structures or politicians but if we still have the same thinking about the human person, every change will be an illusion. after we have studied the humanity that has emerged out of this contact, we must hold this humanity against the standard of the logos both in terms of rationality and in his person, jesus christ. this is because, “christ is like a signpost indicating where humanity is tending”63 this is the only way we can have in the words of ela “another history, another society, another humanity, another system of production, another style of living together.”64 what jesus actually wants is not for us to change our bad water/poor water into a cleaner one which is what the sociological interpretation of our condition will do. what is required by our philosophical and theological investigations into our understanding of man in africa is to change our water, whether poor, dirty or clean into wine.65 as sarah oakley notes theology involves not merely the metaphysical task of adumbrating a vision of god, the world, and humanity, but simultaneously the epistemological task of cleansing, reordering, and redirecting the apparatuses of one’s own thinking, desiring, and seeing.66 this may be difficult to even start to think about but as rumi once wrote “if the nut of the mystery can’t be held, at least let me touch the shell.67 conclusion with that, we return to the question of faith and vocation as certainties. our faith should be rooted in the person of jesus christ, the second adam, from whom alone the christian picture of man can be correctly developed.”68 however our vocation is a calling from a pentecostal reality which has a distorted vision of man to proclaim a vision of man ‘most human of man’69 we, therefore, need men in our seminaries who have their eyes fixed straight on god, and who learn from him what true humanity is because god returns among men only through men who are touched by god.70 this reiterates the position that being christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction71 96 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 joseph cardinal ratzinger introduction to christianity, (trans. j.r. foster. with a new preface trans. michael j. miller, san francisco: ignatius press, 2004), 69. 2 ratzinger introduction, 70. 3 see vocare in john c. traupman, the bantam new college latin & english dictionary, (3d ed., new york: bantam dell, 2007), 453. 4 dietrich bonhoeffer the cost of discipleship (new york: simon & schuster, 1959), 89. 5 the cloud of unknowing with the book of privy counsel: a new translation by carmen acevedo butcher, (boulder: shambhala, 2009), 12. 6 saint cyran as quoted by joseph ratzinger, introduction to christianity, 173 7 while i am of the opinion that colonialism holds a prime place in the disruption of life as africans as we know it (a disruption in which they have little or no say), it is only but the beginning of a contact that continues till date. that is why my focus will be on contact which for me is imperfective in character and not aoristic. cf. sandra r. shimoff, “banquets: the limits of hellenization,” journal for the study of judaism, xxvii, 4. (1996): 440-452. shimoff notes that “when two cultures compete for allegiance of a single people, the politically weaker culture has three options: assimilation, rejection or accommodation… accommodation to the dominant culture while maintaining cultural identity and integrity may be the only option that allows for survival.” 8 stephen smith, the scramble for europe: young africa on its way to the old continent (cambridge, polity, 2019), 33. 9 stephen smith, the scramble for europe, 79 10 benedict xvi africae munus (http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africaemunus.html) no11. 11 lieven boeve, “christ, humanity and salvation” the ratzinger reader: mapping a theological journey (ed. lieven boeve and gerard mannion, (new york: t&t clark, 2010), 51-79. 12 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” in h. vorgimler (ed.) commentary on the documents of the documents of vatican ii: pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world (vol 5, new york: herder and herder, 1969), 115-163. 13 jean-marc éla my faith as an african (trans. john pairman brown and susan perry, eugene, oregon: wipf & stock, 2009), xv. 14 iku ya ju esin is a yoruba proverb which loosely translates “death is better than shame.” 15 cf. “letter from africa: why nigeria’s internet scammers are ‘role models’ “ , september 23, 2019 in https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49759392 16 a good name is better than gold and silver. (cf. proverbs 22.1). though a biblical proverb, it has a home even before the biblical in many languages/ethnic groups with an emphasis on honesty as the best policy. the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 97 17 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon (eugene, oregon, wipf & stock, 2019), 55. 18 anthonio spadaro, “the prosperity gospel: dangerous and different.” (https://lacivitacattolica.com/free-articles/) published date: 18 july 2018. 19 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations, 32. 20 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations, 13 21 ebenezer obadare pentecostal republic: religion and the struggle for state power in nigeria, (london: zed books, 2018), 22. 22 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 55. 23 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 51. 24 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation,33 25 emmanuel katongole, “the gospel as politics in africa” theological studies 77:3 (2016): 704-720. 26 mercy amba oduyoye “commonalities: an african perspective” in the world theologies: commonalities and divergences: papers and reflections from the second general assembly of the ecumenical association of third world theologians, december 1986, oaxtepec, mexico (ed. k.c abraham, maryknoll, new york: orbis books, 1990): 100-104. 27 jean-marc éla my faith as an african, xvi. 28 lieven boeve, “christian faith, church and the world” the ratzinger reader: mapping a theological journey (ed. lieven boeve and gerard mannion, (new york: t&t clark, 2010): 119-138. 29 joseph ratzinger as quoted in the ratzinger reader 169 30 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” 157 31 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 52. 32 stephen smith, the scramble for europe, 62 33 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 15 34 the world theologies: commonalities and divergences, 35 35 obadare pentecostal republic,30. 36 acts 17:28 37 horst robert balz and gerhard schneider exegetical dictionary of the new testament, (1990), 2, 357. 38 joseph komonchak, mary collins and dermot a. lane, the new dictionary of theology (2000), 601. 39 balz and schneider, 357. 40 komonchak, 601. 41 thomas h. tobin, “the prologue of john and hellenistic jewish speculation” catholic biblical quarterly 52 (1990):252-269. 42 thomas h. tobin, “the prologue of john” 256 43 tobin, “prologue of john” 257. 44 tobin, “prologue of john” 266 98 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 45 tobin, “prologue of john” 266. 46 balz and schnedider,357. 47 tobin, “prologue of john” 267-268. 48 joseph ratzinger dogma and preaching: applying christian doctrine for daily life, (trans. michael j. miller and matthew j.o. o’connell, edited by michael j. miller, san francisco: ignatius press, 2005), 188. 49 elio guerriero benedict xvi: his life and thought (trans william j. melcher, san francisco: ignatius, 2018), 367. 50 joseph cardinal ratzinger introduction to christianity, 139. 51 joseph cardinal ratzinger, principles of catholic theology: building stones for a fundamental theology, (trans sister mary frances mccarthy, s.n.d. san francisco: ignatius press, 1987), 325. my idea of the primacy of the logos is from here. 52 joseph ratzinger, a turning point for europe? the church in the modern world: assessment and forecast (2nd ed. trans. brian mcneil, c.r.v, foreword. james v. schall, s.j. san francisco: ignatius press, 1994),110 53 joseph ratzinger, a turning point, 112. 54 elio guerriero benedict xvi, 432 55 interestingly, this is also a trend in the western world where there is now an established distinction between being religious and spiritual. there is also an increase belief (misguided i think) that psychedelics can induce religious-like experience. this argument holds that at best psychedelics can replace religion or at worst become its substitute/alternative. this is the position of michael pollan “seems to me the great gift of the psychedelic journey, especially to the dying: its power to imbue everything in our flied of experience one heightened sense of purpose and consequence. depending on one’s orientation, this can be understood either in humanistic or in spiritual terms—for what is the sacred but a capitalized version of significance?... religion has always understood this wager, but why should religion enjoy a monopoly?” how to change your mind: what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence (new york: penguin, 2018), 355. it is obvious that the notion of religion as argued in pollan’s work does not capture christianity as i have argued so far. this is not to say christianity has not overseen some absurd and irrational events. i am arguing that such moments have been corruption of the christianity. 56 elnathan john, be(com) ing nigerian: a guide, (abuja: cassava republic, 2019), 12. 57 one of the classes i took with fr jimoh is epistemology. 58 elio guerriero benedict xvi, 432 59 ratzinger, principles of catholic theology, 354 60 rémi brague the kingdom of man: genesis and failure of the modern project, (trans. paul seaton, notre dame, indiana: university of notre dame press, 2018). xiv 61 chigozie obioma, an orchestra of minorities new york: little brown and company, 2019. ayobami adebayo stay with me (new york: vintage books, the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 99 2018); akwaeke emezi, freshwater (new york: grove press, 2018). one must also mention a writer like chimamanda ngozi adichie who has published some bestsellers like purple hibiscus, half of a yellow sun and americanah. 62 i find interesting a podcast jesus and jollof by ‘two proudly nigerian women’ talking about the things they love, their stories and life in general. the interesting part is that while they are first generation immigrants in america, they exhibit in their show persistent nigerian values. 63joseph ratzinger dogma and preaching 194 64 jean-marc éla my faith as an african, 84 65 ratzinger, principles of catholic theology, 324. 66 sarah oakley as quoted in lauren f. winner the dangers of christian practice: on wayward gifts, characteristic damage, and sin. (new haven: yale university press 2018), 179. 67 the essential rumi, (trans. coleman barks, new york: harperone, 2004), 65. 68 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” 120 69 aidan nichols, the thought of benedict xvi: an introduction to the theology of joseph ratzinger, (new ed. new york: burn and oates, 2007), 87. 70 joseph ratzinger as quoted in the ratzinger reader, 132-33 71 benedict xvi deus caritas est no 1 234 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 5 co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial administration emmarex elemeiye okhakhu introduction traditional views of leadership as a top-down process are increasingly challenged by critical perspectives that acknowledge that leadership may involve several people. using the seminal work of david sally1 as the launchpad for this critical conceptual analysis, this research explored co-leadership where members share several leadership responsibilities. the research traces co-leadership through its definitional, management, and ecclesial lens. it challenged the deepseated traditional leadership of parish functions and church administration by bringing to the fore some biblical and canonical precepts and considerations that should steer ecclesial thinking in coleadership. beyond its contributions to the current leadership research, this work conceives the church as a living organization with strategies, norms, and discipline; a corporate of sorts in dire need of shared responsibilities and accountabilities. the overview of the existing literature, fused into ecclesial leadership models in the bible and postconciliar teachings should wake up fresh insights into the church’s understanding of gaudium et spes, the church in the modern world. in david sally work: co-leadership: lessons from republican rome,2 a leadership framework was created for ancient rome after a century of kingly successions. in 510 bce, the republic was founded and the first pair of consuls was appointed. from the perspective of battle-as-marketplace and government as-firm-metaphor, rome was co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 235 conceived as a high-growth company with sufficient scale of leadership to ensure a more complex organizational structure. “in addition to the pair of consuls (ceos), two censors (cfos) were added, two praetors (coos), four aediles (svps of production and operations), four quaestors (comptrollers), and numerous provincial governors (regional vps)”3 however, sally’s analysis insufficiently explained the social conflicts that consumed the patricians (nobles) and the plebs (common people), who though were full-fledged citizens of rome, were denied political opportunities. the patricians’ monopoly on power “could not withstand the growing numbers, motivation, and wealth of the plebs, as they organized the own bureaucracy, laws, and rights – a state within a state,”4 devolving into more anarchy. this failure and crisis of leadership continued into 367 bce and further, even when a merger was effected to include the plebs in every strata of governance. power asymmetries in this new inclusive governance only widened the divide between the lame duck and the rising stars, and made cohesiveness and learning impossible to the extent that if a coleader departs unexpectedly, the others could not forge on to lead the organization. such leadership lacked flexibility, learning, and continuity: “for when news came that a huge army of gauls had encamped in [the] latin territory, scipio was seriously ill; and the conduct of the war was given by special enactment to popilius”5 co-leadership, practised in roman republic was power shared between the two highest officers of state: the consuls. in this republic, the consuls shared power at the apex of a power-sharing system in which every official had to have a colleague with equal authority but never trickled down to the ‘subordinates’. such leadership at best was vertical devoid of parallel ownership. it dictated top-down the minds of the gods that were reverently obeyed. in this world order, co-leaders had no chance of immediately and permanently descending to the group. that decision would have to be made by the ex-consuls as entrenched in their laws guiding their dictatorship6. this model leadership did not lead ‘with’ rather, it led ‘over’ others. this is where sally’s discourse appeared to have missed the mark. his use of the descriptive term’ co-leadership’ to capture the leadership of republic rome rubs off negatively against its ideal meaning in management and 236 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age leadership studies, and begs us for its re-definition and reconceptualization in modern organizations. co-leadership in the literature leadership can be an elusive term to describe but easily identified when practised. based on its common element of relation-building “. . . a leader is someone who touches another’s future”7 peter senge, writing in the fifth discipline fieldbook, concurs with this understanding and notes that it is easy to perceive both good leadership and the absence of good leadership. “you can always sense the presence or absence of leadership when you begin working in a new organization”8 the stake gets higher when defining co-leadership. heenan and bennis9 introduced the concept of co-leadership as an activity that several people can share. this makes the term synonymous with shared leadership. the collective nature of leadership focuses on it as being shared and distributed10 between formally appointed managers, particularly at lower and middle management levels. position-sharing within pairs of managers demonstrates an alternative way of organizing leadership within a managerial position. this two-person instance is a “special case of shared leadership”11 in clearer terms, pearce & conger argue that: the key distinction between shared leadership and traditional models of leadership is that the influence process involves more than just downward influence on subordinates by an appointed or elected leader […]. rather, leadership is broadly distributed among a set of individuals instead of centralized in the hands of a single individual who acts in the role of a superior.12 the concept of ‘shared and distributed’ is defining and emerges, as it is needed since one leader in the traditional sense cannot be the expert in teams composed of people with different expert skills. rather, the team becomes more effective if the leadership is distributed and all members are allowed to influence the direction13 . the idea of topdown leadership weakens the concept of empowered teams since shared leadership occurs when the team is exerting influence. there is empirical evidence that managerial positions are successfully shared in most corporations.14 even so, the sharing co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 237 formula is fraught with problems. we still witness both ignorance of and resistance to the idea of shared leadership within a managerial position15 even in sweden, where shared leadership has been mostly demonstrated recently has a problem arising from its new education act, which forbade school principals to formally share leadership on an equal basis; each so-called school unit has to have only one principal16. this motivates a discussion about how to conceptualize the phenomenon and its different forms. klinga, hanson, hanson, and anderson17 explored the concept of co-leadership as “ one approach to meet the managerial challenges of integrated services -- practiced by pairs of managers – each manager representing one of the two principal organizations in integrated health and social care services”18 functional and project managers with either dotted or solid reporting lines of leadership. these researchers argue that “to deliver sustainable health and social care, cross-boundary collaboration is needed.19 in addition, stein, barbazza, tello, and kluge, stated that collaboration between professionals from different sectors is likely to develop more people-centred and holistic care.”.20 individuals with complex morbidities, such as those with mental illness, hiv, and disabilities, are vulnerable to fragmented care. “a higher degree of cooperation between services or integration of services is required to decrease the fragmentation”21 schools are beginning to imbibe the concept of shared leadership as a partnership, where teachers, staff, parents and students are equal partners. “creating this balance of power is probably one of the hardest aspects in shared leadership” 22even so, school boards are working on effective and clear parameters that can empower all members of the group. hughes and pickeral believe in the importance of, safe, equitable, engaging and high-quality school climates. shared leadership is when teachers, staff, parents, students and principals collaborate to solve problems. working together to create an engaging school climate that accelerates student learning is common sense. where shared leadership exists with youth and adults working collaboratively, there is a student-focused school.23 co-leadership, therefore, is a departure from the formal leader to a shared leadership model resulting in shared power and decision238 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age making. instead of an ‘elite’ individual leading the crew, others are invited to share the responsibility for leadership and develop a positive school climate. in the complex world of health care, it is inconceivable that the traditional top-down, heroic leadership really works. in fact, it would be a disservice to the healing profession. health care leadership is a “competency-based behaviour that has to come from everyone involved in health care. doctors work in multidisciplinary teams focused on the needs and safety of the patient where leadership becomes the responsibility of the team”24 while there is a functional leader of the team who is accountable for the performance of the team, the responsibility for identifying problems, solving them and implementing the appropriate action is shared by the team. the key distinction between shared and traditional models of leadership in this scenario is that the influence process involves more than just the downward influence of subordinates by a positional leader. leadership is distributed amongst a set of individuals instead of being centralized in the hands of a single individual who acts in the role of leader.25 in critical care for patients with cancer, hiv, aids, brain aneurysm, or even an automobile accident victim, a community of practice is deployed quickly in a multi-disciplinary fashion. this critical team may include different experts: surgeons, oncologists, anesthetists, palliative care specialists, specialist nurses, general nurses, therapists, radiologists, general practitioners, physiotherapists, nephrologists, cardiologist etc. these individual expert leaders cojointly make contributions in the planning and care delivery of the patient. “within a shared leadership model, leadership passes from individual to individual along the patient’s pathway of care. this provides continuity of care for the patient without compromising the standards of care”26 no one surgeon, medical director, or clinical expert satisfies the professional training of the individual experts in the interdisciplinary team to lead them in the traditional model. this fact does not diminish the need for a functional leader. interdisciplinary teams now characterize effective organizations, taking the burden off one person or discipline to have all the bulk knowledge and experience that solves the complexity of today’s problems. the breakthroughs in science, organizations, and people management are more likely to come from the collective interactions, contributions, and leadership between multiple disciplines co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 239 rather than a single positional leader. so, what are the specific benefits and drawbacks of co-leadership? benefits and challenges of co-leadership successful co-leadership demands the ability to listen to team members’ thought processes, which can challenge your own opinions based on fact. this disposition on a wider scale may lead to better solutions. such partnership binds people together toward common goals, sharing a common vision. it elicits human creativity, mutual respect, and allows partnership and compromise to trickle down to the rest of the organization. this concept can shrink factions, silo mentalities, and hero worship. co-leadership is a hard process that works when people commit to its discipline. it invites a voluntary commitment and deep desire to be involved in the process. one must clearly want to improve self and believe sincerely that others have good ideas as well. like in every true partnership, it’s imperative to start with the same vision, a desire to keep the conversation alive in spite of disagreements, and springing new compromises. o’toole, galbraith and lawler captured these ideas more aptly: “... co-leadership is much more likely to be successful with clear and agreed differentiation. this isn’t a one-off conversation. make co-leadership sustainable by regularly re-evaluating your roles and effectiveness.”27 the concept of co-leadership shift the perspective from viewing leadership as a single-person activity to viewing it as collective constructive processes, which opens space for all participants to express their agency at every stage of the change process, from ideation to implementation. however, conger and pearce are eager to mention that they do not view shared leadership as the universal solution to any leadership issue or group setting. the authors argue that: there do exist some situations when shared leadership is not just non-optimal, but even harmful, e.g. when there is a lack of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to shared leadership, when there is lack of goal alignment between members of the team, when there is lack of goal alignment between the team and the organization, when there is lack of time to develop shared leadership and finally, when there is lack of receptivity to shared leadership.28 240 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age therefore, the question raised here helps to examine the biblical foundation and appropriateness of co-leadership for ecclesial management. is co-leadership right for the church? co-leadership in scriptures not all leaders are equal in their giftedness, biblical knowledge, leadership ability, and experience or communication skill. therefore, those particularly gifted leaders and/or teachers will naturally stand out among the others. this is what the romans called primus inter pares, ‘first among equals,’ or primi inter pares, ‘first ones among equals.’ jesus practised this principle of ‘first among equals’ in his dealings with the twelve. they were all empowered to preach, heal, and cast out demons, even judas. however, jesus singled out three for special attention – peter, james, and john – primi inter pares. and among the three, peter stood out as the most prominent, the primus inter pares. perhaps, peter’s personality made him a more outspoken, confrontational, and natural-born leader in the group, and rightfully called the rock. christ insistence that the church be built on peter, the rock and his triple command to ‘feed my sheep” placed peter, however, above the others (john 21:15-17). the three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. the first time jesus says it, the greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). the greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. the second time, the literal meaning is “tend my sheep” (v. 16). in this exchange, jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. this expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. peter follows jesus’ example and repeats this same greek word poimaino in his first pastoral letter to the elders of the churches of asia minor: “be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 peter 5:2). even so, the eleven were not his subordinates. they were not his assistants. he was simply first among his equals, the chief apostle, acknowledged so by jesus himself. and it was james who headed the jerusalem council, not peter (acts 15). co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 241 in the context of the seven deacons (acts 6), the dynamics of ‘first among equals’ leadership relationship is observed. these deacons were chosen to relieve the apostles of certain responsibilities. philip and stephen stood out as prominent figures among the five other brothers (acts 6:8-7:60, 8:5-40, 21:8). yet, as far as the account records, the two held no special title or status above the others. the concept of ‘first among equals’ is further evidenced in the relationship between paul and barnabas. they laboured as partners in the work of the gospel. they were both pioneers and leaders in missions, yet between them, paul was ‘first among equals’ because perhaps he was “the chief speaker” and a more dynamic leader (acts 13:13, 14:12). paul, the ex-rabbi, definitely more learned, did not boss over barnabas who could also stand on his own ground in the matter over john mark. the advantage of the principle of ‘first among equals’ is that it allows for functional, gift-based diversity within the leadership team without creating an official, superior or oppressive office over fellow leaders; just as the leading apostles, peter and john, did not lord it over others. these elders laboured in the word and exercised good leadership. however, current church leadership seems easier without the encumbrance of others. some leaders would prefer to dominate rather than rely upon the breadth of experience resident in the church. others fight hard to maintain unchallenged authority because they have a deep-seated need to be needed. still, others feel that they are the only ones who could get the job done. it’s true that this quick dash into scriptures raises more issues and challenges against heroic leadership, on which the church thrives especially within the power dynamics of the office of bishops. it is truer, however, that it is the overall spiritual giftedness of the pastoral team that causes the church to grow, not just the current leadership form of government. the early church grew out of the anointing of the spirit and the common life, shared vision of members, not its lordship. leadership anywhere works best when it is provided by teams of gifted leaders serving together in pursuit of a clear and compelling vision. perhaps, churches more than ever have the dire need to helmin some of its primus inter pares fanfare and seek shared and authentic leadership based on the spiritual gifts and energies that builds the church. for christ who, being in very nature god, did not consider equality with god something to be used to his own advantage. rather, 242 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness…(philippians 2:6-7). the dialogue on co-leadership in the church begins here. it revolves around the premiums we place on our positions, swayed by positional fanfare or whether we see them as invitations to spiritually build the body of christ. the church must decide on which of these values has eternity as a reward; then draw itself closer to the flock of christ, fusing relationship in christ and co-leading the affairs of the church. from this height can co-leadership further cascade to the parish level. while episcopal collegiality and parochial co-responsibility are both of vital importance to the life of the church, and needs to be constantly fostered, it seems opportune at this point to give some serious attention to the question of presbyteral collegiality in order to balance the various organs of governance in the church, and to balance the confusion of role and isolation experienced by many priests in their parishes. this is not to imply that the other dimensions of coresponsibility are of less importance; it is simply to address the issue in a more focused fashion. the very first document issued at vatican ii, the constitution on the sacred liturgy (#4), speaks of the close bond between the bishop and his presbyterate as they gather around the altar for the celebration of the eucharist. it speaks thus: the faithful must be convinced that the principle manifestation of the church consists in the full, active participation of all god’s people in the same liturgical celebrations, especially in the same eucharist, in one prayer, at one altar, at which the bishop presides, surrounded by his priests and ministers. the text is significant in that it takes us back to the writings of ignatius of antioch, indicating a desire on the part of the council to retrieve an earlier understanding of the relationship between the bishop and his priests and to reorder ministerial relationships accordingly. it also indicates a desire to relocate collaboration between priests and bishops in the context of the bonds of communion created by the eucharist. the dogmatic constitution on the church re-echoes the teaching of the document on the liturgy when it speaks of the bonds of communion and affection that are to exist between the body of priests and the bishop. the priests “share in the priesthood and mission of the co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 243 bishop.” they are “to see in him a true father” and the bishop is to treat the presbyters as “his helpers, as his sons and friends.” among themselves, “priests are united together by bonds of intimate brotherhood … through the medium of reunions and community life, work and fraternal charity.” priests are also called “to unite their efforts and combine their resources under the leadership of their bishops” (#28). in the decree on the bishops’ pastoral office in the church, a diocese is described as “a section of the people of god entrusted to a bishop to be guided by him with the assistance of his clergy.” the priests are placed alongside the bishop in the task of preaching, building up the unity of the community, and celebrating the eucharist. later, priests are called “prudent co-operators with the episcopal order,”(#11) and are said to “assume a part of the bishop’s duties and concerns” (#15). therefore, a bishop should treat them “with particular affection” and “regard them as sons and friends” (#16). in discussing the spirit of collaboration that is to exist between the presbyters and the bishop, the decree says: “to ensure an increasingly effective apostolate, the bishop should be willing to engage in dialogue with his priests, individually and collectively, not merely occasionally, but if possible, regularly. furthermore, the diocesan priests should be united among themselves and should be genuinely zealous for the spiritual welfare of the whole diocese” (#28). this is the language of collaboration, collegiality and co-responsibility of bishops with their priests and of priests among themselves. at the beginning of his pontificate, john paul ii stated that “a spirit of collaboration and shared responsibility” (redemptor hominis, #5) characterizes presbyteral councils, a feature of ecclesial life and mirrored the collegiality that existed among the bishops. towards the end of his ministry, in the post-synodal exhortation, pastores gregi (#45), he reaffirmed the same thinking, “the presbyters, and among them, parish priests, in particular, are therefore the closest co-operators in the bishop’s ministry….the bishop will always strive to relate to his priests as a father and brother who loves them, listens to them, welcomes them, corrects them, supports them, seeks their co-operation and, as much as possible, is concerned for their human, spiritual, ministerial and financial well-being.” these relationships are totally meant for the service of the church so that the ecclesial community has an absolute need for the 244 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age ministerial priesthood to have christ the head and shepherd present in her. from these relationships emerges the role of the priest. the parish priest is the cura animarum of the people of god, the parish, the powerhouse of our faith. the priest, pastor, and leader of the parish community the ministerial priesthood is the fruit of an election, of a specific vocation: "he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve" (lk 6, 13-16). thanks to the ministerial priesthood, the faithful are made aware of their common priesthood and they live it (cf. eph 4, 11-12); the priest reminds them that they are the people of god and makes them able to "offer spiritual sacrifices" (cf. 1 pt. 2,5), through which christ himself makes us an eternal gift to the father (cf. 1 pt. 3,18). without the presence of christ represented by the priest; the sacramental guide of the community, this would not be an ecclesial community in its fullness. so the priest is an alter christus, devoid of all authoritarian powers, politics, and lordship; he nurtures the faithful. he nurtures the common priesthood of the people of god, chosen by god. his role, therefore, is central to the growth of our faith and church. canon 532 stipulates that, despite the requirement for ecclesiastical communion, the parochus “personam gerit” –moves the juridic person of the parish in all its juridic affairs. in contrast, canon 393 ties the “personam gerit” of the bishop to the juridic person of the diocese, in all the juridic affairs. this is to say that the parochus directs the parish within the broad oversight of the bishop. in essence, the priest is the daily, on-ground ceo of the parish. it is important to emphasize that the parochus does not exercise his role of ceo, of office-holder, of a householder, on his own. he needs assistance. moreover, as a member of christ’s faithful himself, he needs to co-opt other members of christ’s faithful to make the parish household a vibrant actuation of christian communion. and who are the others that he needs to enlist in the life and work of the parish? canon 519 puts it this way: he is to work for the “co-operation” of other presbyters or deacons and the “assistance” of lay members of the christian faithful, according to the norm of law. the co-operation of other presbyters or deacons (transitional or married) has its uneven dynamics that need new learning, healing, and acceptance. the co-operation and assistance of lay members of the christian faithful needs focused nurturing as well. we submit here the co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 245 following: first, that the co-operation of the lay members of the christian faithful is what makes parishes work. second that this cooperation is found in the day-to-day functioning of the parish –with parish secretaries, parish catechetical directors, parish business managers, and pastoral associates. the priest needs seasoned shared leadership to elicit the needed ‘co-operation’ of all in the parish(es) entrusted to his jurisdiction, especially in (a) the parish finance council and (b) the parish pastoral council, where church laws are explicit. the finance council canon 537 states: in each parish there is to be a finance council, which is governed, in addition to universal law, by norms issued by the diocesan bishop and in which the christian faithful, selected according to these same norms, are to assist the pastor in the administration of the goods of the parish, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 532 [i.e., that the parochus is the one who moves the person of the parish]. a point to be made is that the role of the council is consultative. there is nothing in the universal law that requires a parochus to consult with the finance council for the validity of his action. but there is no reason why a diocesan bishop cannot issue particular law, requiring consultation with the finance committee for the validity of the action of the parochus in certain financial affairs (canon 127). and given the volume of conflicts from finance councils, some co-responsibility and joint working are needed. the parish pastoral council, unlike the finance council, is not an unconditional requirement of law. it is to be made up of the christian faithful – baptized christians who are in ecclesiastical communion with the catholic church. these persons need not be members of the latin church: they can be members of any church sui iuris. also included in its membership are “those who share in the pastoral care by virtue of their office in the parish: i.e., parochial vicars, deacons, pastoral associates, catechetical and liturgical directors. this membership gateway and that of the financial council opens multiple avenues for the priest to exercise and practice shared leadership, particularly as the 246 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age council and the parochus are distinct; the parochus presides at the meetings. he has leadership responsibilities to be shared with others. his collaboration, on the flip side, may elicit the rich contributions, the experience of other leaders that can help the pastor grow in leadership. the priest needs his co-responsible team to help develop a vision. sofield, loughlan, and kuhn29 stressed the importance of crafting a guiding vision. the co-responsible team must conceive powerful goals, communicate amongst themselves, and gain enthusiastic acceptance. champlin30 advocated a three-pronged approach. 1. gather grass-roots input. unless people buy into the dream it will not significantly motivate them. 2. keep repeating the dream. keep the people focused on the vision by repeating it again and again. 3. express the vision in some captivating way. use symbols and appeal to the senses. the co-joint parish team must thrive on strategic thinking. peter senge stated that strategic thinking helps grow strong leadership. the leader must articulate and differentiate what is truly essential from what is secondary. good strategic thinking addresses dilemmas arising from conflict among competing goals and norms. senge instructs that we must distribute power and authority, but we also want to improve control and coordination, for effective strategic thinking. these factors help organizations (churches) become more responsive to changes, and helps grow the individual’s stable and coherent sense of identity, purpose, and vision. these create a sense of ownership with corollaries to high productivity and creativity. a pastor who is not using the parish pastoral council to help create a parish vision is probably carrying too much of a burden. dennis o’leary reminds us that “the primary responsibility of the parish pastoral council is to assist the pastor in directional and strategic planning. if planning in these two areas is done well, administrative and programme planning by the pastor, staff and programme leaders will naturally follow, and the result will be a more focused and integrated approach to ministry” 31 co-leadership and the future of ecclesial administration: some interrogatives 1. do the tenets of co-leadership threaten the church? 2. is the church more persuaded by power, authority, and prestige than by a sublime desire to grow? co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 247 3. will priests and bishops lose power via co-leadership? 4. will the people of god feel more empowered to participate in the church through co-leadership? 5. can communication and common sense-making of conflicts ensure that the process is democratic, honest and ethical, with a common goal in mind? 6. can parish council meetings be co-led in ways where individuals’ specific experience, knowledge, skills, and competencies complement the decision process? 7. are priests prepared enough to lead parishes in this light? 8. are the disciplines of deep listening to other viewpoints, transparency, trust, and co-thinking for the richer good of all, anti-christian? conclusion and future research this conceptual analysis and exploration extend our knowledge of coleadership as a way of addressing managerial challenges in crossboundary service cultures, especially in ecclesial settings. sharing leadership between managers may be of specific interest for future leadership development in the post-heroic bent that we have tried to construct here. co-leadership enabled environments to provide robust management, broader competence, continuous learning and joint responsibility for services. therefore, co-leadership contributes to the provision of sustainable integration of faith and practice, the enrichment of the church. on the individual christian and interpersonal level, the prerequisites for successful co-leadership are the perception of the management role as a collective activity, continuous communication, trusting environment devoid of personal glories and prestige. defining leadership as a collective construction process makes a difference to managers’ and co-workers’ interaction and learning, which explains why the issue of how to organize leadership is important. joint leadership, in its far-reaching togetherness, deserves special interest. future research has several questions left to answer in order to further understand the relatively widespread32 but underresearched issue of shared leadership between managers, especially in the church. 248 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome, california management school climate center. 2002. 2 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome, ibid. 3 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome 3. 4 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome 4. 5 livvy. the rise of rome. oxford, england: oxford university press. 1998,126. 6 livvy. the rise of rome. 89 7 j. m. champlin, & c. d champlin, the visionary leader. new york: crossroad publishing company. 1993. 24 8 p. m. senge, c. roberts, r. b. ross, b. j smith, & a. kleiner, a. the fifth discipline: shared leadership. london: sage publications. 1994. 65. 9 d. a. heenan & w. g. bennis, co-leaders : the power of great partnerships. john wiley. 1999. 10 r. bolden, “distributed leadership in organizations: a review of theory and research” in international journal of management reviews, vol. 13, 251–269 (2011) doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x 11 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, (2003) retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf review 44(4): 8 12c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership (2003) retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf review 44(4): 1 13 c. s. burke, s. m. fiore, & e. salas, (2003). “the role of shared cognition in enabling shared leadership and team adaptability” in shared leadership: reframing the hows and whys of leadership, craig l. pearce & jay a. conger (ed), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452229539.n5, 105 14 s. choi, i. holmberg, j. löwstedt, & m. brommels, “managing clinical integration: a comparative case study in a merged university hospital”. journal of health organization and management, 26(4), 486-507, (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777261211251544 15m. döös, together as one: shared leadership between managers. international fieldbook. new york: doubleday. 2015. 16 m. döös, ibid. 17 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. international co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 249 journal of integrated care, 16(2): 7, 1, 2016. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.5334/ijic.2236 18 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. ibid. 19 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. 20 stein, k.v., barbazza, e.s., tello,j. & kluge, h. “towards people-centred health services delivery: a framework for action for the world health organisation (who) european region”. int j integr care. 2013 (105) 10 21 stein, k.v., barbazza, e.s., tello,j. & kluge, h. “towards people-centred health services delivery: a framework for action for the world health organisation (who) european region”. ibid. 22 hughes & pickeral. “school climate and shared leadership”. ny: national in arthur x. deegan (ed.) developing a vibrant parish pastoral council. mahwah, new jersey: paulist press. 2013. 2 23 hughes & pickeral. “school climate and shared leadership”. ny: national in arthur x. deegan (ed.) developing a vibrant parish pastoral council, 3 24 nhs, (nd). shared leadership. enhancing engagement in medical leadership. retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf 25 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, 3 26 nhs, (nd). shared leadership. enhancing engagement in medical leadership. retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf 27 o’toole, j., galbraith, j., & lawler, e. e. “when two (or more) heads are better than one: the promises and the pitfalls of shared leadership”, (2002). california management review 44(4): 10. 28 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, review 44(4): 299 29 sofield, loughlan, and donald h. kuhn. the collaborative leader. notre dame, indiana: ave maria press. 1995. 30 champlin, j.m. & champlin, c.d. the visionary leader. new york: crossroad publishing company. 1993. 31 o’leary, dennis j. parish pastoral councils: instruments of visioning and planning. 1995. 32. 32 m. döös, together as one: shared leadership between managers. international fieldbook. new york: doubleday. 2015. 100 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 7 liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from lex orandi, lex credendi anthony olumuyiwa omodunbi introduction few weeks after my ordination to the catholic priesthood, the diocese of my incardination (osogbo diocese) organised an orientation program for all the new priests to be involved in pastoral engagement within the diocese. the priest who anchored the liturgy session opened by saying: “you have to put aside what you have been taught in the seminary and learn how we do things in the diocese.” my first intuitive reaction was, why then do we have to spend nine years in the seminary if it is only to be ordained and put aside what we have learnt? he went further to say, “you have learnt theory in seminary and now you will be involved in the practical life of the liturgy.” i was a bit settled at that and was disposed to go through the orientation exercise which was however highly beneficial for my integration into the pastoral life in the diocese. however, after ten years of pastoral ministry and deeper studies in the liturgy, the question continues to pop up querying why the gap between theory and practice in seminary formation? why what should was learned in seminary not adequately and sufficiently introduce the newly ordained into the ministry? or in this particular case, why should what was learnt in seminary not be the ‘moulding of a liturgical minister?’ while i do not want to engage in the argument whether priestly formation, especially in nigeria, is achieving the goal of moulding liturgical minister to meet the present-day challenges or not, this reflection seeks to emphasise that all that is being taught and done liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 101 in seminary, especially in the areas of moral, spiritual and intellectual/academic formation, should at the same time have a liturgical focus. while this does not imply that formation should be reduced to liturgy, this reflection argues that prioritizing the liturgical dimension of priestly formation is one of the major ways of bridging the supposed gap between theory and practice. after all, ‘the liturgy is the summit towards which the activity of the church is directed; it is also the source from which all its power flows.1 it is through the liturgy that the work of our redemption takes place;2 it is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of jesus christ and therefore, ‘no other action of the church equals its effectiveness by the same title nor to the same degree.’3 thus, having seminary formation with a liturgical focus can never be overemphasised. to justify the position of this reflection, i will consider the meaning of the age-old maxim lex orandi, lex credendi as it pertains to the indispensable role of liturgy in the life and faith of the church, and how it could effectively bridge the gap between worship and doctrine, theology and liturgy, and theory and practice. lex orandi, lex credendi: a maxim in context the late 20th-century discussion on the emergence of what is today called liturgical theology, brought with it a new look at the age-old latin maxim, lex orandi, lex credendi. the discussion which centres around the relationship between liturgy and theology reopened the understanding of the maxim lex orandi, lex credendi as it sheds light on the interplay between praying and believing, between christian worship and doctrine.4 major scholars in the discussion affirm the importance of liturgy in the understanding of the belief of the church since she prays as she believes. this, however, does not mean that what the church believes does not affect how the church prays, as it is evident in the periods of reforms. the proper understanding of the context in which the maxim first appeared is therefore instructive on how it should be correctly understood and used. the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi is the binominal for the phrase ‘ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi’ that is ‘so that the law of prayer may establish a law for belief.’ the phrase has its root 102 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in the response attributed to a lay monk, prosper of aquitaine (a disciple of augustine), to semi-pelagians.5 like augustine, prosper of aquitaine argues in favour of the need of god’s grace for the salvation of human beings. for prosper, the grace of god is needed at different instances and in different degrees in one’s life. to justify his position, prosper argues from the scripture, church tradition and the liturgy of the church: in inviolable decrees of the blessed apostolic see, our fathers have cast down the pride of the pestiferous novelty and taught us to ascribe to the grace of christ the very beginning of goodwill, the growth of the noble efforts, and the perseverance in them to the end. in addition, let us look at the sacred testimony of priestly intercessions which have been transmitted from apostles and which are uniformly celebrated throughout the world and in every catholic church; so that the law of prayer may establish a law for belief. for when the president of the holy congregations perform their duties, they plead the cause of the human race before the divine clemency and, joined in the sighs of the whole church, they beg and pray that grace may be given to unbelievers; that idolaters may be freed from the errors of their impiety; that the jews may have the veiled removed from their hearts and that the light of truth may shine on them; that heretics may recover through acceptance of the faith; that schismatics may receive afresh the spirit of charity; that the lapsed may be granted remedy of penitence; and finally that the catechumens may be brought to the sacrament of regeneration and have the court of the heavenly mercy opened to them. that these things are not asked of the lord lightly or uselessly is shown by the outcome. for god is pleased to draw many out of every kind of error, liberating them from the power of darkness and placing them in the kingdom of his beloved son, turning them from the vessel of wrath to vessels of mercy. this is felt to be so completely the work of god that the god who achieves it is always given liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 103 thanks and praise for bringing such people to the light or truth.6 there is need to underscore some points from this citation in order to get its relevance to this reflection. first, what prosper refers to as the practice of prayer covers for all of the liturgy and not just a reference to liturgical texts. in the following chapters of his work, he advanced the same argument in relation to ritual actions like pre-baptismal exorcism and exsufflation (symbolic action of blowing out the spirit) to argue that they are actions referring to the fact that there is need for the grace of god even for infants who are brought forward for baptism. second, prosper acknowledges that liturgy is not the only doctrinal source, nor lays claim that it is the primary source.7 on the contrary, liturgy, together with the magisterium and scriptures are sources for doctrine. hence, he used the words ‘in addition.’ in the mind of prosper, none is considered as receiving its authority from the other. rather, they all corroborate one another. at best, what we can say is that the agreement between the sources further fosters their authority. in fact, in its context, prosper in his mind simply implies that ‘one may have recourse to the prayers of the church in order to resolve the controversy on grace because they correspond to a biblical mandate (1 tim 2:1-2), and are the expressions of the living tradition of the church.’8 in other words, ‘church’s engagement in rites grounds the articulation of church’s belief’9 in as much as it aligns with the scriptures and magisterium. third, the writing of prosper affirms the authority of the liturgy in the facts that it is a universal prayer, the same everywhere and followed by all catholics all over the world. they are credible because, they are actions of the holy congregation in the presence of god, and the fact that god answers the prayers attests to its authority. lex orandi, lex credendi: a principle in practice though the adage, ‘ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi’ often reduced to lex orandi, lex credendi is attributed to prosper of aquitaine, the fundamental principle underlying the adage predates prosper’s formulation. the principle is evident in many new 104 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age testament writings and was carried on by the apostolic fathers. as an example, the prayers addressed to jesus in the new testament christological hymn (philippians 2: 5-11), confessing jesus as the lord – sharing the divine name kyrios used for yhwh – contribute immensely to the doctrine of the divinity of jesus. in the same way, the trinitarian baptismal practice in the matthean community reflected in matthew 28:19 reflects an instance where the practice of the church is already constituting in a way the belief of the church in the trinity. many of the early church fathers constantly had recourse to the liturgy in the explanation of the faith of the church.10 ignatius of antioch drew from the eucharistic liturgy to argue against the docetists (who claim that the human body of jesus is unreal but a phantasm, and therefore cannot really experience suffering). thus, ignatius refutes the docetists that their teaching negates the truth of the eucharist as the flesh of the jesus christ our saviour who suffered for our sins and was raised from the dead.11 through several references to the liturgy of baptism, early church writers argue for what developed to the different doctrines related to baptism. for instance, in the argument against julian eclanum, who teaches that children are born without original sin, augustine argues from the implication of exorcism and exsufflation which are carried out during the baptism of children. for augustine, the two rites – exorcism and exsufflation – are done to release the children from the power of the devil. and that it is because there is an ailment that we have recourse to the remedy. this same approach of appealing to the liturgy to understand the belief of the church about baptism is also evident in the post-baptismal mystagogical catechesis of ambrose of milan, cyril of jerusalem and theodore of mopsuestia.12 these bishops taught the neophytes what they are to believe based on what was celebrated. in the sixteenth century, the axiom witnessed a modification in its application. during the period of the reformation, the disputes in the understanding of christian doctrines led to the reformulation of liturgical texts and practices. for the reformers, what is believed is what should reflect in worship. believing now modifies and establishes praying. it should be noted that this move is not a denial, but a reversal, of the maxim. the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 105 was not absent but understood in a different way. a way that affirms the dual movement of the influence of one on the other. the reversal approach to the principle is also well favoured in the reform of the roman catholic liturgy. in his encyclical on the liturgy, mediator dei, pope pius xii modified the meaning of the maxim in this succinct statement: during the discussion of a doubtful or controversial truth, the church and the holy fathers have not failed to look to the age-old and age-honored sacred rites for enlightenment. hence the well-known and venerable maxim, "legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi" let the rule for prayer determine the rule of belief. the sacred liturgy, consequently, does not decide or determine independently and of itself what is of catholic faith. more properly, since the liturgy is also a profession of eternal truths, and subject, as such, to the supreme teaching authority of the church, it can supply proofs and testimony, quite clearly, of no little value, towards the determination of a particular point of christian doctrine. but if one desires to differentiate and describe the relationship between faith and the sacred liturgy in absolute and general terms, it is perfectly correct to say, "lex credendi legem statuat supplicandi" let the rule of belief determine the rule of prayer.13 pope pius xii acknowledges the symbiotic interplay between faith and liturgy and throws more weight behind the rule of faith determining the rule of prayer. he justifies this claim on the ground that the ecclesiastical authority has the responsibility of organizing and regulating divine worship, ‘enriching it constantly with new splendour and beauty, to the glory of god and the spiritual profit of christians’ (md no.49). the ecclesiastical authority carries out this responsibility by modifying the human elements of the liturgy as the needs of the age, circumstance and the good of souls may require, and as the ecclesiastical hierarchy, under the guidance of the holy spirit, may 106 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age have authorized (md no.50). while the reasons are laudable and appealing, it does not necessarily warrant the reversal of the meaning of the maxim.14 in a nutshell, either understood in its original context or in the application of the reversal, the axiom, lex orandi, lex credendi expresses a deep and mutual relationship between liturgy and the faith of the church. the liturgy celebrates the faith of the church. this is where the maxim is relevant to the core of this reflection. the relevance is that if all that is learned in the seminary is to aid in the understanding of the faith and life of the church, and for the future priest to be equipped for the ministry, what is learned invariably affects how future priests would understand and relate with the liturgy, which is the source and summit of the life of the church. therefore, for seminary formation in faith and ministry to achieve its goal, the approach to liturgical formation is key. reconsidering the liturgical formation in seminaries the vatican ii decree on the training of priests, optatam totius (ot) recognizes that the training of priests should ultimately have a liturgical focus. making the clarion call towards this recognition, the conciliar fathers requested that the entire formation of major seminarians should aim at enabling students to be formed as pastors of souls, following the example of jesus our teacher, priest and shepherd. (ot no.4). such formation is described as having a liturgical focus when the conciliar fathers say that ‘the students are to be trained for the ministry of the word... for the ministry of worship and sanctification so that by prayer and sharing in the liturgical celebrations, they may carry on the work of salvation’ (ot no.4). while the document makes the suggestion of the various necessary courses to be undertaken in the seminary to achieve the goal of the formation, the document made two other salient points relevant for this reflection. firstly, in the revision of the ecclesiastical studies to be undertaken, the primary aim is to coordinate philosophy and theology in such a way that together they open the minds of the students more and more to the mystery of christ, which touches the whole of human history, continually influencing the church, and is particularly at work in the priestly ministry (ot no.14). the mystery of christ which contains, but not limited to, the work of our redemption takes place liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 107 through and in the liturgy (sc no. 2). it is this same celebration of the liturgy that all of the ecclesiastical studies in seminary formation is revised to enhance in the life of seminarians. secondly, when the document ot outlines the various disciplines that should be included and their respective relevance to the formation of seminarians, liturgy was accorded a distinct position not just one of the disciplines but the focus of all. to underscore this position, ot simply says that ‘liturgy which is to be regarded as the first and ever necessary source of true christian spirit, should be taught in the spirit of articles 15 and 16 of the constitution on the sacred liturgy’. (ot 16). it is pertinent at this juncture to look at the content of the articles of sacrosanctum concilium referred to: 15. professors who are appointed to teach liturgy in seminaries, religious houses of studies, and theological faculties must be properly trained for their work in institutes specifically designed for this purpose. 16. sacred liturgy is to be ranked among the compulsory and major causes in seminaries and religious houses of studies. in theological faculties, it is to be one of the principal courses. it is to be taught under the theological, historical, spiritual, pastoral, and juridical aspects. in addition, those who teach other subjects, especially dogmatic theology, sacred scripture, spiritual and pastoral theology, should – while accepting the intrinsic demands of their own disciplines – expound the mystery of christ and the history of salvation in a manner that will make clear the connection between their subjects and the liturgy, and the unity of all priestly training. the request of sc 16 is of great significance which, i strongly believe, its neglect is partly one of the reasons for that gap between theory and practice, what is taught in the seminary and what is practised. all the subjects are expected to shed light, no matter how little, on the understanding and celebrations of the mystery of christ. courses that 108 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age seem highly unrelated in any way to the liturgy in the past has proven to be of great importance in the understanding and appreciation of the mystery being celebrated. for example, different developments in social sciences – sociology, psychology and anthropology have really developed ritual studies which today offers avenues for better understanding of christian worship and specifically sacramental theology and practice. the demands from the teachers of different courses in the seminary further calls for the reassessment of their process of recruitment. pope francis was conscious of this need when he writes that those who teach in the ecclesiastical faculties must be distinguished by a wealth of knowledge, witness to christian and ecclesial life, and sense of responsibility.15 though the intrinsic demands of some of these disciplines may not necessarily involve relating it to christian worship, students are to be prepared in such a way that they have the love of rigorous investigation, observation and demonstration of truth, together with an honest awareness of the limits of human knowledge (ot 15). this will enable them to be better disposed and appropriate whatever is taught in relation to christian worship. moreover, while many of the courses may not directly be related to worship, they could be related to faith and the understanding of human person. in these ways, the courses bolster the preparation of seminarians for liturgy in two ways. on the one hand, since the church celebrates what she believes, relation of courses to faith invariably fosters conviction and understanding in worship. on the other hand, the human person is the primary subject of worship. a better understanding and appreciation of the human person, therefore, enhance the liturgical ministry of the priest. furthermore, to corroborate the importance of liturgy at the core of priestly formation, the conciliar fathers suggested that the spiritual formation of students in seminaries and religious houses should be given a liturgical orientation (sc no.17). this is purposely to aid their understanding of the sacred rites and to assist them to participate in them wholeheartedly. in this same vein, the seminarians are equipped to celebrate sacred mysteries and popular devotion with the spirit of the sacred liturgy (sc no.17). liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 109 forming priests as christ-like leitourgos seminary formation is geared towards making students like christ teacher, priest and shepherd. this expectation of the conciliar fathers is further expressed in the decree on the ministry and life of priest, presbyterorum ordinis (po) that the sacrament of orders make priests in the image of christ (po no.12). this fundamental notion of catholic priesthood has its effect on how priests are formed. the introduction to the ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis expressly stated that ‘the purpose of priestly education/formation is based on the concept of the catholic priesthood.16 while the concept of catholic priesthood may take volumes of writings to exhaust, i will want to discuss it in this reflection in relation to the foregoing argument of the priest being in the likeness of christ. or better put in the light of the understanding of the catholic priest acting in persona christi at liturgy. the new testament highlights the priestly role of jesus in different ways. he is regarded as the great high priest of the order of melchizedek who offers both requests and supplications to god (hebrew 5:5-7). he is our high priest who sits at the right hand of god ministering (leitourgos) in the heavenly sanctuary (heb. 8:1-2). it is pertinent to note here that the author of the letter to the hebrews refers to jesus as our ‘liturgist.’ contrary to the long-held opinion that liturgy is from the two latin words laos (people) and ergon (work) resulting in the definition of liturgy as work of the people, paul marshal rightly corrected17 that it is from the words ergon (work) and leitos (public). therefore, the etymological meaning of liturgy is a public work done on behalf of the people. it is in this light that we can better understand the priest as the minister of the word and the mystery of christ as related in the vatican ii documents earlier cited. seminary formation which intends to mould ministers like christ, our liturgist, invariably aims at forming ‘liturgists.’ it is a disservice to the generations of believers who will be led in worship by him who does not understand what he is doing. in as much as the actions of the priests are to be carried out in the person of christ, anything less than a formation after a christ-like liturgist is a sham. knowing rightly that the liturgy is the exercise of the priestly office of 110 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age jesus christ, his ministers are to be formed with the same ideal in mind. it will never be overemphasised that having a liturgical focus is the real essence of priestly formation. the centrality of liturgy in the formation of a priest does not end at his ordination. the conciliar fathers recommend ongoing liturgical formation for priests. this is intended to deepen their understanding of the mysteries they celebrate and to faithfully live the liturgical life (sc18). this is essential so that remaining alter christus, they at the same time remain a ‘liturgist’ who ministers in the name of christ. conclusion the maxim lex orandi, lex credendi was discussed in this reflection as highlighting the relationship between liturgy and theology, praying and believing, faith and worship. since in the original usage of the maxim, liturgy, in agreement with scripture and tradition, influences what the church believes, it is expedient that the formation of liturgical ministers put into consideration the urgent need of appropriating learning in the seminaries to have a liturgical undertone. the understanding of the maxim in its context affirms that the faith of the church is what the liturgy celebrates. this affirmation guides against two extremes of liturgical archaism (the idea that the way things are done in the past is always and the only ideal way of worship) and of the fluid liturgy (the idea that liturgy must adapt to modern-day ‘beliefs’ and its charismatic expressions). the faith of the church which is celebrated in the liturgy is not a view or an ideology of a movement, no matter how popular within the church. therefore, the envisaged liturgical formation of seminarians prepares against the tendency of bringing different aberrations into worship and at the same time guards against rubricism. perhaps, if what this paper has discussed is faithfully considered, the attitude of ministers to the liturgy may be more positive and their conviction in the power of the rites further strengthened. these will possibly help to bridge the supposed gap between what they are taught in the seminary and what is expected of them at worship. liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 111 endnotes 1 vatican council ii, constitution on the sacred liturgy, sacrosanctum concilium, no. 10. (henceforth referred to as sc). 2 sacrosanctum concilium, no. 2. 3 sacrosanctum concilium, no. 7. 4 for a detailed discussion on the interplay between theology and liturgy, see michael aune, ‘liturgy and theology: rethinking the relationship,’ worship 81(2007): 46-68, 141-169. 5 pelagianism is the theological position that human beings, are like adam before the fall. they are born innocent, with absolute free will and absolutely capable of obeying god’s commandment and by so doing merit eternal life on their own. it was an extreme position against the gnostic and manichean doctrine. augustine responding to the adherents of pelagianism argues that human will is not free but sick, human nature is mortally wounded by sin and that from the moment of birth, human beings does not have the capacity to choose the good. this led to the development of augustine’s teaching on original sin. for him, it is only the grace of god that can enable human beings to turn to god. without this grace, humanity is condemned. pelagianism was condemned at the synod of carthage in 418 and the council of ephesus in 431. however, there arose a slight modification of the teaching of augustine to further emphasise the fact that god created man good and all about the goodness is not lost in the fall, giving rise to semi-pelagianism. this doctrine holds on to the necessity of divine grace for salvation, but further claims that even the first step to this is dependent on free will. for further readings on pelagianism and semi-pelagianism, see jaroslav pelikan, the christian tradition: a history of the development of doctrine, vol.1: the emergence of catholic tradition (100600) (chicago: university of chicago press, 1971), 278-331. 6 capitula coestini 8. as translated by geoffrey wainwright, doxology: the praise of god in worship, doctrine and life (new york: oxford university press 1980), 225-226. 7 some contemporary theologians however see in the maxim a confirmation of liturgy as the primary theology. aidan kavanagh, for instance, argues that the liturgy is the primary source for theology. see aidan kavanagh, on liturgical theology (new york: pueblo, 1984), 134; aidan kavanagh, ‘response: primary theology and liturgical acts’ worship (1983): 323-324. 8 paul de clerk, “‘lex orandi, lex credendi’: the original sense and historical avaters of an equivocal age,” studia liturgica 24 (1994): 192. 9 kevin w. irwin, “lex orandi, lex credendi – origins and meaning: state of the question” liturgical ministry 11 (2002): 59. 112 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 10 for elaborate discussion on the application of the principle in early christianity, see maxwell e. johnson, praying and believing in early christianity: the interplay between christian worship and doctrine (collegeville: liturgical press, 2013). 11 smyrnaeans 6. translated from ignatius of antioch, letters. in cyril c. richardson, ed & transl, early christian fathers (new york: touchstone, 1996), 114. 12 for the mystagogical catechesis of cyril of jerusalem, ambrose, john chrysostom and theodore of mopsuestia, see edward yarnold, the aweinspiring rites of initiation: the origins of rcia, (collegeville: liturgical press, 1994), 65 -250. 13 pope pius xii, encyclical on the liturgy: mediator dei, (november 20, 1947), no. 48 (henceforth referred to as md). 14see aidan kavanagh, ‘response: primary theology and liturgical acts,’ 342. he argues that ‘with the presence of the verb, statuat, in the sentence, it is impossible to reverse the subject and predicate any more than one can reverse the member of the statement: the foundations support the house. having said that, one cannot really say that the house supports the foundation. one must say something different.’ 15 pope francis, apostolic constitution veritatis gaudium: on ecclesiastical universities and faculties, art. 25 par. 1:1, january 29, 2018. 16 introduction to ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, march 19, 1985. 17 paul marshall, “reconsidering ‘liturgical theology’: is there a lex orandi for all christians?,” studia liturgical 25 (1995): 129-155. prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 1 c h a p t e r 1 prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly formation: anselm jimoh and the pursuit of genuine knowledge francis eshemomoh ikhianosime introduction the seminal work of miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing1, has become the locus classicus in contemporary discourses in social epistemology for analysing the different ways there can be dysfunctions in our epistemic practices. fricker explores two main ways of dysfunctions in our epistemic practices. the first occurs in testimonial transaction, wherein a speaker can have a deflated credibility from a hearer owing to prejudice on the hearer’s part. a deflated credibility can be due to a “negative-identity-prejudicial stereotype” a hearer has about a speaker. in such a situation, prejudice plays a negative role. in the history of epistemology, the debate of testimony being a source of knowledge is intractable and vexed. although there are vigorous queries on whether testimony is an autonomous source of epistemic authority, it is nevertheless, arguably true that much of what we know is testimonially acquired; from information from books, teachers to what others tell us. but, prejudice plays a facultative role on how we accept or refute the claim of a person or an epistemic agent. for instance, if s has an ill-founded idea that p is a liar, because as at the last time s asked p if he drinks alcohol, he replied in the negative, not knowing that s had asked p, the question to test his sincerity, because 2 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age about two years ago, s had seen p at a function drinking a bottle of beer, but, unknown to s that p had exchanged the contents of the alcohol with a non-alcoholic substance earlier because there were no glass cups around. then, s concluded that p is a liar on that basis. while s has grounds to believe p is telling a lie and so concludes that p is a liar, s’s claim for p is ill-founded. in such a situation, s can become prejudiced to whatever p says. this can be a prejudice that deflates s’s degree of credibility for p. prejudice, therefore, can block the flow of knowledge and weaken the chances for achieving truth. prejudice can manifest itself in varied ways. fricker calls this kind of situation where prejudice shrinks a hearer’s credibility, testimonial injustice. the second dysfunction in epistemic practice is what she calls, hermeneutical injustice. in her precis to the epochal seminal work in question, fricker explains that this occurs “at a prior stage, when someone is trying to make sense of a social experience but is handicapped in this by a certain sort of gap in collective understanding – a hermeneutical lacuna whose existence is owing to the relative powerlessness of a social group to which the subject belongs. such a lacuna renders the collective interpretive resources structurally prejudiced”.2 the dysfunction referred to by fricker as hermeneutic injustice often has a cultural or historical context. for instance, in an environment where smokers are regarded as perverts because of the cultural understanding of smoking, in such a situation, a smoker would be morally deflated or disdained when he talks on some moral matters for instance. this can lead to ‘hermeneutical inequality’. the two forms of injustices identified by fricker abound from wrongs or negative influence of prejudice. nevertheless, the philosophical understanding of prejudice is not necessarily negative. the work of fricker, therefore, has opened up new considerations of harms and wrongs in epistemic practices. her work has become a launchpad for discussing different social environments, how epistemic accounts are formed, and how epistemic transactions are interpreted. this work attempts to discuss how prejudicial dysfunction can either lead to credibility deficit or excess in the formation of priests, taking a seminary as an epistemic community. in the formation of priests, a lot rests on judgments and assessment from different evaluators/formators. these reports ultimately form the prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 3 basis for discernment and judging of the suitability of a candidate for the priesthood. like every testimonial or hermeneutic practice, the goal is understanding or knowledge in the long run. prejudice can either stand in the way as a positive or negative element. this work, therefore, set to establish some ways there can be dysfunctions in an epistemic environment of priestly formation. this work analyses the understanding of prejudice from a philosophical standpoint and further progresses to analyse epistemic practices in priestly formation. granted that the goal of every epistemic practice and epistemology is a holistic vision for knowledge and truth, the last part of this work devotes attention to how anselm jimoh, the silver jubilarian as an academic, has been involved in the pursuit of this agenda in epistemology, taking note of some of his contributions in pursuing the vision for a genuine knowledge in epistemology and also in creating a clearer understanding of what the priestly ministry should be as an epistemic subject in particular. philosophical understanding of prejudice prejudice as a philosophical concept is historical. anja steinbauer argues that the first philosophical musings about the concept ‘prejudice’ (praeiusticium) started during the classical age with cicero. he talks of prejudice as the opposite of the truth, associated with an error. for cicero, prejudice is born out of manipulation.3 he cites the legal context to explain for instance, that once a juror had listened to a particular case over and over, so once a trial happens and a lawyer is citing a version of that case, has little to do to convince them of the veracity of his words. thus, the case in question takes its merit from the understanding of previous accounts listened. during the period of the enlightenment which was marked by the renaissance, the understanding of prejudice as manipulation was abandoned, and rather, the concern was with the problem of prejudice. francis bacon’s doctrine on prejudice was equated with “idols of the mind” (idola) which the intellect must be purified from if it can get knowledge. this understanding of prejudice (idola) which the mind must get rid off continues with the works of descartes. according to descartes, the first act of the new philosophy is to free the mind of prejudice. descartes explains: “i yet apprehend that they cannot be adequately understood by many, both because they are also a little lengthy and dependent the one on other, and principally 4 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age because they demand a mind wholly free of prejudices, and one which can be easily detached from the affairs of the senses”4 with the enlightenment, prejudices takes on a negative connotation as prejudgment. in the light of this thought, voltaire regards prejudice as an opinion without judgment.5 this transfusing understanding of prejudice as a prejudged opinion continued and was also a fashionable term during the french revolution which denoted “all errors of the mind, which, in the worst cases, could only be eradicated by means of the guillotine!”6 the views on prejudice during the enlightenment period sometimes confused the preliminary thought of an individual on an issue for a conclusive claim. hence, the misgiving and labelling of prejudice as errors that blurs understanding. it is against this background that gadamer evolves his philosophy on prejudice which argues for a beneficial and valuable role of prejudice. with gadamer, prejudice as a philosophical concept was immune from his negative garb. gadamer explains the positive validity, the value of the provisional decision as a prejudgment, like that of any precedent”7 cynthia nielsen argues that “gadamer’s focus on the positive value of prejudgment is part of his critique of enlightenment rationalism, which claimed that judgment is legitimate only when methodologically justified. absent such justification, a judgment is rendered baseless. thus, all appeals to tradition and the authority of others – where accepting authoritative voices is misunderstood as relinquishing the use of one’s own reasonare considered invalid and irrational”.8 gadamer argues that prejudice aids understanding. he notes that anyone trying to understand something or a text projects an initial meaning and it is this that guides the actual meaning of the text. gadamer appeals to binary opposition to establish the value of prejudice. the theory of binary opposition is seen as a fundamental organizer of language, culture and human philosophy. in simple terms, this theory explains that we derive the meaning of a thing or concept by an appeal to its opposite. for instance, we can understand darkness more with the concept of light, etc. it is in this sense, gadamer explains that fore-meanings or what is understood as prejudice helps to protect a text from a misunderstanding from the start. in this case, the actual meaning of a text becomes more valuable and meaningful, only with the presence of fore-meanings. with prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 5 prejudice, what is required in openness. the reader must remain open in reading the text. he notes clearly: a person trying to understand something will not resign himself from the start to relying on his own accidental fore-meanings, ignoring as consistently and stubbornly as possible the actual meaning of the text until the latter becomes so persistently audible that it breaks through what the interpreter imagines it to be. rather, a person trying to understand a text is prepared for it to tell him something. that is why a hermeneutically trained consciousness must be, from the start, sensitive to the text’s alterity.9 even with gadamer, prejudice is not a terminus in understanding, it is only a pathway to getting meaning. we must take note of the window he offers for this, and that is “openness”. however, he fails to realize that prejudice can, in fact, be the clog on the wheel of openness. this becomes as he describes it, “the tyranny of hidden prejudices” and this makes us deaf to understanding and actual meaning oftentimes. prejudice, therefore, can either be positive or negative. from the gadamerian understanding of prejudice, the concept can be epistemically neutral as it pertains to forming judgment or knowledge. judgment has its dignity if it has a basis and has a methodological justification.10 prejudice becomes negative if it has no epistemological foundation and lacks adequate methodological justification and it is positive if it acts on the contrary to aid judgment and knowledge. however, gadamer stresses the historical situatedness which shapes our understanding; our language, customs, social and familial ties, etc. these historical situations are what make up the prejudices for him. he writes: “the self-awareness of the individual is only a flickering in the closed circuits of historical life. that is why the prejudices of the individual, far more than his judgments, constitute the historical reality of his being”. our prejudices, therefore, for gadamer, form our historical reality. as nielsen puts it, “our prejudices orient us in a certain direction and direct us to specific concerns and questions”11 gadamer maintains that prejudice could be due to human authority or over hastiness. it is either we have respect for persons 6 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age who hold them and so fall into error or we are overhasty ourselves. authority within the period of enlightenment was a major source of prejudice which was refuted and countered. the enlightenment critique was primarily directed against religious tradition in christianity, where for instance, the bible is treated as a dogmatic literature and not historical and so anything that comes out of it was seen as authoritative and this formed a bedrock for prejudice. the enlightenment rather critiqued much of these as a way to free man from the trammels of prejudice by subjecting every claim to the judgment seat of reason. tradition and authority were, therefore, twin elements that fanned the embers of prejudice. this is what miranda fricker calls social power.12 fricker’s conception of power is at the basis of discussing her notion of prejudice, particularly her notion of “identity prejudices”. prejudices of this kind function as a monocle through which everything the person says or does is refracted. this is a kind of distorting the lens. according to fricker, power which she generally also understands as social power is a capacity we have as social agents to influence how things go in the social world.13 social power understood as a capacity persists through periods even when it is not being realized. thus, power can exist whether operative or inoperative. although, some scholars contest this understanding of power14. furthermore, power can either be agential or structural, that is, it can either be possessed by an individual or a structure or group and it functions principally for control: either positively or negatively. and then, power is socially situated. thus, fricker’s working conception of social power is, “a practically situated capacity to control other’s actions, where this capacity may be exercised (actively or passively) by particular social agents, or alternatively, it may be operated structurally”.15 be that as it may, fricker singles one form of social power which is identity power. whenever there is an operation of power that depends on some significant degree upon such shared imaginative conceptions of social identity, then identity power is at work.16 identity power comes to play on account of a certain position or class a person occupies. it is a form of authority and is a tool of control and sometimes silencing of the lesser other. for instance, identity power can be prominent in a patriarchal culture where women’s voice are diminished. in such a situation, when a woman speaks on an issue, prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 7 her position is not highly reckoned with, but once a man speaks, it is taken as authoritative. in such a situation, identity power can cause stereotypes. in this case, even before the woman speaks, her position is already distorted by this social stereotype as socially inferior or weaker. to conceive of this differently, if in such a situation, a man accuses a woman of something wrong in such a context, there is a primordial bias to accept the position of the man on the basis of his identity category. what is playing out here is identity power. it so happens in other social contexts. identity power, therefore, is an integral part of our testimonial exchanges, and it creates stereotypes in how we evaluate the judgments of those in certain identity or power category. such stereotypes embody prejudices; either creating credibility deficit or credibility excess and this is what fricker calls “prejudicial dysfunction in testimonial practice”17 in testimonial exchanges, fricker notes that prejudice can insinuate itself in a number of ways, but its main entry point is via stereotypes.18 stereotypes are generally neutral. they can have a positive or negative valence based on its context. epistemic practices and the priestly formation the understanding of prejudice from the foregoing explains its preponderance in the epistemic transaction whether positively or negatively. the implication of prejudice in such exchanges is that it influences understanding and judgment either positively or negatively. it generally creates a skewed way of viewing people especially in an epistemologically refracted lens and this causes harms or wrongs in epistemic practices and even sometimes injustice as fricker puts it, both testimonial and hermeneutical. these conversely affect how we form beliefs on people and what we count as knowledge in the long run. epistemic practices are understood to mean the different pathways in generating knowledge. put elaborately, epistemic practices “are the socially organized and interactionally accomplished ways that members of a group propose, communicate, assess, and legitimize knowledge claims”19 epistemic practices are therefore basically interactional in which case it is a construction among people. it is also contextual as it involves norms of a particular social system. it is also intertextual in which case it involves communication through a history of coherent discourse, signs and symbols. it is also 8 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age consequential in which case it both instantiates power and legitimize knowledge.20 karin knorr cetina expatiates on the concept in point by maintaining that epistemic practices are considered to be included in epistemic cultures, ‘the culture of knowledge settings’21, which are linked to and form the basis of a broader contemporary concept, the knowledge society. epistemic practices, therefore, are related to a frame of meaning which regulate people’s lives. it is this knowledge which determines what people do, how they are related to and what constitutes people’s actions. when we talk of epistemic practices in a given social context or background, we are referring to a framework of how knowledge is formed and applied. we also refer to all those pathways for arriving at these, including interpersonal epistemic transactions. therefore, as long as there is a social given, epistemic practices necessarily abound. our concern in epistemic practices in priestly formation is how we form knowledge about others especially with the operation of social power and also how we make sense of our social experiences. our concern also oscillates around how we think about our epistemic relations if they produce epistemic advantage or disadvantage especially within the context of priestly formation. in priestly formation, the seminary is the epistemic community in context. within this epistemic community are students (seminarians); those in training to become priests and formators; those training the students. there are a number of epistemic transactions that take place within this epistemic community; epistemic transaction between fellow students and between formators and students. the latter is of greater importance because in it there is a power play; the formator seen as superior. the epistemic transaction between the formator and student is important, that it ultimately helps in his overall evaluation and how his vocation is eventually discerned. since the factor of evaluation is at stake, the whole epistemic practice must be looked to see how testimonial excess or deficit can play a role in judgment and knowledge formation. one area of concern is how formators listen to their students’ concern and how the students make themselves known to their formators so as to be helped. another area is how the student can provide completely irrelevant information or provide a superfluous assessment of themselves and not allowing themselves to be known and assisted in the formation process. this can create a wrong epistemic relationship for assistance and support. the difficulty that can be created is a complicated prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 9 epistemic relationship sometimes arising from the compromising of information because of a prejudged understanding that such information can be used negatively against him. this kind of situation has a lot of consequences for the student and for the intended outcome of formation altogether.22 the practical implication is that this can jeopardise the opportunities of being properly assisted and eventually, the essence of the formation is in all defeated. another area in the epistemic practice within the seminary as an epistemic community is that there are sporadic cases of communicative failure which can lead to false belief and knowledge formation. this can be due to what i can regard as some gaps in the student-formator relationship. within this relationship, the power relations play a key role in either the widening of the gaps or its closure. once there is no proper management of the balance of power, it can lead to silencing sometimes of the student, leading to wrongs or harm in the epistemic relations. unless there exist an atmosphere of symmetric power relations, sometimes there cannot be openness in the relationship. the epistemic starting point for this discussion is that students (seminarians) can be vulnerable in the epistemic relationship and that prevalent stereotypes and prejudices within the structural framework of the seminary as an epistemic community, some are prejudices they have about the epistemic community which can hamper a holistic and healthy epistemic situation which in turn can hinder proper understanding of the student and eventually influence how he is judged or evaluated. a caveat must be established here that it is not the case that at all times seminarians are epistemically vulnerable or oppressed, but, that they can be susceptible to this based on the imbalance power relation that sometimes exists between the formator and the seminarian. it suffices to begin by identifying stereotype structures and practices that are generated and sustained in the seminary as an epistemic community. stereotypes are sometimes brewed from a warped understanding and belief that those who underperform within the system will not always be promoted for the orders that they are there for, regardless of the context. also, some are within the seminary community with a fixed understanding and stereotype that not all who begin can finish in the program. this creates a darwinian survival mentality; the survival of the fittest. again, since the process of assessment is basically done by formators and so, the students 10 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age sometimes could attempt to play a positive image before them, so a positive impression could be formed and consequently influence positively the judgement of them, without it being their true image and personality. the primary work of a formator is not to pass judgment, but to form. assessment is only part of this process of formation, it is not the principal role. to say that the students think this way, is a structural stereotype from what they have understood and interpreted over time. thus, the system has foisted a negative stereotype which reinforces a negative attitude in them. another stereotype can be that anyone who is found out to consistently manifest a negative or an unapproved behaviour would be dismissed from the community. this is an incomplete picture of the process, because, this runs contrary to what a seminary should be or of its formation program. however, this stereotype affects how the students, therefore, open up in the process. these stereotypes portray a wrong image of the epistemic community and of the epistemic relation between the student and formator. these kinds of stereotypes already create prejudice to the epistemic transaction and interaction. thus, there is epistemic distrust from the beginning of the interaction and this is an epistemic vice. there are other levels of stereotypes arising from the part of the formator to the student, based on certain understanding and experience in the past. this may sometimes be accidental, not habitual. for instance, to think that people from a certain region are poised to behave in a certain way, based on the experience of others from that area. there is also a case of testimonial excess, where a student who is academically sound is perceived as a morally balanced individual. his academic brilliance can create a situation of testimonial excess and a mirror or lens for seeing every other action of his in the light of brilliance. conversely, to think that a person who is not academically sound is not suitable enough in other areas and so judged on the basis of that alone. it suffices to say that stereotype can also be created systemically, wherein, much of what is known about the individual are relied upon by information and accounts about him from others, not necessarily a personal experience of the student. hypothetically speaking, in a situation where all the reports that have been written about the candidates are by people who have had a negative bias against the candidate in question, then, the formator may be relying on such a negatively biased report, unknown prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 11 to him to make an assessment. and so, if there are any pointers to such situations, whether confirmed or not, the formator is likely to admit it a sequence and moral difficulty of the candidate. here, we can find a case where negative bias is perpetuated and judgment formed on the basis of prejudicial dysfunctions. there are also possible situations where judgments about individuals are based on disparaging associations, social groups and one or more objectionable attributes, not just on the basis of an individual situation. when judgments are made on such merits, we sometimes can talk about a version of injustice fricker talks as the basic form of injustice; testimonial injustice.23 this situation as fricker and some commentators on fricker uphold can lead to credibility deficit; that whatever they say is viewed in this light with some prejudice. this can gradually lead to eroding the epistemic confidence of the speaker or group. if this situation endures, it can lead to a crush of their confidence in their epistemic capacities. “a person or group suffering from such a situation will not expect what they say to be heard, and in time might not speak at all, as the constant assault upon their testimonial practices gradually undermines their epistemic and social confidence”.24 this is the kind of situation that can sometimes lead to silencing of the other or speaker with the constant erosion of his epistemic confidence. this can pose some difficulty in the epistemic practice in the seminary. these are possible instantiations of structural stereotypes that build up our prejudices which eventually influence judgment and knowledge formation in the seminary as an epistemic community. one of the consequences of a negative stereotype is that it leads to a deflated level of credibility to the speakers’ word.25 in our case in point, stereotypes can cause either the student to be suspect of what the formator is saying or on the contrary, it can cause the formator to have a deficit of trust in what the student is saying. in any case, stereotypes create a prejudicial dysfunction and this weakens a complete epistemic situation for either a chance for a fair judgment or a balanced and comprehensive understanding of an epistemic transaction. stereotypes as fricker notes are windows for prejudices and the first it does is the impairment of listening. it functions on how we listen to others. for the lecturer, once he has a negative stereotype of a candidate, how he listens to him becomes lopsided or impaired. the same is true about the student, once he forms a prejudice about a 12 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age lecturer, he is always at a loosing end, not paying attention to details, but only listening with the wrong aid of his prejudice. he thinks of all the teacher says in the light of this. so, he becomes perpetually suspect of his contributions. this can be a major form of deflection for a wholesome epistemic interaction. this short-circuited interaction necessarily will lead to communicative failure as there would not be an anticipatory openness as gadamer recommends in dealing with prejudice rather, there would be anticipatory reticence and deflection. this outcome of such epistemic practice can only be incomplete, imbalance and an unproductive epistemic interaction. formation process in this context is skewed and lead to error. negative prejudice takes a progression not only for testimonial deficit, but can also lead to hermeneutical injustice. hermeneutical injustice is the second variant of epistemic injustice outlined by miranda fricker. this is the phenomenon that occurs “when the intelligibility of communicators is unfairly constrained or undermined when their meaning-making capacities encounter unfair obstacles”.26 fricker puts it as “when a gap in collective interpretative resources puts someone at an unfair advantage when it comes to making sense of their social experiences”.27 what is needed in this situation are epistemic practices that lead to openness, epistemic trust and testimonial justice. there is an entirely new way we can evaluate epistemic practices in the seminary as an epistemic community and this can be in the pedagogical exchange; the teaching-learning process. arguably, the formator as a teacher is considered as an epistemically privileged person possessing epistemic authority. the essence of this authority is to facilitate students’ learning. there are, however, ways within this mutual interaction that there are harms and wrongs due to prejudice both on the part of the student and on the part of the formator as a teacher. ben kotzee explains that epistemic harm or injustice could occur in such a relationship “if teachers systematically gave learners less epistemic credit than they deserve due to some negative identity prejudicial stereotype pertaining to learners in a particular setting”.28 epistemic credit, in this case, is understood as the testimonial value attached to a student. when teachers tend to place more value on some or a group of students at the expense of others, this can cause some level of epistemic harm. although this is peculiar to many pedagogical settings, there is a tendency to always give more attention to students who are brighter than others who are less prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 13 academically inclined. malcolm gladwell describes this as the matthew effect29 in his book, outliers.30 kotzee corroborates this point in detailed terms thus: teachers may give more epistemic credit to the views of students from epistemically privileged groups. on the testimonial level, they may believe or praise such students more often due to their identity as members of an epistemically privileged group. on the hermeneutical level, teachers, but more so, the school’s culture, language and ethos may give more credence to such students’ perspectives, engage more naturally with these perspectives and fail to comprehend the perspectives of less privileged students.31 conversely, there is another way that there can be epistemic harm on the part of students to teacher and even causing the student to be at a loss. once a student has a set of stereotypes about a teacher, it forms some negative prejudices against such a teacher and this becomes refraction that impairs his openness to learning because of his bias. this is another form of a detour in the student-formator epistemic transaction. from our analysis of epistemic practices in a seminary as an epistemic community, prejudicial dysfunctions play roles in impairing proper understanding of an epistemic situation and making the most of an epistemic exchange. the concern to have a wholesome epistemic situation is the concern of analytic epistemology. this leads us to the third part of our conversation, the contributions of anselm jimoh to the pursuit of genuine knowledge anselm jimoh and the pursuit of genuine knowledge the growing breakdown in epistemic practices reflects an increased need and relevance for the pursuit of genuine knowledge which is the goal of epistemology. the term, ‘genuine knowledge’ is specialized. in the analysis of knowledge, epistemologists talk of legitimate or genuine knowledge to differentiate it from unsubstantiated claims or knowledge that is not warranted. thus, “genuine”, “legitimate”, “warrant” are designates to protect the process that leads to knowledge formation. genuine knowledge is one that is free from the encumbrances of prejudice for instance and scepticism. this explains 14 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the role of justification as a condition for knowledge. efforts in understanding the justification condition have made some scholars talk about epistemology as a theory of justification. jimoh anselm is one scholar who has made substantial contributions to the subject matter of justification in epistemology. he maintains that epistemic justification describes when a person’s belief is in right standing with knowledge32. jimoh notes that epistemic justification clarifies or reduces doubt about the genuineness of our beliefs33. the question of epistemic justification lends itself to various understandings, interpretations and theories. justification is so central to our knowledge claims, yet, establishing a paradigm is very herculean. regardless of the inconclusiveness on the topic of justification, jimoh anselm subscribes to a context-dependent version of epistemic justification. in his article, “context-dependency of human knowledge: justification of an african epistemology”, he argues “that knowledge is ultimately dependent on some human and social factors, rather than being an objective, impersonal relation between the object known and the knowing subject.”34 the essence of context, consideration of human and social factors are at the heart of overcoming prejudice in our knowledge claims and this is the vision of anselm jimoh’s philosophical theorizing on justification. contextualism as a theory of justification reacts against the incoherency of coherentism and foundationalism as theories of epistemic justification. foundationalism holds that some beliefs are incorrigible and infallible and so do not need to be justified; those beliefs are said to be self-evident or derived from intuition.35 it suffices to say that prejudices act like foundational belief, that the epistemic agent, tend not to seek their justification because they are believed to be self-justifying or intuitive. however, it is precisely for this reason that foundationalism is criticized as an incomplete theory of justification. the most evident albatross for this theory is how some beliefs are infallible. similarly, in seeking justification and freedom from prejudicial dysfunctions, when all our beliefs are interrogated and a warrant is provided for them, then, our knowledge claims can be genuine. this is precisely the advocacy of contextualism as a theory of epistemic justification which anselm jimoh subscribes and promotes. it suffices to say, that jimoh anselm’s devotion in epistemology is for clearer grounds of belief or certitude and prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 15 dismantling grounds for doubt. this is the focus of what can be regarded as opus magnum or one of his most cited work, certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology.36 through this work, he treats key themes in epistemology which can aid the acquisition of certitude in our knowledge claims and the diminishing or elimination of doubts in epistemology. it suffices to say that jimoh devotes special attention to african epistemology. african epistemology takes to cognizance the epistemic peculiarities of the african man as an epistemic agent. it, therefore, analyses issues, concepts and perspectives in epistemology from an african perspective. in fact, he advanced in one of his papers, “an african theory of knowledge”. 37 in this work, he reinforces his position advanced by his subscription to the contextualist thesis of justification by further advancing that “our knowledge claims among traditional africans are not validated in objectivist terms, as required by rationalists and empiricists, but with regards to the habits and customs of the people.38 it suffices to cite jimoh in some details: justification in african epistemology is culture-bound and therefore context-dependent. the truth-value or falsity of our epistemic claims is ultimately dependent on factors that are human, social and culture-based. an appraisal of the factors discussed above gives us a clear assessment of rational certainty. african epistemologists should consider the role played by the human person and the society in establishing our knowledge claims. there are no epistemic claims whose justification rests wholly on the prescribed objectivist terms of the rationalist and empiricist as seen in traditional western epistemology. if the justification of our knowledge claims is situated within social practices, we would no longer think of knowledge, truth and rational certainty in abstract terms. therefore, there would be no need to study these concepts independent of the factors alleged as necessary conditions for human knowledge.39 the submission of jimoh with reference to the justification of our knowledge claims is that both the social and cultural parameters must 16 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age be assessed and analysed if we must get at genuine knowledge. this is giving a place to the context in seeking justification. when we have an objective lens with which we want to see or pursue certainly, we cannot but create stereotypes or have set foundations with which each situation is judged. this is what fosters prejudice; making judgements from stereotypes. if we can examine issues and epistemic contents within each given context, as jimoh advances, we certainly would be on a path for a holistic epistemic portrait in our epistemic practices. the contributions of jimoh apart from advancing a picture for our search for certitude has also helped in reconstructing, what he considered as fractured indigenous knowledge systems (iks). by indigenous knowledge system, jimoh explicates is “the system of investigating, understanding, assimilating and attributing african conception of reality that is distinctively african and philosophical.”40 as part of his project in pursuit of genuine knowledge and certainty, jimoh seeks to also reconstruct the fractured epistemological template by which africans evaluate their epistemic experiences. this was a kind of objective lens with which they investigate, interrogate and evaluate knowledge practices. western logic, models and paradigms were the objective epistemological lens african hitherto used. this he believed caused epistemological silencing41, which is also known as epistemic injustice. this epistemic injustice which was caused by the bequest of a monochrome logic of western epistemology as either a lens, foundation or stereotype for evaluating african indigenous knowledge practices fractured our african epistemology. his efforts at a reconstruction of the fractured epistemology were advocacy of taking the african context, culture and circumstances to cognizance. this is a further search of genuine knowledge in african epistemology and the breaking down of the walls of stereotypes and prejudices which impair our vision for a holistic epistemic picture. it suffices to say that jimoh’s quest for genuine knowledge is also evident in his contributions to the priestly formation and vocation. one very notable important contribution to this is in his article, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese”42. he highlights some misgivings in priestly formation today and advanced ways for a correct understanding of what it should be. he notes: ‘redefining the priesthood is not an option. if things are not as they should be, the option is to go back to the roots and make them what prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 17 they ought to be”.43 it is clear that the vision of jimoh over time has been the reconstruction of fracture epistemic templates both for how we arrive at knowledge claims and what the priesthood should be. concluding remarks this paper has discussed common dysfunctions in our epistemic practices and how they lead to prejudice. it has been elaborately stated in this paper that prejudice refracts our understanding and impairs us from achieving a holistic epistemic picture. although prejudice, at least, philosophically speaking is not itself negative, however, when used as an end, a judgment in itself, it always brings about an incomplete or partial understanding. stereotypes reinforce prejudice and until we get rid of stereotypes, our understanding will keep being impaired by prejudice, what francis bacon calls the “idols of the mind”. taking a seminary as an epistemic community as this work has established, both stereotypes and prejudice can refract a balanced view of things and the consequence is harms and wrongs done at certain levels. apart from various harms and wrongs certainty or genuine knowledge also becomes scarce. the pursuit for knowledge that is warranted has become exigent in contemporary analytic epistemology since the epochal challenge by edmund gettier44 that the tripartite traditional conditions for knowledge, namely, “belief”, “truth” and “justification” although individually and jointly necessary, are not always jointly sufficient for knowledge. with gettier’s hypothetical interrogation of the traditional understanding of knowledge, it has become expedient to tighten the grounds for our knowledge claims. this is the concern for “genuine knowledge”. prejudice can sometimes lead to knowledge but one that is not warranted. hence, the focus in contemporary analytic epistemology for genuine knowledge. anselm jimoh, the silver jubilarian is a consummate epistemologist who has pursued the vision for genuine knowledge in epistemology as an intellectual focus in general and in different epistemic contexts in particular. with his advocacy of epistemic contextualism, he has made clearer the vision for genuine knowledge as an epistemic possibility. through his works, he has pursued activism against the objectification of means for knowledge. he further has self-engaged in a reconstruction of fractured epistemic portraits of different epistemic pictures, including those fractured by 18 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age stereotypes and prejudice. his epistemic template of contextualdependency for justification of our knowledge is what this work has advanced for a reconstruction of the fractured epistemic situations in priestly formation. in synopsis, therefore, in priestly formation, the taking of an individual context, background and situations are important if we must get the best from the formation process. in our epistemic transactions in priestly formation, if we undermine context, there would be different harms, wrongs and deficits that would be incurred in the process. therefore, each epistemic interaction must be subject to individual contextual clarification, interrogation and justification. if we keep having beliefs that are foundational or incorrigible, then we cannot make the most from our epistemic exchanges. but, if we subscribe to the advocacy of anselm jimoh for context-based interaction and justification in our epistemic practices, then, even if we cannot get a complete or holistic epistemic picture or certitude, we are sure to have diminished the embers of errors and wrongs in our epistemic exchange. the resultant outcome would be a healthy outlook and basis for discussing other issues in priestly formation. endnotes 1 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, oxford: oxford university press, 2007. 2 mirander fricker, “precisepistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing” in theoria, 61, 2008: 69-71 3 anja steinbauer, “the false mirror: a brief history of prejudice” in philosophy now, issue 123, december 2017/january 2018, retrieved on october 13, 2019 https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/the_false_mirror_a_brief_history_of_p rejudice 4 rené descartes, meditations on first philosophy, ed. stanley tweyman, new york: routlegde, 1993, p. 36, translated by elisabeth s haldane and g.r.t ross). 5 voltaire on prejudice as cited in “prejudice, philosophies and language: spinoza and his strategy of liberation”, conference proceedings in nordicummediterraneum, icelandic e-journal of nordic and meditterranean studies https://nome.unak.is/wordpress/volume-12-no-3-2017/conference-proceedingvolume-12-no-3-2017/prejudices-philosophies-language-spinoza-strategiesliberation/#_edn2 prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 19 6 anja steinbauer, “the false mirror: a brief history of prejudice” ibid. 7 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, second, revised edition, london: continuum, 1975. p. 270 8 cynthia r. nielsen, “gadamer and fricker on prejudice and testimonial injustice” in https://www.academia.edu/40149778/gadamer_and_fricker_on_prejudice_and _testimonial_injustice 9 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, 271 10 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, 273 11 cynthia r. nielsen, “gadamer and fricker on prejudice and testimonial injustice” ibid. 12 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 9-17 13 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 9 14 michael foucault contests this understanding of power as operative even when not put into use. foucault generally holds that power exists only when put into action. see, michael foulcault, beyond structuralism and hermeneutics, hemel hempstead: haverster press, 1982. 15 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 13 16 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 17 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 18 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 19 gregory j kelly and peter licona, “epistemic practices and science education” in michael r. matt history, philosophy and science education, dordrecht: springer international publishing, 2018. 139-165. 20 gregory j. kelly and peter licon, “epistemic practices and science education” ibid. 21 knorr cetina, k. “knowledge cultures” in m. jacobs and n weiss hanrahan (eds), the blackwell companion to the sociology, oxford: blackwell, 2005. 65-79. see also, inger eriksson and viveca lindberg, “enriching ‘learning activy with ‘epistemic practices’enhancing students’ epistemicy agency” in nordic journal of studies in educational policy, 2016, 1, doi:10.3402/nstep.v2.32432 22 ian james kidd and havi carel dissussed this kind of situation happening in conditions of illness or healthcare and medicine. this is discussed in at least two of their papers, namely, ian james kidd and havi carel “epistemic injustice and illness” in david coady and miranda fricker (eds.), applied epistemology, a special issue of the journal of applied philosophy, 33 (4), 2016, 172-190. also, havi carel and ian james kidd, “epistemic injustice in medicine and healthcare, in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, (eds.) the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, new york: taylor and francis group, 2017, 336-346. 23 miranda fricker, epistemic injustic: power and the ethics of knowing, 35 20 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 24 ian james kidd and havi carel, “epistemic injustice and illness” in david coady and miranda fricker (ed), ibid, 177. see also, miranda fricker, epistemic injustic: power and the ethics of knowing, 47-48. 25 see, miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 17 26 jose medina, “ varieties of hermeneutical injustice” in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, ibid. 41. 27 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 1 28 ben kotzee, “education and epistemic injustice” in in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, ibid. 326 29 the matthew effect is based on the biblical principle of st. matthew “for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”—matthew 25:29 30 malcolm gladwell, outliers: the story of success, new york: little, brown and company, 2008, 15-34 31 ben kotzee, “ education and epistemic injustice”, 327 32jimoh anselm, “on the question of justification in knowledge enquiry” in nasara journal of philosophy (najop), 2.1, 2017, 9-25 33 jimoh anselm, “on the question of justification in knowledge enquiry” 10 34 jimoh anselm, “context-dependency of human knowledge: justification of an african epistemology” in west african journal of philosophical studies, vol. 2, 1999, 18-37 35 kolawole owolabi, “the nature of epistemology” in issues and problems in philosophy, kolawole owolabi (ed.), ibadan: grovacs network, 2000, 64. 36 jimoh anselm, certitude and doubt: a guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books and kreations, 2013. this text has been revised and expanded in its second edition, jimoh anselm, certitude and doubt: a guide in epistemology, benin: floreat systems, 2017.. 37 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge” in themes, issues and problems in african philosophy, isaac ukpokolo (ed), switzerland: palgrave macmilliam, 2017, 121-136. 38 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge”, 135. 39 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge”, 138 40 jimoh anselm, “reconstructing a fractured indigeneous knowledge system” in synthesis philosophica, 65 .1, 2018. 5–22 41 jimoh anselm, “reconstructing a fractured indigeneous knowledge system” ibid, 5 42 jimoh anselm, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese” in j. a. onimhawo and f. e. ikhianosime (eds), diocese of auchi at ten: history, growth and perspectives, ibadan: safmos publishers, 2013. 31-53. prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 21 43 jimoh anselm, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria…”, 53 44 edmund gettier, "is justified true belief knowledge?" analysis 23. 6 (1963): 121-123 the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 171 c h a p t e r 1 1 the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary changing society michael bunmi olofinlade introduction to respond to the expectations of modern society and co-operate in the vast evangelizing action that involves all christians, we need well-trained and courageous priests who are free from ambition and fear but convinced of the gospel truth, whose chief concern is to proclaim christ and who are prepared to stoop down to suffering humanity in his name, enabling everyone, particularly the poor and all who are in difficulty, to experience the comfort of god’s love and warmth of the ecclesial family1 this thought of benedict xvi is adequate to describe the thrust of my reflection which could be understood in line with the formation of candidates for the priesthood in the contemporary world, particularly, in nigeria. the words, ‘proper’ and ‘adequate’ training of the catholic priest are key concerns that are dear to the fathers of the church ‘ab initio’ till today. this concern is premised on the understanding that the world is a changing place and each era and time has its challenges, and so, formation at any point in time must be 'proper' and 'adequate'. against this backdrop, diverse formative processes are being employed in the training of priests. the formation, therefore, must be dynamic and never static or stereotype. priests, therefore, must adapt themselves in a positive way to the society and preserve an integrity corresponding to their call and vocation. thus, the priest of our contemporary society has a lot of 172 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age moral demands, granted the fast-changing society that we live in. the stakes of formation invariably, therefore, can only become higher. the thrust of this essay is to reflect on the challenges of the formation of priests in order to contribute to the sustainability of priest in addressing issues of this changing society. this is relevant because of the adage that says, (nemo dat quod non habet) "you cannot give what you do not possess". invariably, the question is how would priests be adequately relevant in a world of constant change? it is crystal clear that society is undergoing changes through science and technological developments. this development has continued to revolutionalize life in its entirety including pastoral and spiritual life of the faithful. the socio-cultural and ethical issues are taking a new trend, more and more, traditional values are being contested in the light of new developments and some long-established pastoral principles are gradually being seen as out-modelled. the priest in the face of this is meant to evolve new pathways to resolving the challenges to the signs of modern times. the inability for priests to live above the moral bar and demands of society poses some questions on the quality of formation he has received. the priest, dilemma of a contemporary age and change the priest of today is a product of his age. the contemporary world has become more critical of religious values and principles. there is a rise in secularism and relativism. these twin ideologies have posed more threats to the continued relevance of priest in society. hitherto, the priest enjoyed high-level clericalism and elitism in society. this can be argued to be the spin-off of the ecclesiastical hegemony and religious dominance from the middle ages. while its effects had whittled down in some parts of the world particularly in europe and america, in africa and in nigeria, the priest still enjoys a pride of place. nevertheless, the whirlwind of secularism and relativism is fast thickening that, the priest's moral authority no longer rests on the institution of the church alone, but, that he needs to justify the institution and call he professes by his way of life and pastoral roles. the society is fast changing with the signs of modern times, the priest also is expected to advance new, positive and viable methods in dealing with issues within his ambience. the basic concern is how the priest can know, evaluate understand and manage pastoral challenges evolving as a result of the change in the society. in fact, the long the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 173 standing docile and loyal attitudes of the faithful are increasingly dissolving by the day. it is a truism that the priestly life demands honesty, integrity and heroic self-sacrifice but without proper discernment in the world of change, this might turn out to be a platonic adventure. friedrick nietzsche’s popular phrase that ‘religion makes people docile and timid in the face of suffering and oppression’ is no fast becoming untenable. it is amazing that these challenges extend to the places where vocations to the priesthood are nurtured; the seminary and our parishes. based on this reality, the church is struggling to deal with the increasing rate of change and expectation of the priestly ministry. in the words of benedict xv1, “how much filth there is in the church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!”2 the situation of paradox raises the question of the authenticity of priestly formation in the light of today's changing society. this becomes paramount because a most important and increasingly difficult role is being assigned to priests in the renewal of christ’s church in this temporary changing society.3 this concern for renewal is an age-long desire clearly enounced by the second vatican council fathers. it states: the holy council is fully aware that the desired renewal of the whole church depends to a great extent on a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of christ. it proclaims the supreme importance of priestly formation and affirms some of its primary principles whereby laws tested by the experience of centuries are confirmed and new elements are introduced to correspond with the constitutions and decrees of this council and with the changed conditions of our time.4 we shall try to expound what constitutes the catholic priestly formation as a background to know whether it is proper, adequate and sustainable for the priests to face the challenges of this modern society. the ideological thought of, joseph komonchak, come into a play in this context. the church is a social and historical reality, so it is essential to a systematic understanding of the church to employ tools developed for a systematic understanding of social and historical realities. how 174 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age can one work out a systematic ecclesiology without working out first such terms as ‘individual’ ‘community’ society,’ meaning,’ ‘change,’ structure,’ ‘institution,’ ‘relationship,’ and so on, and the various relationships, that can obtain among these terms?5 to further understand the concerns of this paper, it suffices to examine the concept of change in contemporary society in relation to the catholic church. change as a concept is discussed at different levels in various fields of study due to the fact that nearly everything in existence passes through a process of change. it is on this note that this concept of change is interpreted in different ways but we shall limit the usage in this essay to its description as per its verb which is understood as, ‘to make’ or ‘become different’ or ‘alter’. this change might affect either external features or internal features of a being, or it could affect both the internal and the external of a being concurrently. heraclitus6 describes the cosmos as being in a state of constant flux (state of becoming).7 everything is constantly changing and becoming other things to what it was prior to that state. this is objective philosophical knowledge of the world, which is in consonance with the scientific description of the physical and human realities. the priest being part of nature, reacts and responds to its natural changing environment. mirroring this from the context of incredibly challenging issues in the church, there is a need for skilled and well-formed and informed priests to carry out the mission of the church. perhaps, this was the vision of the fathers of the church who searched for an ecclesiology that would explain issues affecting human existence. so, the impulse to work out a systematic ecclesiology demands an understanding of the social and historical realities within and around the church. this is where the formation of priests must involve a curriculum in ecclesiology that takes to mind these demands and contexts. therefore, if priests must be people who are properly and adequately equipped and formed to minister in a changing society, his formative discipline must be accommodating of these demands. the fathers of the church aver in this light, that formative discipline should include psychology, sociology and pedagogy.8 this understanding opens us to look at priestly formation succinctly. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 175 priestly formation and ecclesiastical studies the second vatican council decree on the training of priests gives insight into the nature of formation put in place for every catholic priest to function adequately in every given circumstance. he is prepared by the seminary to act and take proper steps and decision in whatever contexts he finds himself.9 the document, optatam totius explains that a comprehensive priestly formation concerns human, intellectual, spiritual, pastoral formations which revolve around the character, moral, physical and psychological formations.10 this formation begins in an embryonic state in the minor seminary with the focus on educational, religious and spiritual formations which should methodically and consistently co-ordinate all pastoral action for fostering vocations, and promote it with both discretion and zeal, not neglecting whatever suitable help may be found in the insights of modern psychology and sociology.11 inculcating inter-disciplinary values are taken seriously in the formation of priests because he lives and functions in human society. “priestly formation, by reason of the very unity of the catholic priesthood, is necessary for all priests, diocesan and religious of whatever rite.”12 it is instructive to know that programme of priestly formation shall be established by the episcopal conference, to be reviewed at suitable intervals and approved by the holy see, so that the general rules may be adapted to the special circumstances of time and place, and the formation of priests will always be in keeping with the pastoral needs of the areas in which they minister.13 the fundamental formation begins in the major seminary after completion of the studies in courses in science and humanities which prepare every student of each country for a higher study. in the ecclesiastical studies, philosophy and theology are primary because they open and mould the minds of the students more and more to the mystery of christ, which touches the whole of human history and continuously influences the church, and is at work particularly in priestly ministry.14 the courses of formation make life in the parish in conjunction with evolving challenges less cumbersome in the light of the formation given to priests through these courses. philosophy transforms the whole process of intellectual discernment of every priest as he embarks on his daily activities. philosophy leads students to a solid and coherent knowledge of human nature, the world and god.15 modern philosophical 176 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age developments and sciences help them to dialogue with people of their time and to equip them to grasp the basic principles of the various systems, hold fast to elements proved to be true and recognize and refute the roots of error.16 the decree continues that the actual teaching should arouse in the students a love of rigorous investigation, observation and demonstration of truth, together with an honest awareness of the limits of human knowledge. careful attention should be paid to the close connection between philosophy and the real problems of life as well as to the questions which engage the minds of the students/priests.17 in the same context, theology helps students to draw catholic teaching from divine revelation, enter deeply into its meaning, use it to nourish their spiritual lives and be able to proclaim, explain and defend it in their priestly ministry.18 basically, philosophical and theological formations provide candidates for the priesthood with the nourishments to translate challenges of life to progress. aside, prolific scientific training in sacred sciences and other appropriate subjects are necessary to enhance their apostolate in the changing and current society are recommended in the formative years and even after ordination. the exercise of this formation becomes mandatorily as each priest is required to go through practical experiences in the parishes and ecclesiastical institutes under thorough supervision without neglecting the use of their personal initiative in carrying out their assigned tasks. thus, they should be initiated into pastoral practice by appropriate experiences.19 finally, ongoing formation is emphasized because of the daily demands of priestly life that continue to evolve in the trends in society. it is evidently clear that sustainable formation, personal selforganizing and learning systems are provided for candidates for the priesthood. however, certain elements come into play in this provision in order to bring about positive management of parish daily changing realities. the consideration of nature and nurture is of utmost relevance because personal organization and development play prominence in the handling of the realities of pastoral life. the degree of an interactive dialogue between a person and its environment determines the richness of the responses given to the challenges of life in the priestly ministry. the predisposition of the brain to his environment determines the level of development of human society. be it as it may, environmental influences are keys to the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 177 human living and development but human development and maturity over-rides all factors. challenges of authenticity for priestly formation the 21st century can be regarded as the dawn of the new age which has witnessed new descriptions and definitions of life in many ways different from traditional and orthodoxy understandings. these are expressed in the forms of new doctrines, morality, ethics and values. precisely, we are experiencing new psychology, sociology and pedagogy and these are rooted in the new visions of secularity, an intricate ideology of human origin, existence and meaning, new crusades on freedom from religion, not freedom of religion.20 as it were, these new convoluted ways of seeing the world anew are being propagated by influential and wealthy personalities and institutions that allow a warm appeal to these doctrines and understandings. with such high-profile accent on these new doctrines, there is a towering attack on orthodoxy and traditional teachings of the church. such challenges have had a penetrating influence on priestly ministry. this leaves a major challenge to the vocation. arguably, there is the conflict of seeing the priestly ministry as a profession or occupation rather than a vocation. in the exercise of the priestly ministry today, some trends leave a lot of people to question the authenticity of their vocation, or at least, the authenticity of their priestly formation. some of these trends are highly opposed to what constitute the tenets, the doctrines and the teachings of the church, especially, in the areas of worship, ethics and morality concerning life, marriage, sex and gender. the new trends which raise the questions of authenticity of priestly vocation and formation are enormous that we cannot touch on all of them. nevertheless, major concerns of these oscillate around the celebration of the church's liturgy, preaching the word of god, living priestly life and the practice of true charity and love. the church in africa, particularly, in nigeria as a growing church, is witnessing an increase in the number of vocations to the priesthood. this trend is termed ‘vocation boom’.21 vocation boom poses a serious challenge to the formation of priests in many ways. this includes a shortage of infrastructure, personnel and pedagogical materials. the fear of this challenge was expressed in the year 1995 by the then archbishop of ibadan metropolis, archbishop felix a. job, as ubi multitudo, ibi peccati (there is danger in number). there 178 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age would indeed be a danger if, for instance, there are well over five hundred seminarians with only 15 formators. apart from other infrastructural and provisional constraints, there would be a lack of a personal touch in formation with the seminarians. there is a likely risk of having some people moving through the system anonymously. this problem can be compounded by a situation of godfatherism. this expresses a situation where a seminarian is not fully disposed to the authentic, proper and adequate formation, knowing fully well that a priest/bishop will advertently or inadvertently support him, no matter the case.22 consequently, the student’s formation becomes distorted because he lives in deception both to the formation and his supporter. the students who suffer from such pitiable indisposition to formation and growth in their training, more often than not, end up becoming problems in the priesthood and the church later. we cannot but briefly express some worries on the seeds of relativism and materialism that are well seeded in our society. relativism is a subjective way of approaching, viewing, analyzing, expressing, evaluating and judging things, including the human person. socio-cultural relativism promotes evil personalizing or subjectivizing diverse cases of life because it proposes that each has its unique morality. thus, each culture and person have texts which determine codes of moral behaviour for them. the case of objectivity or general acceptability of moral responsibility is squashed. this deceptive trend tends to promote materialism as the doctrine because of its subjective tendencies. these phenomena again raise questions and query the authenticity of priestly formation in contemporary society. management of challenges of authenticity it is not possible to live without challenges affecting human existence and essence, but the mode of handling and managing them are prominently significant in life. the american philosopher, thomas kuhn expresses similar thoughts, that, “though history is unlikely to record their names, some men have undoubtedly been driven to desert science because of their inability to tolerate crisis. like artists, creative scientists must occasionally be able to live in a world out of joint”.23 in this context, priests must learn to be positively creative in the face of a crisis in order to remain faithful to their life and ministry. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 179 crises should not destroy them, rather should strengthen them. it is on this basis that adequate formation is expedient to prepare them for situations of such. to achieve this objective, the wisdom of the fathers of the church should unreservedly be implemented. taking into account the candidate’s age and development, each candidate’s motivation should be tested, as should his freedom to choose. his spiritual, moral and intellectual stability should be examined, as should his physical and psychological health and any possible hereditary traits. the same goes for his ability to carry the burden of the priesthood and perform his pastoral duties.24 it is in the light of this strict measure and precaution that the challenges in the priestly formation could be addressed in a positive line. since formation becomes indispensable in the life of a priest, i would suggest what psychologists refer to as self-organization and learning, which is an early learning process in animals is to be imbibed. whatever is learnt at this point becomes a reference point for the animal. thus, a priest should continuously refer to what was learnt at the formative stage of his priestly formation. the bestexplored examples of this type of learning have been studied in birds. “young birds learn the songs of their parents, memorize the patterns of their plumage, and later select their mating partner accordingly.”25 this is experience-dependent learning which could be of assistance in the formation of candidates for the priesthood. it is at this juncture, we would delve briefly into the subject of auto-formation. auto-formation speaks volume on the personal responses of the candidate to the formation recommended and given by the ecclesiastical authority. the basic concerns would be: how is the candidate responding to formation? what is the level of the candidate’s response? these responses would determine the degree of development and maturity of each priest to be. taking a leap from the learning-pattern of birds referred to in our earlier discussion, a candidate should be matured enough to learn and navigate his priestly life and ministry from the formation tools provided by the seminary. a constant review of learning could serve as a leverage for ameliorating the challenges to the authenticity of priestly formation. 180 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this becomes essential because of the wind of change and development in the world. conclusion it is not an exaggerated claim that the church provides ample and adequate materials for priestly formation but then, the situation in the church in nigeria leaves a lot for concern. it is on this note that those concerned with formation should pay adequate attention to those areas of challenges. perhaps, a quota system should be applied to address the issue of over-population in seminary or for the recruitment of formators to enrich the system. in like manner, adequate material provisions should be provided for the training of seminarians. furthermore, care must be taken in the selection of candidates to be sent to the seminaries as formators. it should not just be on the basis of intellectual capability but also of personal disposition, having the grace to mentor, teach and being exemplary should be considered. it is essential to mention that instructive and deliberative statues must be created to review some of the present conditions of formation in the country today to meet with current challenges in society. this can only be a sustainable mechanism to address the challenges to the authenticity of priestly formation today. the positive resultant consequence is that it will create an avenue to preserve and sustain sensus ecclesiae in the area of priestly formation. finally, a proper discernment is required for these steps to be accomplished in the church. endnotes 1 benedict xv1, priests of jesus christ, (oxford: family publication, 2009) 2 benedict xv1, light of the world, the pope, the church, and signs of the times (a conversation with peter seewald), san francisco: ignatius press, 2010, 34. 3 presbyterorum ordinis, (decree on the ministry and life of priests), 1. 4 flannery, a. the basic documents, vatican council ii, constitutions,decrees, declarations, optatam totius (decree on the training of priests), 5 ormerod, n. j, (schultenover, g. d.) vatican 11, did anything happen? (new-york: continuum, 2008), 155. 6 heraclitus is of the pythagorean or italian school of philosophy, 546. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 181 7 composta, d. history of ancient philosophy. bangalore: theological publications in india, 1990., 33-44 8 optatam totius, 1. 9 optatam totius, 1 10 the details of these formation are found in the booklet entitled, the gift of the priestly vocation (ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis) published by the congregation for the clergy, 2016. 11 optatam totius, 2. 12 optatam totius, 2 13 optatam totius, 1 14 optatam totius, 13. 15 optatam totius, 13. 16 optatam totius, 13. 17 optatam totius, 13. 18 optatam totius, 13. 19 optatam totius, 21. 20 kresta, a. dangers to the faith, recognizing catholicism’s 21st-century opponents. huntingon: our sunday visitor publishing division, 2013, 13. 21 vocation boom is an unprecedented increase in the incoming number of applicant/candidates to the priesthood. it is opined by some individual that this stream of candidate is anchored on economic and developmental woes of the nations in africa, which suggests a future slim in the flow of number. 22 this becomes a major challenge as some candidates hid under the guidance of individual person to disguise as good candidates to the priesthood. occasionally, things turn around to expose the deceptive traits of such characters. 2323 kuhn, t. s. the structure of scientific revolutions, 3rd ed. (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1996, 78-79. 24 optatam totius, 6. 25 klivington, k. the science of mind. london: the mit press, 1989, 177. 312 23 what can a woman know? epistemic bias as depersonalization francis eshemomoh ikhianosime department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. franklmore@yahoo.com abstract since such publications like lorraine code’s essay, “is the sex of the knower epistemically significant?” and sandra harding’s “is gender a variable in conceptions of rationality: a survey of issues” the conversation of the relation between gender and knowledge has remained an intellectually polemic area of discussion in epistemology, particularly, feminist epistemology. the relation between gender and knowledge is not merely theoretical, but it also involves power relations. power dynamics have a lot to play with knowledge acquisition and how we accord truth values to an epistemic agent. although, mainstream epistemology pretends to be gender neutral with the knowing subject, such claim can arguably be said to be nominal rather than practical. this paper interrogates particularly how we determine knowing subjects. it argues that the female gender or woman has sometimes been treated with discrimination in determining whether she is a knowing subject or not. this paper further situates this discrimination as fallouts of biases or prejudices. far from creating an unwholesome epistemic situation such biases are associated with power. epistemic bias against women apart from showing how gendered-power structure of societies affect the shape and possibilities of knowledge production, it further argues that such epistemic bias also depersonalizes the woman and this is a form of dehumanization. this paper concludes with an argument for an inclusive gender-balanced structure of epistemic relations as a pathway that can create a more robust epistemic relation for knowledge. it is believed this can further strengthen the understanding of the human person as an epistemic agent. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 313 keywords: epistemic bias, depersonalization, gender, human person, power dynamics. introduction the goal of every cognitive or philosophical inquiry is the desire to know. aristotle begins the opening line of his, metaphysics, stating this fundamental truth, saying, “all men by nature desire to know.”1 this desire to know is not just fundamental to human nature it is also part of man’s evolutionary make up and destiny. man as homo sapiens (intelligent being) is also homo quaerens (thinking and knowing being). the history of epistemology in the western tradition from plato till date is largely concerned with “how do we know what we know?” “do we really know anything at all?” much of the efforts in traditional epistemology have focused not on the knower, per say, but, on what the knower can know. the concern was more on what can pass as knowledge to make it legitimate or genuine in the face of skeptical opposition which argues that we cannot know anything at all or what we can know is limited. it is this challenge that gave direction to epistemology for a long while. however, from the 1970s and more robustly, around the 1980s new epistemic questions have been asked about who this anonymous “we” referred to in the common interrogatives? the critical interrogation basically seeks to know, like lorraine code asks, “is the sex of the knower epistemologically significant?”2 it further seeks to find out whether gender has any role to play with the way knowledge is acquired or accepted. for a long time, orthodox epistemology claims that in the search for knowledge, the gender of the knower was significantly neutral. however, this assumption has been exposed by these critical interrogations, which has come under the umbrella of feminist epistemology as hypocritical. code, for instance, argues that “the fact of being male or female seems to be fundamental to one’s way of being a person in such a way that it could have a strong influence upon one’s way of knowing”3 she argues that in the pursuit of knowledge, there are sometimes gender biases and discrimination at least historically speaking. women sometimes are not allowed access to certain aspects of learning. from this, at least, biological makeup creates a limitation of cognitive capacity. thus, there is both a type of knowledge that a woman can acquire and what is accessible to her. miranda fricker has argued vigorously in her book, epistemic injustice, ethics and the power of knowing, that this politics of epistemic practice “has an irrepressible connection to social power, or that social disadvantage can produce unjust social disadvantage”4. the point is that is there is such politics of social stratification; it also leads to situations of cognitive authority or powerlessness. thus, gender plays a role in knowledge acquisition and 314 formation of the human person in the 21st century this sometimes creates an air of imbalance. apart from an imbalance in power relations, knowledge leads to how we are conceptualized, classified, or personalized. this paper, which seeks both to address issues in this epistemic imbalance, also seeks to expose how biases in epistemic relations and conceptualization lead to depersonalization. it seeks to further argue ways in which there can be epistemological inclusivity. the end point is to both have a normative vision of epistemology as well that of the human person. this paper adopts analytic and expository methodologies. understanding the feminist thesis and philosophy feminist epistemology is a form of social epistemology. social epistemology refers broadly to the evaluation of social dimensions of knowledge. knowledge within social epistemology is not taken solely as an individual activity but sometimes as a social or a collective achievement. thus, social epistemology deals with those social means of arriving at knowledge or social justification for our knowledge claims. feminist epistemology “examines the relations between gender and knowledge, where gender is understood not as an attribute of individuals, but rather as an axis of social relations.”5 the concern of feminist epistemology is based on social bifurcations along lines of gender. society is conceived, at least from this biological point of view of things existing either as male or female. the concern of feminist epistemology is an examination of the connection between power relations of gender and knowledge.6 this concern is different from feminine epistemology which concerns itself what ways women can know. although, the broad scope of feminist epistemology concerns all such discussions include those hitherto known as feminine epistemology. heide grasswick notes that the scope of analysis for feminist epistemology is broadened beyond gender, but involves all such divisions of race, class and sexuality and all such axes of oppression. feminist epistemology becomes a face of ‘liberatory epistemologies’. feminist epistemology is a reaction to an overall social class grouping arguably created by radical systems like marxism. it seeks to overcome the epistemic disadvantage for belonging to a particular class or gender, in this case, the female gender. marxism with all its variants, helped to create social and class divisions in society and this had its own power play of one group having superiority over the other; the bourgeoisie over the proletariat. this class system reinforced an age-old division and domination like patriarchy and androcentric biases arguably perpetuated by some world religions, where women are given a secondary or an inferior class position. this class oppression saw the rise of women's liberation movement (wlm) and other forms of self-actualization section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 315 movements like feminism. from movements to philosophy, feminist epistemology seeks to address situations of imbalances created by class, race or gender superiority. the concerns of feminist epistemology are not just about the power imbalance, but also involve some aspects that are moral. the imbalances caused by class bifurcation are also moral. they impede on the virtues of such purportedly epistemic inferior other, like women. if women are regarded as inferior, they are less likely to be trustworthy and their testimony easily dismissed on the grounds of a default class stratification that deflates their epistemic credibility. the concern of trustworthiness bears on the virtues of agents. therefore, gender imbalance has a crystallizing effect not just on power relations, but also on virtues. feminist epistemology seeks to interrogate all these issues that are the fallout of gender and their relations with knowledge. the effects of gender biases have an overarching aftereffect in many areas within the overall epistemological framework. the scope of feminist epistemology thus deals with the many intersecting areas of women’s lives and feminist philosophy. the goal of feminist philosophy is not just for justice, but to give meaning to women’s history and to seek an inclusive philosophy or epistemology. nevertheless, critics against the foundations of feminist philosophy argue that feminist philosophy generally begins with an assumption that women are oppressed or marginalized and the same experiences of women are universalized rather than taken within contexts.7 no matter how the arguments go, we cannot deny that feminist epistemology is radically transformative of how women are seen and their experiences evaluated and also that the issues of epistemic marginalization on the grounds of gender are no longer left to silence. the starting point for a meaning discourse is the question of biases in epistemic relations. knowing subjects and biases in epistemic relations knowing is a function of different variables and how one can know and what a knower can also know are also impacted by different variables. the main thrust of feminist epistemology is an interrogation into the role and place of gender in knowledge practices. kristen campbell argues that for feminist theories of knowledge, the gender of the knower is epistemologically significant and that deconstructive feminist epistemologies maintain that the western subject of reason is not sexually neutral but presupposes a masculine knower.8 this is why feminist scholars like sandra harding and patricia hill collins argue for a reconstruction of new models for knowledge with the woman as a 316 formation of the human person in the 21st century knowing subject. therefore, we cannot really ignore the sex of the knowing subject. be that as it may, within feminist epistemology, there is the question of who the knowing subject should be whether the female knower or the feminist knower, or both? but, to pursue this would be creating another imperfect situation that first gave birth to feminist epistemology. lorraine code has elaborately written on how the female knower can be impeded and rendered epistemically inaccessible to some knowledge. constraints on the sex of the knower can lead to constraints in knowledge in general. this creates a situation of ‘epistemic obscurity’. this kind of situation can be warranted with certain kinds of knowledge limited or designated as strictly for male. in responding to the interrogative, what can a woman know? it seems that the process of socialization sometimes, limit what certain persons can know based on their gender. this kind of situation creates a biased epistemic situation. some of these social systems or epistemic situations are reinforced by male chauvinistic teachings and philosophy. for instance, aristotle in his republic regards woman as irrational, higher than slaves and lacking in authority. he even argues that women are meant to be subject to their husbands and that they are sometimes deceptive.9 the danish philosopher, soren kierkegaard holds that “the attainment of the ethical and religious levels of existence to be open to men only; women are aesthetic being”. in roman mythology, women are regarded as dionysian creatures, meaning they are for merrymaking and wining. the putative designation of women into inferior catalogues to that of men is a function of epistemic biases. biases are “persistent and widespread psychological tendencies that can be detrimental to objectivity and rationality.”10 in logical thinking, when a premise is implicitly accepted in our theories and methods, it becomes a philosophical bias. philosophical biases are acquired from professional practice and other disciplinary traditions that defines a scientific paradigm. thus, when we have used a basis for a long time, implicitly, it becomes foundational, and this makes one undermine the strength or foundation upon which such claim rests. biases could either be cognitive, conflict of interests, statistical, or prejudices. biases could also be understood in different contexts, like biases in the media, academia, etc. biases could be explicit or implicit. it is explicit when it is intended and implicit when it is not intended. gender bias against women and androcentric cataloguing of women can arguably fall under implicit bias. philosophically, implicit bias suggests that “people can act on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so”.11 implicit bias lead to discriminatory behaviour in favour or against a subject, and these raise metaphysical, epistemological and ethical questions. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 317 evaluative judgments based on implicit bias or any such biases can be termed epistemic bias. epistemic bias can be implicated in epistemic injustice. the wrong labelling of women has epistemological implications, including epistemic injustices. jules holroyd and katherine puddifoot12 identified five types of epistemic injustice that can be due from such epistemic relation. the first is testimonial injustice, where a person is given less credibility than they deserve due to stereotypes about the competence or sincerity of those with their social identity. this thought is explored in miranda fricker’s book, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 2007. the second is epistemic appropriation where the contribution to knowledge provided by a person is not recognized as their contribution and is instead attributed to someone else. this form is deeply explored by emmalon davis.13 the third type of injustice from epistemic bias is epistemic exploitation and this occurs when members of a marginalized group are expected or required to educate members of privileged groups about injustices that are faced by those who share their social identity. this form is explored by nora berenstain.14 the fourth form of injustice due from epistemic bias is what miranda fricker identified as hermeneutical injustice when some people are unjustly excluded from contributing to the shared conceptual resources that are widely used in a society. the fifth kind of injustice is contributory injustice, which occurs when an agent is wilfully ignorant in using conceptual resources that thwart the ability of others to contribute to the knowledge community. this form is elaborately explored in the thoughts of kristie dotson.15 women arguably suffer all the forms of injustices outlined above by epistemic biases against them. be that as it may, biased epistemic labelling of women imparts on the qualitative difference in how we accord trust or truth-worthiness to women as knowing subjects or not. with man given a status of an epistemic superior, it renders without interrogation, that women’s knowledge are inferior and subjective. in traditional epistemology, the gender of the knower has, for the most, been treated as a “featureless abstraction,”16 while for the least, this knower, in an uncontested given, has presumptuously been an imaginary male. this gender-biased situation presents a problem of knowledge, granted that knowing is a combination of both the objective and subjective factors. while the objective component of knowledge is what is known, the subjective component is the knower. john bewaji has argued that the subjective component has mostly been ignored in classical epistemology and this has largely resulted in impartial accounts of knowledge.17 arguably, the undermining of the subjective component of knowledge, in this case, the female knower, can be due to how the objective component has been appreciated. what is known is a product 318 formation of the human person in the 21st century of many factors, including individual creativity, social conditions, location of the knower, affective sides, etc. these conditions have also generally led to social roles and how men and women apply themselves to different tasks or activities. this in turn imparts on what can be known. for instance, women are more inclined into sewing clothes, cooking, doing domestic chores, etc., while men are generally disposed to doing some more mechanical and physical jobs and roles like fixing stalled cars, mowing the laws, etc. these polarised gender roles impact what particular people are inclined to knowing. the consequence is that it leaves knowledge for the most to be sexually differentiated by practical expectation. nevertheless, the fact that men have applied themselves to particular roles does not mean women lack the cognitive capacity to do so and vice versa. hence, knowledge being a sexually differentiated product by practical expectation does not necessarily mean a logical necessity, that is, because men are expected to always mow the lawns, for instance, does not mean women cannot do it. hence, to completely delimit women’s knowledge based on practical expectation, or social default on certain issues, for instance, is to create a lopsided account for knowledge situation ab initio. the consequent effect is that this affects the overall subjective component or condition for knowledge. the challenge of epistemic biases to the subjective component of knowledge mirrors the overall questions of marginality discussed in feminist epistemology. there are different forms of gender marginality or exclusion that affect knowledge production. for instance, when women are refused admission into certain schools of learning, they are marginalized both institutionally and epistemologically. this is one of the forms of marginality which affects what a woman can know and it only resurfaces the question of who a knowing subject should be. lorraine code surmises, that “as long as the view prevails that women cannot know according to the highest criteria for establishing knowledge, it seems that they are in fact not just marginalized but excluded, confined somewhere beyond the limits of both marginality and centrality”.18 therefore, the sex of the knower is epistemologically significant. the sex of the knower is important because in a certain way, it gives grounds for justification of what we claim to know and epistemic justification aims at the truth in a very strong way. for instance, we are more likely to ask, someone a question that we think is likely to produce the right answer. if we were to ask the time for mass today, we are more inclined to ask the priest, because we believe, he would be a more justified epistemic agent. these are the issues about the subjective component of knowledge. the properties of a knowing subject are not just on account of his cognitive capacity, but also by its location, position as well as gender. these add up to what makes the knower a viable section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 319 epistemic agent or a truth-bearer. if women have been largely marginalized and this is allowed to gain enough ground, then, we we cannot claim that the sex of the knower is not epistemically significant. ordinarily, proposing the sex of the knower casts doubt on the autonomy of reason. in our commonsense assumption, we really do not require the gender of a person to determine the rationality of a claim; rather, it is a function of the coherence in thought, logic and strong appeal to reason and truth. this assumption that gender is unimportant has nevertheless been contested by scholars like edward craig19 and miranda fricker.20 the epistemic duo has argued that matters of truth and rationality are inextricably tied to power and social identities. fricker tries to explain how social power enters into epistemic practice by explaining who knows? fricker uses craig’s framework to explain this relationship. craig in explaining the meaning of “know” imagines a case of an epistemic “state of nature” in which we seek true belief in order to survive. in this state, we have a fundamental need to acquire true beliefs. this desire for truth drives our practice and this, in turn, leads to seeing “good informants” people who would tell us the truth as whether p in order to multiply our epistemic resources.21 therefore, to distinguish a good informant from a bad one, three features are identified, namely, (i) competence (ii) trustworthiness (iii) indicator-properties. knowledge in this case is enshrined in a good informant. what it means is that someone who is trustworthy and competent is said to have rational authority. these properties are for the most social properties. hence, if we take a woman on the basis of some social exclusion and epistemic marginalization as being a bad informant, she, therefore, is being excluded from rationality or being a good sources of knowledge. hence, rationality is generally a function of social factors, not just some internal epistemic properties. in this wise, if a woman is disdained as a bad informant, then, she is already excluded from being a good source of knowledge. miranda fricker has argued that rational authority has a lot to do with social power or powerlessness. when we find a credible person who has rational authority, he also possesses some social powers, because of the ability to tell the truth. the contrast to this is someone who lacks social authority is one who is powerless. this is not the only dimension that rational authority presents. the powerlessness due from lack of rational authority leads to a kind of depersonalisation. it leads to a metaphysical obscurity or oblivion. we are not likely to recognize as a person, someone we think lacks rational authority. the context of being a person goes beyond the physical features, but, one we strip of qualities enabling a person. being a person goes beyond a biological make up, but also to some other extraneous factors, hence, we regard institutions 320 formation of the human person in the 21st century sometimes as a juridic person. from an ethical point of view, a person can be conceived from the point of responsibility. if we deny that an individual is incapable of truth or knowledge, we absolve him of responsibility to any such claim; hence, we do not hold him accountable. ethically, a person goes beyond biological features. the point here is, epistemic biases against women, have inadvertently led to some form of powerlessness and this kind of metaphysical obscurity leads to depersonalisation. powerlessness diminishes one’s social and epistemic relevance as well as its authority. while, biases in epistemic relations are sometimes a function of historical androcentrism; seeing women from uninterrogated social misconstructions, this limitation depersonalizes. it suffices to examine the phenomenology of personhood briefly. the phenomenology of personhood and depersonalization the question of personhood is essentially philosophical. the quality of being a person is metaphysical and even controversial. there are several theories on personhood and the term contrasts strongly with other related terms which are sometimes used interchangeably with it. boethius as cited by frederick copleston defined the person as “an individual substance of a rational nature”.22 the implication of this definition which long dominated the whole of medieval philosophy holds that every human being is a person. for aquinas, the disembodied soul is not a person because he loses at that point what gives it rationality. in thomas aquinas, the person is made up of body, soul and mind. aquinas placed emphasis on the rational substance. with descartes on the other hand, the emphasis was changed. a person consists in self-consciousness. this is the naturalist epistemological tradition which is reflected in the writings of locke and hume. it does not place a premium on the body, but on consciousness and its ability to relate to the world and performing actions and being able to represent them. this naturalist position places emphasis on what a person can do. the emphasis is on ability rather than on any ontological criteria. a person is one on account of a consciousness that can be; a consciousness that can produce something or is doing something. some critics have argued that a person is not brought into being on account of his functions. the non-embodiment view of personhood contrasts with the position of embodied and embedded in the world. this is first captured in the philosophy of edmund husserl, but more concretely expressed in martin heidegger’s phenomenology of being-in-the-world. dermont moran argues that “in husserl’s phenomenology, the heart of embodied selfhood is the person, understood as the unified, goal-directed center of action, bearer of rights and status, responsibilities and moral standing”.23 section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 321 for heidegger, we are more defined on account of our experiences. thus, persons are those whose experiences are meaningful in the world. meaning, therefore, defines a person. the contributions of modern thinkers generally tend to regard freedom as the chief characteristic of the human person.24 the idea of person for the most in modern philosophy has a moral connotation unlike the metaphysical connotation that was emphasized in the scholastic and the medieval period. the personalists view of personhood begins with a primordial distinction between “an individual” and “a person”. copleston explains that the term “individual” is used in a pejorative sense, one that is essentially egocentric. the individual is the egocentric man.25 the individual is described on the biological level, a practical materialist, no moral vocation, a member of the crowd. the person, on the other hand, contrasts with this view and has a moral vocation. copleston gives the personalist manifesto which expressly defines a person as: …a spiritual being constituted as such by a manner of subsistence and of independence in being; it maintains this subsistence by its adhesion to a hierarchy of values, freely adopted, assimilated and lived, by a responsible self-commitment and by a constant conversion; it thus unifies all its activity in liberty and develops, moreover, by means of creative acts, its own unique vocation.26 with the personalists, a person is tied to a vocation which is fulfilled with social interaction and beyond. a person is a transcendental being, one who is an embodiment of collectivity. a person for the personalist is beyond being a member of the human species, but also one that can contribute to a purpose or vision. a person is beyond biology. whereas an individual is anti-social being, a person is a social being. as a social being, “he is more than a mere being in the group, but one oriented towards a society of persons, and a society of persons is a society of free, morally responsible human beings”.27 this personalist view of a person is opposed to marxism which creates both a social caste system and regards man only within his economic value or benefit. however, man is not conceived not from a parochial plane, but, from a holistic plane. personalists like emmanuel mounier and even karol wojtyla are doctrines antithetical to individualism. the personalist creed is a reaction to the perceived depersonalisation created by such philosophies which undermined the creative vision of man, his transcedentalness, axiological relevance or teleological goal of man, yet conceives him from a limited sense or on account of some metaphysical values. personalism tends to give dignity to the human person and correct the darwinian error that the difference between man and other terrestrial being is in degrees and not in kind. darwinian 322 formation of the human person in the 21st century evolutionary vision and the social engineering places man not at the centre of the cosmos but like every other creatures seeking survival. in personalism, a fundamental difference in the classification of all beings is the distinction between person and non-persons. thus, in the words of jacques maritain: “whenever we say that man is a person, we mean that he is more than a mere parcel of matter, more than an individual element in nature, such as is an atom, a blade of grass, a fly or an elephant…man is an animal and an individual, but unlike other animals or individuals.” 28 personalist thesis also holds man as having a dialogic relationship with the world like the i-thou of martin buber. personalists also hold the dignity of the person of the individual. the quality of being a person is not dependent by this on variables such as intelligence or social prowess. also, the quality of being a person cannot be derived by a cosmological reduction of any sort, but are functions of some irreducible conditions. it means that being a person is not a function of what one is able to do or not. also, in personalism, the human person is relational and always in communion. he is never always alone. “relationship is not an optional accessory for the human person, but is essential to his personhood. he is a being-for-relation.”29 personalist see the human person’s strive for communion as a function of his rationality. thus, the human person is never judged in isolation. to evaluate him in isolation from relationality is to both deny him rationality as well as depersonalize him. the personalist view of a person is very metaphysical, conceiving of man beyond his physical features. however, epistemologically, the starting point for conceptualisation on personhood is rationality and epistemic responsibility. this understanding of personhood is more fluid beyond metaphysics. the fluid conception of personhood is one that makes us conceive of a person in other senses like ethical, moral or legal. as an ethical term, it may refer to a mode being and as a legal term, it may refer one as a human individual, a partnership or a cooperation. epistemologically, a person is not just a human being, because, the conception of a person would invoke the idea of an epistemic agency. an epistemic agent goes beyond a human person, but include also nonhuman epistemic agency including collectivities like groups or institutions. this is the ground for discussing non-human epistemic agents as having group beliefs. therefore, to depersonalise in the epistemological sense is to deny an epistemic agent of the ability to hold epistemic belief, at least, or knowledge at best. when, therefore, we deny an epistemic agent the privilege of having epistemic claims or knowledge, we depersonalise them. in this wise, when, women, as a consequence of epistemic bias suffer epistemic injustices, they at some level are depersonalised. this depersonalisation which is due from epistemic bias section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 323 is not on account of women being incapable of certain epistemic belief, truth or knowledge, but, that such biases have unjustly impaired, marginalized or circumscribe them from such. the consequence is that, we limit the possibility for a wholesome picture of what is possible in a knowledge situation. knowledge situation is understood as the “interaction of factors that directly or indirectly contributes to the knowing process it concerns the question of the relation of the knower, sense data experienced and things known.30 if we must have a wholesome knowledge situation, epistemic justice to the knower is important. this first helps establish prima facie ground that he is a viable, credible or truth-worthy epistemic agent. if he is denied this quality, not on account of any sufficiently grounded incapacity, but, one on the basis of implicit or epistemic bias, then, we are poised to have a shaky foundation, on whatever is established by the subject of knowledge. biases in epistemic relations, especially of women, raises further the challenges to having genuine knowledge or a wholesome knowledge situation. concluding remarks: what can a woman know? from the discussion above, we have seen that epistemic biases are sometimes default thought patterns which skew our judgements in favour or against a person, class of persons or situation. the concern of feminist epistemology is one that aims to correct this imbalance epistemic relation. persistent gender inequality has affected how the subjective component of knowledge affects areas of what can be known and unknown. why this seems to spiral the skeptical challenge, it has also left the efforts to gaining purity, balance and wholeness in what we can know. biases are the stumbling blocks to what we can know. as long, we pretend that the gender of the knower is unimportant, the female knower will continually be disdained by implicit biases, and this will continually ferment the grounds of epistemic injustices in epistemic relations. the analysis above shows there is a need to improve the dynamics of our epistemic practices, one that seeks to eliminate all forms of marginalization. if we wish to raise the quality of knowledge production and authorization, we must seek to be all inclusive of the composition of epistemic communities, one that seeks to give equal grounds for male and female knower. our attention must be properly paid to a robust appreciation of the epistemic advantages that can accrue to those who are otherwise marginalized. a useful way which has been advanced by feminist epistemology is feminist standpoint theory. feminist standpoint theory is a transformative shift that holds three principal claims to correcting the epistemological imbalance and impasse occasioned from 324 formation of the human person in the 21st century biased epistemic relations, namely, “(1) knowledge is socially situated, (2) marginalized groups are socially situated in ways that make it more possible for them to be aware of things and ask questions than it is for the non-marginalized, and (3) research, particularly that focused on power relations, should begin with the lives of the marginalized”.31 feminist standpoint theory advocates that the lived experiences of the knower, in this case, the woman, cannot be discounted. it also analyses the effect of power structures on knowledge production. the feminist standpoint theory offers new methodological starting point and approaches to knowledge situations which generally eliminate such forms of epistemic injustices due from a marginalized knower in mainstream epistemology. the framework advanced by feminist standpoint theory, makes the question, what a woman can know as almost superfluous, if it is not asked in the same way, what can a man know? this is because, when a woman is given equal chances bereft of biases in the epistemic community, a woman can know as much as a man, given the same epistemic context. therefore, feminist standpoint theory privileges social contexts and experiences of the knower, precisely, female knower. the extant of biased epistemic relations in knowledge communities mirrored in the typical anonymous knower of s knows p in mainstream epistemology, have helped to reduce the credibility of women as knowers. when women are so biased, the starting point is to doubt their competence or epistemic credentials. what this means in the first instance is that, they are denied rational authority and this is epistemologically tied to personhood. when we raise the question, what can a woman know, we are entering into the polemic waters of epistemic injustice and this can only cause systemic gaps in the interpretive resources available to epistemic agents and knowledge gaps in the epistemic community. feminist standpoint theory, therefore, resolves this impasse, which is also the position of this paper, for a situatedness of knowledge. situated knowledge which is a feminist thesis, holds that all forms of knowledge reflect the particular conditions in which they are produced and at some level reflect the social identities and social location or gender of knowledge producers. this position deflates the myth of scientific objectivity. this position advances that all knowledge must take into cognizance the perspective of the knower. the knower is always a combination of functions, including idiosyncratic skills and talents. alison wylie expresses this intent more robustly: what individuals experience and understand is (contingently) shaped by systems of social differentiation that structure and are, in turn, structured by the material conditions of their lives, the relations of production and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 325 reproduction that condition their social interactions, and the cultural and conceptual resources available to them for representing interpreting these relations.32 therefore, to interrogate, what can a woman know, is to begin with a prima facie unbiased recognition of the woman as an epistemic agent imbue with credibility and rationality; a person whose situation must be be cognized, taking her experience in context as well as social conditions in perspective. this can only help to enrich the epistemic community, granted that all knowers, male and female, are equally appreciated. the synopsis of the above submission for our conversation is that to further close the gaps caused by skewed epistemic relations from biases, women's experiences should be taken into context as well as their experiences. each time we advance the embers of epistemic exclusion of women as knowing subjects we further rupture the challenge of scepticism or increase the chances of having a wholesome and a more warranted knowledge and knowledge production. apart from the many epistemic advantages these have, epistemologically, it restores personhood to the woman as a knowing subject, as epistemic injustice and biases depersonalizes. endnotes 1 aristotle, metaphysics, book a (1) in louis pojman (ed), classics of philosophy, second edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2003), 267. 2 lorraine code, “is the sex of the knower epistemologically significant?” in metaphilosophy, vol. 12, no. 3 & 4, july/october 1981, 267276. 3code, “is the sex of the knower ” 267. 4 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice, power and the ethics of knowing, (oxford: oxford university press, 2007), 2. 5 heidi e. grasswick, “introduction: feminist epistemology and philosophy of science in the twenty-first century” in heide e. grasswick (ed), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, power in knowledge, (london: springer, 2011), xiv. 6 grasswick, “feminist epistemology”. 7 linda martin alcoff and eva feder kittay, “defining feminist philosophy” in the blackwell guide to feminist philosophy, linda martin alcoff and eva feder kittay (ed), malden: blackwell publishing ltd, 2007, 8. 8 kristen campbell, jacques lacan and feminist epistemology, (london: routledge taylor and francis group publishers, 2004), 59. 9 aristotle, republic. 10 “fallacies and biases” critical thinking web, accessed march 25, 2021, https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/fallacy/ 326 formation of the human person in the 21st century 11 michael brownstein, “implicit bias” in stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, accessed march 25, 2021, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/. 12 jules holroyd and kathering puddifoot, “epistemic injustice and implicit bias” in an introduction to implicit bias knowledge, justice and the social mind, erin beeghly and alex madva (eds), new york: routledge taylor and francis group, 2020), 116133. 13 emmalon davis, “on epistemic appropriation”, in ethics, 128 (4), 2018: 702-727. 14 nora berenstain, “epistemic exploitation” in ergo, 3, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0003.022. 15 kristie dotson, “a cautionary tale: on limiting epistemic oppression”, in frontiers: a journal of women studies, 33 (1), 2012: 24-47. 16 lorraine code, what can she know? feminist theory and the construction of knowledge (ithaca and london: cornell university press, 1991), 1. 17 john bewaji, an introduction to the theory of knowledge, a pluricultural approach (ibadan: hope publications, 2007), 59. 18 lorraine code, “feminist epistemology and the politics of knowledge: questions of marginality”, mary evans, et. al. eds, the sage handbook of feminist theory (los angeles: sage publications, 2014), 10. 19 edward craig, knowledge and the state of naturean essay in conceptual synthesis, oxford: clarendon press, 1990. 20 miranda fricker, “rational authority and social power: towards a truly social epistemology” in social epistemology: essential readings, alvin goldman and denis whitcomb (eds), oxford: oxford university press, 2011. 21 fricker, “rational authority and social power” 56. 22 frederick copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, london: bloomsbury, 1972, 103. 23 dermont moran, “the phenomenology of personhood: charles taylor and edmund husserl”, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266173189_the_ph enomenology_of_personhood_charles_taylor_and_edmund_husserl/link/547f73430 cf250f1edbdc686/download, retrieved march 19, 2020. 24 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 104. 25 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 109. 26 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 110. 27 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism,112. 28 thomas d. williams and jan olof bengtsson, “personalism” in stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/personalism/#chap ertho, retrieved march 19, 2020. 29 williams and bengtsson, “personalism”. 30 aja egbeke, elements of theory of knowledge, enugu: auto-century, 1993, 28. 31 t. bowell, “feminist standpoint theory” in internet encyclopedia of philosophy, accessed march 25, 2021, https://iep.utm.edu/fem-stan/ 32 alison wylie, “what knowers know well: women, work and academy” in heide grasswick (ed), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, new york: springer, 2011, 162. 370 27 formation of the christian youth and its implication on integral development in the nigerian society prof. felix ehimare, enegho dean, faculty of arts and humanities, kogi state university, anyigba, research fellow, department of christian spirituality, church history and missiology university of south africa, pretoria felixenegho@gmail.com abstract the place of the youth in the growth and development of any nation cannot be overemphasized and nigeria is not an exception. many today on the african continent have blamed the west for the underdevelopment of africa as a people and as a continent because of the transatlantic slave trade that devastated the continent for some centuries. the transatlantic slave trade was a segment of the global slave trade that transported between 10 million and 12 million enslaved africans across the atlantic ocean to the americas from the 16th to the 19th century. it was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular trade, in which arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from europe to africa, slaves from africa to the americas, and sugar and coffee from the americas to europe. however, though such african youths who were part of the slave trade saga rather than being formed in africa were exported to the western world, this paper aims at assessing critically the formation of the christian youth in nigeria today with the intent of looking at its implication for the development of nigeria. how are the youths being formed in nigeria? who are the formators? are such formators utilizing the right tools of formation in our time and age? are the youths being formed aware of their roles in their training? why are the nigerian christian youths always so eager to migrate to any country in the world? why are so many christian youths involved in all kinds of criminality in nigeria and abroad today? what is the way forward at section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 371 curbing the challenges facing the christian youths in contemporary nigeria? what indeed is the problem with nigeria, is it the youths or the system? these questions would form the basis of this paper. this work utilizes the socio-historical method. keywords: christian, youth, formation, development, nigeria introduction formation of the human person has continued to receive attention globally and nigeria is not left out in the whole enterprise. whenever we hear of the word “formation” especially in roman catholic parlance, our minds quickly swing to and fro like the pendulum to formation in our seminaries. but far from it, formation is not only for those intending to be priests or religious, monks or nuns, but for all human persons. the concept “formation” is one that should not be undermined in our world that is fast going through all kinds of transformation, a transformation that suggests that we need to be cautious in our relationship with people of different mentality, ethnic/tribal affiliations, religious and ideological differences. it has often be said by all and sundry that the world has become a global village with each unit of that village having its own ideologies and models. in defining the concept “youth” in nigeria,, the federal ministry of youth and sports development on may 24, 2019 launched the revised national youth policy, 2019 with youth stakeholders in akure, ondo state. the review which was long overdue – the 2009 policy states that it should be reviewed periodically (every five years) – was due for review in 2014. however, due to various challenges, the policy review process was not completed till 2019 (an additional five years after the last review was to have taken place). in the 2019 policy foreword, the minister of youth and sports development, solomon dalung, quickly points out that, ‘a major thrust of the current review is regarding the age bracket for the classification of youth from existing grading of 18 – 35 years to 15 – 29 years. the review is informed by practical empirical analysis and the need to promote the appropriate targeting of desired beneficiaries of intervention programmes for the youth rather than adults masquerading as youth.’ internet source (may 28, 2019) however, this paper focuses on formation of the christian youth and its implication on integral development in the nigerian society. the act of forming people is quite onerous and challenging. it therefore demands all the time and attention one can possibly give in seeing to the realization of that goal of making impact on the human persons and in this case the youth, so as to assist in the integral development of the 372 formation of the human person in the 21st century nigerian society. this paper shall adopt the socio-historic approach in its research methodology. integral formation of the christian youth in nigeria the formation of the christian youth in nigeria starts from birth. one born into a christian family as a child automatically shares from the table of other christians at home, in the school and up to his/her work place. as a christian such a child displays the traits of christianity inherited from his/her parents and live with that until he/she begins to live on his/her own. this brings us to the idea of what a name truly means. there is nothing like a good name, it is often said. it endures forever and never dies. a good image means a good name, a positive reputation, a respectable noble, self-comportment among the members of one’s community. iroegbu (2000, p.186) often the fraudulent and wicked though rich, end up as persona non grata (undesired persons) in the long run. they build on the vanishing, and sooner or later they vanish with it. an old english primary school poem has it: the loss of gold is much, the loss of time is more, the loss of honour is such a loss that no man can restore. iroegbu (2000, p.187) to loss one’s name, one’s honour and reputation is a disaster that is unhealable, unrecuperable. it can practically not be restored. the human person and in this case the youth, has an image, that of divinity. the divine is being in goodness, perfection and love. it is therefore a great value to be one who mirrors goodness, excellence and love. what makes a good name is for one to be good and not wicked to others; to be excellent in performance in your trained and talented area; and to have loving-kindness, a caring, understanding and tolerant heart. therein lies the good image of a person. these are the values that last forever. iroegbu (2000, p.187) the place of the family in formation the young people in the society cannot be overemphasized. in all societies north and south, changes appear to be under way, as a result of which individuals and social groups are subjecting their relationships with the family, politics, the economy and religion to a critical review, albeit at varying speeds. by so doing the traditional concept of society is being stood on its head. indeed, there is talk of ‘a crisis of social cohesion’. several authors, including hervieuleger believe the emergence of new models of family will bring about ‘institutional deregulation’ or ‘deinstitutionalisation’. roussel even alludes to a dual form of deinstitutionalisation within the family affecting section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 373 both the rules and laws which governs it and the normative framework to which it adheres. guiblehon (2017, pp.7172) it is important to mention here with regards to formation of the christian youth in nigeria just as elsewhere around the world how certain practices by the male folks in our society can affect the psychic of both the young girl and boy. in many cultural and religious traditions the woman’s body is conceived in such a way that the autonomy of her will and wishes is completely denied. she is often seen as an object for unlimited access. it is not uncommon to find that in many cases of rape, the tendency is to blame the woman rather than the man. a particular fashionable example is the reference to the so –called “provocative dress” of women as if this is a good excuse for violating their persons in cases of rape. another typical example is what is portrayed in john 8:3-5a “the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. now in the law moses commanded us to stone such women” but the law as stipulate in the book of leviticus required that both the adulterer and the adulteress should be stoned to death (lev. 20:10). in the case cited in the passage quoted above, the rule is bent and the woman alone was condemned to be stoned to death. this is a case where rules and regulations are used to control the body of the woman. amoah (1996, p.80) with this kind of orientation, young men often believe that the world is theirs and therefore see women as tools only for their pleasure not minding women’s disposition to such act. this kind of orientation need to be moderated, whereby women should perceive themselves as the image and likeness of god and men are to see them as such and show them all the respect they truly deserve. there is also the existence of mental and spiritual violence as well as the fact that physical violence can harm and destroy not only the body but also the human spirit. there is the need to transform ourselves and our world; we need to foster. and gather empowering resources of strength for new cultural creation and transformation. that is why we need new forms of spirituality: spirituality for life which helps and sustain us in choosing life, to affirm, increase, and trust life, and to recognize the energy and power of god’s spirit in all the movements of life. spirituality is quite imperative in formation of the christian youth. for many people, spirituality is a soft word, something idealistic and dreamy, even sugary, like the icing of a cake, or it is understood merely as something inward, personal, private, or escapist. spirituality must not be considered as something abstract, divorced from life, as a far-flung saintly ideal for the devout and few; on the contrary, it is something very 374 formation of the human person in the 21st century concrete, strong, physical and material, embodied, something we can really touch and be in touch with. ursula (1996, p.152) there exists a strong tradition in spiritual teaching about the necessity for a discernment of spirits: what is good and what is bad, what is debilitating, distorting spirituality, and what is a strengthening, nourishing one which can bring about growth, lead us to the fullness of life, and endow us with the strength of wisdom. spirituality is deeply grounded in human experience, but it is also linked to the belief that there is a greater, fuller reality which surrounds, beckons, and calls us. christians speak of the call to holiness and perfection implicit in the gospel, which says, “you must be perfect as your (parent) in heaven is perfect” (mt. 5:48). from the beginning of christianity the search for spiritual perfection, of life lived in the spirit of god, has led to new forms of life, to asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism. countless christian writers, from the desert fathers and mothers to medieval and modern saints and mystics, have written about their spiritual quests and struggles, left instructions and teachings, and provided us with models of christian discipleship and holiness. ursula (1996, p.152) as an interpretative, existential tool, ursula (1996) opines that spirituality is the attitude and interpretation we adopt towards our own experiences to give them meaning, to make sense of them. we can do this by drawing on the resources of a religious faith, on a programme for action relating to justice and peace, on an ideal of being fully human, on a relationship of love and forgiveness. there is the need to discover the ever transcendent and yet so near horizon which surrounds us, envelops and cradles us. in this sense spirituality as the struggle for life is quite literally the immense effort, labour, and pain to produce and bring into life into this world, as women in collaboration with men always do, but also to attend to all details of growth, to nurture it with love and care, and struggle to live and survive against all odds, to make ends meet, to produce the food needed for so many mouths, to calm down fights and quarrels. it is more than merely struggling to survive; it is also the tremendous effort to live a fuller, more abundant, richer, and more meaningful human life. understood in this sense, spirituality which is a great tool in formation of the christian youth is the breath and blessing of life; it is the very bread of life. (154) the nigerian christian youth and interface with other religions the christian youth in nigeria is faced with so many challenges as he/she strives to live out his/her live in a country that is passing through a difficult face in its history. many observers today see nigeria as one of the most religious nations on this planet. one can adduce that religion is the nigerian culture as it permeates all aspects of the average life of a section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 375 nigerian from birth to death. in every city, town and village, the most imposing structures are religious houses. with such religiosity, one would readily have expected sanity in every area of life of every nigerian. if nigeria must become a peaceful nation and attain holistic development, there must be a better approach to the issue of how the nigerian christian youth is trained. i choose to lay emphasis on the nigerian christian youth, because he/she is the focus or target of this paper. (otonko (2018, p.1) religion is a worldwide phenomenon which has played a part in all human cultures. it is an aspect of human experience that may intersect, incorporate or transcend other aspects of life and society. nigeria is clearly a religiously pluralized society. three religions, however, stand out very clearly. these are african traditional religion (atr), islam and christianity. islam entered nigeria by the eleventh century and christianity set roots in about the early 15th century. since inception, the two religions have grown steadily on the nigerian soil. one would ordinarily expect that the country should be reaping the good fruits of these two religions presently. sadly, however, in nigeria, especially in recent years, the pages of several newspapers, news items and comments on the radio and television, articles in journals and magazines, and also the social media, fall over themselves identifying and reporting the periodic religious upheavals in the country and the adverse effects these have had on the citizenry. thus, religious crises have become a ready tool for all forms of national disagreements and conflicts. because the north-south dichotomy is coterminous with muslim-christian entities, every argument in the land is more often than not very readily given religious interpretation. this orientation or perception of national issues has become a lethal threat to the corporate existence of the nation. (otonko (2018, pp. 7-8) extremism has been extolled in the practice of religion in the contemporary nigerian society. various provocative seminal topics are often on the lips of preachers, and these often make people of divergent religious inclinations live in awe of one another. this tide has persisted, thereby helping to widen and deepen the dichotomy that exists among adherents of different religions in nigeria. thus religions which ought to preach peace, and which should be harbingers of this peace, have become avenues leading to riots, clashes and cold wars between citizens of the country. this certainly looks like an outrageous clash of paradigms. (otonko (2018, p.8) one may wonder why this analysis of the nigerian christian youth and the interface with other religions. it is for the simple reason that in forming the christian youth, first by the parents who constitute the first church the youth ever knew while growing up, the church and the 376 formation of the human person in the 21st century school, especially christian schools must educate the youth to be tolerant towards other religions and adherents of other religions. the family as agent of youth formation hervieu-leger in her analysis of the anthropology of the church asserts that it favours the biblical model of marriage and the family on the grounds that the norm-the one true married family, following biblical norms, established by god consists of a father (male), a mother (female) and the children they conceive together and that the family is the only natural institution capable of laying the ground for the establishment of a bond between spouses, parents and children. guiblehon (2017,p.77) assessing hervieu-leger this form of anthropology which makes marriage the unique, sole and unequivocal benchmark of all human conjugality, leans too heavily on the ‘divine will which, it is assumed, is expressed by a natural order explicitly linking a union with procreation and preserving the principle of submission by women to men.’ she however concludes that this model fails to give recognition to the fact that the creation of an ideal couple is based on the virtue of love. for this reason, she regards it as rather discriminatory. also, there have been increasing calls, even among the church faithful urging respect for individual choices and for the ‘menu of options’. it is quite a challenge to talk of specifically african concepts of marriage and the family, since the influence of western models and practices is extensive. however, to be docile and not proactive would be tantamount to suicide for the church, which might be forced to accept a model it feels intense dislike or disgust for. it would appear, therefore, that the church in nigeria just as in many parts of africa has little choice but to formulate its own model of the family which remains true to the church as well as the rich african heritage and its ideas on the family, which include a strong feeling for relationships, kinship and brotherhood, a sense of the importance of solidarity, hospitality, respect for elders and traditions, and a sense of honour for and attachment to ancestors, all of which help to maintain group equilibrium (pp.78-80) christian parents should aim at raising children who love and serve the lord. perhaps, this is their most important goal. they need to tell their children about the lord and teach them about his love, so that they come to know the lord on a personal basis. it is not strange to see children today who do not want to attend church services. often, christian parents feel baffled because their efforts at trying to raise their children in the knowledge of god does not seem to be working, especially as their efforts run up against indifference or resistance in the children. some children do not want to hear about the lord. they do not want any part in family devotions. often times, it is easy for parents section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 377 to lose faith and decide that their children really do not have any desire for the lord or his life. ralph (1978, p.139) we have it often said that ‘it is the habit a child forms at home that he exhibits outside and the manners that a girl-child learnt at home that accompany her to her husband’s house’. it is not what the child learnt in school that is mentioned here. when many today refer to education as the greatest legacy parents can bequeath to their children, such persons seem to undermine informal education which encompasses the rudiments of moral and religious formation. for those who have the means, the services of house helps would do in place of their parental responsibility. this is rather an ill-disposition towards the formation of the young ones since as the saying goes, “blood is thicker than water”. it is a valid submission that no nanny or house help will ever satisfactorily fulfill the duties of parents with regard to the raising of children. parents need to perform their role as parents for the proper formation of their children and for the good of our society. onoise (2013, p.38) the church and formation of the christian youth in nigeria christians comprise of the clergy and the laity and their task involves evangelism and proselytism. the general activities in the church are presided over by the religious leaders who are mandated to perform due to their special positions. religious leaders are persons who are trained and set apart to carry out spiritual rites and ceremonies, offer sacrifices to god sp as to obtain graces, favours and spiritual harmony. hence, the clergy are symbols and representatives, spiritual and moral guardians of god’s love to and for humanity. they are personal representatives, mouth – pieces of the divine will, teachers and interpreters of the sacred mysteries and spiritual counselors in their communities. muyomi (2011, p.505) this indicates that the church has an important role in the formation of the christian youth in nigeria. the traditional position of the mission of the church heavily emphasized the spiritual perspective. this stand needs to be modified, when we take into consideration the increasing crises in society such as population explosion, famine, poverty, wars, political oppression, muzzling of freedoms of expression, worship. movement and association, corruption at all levels, increase in refugees and lack of provision of medical care, education and other services. (p.505) the proliferation of street children and street dwellers can be associated not only to poverty but also the break up of the marriage and family structures, as well as a clear indication of the failure of the leaders to ensure socio-economic parity. these groups of people lead a dehumanizing, destitute and desperate lifestyle.(p.507) 378 formation of the human person in the 21st century the school and the task of formation christian schools are quite germane in the all round formation of the youth. it does not matter if such youth are christians or muslims as exemplified in the fact that most of the early nationalists in nigeria who were at the forefront of clamouring for nigeria’s political independence went through christian schools, especially catholic schools. the catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the church, especially for education in the faith. remembering that ‘the simultaneous development of man’s psychological and moral consciousness is demanded by christ almost as a precondition for the reception of the appropriate divine gifts of truth and grace’, the church fulfills her obligation to foster in her children a full awareness of their rebirth to a new life. it is precisely in the gospel of christ, taking root in the minds and lives of the faithful, that the catholic school finds its definition as it comes to terms with the cultural conditions of the times. flannery (2002, p.608) while policies and opportunities differ from place to place, the catholic school has its place in any national school system. by offering such an alternative the church wishes to respond to the obvious need for cooperation in a society characterized by cultural pluralism. by so doing, she assists in promoting that freedom of conscience and the parental right to choose the school best suited to parents’ educational objectives. there is a sort of conviction that the catholic schools, with their educational objectives, perform a vital service for the church in today’s world. the church takes part in cultural dialogue through schools, making her own positive contribution to the cause of the integral formation of man. there is the belief that the absence of the catholic school would be a great loss for civilization and for the natural and supernatural destiny of man. (p.609) self as agent of formation while agents such as the family, the school, the church and society are all key players in the the process of formation of the christian youth; however the major actor in the formation drama is the youth. self – mastery for self-giving is the solid principle of relating to others with success. only a fine disciplined mind in a well ordered body can create and achieve something worthwhile for himself and for others. scholars of literary and historical tell us that the greatest victor on earth is not he who conquers kingdoms and nations. for these are only temporary and external. the greatest victor is he who conquers himself. it is one who has perfect control over his unruly emotions, wild desires and bad tempers. the body and mind are by nature wild. they wander away and get scattered thereby scattering the productive energies of the person, if section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 379 left uncontrolled. in some persons this trait is more dramatic than in others, yet all have a battleagainst-self to win. iroegbu (2000, p.186) the value of self-mastery is fundamental. it is to train oneself in selfcontrol and good character formation. this is through the formation of contrary habits that bring to order the areas most prone to unruliness. form good habits. practice good behavior. educate the senses. train the faculties in the right direction. it makes one a perfect gentleman or woman. many also utilize the spiritual methods, others athletic, and some other still normal human practices of self-restraint and selfcontainment. for instance if your problem is that you talk like a parrot without control, you can choose to practice restraining your tongue by using your hand to shut your mouth or using your teeth to hold your tongue because the urge to talk break loose in the nervous system. if one sees himself as a lazy person, the best and proper thing to do is to follow hard working people or group, not to draw them to his lazy-cushion, but to be inspired by them to wake up from one’s laziness-slumber. as a rule of thumb, constant systematic practice will bring about self-mastery and self-development in the desired context. self-mastery helps in fidelity to one’s life commitments, to nobility of life and to general good comportment. it makes one a gentle and good person. by so doing, the persons acquires peace and joy of life. it is a great value (p.186). food for thought formation is an ongoing process in our journey in life. formation does not end till death. we need to realize that the fact that formation exists means that one would continue to get formed from the time one is conceived in his or her mother’s womb with the collaboration of god and of one’s father. that is why it seems out of place for any person to feel that whoever is not receptive to integral formation is doomed in life and should be sent out from such a society or community. those involved in the formation of the youth have a herculean task in their hands. such persons first and foremost must bear in mind that they have a difficult project ahead of them and must work assiduously to achieve good results. backing out of the project is a sign of failure or weakness or both. formation involves the physical and the spiritual aspects. the formator must understand the physical and spiritually dimensions of training if they are to come up with great impact and excellent results. when there are problems or challenges in the forming of any human person and in this regard, the youth, there are indicators to put into very serious consideration which includes that if there is failure or successes recorded, the person being formed and the formator has his/her share in whatever went wrong or right in the training process. this means that 380 formation of the human person in the 21st century the right approach or strategy must be adopted and the youth being formed need to be receptive to training. it is not longer news that many young people in nigeria today including christian youths have the mindset to acquire wealth at all cost even if it means stealing from others. this attitude possibly is an offshoot of the corrupt and immodest life style not only by the nigerian political elites and others who the youth often look up to, but also sometimes by key players in nigerian christianity.. many youths in nigeria in trying to imitate the much older people end up being corrupt by acquiring those traits which are not in the best interest of nigeria as a nation. in the twenty first century, there is the need for policy and decision makers; including formators in all areas of life in nigeria to encourage the youths to be job creators rather than job seekers. this means that entrepreneurship should be encouraged in our school curriculum. presently, though entrepreneurship is being taught in tertiary institutions in nigeria, it is however not yet fully understood clearly by the students. many youths simply see the act of entrepreneurship as only important in passing examinations. formators need to do more in educating the young people of its importance in the growth and development of nigeria. also, formators including the government and the church need to look critically at those indicators which make the youth in nigeria to be rebellious against the system. in nigeria for instance the issue of unemployment has become a major challenge. the lack of good living condition of the young people and their inability to raise their profile to the level they would have expected have turned the youths into all forms of unruly behaviour and criminality. this aspect need to be seriously addressed. the youth should be made to realize that migrating to other countries in search of greener pasture is not necessarily the solution to their problems. the solution may just be to look inward and take their destinies in their own hands by believing in their ability to stand firm even in the midst of what may look at insurmountable challenges. the government has a big role to play in the attitude and development of the nigerian youth irrespective of the religious affiliation of such youth. the problem of insecurity needs serious attention. there is the need to tackle the problem of insecurity emanating from the fulani herdsmen who constantly terrorize people on our highways, farms and even residential areas. there are also the constant threats posed by the boko haram in their reckless bombing and killing of innocent and harmless nigerians including the youth force. if the youths are to be well formed, security in all areas is key to unlocking the numerous potentials in our youths. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 381 concluding remarks the youth constitute the bedrock of the future in any given society, and this makes it imperative that genuine and serious effort be made so as to assist in his formation. any society or group that neglects the training of young people is gradually losing its relevance and future in our world. for this reason, the church must continue to strive for the proper and all round formation of her youth because in the youth lies the continuous growth and development of the church in our society that is gradually heading towards secularism and all forms of anti christian tendencies. if the nigerian society is to grow and develop, the young people need to be made to channel their energy towards making themselves available for the right kind of formation that befits a follower of christ. however, those involved in formation of the christian youth must never give up in their effort at getting the right result in their effort at formation of the youth in meeting the numerous challenges of the 21st century. they need to have the right spirituality which should aim at attracting the youth to the things of god and the church. a genuine formator should not be someone who would always display the attitude which seems to portray that the youth should only do what he the formator says and not imitate his actions. the family, the school, the church and the society should continue to actively participate in the training and re-training of our young people for the purpose of developing the nigerian society positively; but for formation to be total, is the will and responsibility of the young person being formed. often times, punishment of the person being trained is not only the best solution, and also sending the young person out of a particular system or institution is not only the best method of formation, except it is very apparent that such a youth has become a real danger to others within the system. extra effort is required from all those involved in formation so as to achieve the desired goal of integral formation. giving up on the young person being trained so easily no matter the challenges encountered is the easiest way of neglecting one’s responsibility as a true formator. a great thinker was asked about the meaning of life. he replied, life itself has no meaning, it is an opportunity to create a meaning..! “be honest when in trouble and be simple when in wealth. be polite when in authority and be silent when in anger” “this is called “the life management.” let us all join hands in the act of formation of the christian youth so as to bring about the integral development of the nigerian society in this twenty first century. 382 formation of the human person in the 21st century references amoah, e. (1996) “violence and women’s bodies in african perspective” mananzan, mary john et. al (eds). women resisting violence: spirituality for life. orbis books. flannery, a. (ed.) (2002) vatican council ii: more post conciliar documents. st. pauls. guiblehon, b. (2017) “contemporary changes in family forms and their diversity in africa today” in klaus kramer and klaus vellguth (eds). family: living life together in the church and the world (one world theology, volume 10). cleretian communications foundations, inc. iroegbu, p. (2000) kpim of personality, treatise on the human person: respect, solidarity, liberty. eustel publications (nig). muyomi, m. j. (2011) “leadership : the church and civil society” african ecclesial review (afer), vol. 53, nos. 3 & 4. “nigeria’s new age of classification”. punch online, may 28, 2019. https://punchng.com/nigerias-new-youth-age-classification/. accessed on march 19, 2020 onoise, f.a. (2013) virtues and values. concept production kreativzone. otonko, j.o. (2018). religion, politics and society: nagging issues. pyla-mak publishers. ralph, m. (1978). husbands, wives, parents, children: foundations for the christian family. servant books ursula, k. (1996) “spirituality for life” mananzan, mary john et. al (eds). women resisting violence: spirituality for life. orbis books. constructivist school in international relations and security studies gideon adeniji abstract before the advent of constructivism, the conventional theories enjoyed some form of intellectual monopoly in the eld of international relations sometimes aggravating to some form of intellectual arrogance, borne out of the assurance of the truth and validity of their grand theorems and aided by the explanatory power of the sciences. constructivism on the other hand came in a subtle manner to reveal the inherent aws and structural deciencies contained within those dominant theories. indeed, it has been said by many scholars that no theory is complete in itself, and there is always room for revision and expansion. this critical launch on realism, liberalism, and to some extent, marxism (together regarded as the conventional theories), was quite necessary in order to inject some form of intellectual vigour to the eld of international relations and security studies that were gradually becoming rigid and comatose as a result of the somewhat subtle perceptions of the impeccability of the conventional grand theories. adopting a historical and analytic approach, this paper attempts to unravel the unique role of the constructivist school in the reassessment and understanding of international relations and it's sub discipline, security studies. the paper also illustrates some of the contributions of constructivism to the policy formulation of states and international bodies. key words: constructivism, international relations, security studies, cold war general introduction the history of international relations has been fraught with debates about the ideal explanation that could be given with regard to the true nature of the relationship that exists between states and the international system at large. this tussle has majorly been somewhat a mutual exclusivity of the two dominant theories of international relations-realism and liberalism, and later, neo-realism and neoliberalism of which the former was more dominant until the wake of the 70s and 80s.the latter later emerged with a more forceful approach, loaded with heavy criticisms for the preponderance of realism. moreover, unfolding events during that period further compromised the exclusive patronage enjoyed by realism since the end of the second world war and saw the growing popularity of liberalism as a theory. one of such prominent occurrence of that period was the “great depression” of the 60s and 70s which saw the temporary weakening of the hegemonic position of the united states in terms of her economy in the global space, yet the international organizations of which she was a foremost contributor were growing stronger (c. reus-smit, 2005:190). what was experienced during the rst great attack on realism by liberalism was a chain reaction of criticisms and countercriticisms by the two dominant theories of which marxism also played a partial role. eventually, some form of agreement between the two theories began to be reached with the emergence of the 'structural realism' of kenneth waltz and the 'neo-liberal institutionalism' of robert keohane. structural realism or neorealism of kenneth waltz arose in the 70s with dual intentions. the rst was to reassert the preponderance of realism as the dominant theory of international relations, and the second was to re-modify the basic assumptions of realism as propounded by classical realism, giving it an empirical basis with the testable and veriable hypothesis (c. reus-smit 2005:191). keohane on the other hand arrived at some points of convergence with the structural realism of waltz, but also diverted at certain points. as an illustration, some of the basic 39constructivist school in international relations... assumptions of realism such as the importance of international anarchy in shaping state behaviour, the state as the most important actor in international politics, and the primacy of self-interest in international politics were retained. however, keohane maintained that global politics is not in total anarchy as realism portends because the potential for exacerbated anarchy has been ameliorated by the reality of state interdependence, especially in economic and political terms. this interdependence has lessened the potential for pure anarchy, thereby creating room for international cooperation (keohane 1984:57). this ideological difference with a potential for agreement continued till the end of the cold war when the rst concerted attack on the conventional theories was launched by the new school of thought known as 'social constructivism'. before then, the area known as security studies was regarded as an exclusive reserve for realism, while liberalism and marxism concentrated on other aspects of the study of global politics. ontological issues pertinent to security studies ignored since the end of the second world war resurfaced through the auspices of social constructivism (p. hough 2008:6). hence, social constructivism instigated several aspects of international relations that were hitherto taken for granted or even regarded as insignicant which have gone a long way to inuence the study of international relations and security studies in recent times. under this work, we shall be examining the dominant role of social constructivism in the shaping of international relations and security studies in this contemporary age. conceptual clarification we shall be examining some important terminologies under this subheading with a view of presenting a vivid explanation of the subject matter. these are as follows: international relations: it must be duly noted that a denition of international relations is not exhaustive and it is largely determined by the intellectual temperament of the scholars involved. hence, the emphasis on some elements contained in the discipline is largely determined by the individual dening it. international 40 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 relations can be described as the study of the whole gamut of political interactions between international actors which include states, international organizations, and to a lesser extent, some wealthy-private individuals (p. hough 2008:2). another author and one of the earliest intellectuals in the eld, f.s. dunn (1948) would dene international relations as a discipline that may “be looked upon as the actual relations that take place across national boundaries, or as the body of knowledge which we have of those relations at any given time.” though this denition seems comprehensive enough, we must note that not all contacts across national boundaries may be regarded as international relations. security studies: the preoccupation with security studies as a separate discipline within international relations did not occur until the early 90s which coincided with the end of the cold war. this situation was further buoyed by the realization that international relations and security studies were heavily inuenced by other factors divergent from primarily military and strategic issues as proposed by the realists. hence, security studies came to be recognized in an independent fashion and given their place within the wider scope of international relations. security studies can therefore be dened as a discipline that concerns itself with a sub-set of political interactions marked by their particular importance in terms of maintaining the security of actors (state) and individual people (p. hough 2008:2). the maintenance of this security involves a whole lot of factors hitherto considered irrelevant before the advent of the 90s. these shall be discussed as we progress. constructivism: the beginning of constructivism as a theoretical basis for analysis started with the rise of an ideological school with the nomenclature “critical theory”. though 'constructivism' agrees with most of the basic assumptions of the critical theorists especially as regards the arrogant and superuous assumptions of the conventional theories about the rationality of actors, but is divergent from the critical theorists in the sense that it pursues an empirical analysis of international relations quite distinct from the critical theorists who are more meta-theoretical and philosophical in their methods of analysis because of their basic belief in the correlation of theory and practice (price and reus-smith, 41constructivist school in international relations... 1998). flowing from the above, constructivism may be described as the school of thought that emphasizes the important role played by systems of shared beliefs, ideas, and values in shaping domestic/international structures and which determine the mode of political interaction through those systems (c. reus-smit, 2005:196). it exposes the narrow-mindedness and theoretical deciencies of the dominant conventional theories in their emphasis on the presumed 'rationality' of the actors, be they states or individuals theoretical framework the theoretical framework that shall be adopted in the evaluation of 'constructivism' which is itself a theory is the “critical theory” from which it has its origins. as earlier mentioned, the critical theorists emerged in the early 90s with a new wave of criticisms against the prevalent and dominant conventional theories that held sway during that period. the critical theorists challenged the conceptual framework of certain concepts popularized by the conventional theories, imbuing them with western connotations, and inducing the rest of the whole eld of international studies to view such concepts from such narrow-minded perspectives that are stripped of any objectivity (p. hough 2008:9). hence, the ontological basis for the conception of such words like 'sovereignty', 'freedom', and 'security' was put under the radar. for example, wyn-jones (1999), a prominent critical theorist challenged the traditional conception of the state as an entity with absolute authority, imbued with unassailable rights and privileges. he referred to this as “the fetishization of the state”. this for him was the root of most of the problems experienced in the study of international relations as motivated by the conventional theories. the bedrock of the critical school can be traced back to as far as the enlightenment and the writings of hegel, kant, and marx, but the twentieth-century origins of this theory are found in the emergence of an ideological school known as the 'frankfurt school' comprising of notable scholars such as wyn-jones, walter benjamin, max horkheimer, and theodor adorno (r. devetak 2005:138). 42 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 the critical theory as propounded by the frankfurt school had as its primary point of concern, the understanding of the central features of contemporary society by examining its historical and social development. this is embarked upon in view of rooting out the inherent contradictions that are embedded in contemporary discourses and helping to transcend these conceptual obstacles which promote some unnecessary forms of intellectual and political domination. hence, the aim of critical theory is not simply intended to eliminate the conceptual abuses inherent in social structures but to analyze the underlying social structure to eliminate such abuses (horkheimer 1972: 206). the critical school is guided by the belief that knowledge is largely determined and conditioned by historical and material contexts, a belief shared by hegel and karl marx. hence, its focus of the enquiry is basically the society and in fact its primary object of analysis. an extension of this is the interest in theory because they strongly believe that the act of theorizing cannot be independent of society (r. deventak 2005:139). critical theory is a self-reective method or approach to the study of knowledge claims. it strives to draw attention to the relationship that exists between knowledge and society and strives to prove that the so-called knowledge claims are heavily inuenced by the political environment dening it and utilizing it to serve certain interests. it is this theory that serves as the ontological basis and foundation for the emergence and evolution of what is now referred to as 'social constructivism' which builds largely on the basic assumptions of this theory but differs in methodology and approach. the role of constructivism in international relations despite the ideological disparities existing between the two dominant theories-realism and liberalism, and neorealism/ neoliberalism in recent times, they are both very similar in orientation because they are both based on what c. reus-smith (2005:192) would call “the choice theoretic assumptions of microeconomic theory”. what he means by this is based on the three general assumptions of both theorems which are –that the political actor, whether individual or state is assumed to be an atomistic, self43constructivist school in international relations... interested, and rational actor in the international sphere. by atomistic, what is meant is that the actors are presumed to be pre-social, their interests and identities are formed before their social interactions. secondly, actors are presumed to be driven primarily by self-interest in their various modes of communication and socializing. thirdly, those actors are rational in the sense that they are capable of establishing the most efcient and effective ways of pursuing and attaining their self-interests amid obstacles posed by the anarchical system. flowing from the above, therefore, the conventional theories do not see social interaction as a constitutive element of interests. interests are formed before social interactions, and the interactions are not believed to modify these interests in any way, as each actor engages in social interaction with his interests intact and untouched. therefore, the social sphere is regarded as a strategic domain where actors converge to interact based on their pre-dened interests and choices (c. reus-smit 2005:192). this lacuna in the conventional theories, whether deliberate or an oversight, constituted the launch pad of attack from the constructivists as we shall later see. the preoccupation with how state interests are formed and what informs them is not a subject of interest to neorealism, but they are primarily concerned with how those interests inuence their behaviour in the international domain imbuing them with a special characteristic of survival (waltz 1979: 91-92). constructivism, which is an outgrowth of the critical international theory which developed in the 70s and 80s, launched a critique of these dominant modes of thought at that time. this was based on certain occurrences of the early 90s in which the explanatory models of the dominant theories were found wanting, primarily buoyed by the astonishing self-induced surrender of the ussr, which ofcially brought an end to almost a century-old feud with their ideological enemies. this phenomenon is generally referred to as the end of the cold war. the rise of the constructivist school can be traced to four factors which are as follows: a) the rst set of constructivists was motivated by the enthusiasm of projecting their own conception of theory and world politics quite distinct from the rationalists who had previously challenged the critical theorists to move beyond 44 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 theoretical critique to the substantial analysis of international relations. while the critical theorists saw this as an unwelcome development, the new wave of constructivists saw this as a challenge and an ample opportunity to demonstrate the efcacy of non-rational approaches to explaining international phenomena (walker, 1989). b) secondly, the sudden systemic transformation of the global order that occurred in tandem with the end of the cold war rendered the explanatory power of neorealism and neoliberalism somewhat comatose. none of the conventional theories were ready for the developments that occurred with the end of the cold war. it also undermined the basic belief of critical theorists that theory is the driving force for practice, as the situation demonstrated a dynamism that contradicted the previous order the world had been accustomed to (c. reus smith 2005:195) c) thirdly, the promptings of the new constructivist perspective that emerged in the early 90s was that which sought to be innovative and creative in the conceptual elaborations of the critical school by embracing their basic propositions but moving beyond mere theoretical critique to the sphere of empirically informed theoretical development and analysis of the international terrain (klotz 1995:20). d) lastly, the vigour and enthusiasm displayed by the mainstream constructivists scholars in embracing the new perspective and moving it from the periphery to the core of mainstream theoretical debate as a result of their dissatisfaction with the analytical failings of the dominant rationalist theories helped in no small measure in the endorsement and popularity of the new constructivist school of thought, bringing hitherto latent and comatose aspects of the discipline of international relations to the limelight profoundly and dynamically (c. reus-smith 2005:196). these factors were largely responsible for the popularization of the constructivist school and its increased role in the contribution to the study of international relations. 45constructivist school in international relations... the role of constructivism in international relations can be grouped into three major blocs of inuence of which they opine that these illuminate the sphere of global politics more than the way mere rationalist assumptions do; these shall be examined one after the other. their rst basic assumption is that which emphasizes the role that ideological and normative structures play in shaping the behaviour of political actors, and they reiterate the importance of these normative and ideological structures which they insist is at par with the material structures which the rational theories emphasize. realism may emphasize the importance of military power, while marxism may emphasize the important role played by economic factors, but the constructivists are of the idea that the socalled material structures only acquire meaning for human action in the light of the structure of shared knowledge in which they are embedded, and these shared knowledge are in turn informed by shared ideas, beliefs and values that inform human action (wendt 1995:73). as an illustration, for a long time in europe, especially during the middle ages, only christian monarchies were regarded as legitimate sovereign states in europe, and these norms, backed by coercive practices served to compromise nationalist or liberal tendencies existing within the european states. secondly, constructivists emphasize the need to investigate the non-material structures that inuence the shaping of identities of political actors, because this is for them very important in understanding what informs the interests of political actors, and their actions eventually. constructivists believe that the knowledge of how interests are formed helps a long way in the explanation of a wide range of global political phenomena which the rationalist theories take for granted by their deliberate omission of the investigation of the origins of interests, or what informs the formation of interests. hence, constructivists strongly believe that identities are the basis of interest formation (wendt 1992:197). as an illustration, it is quite understandable from the constructivist point of view why someone with a liberal democratic disposition would be intolerant towards totalitarian or authoritarian regimes and would rather support democratic dispensations with a capitalist economic preference. the 46 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 ideological and normative structure of liberalism shapes the personality and identity of the individual which further determines his interest in a particular political sphere or not. thirdly, constructivists argue that structures are not formed before the actors they produce. for them, both are mutually constituted, developing, and growing in tandem. hence, they strongly believe that the ideological and normative structures that condition identities and interests would be non-existent if there were no prior knowledgeable practices of the actors involved. hence, institutionalized norms and ideas, which are in turn products of the knowledge basis and structure of certain individuals within the society, dene the meaning and identity of the actors, as well as their economic, political, and cultural activities. therefore, wendt would note that constructivists are also structuralists like their neorealist and neoliberal counterparts, only that they can be regarded as better structuralists as a result of their emphasis on the non-material structures that inuence the shaping of identities and interests (c. reus-smit 2005:197). the three assumptions are generally accepted by constructivists. however, constructivists also differ in accord with their point of emphasis on certain elements which they believe shape the international system. hence, there are various strands of constructivism that can be identied within the eld of international relations. these shall be enumerated below. strands existing within the constructivist school according to c. reus-smit (2005:199), there have been different forms of constructivism since the early 90s, each differing according to the emphasis on whom and what constitutes the primary actor in international politics. the three strands that can be identied within the constructivist school include; systemic, unit-level, and holistic constructivism. systemic constructivism: this strand of constructivism is promoted by the likes of alexander wendt and it is also a very rare form of constructivism. this kind of constructivism is quite similar to neorealism in the sense that it emphasizes the role of the state as the primary actor in international relations. it recognizes the status of the domestic clime within the states, but it chooses to relegate it to the 47constructivist school in international relations... background, thereby making the state its major focus of inquiry. like the normal constructivist fashion, wendt believes that the identity of the state informs the interest it pursues as well as its actions. the identity of the state can either be social-the conception, role, or personality ascribed to the state by the international community (external reputation), and the corporate identity-the internal ideological, cultural, and material factors that make a state what it is. however, wendt prefers to isolate the corporate image as a result of his preference for systemic analysis, rather than focusing on the social identity, about how systemic processes and structural contexts produce different sources of state identity (wendt 1992;1995) the weakness of this kind of constructivism is its narrow scope which tends to eliminate crucial determinants of how fundamental changes may occur even in the international system or even in the nature of state identity which is primarily inuenced by the domestic order. unit-level constructivism: this is the reverse of the systemic kind and it places more emphasis on how the domestic order shapes state identity. it focuses on the relationship between the domestic, social, and legal norms, identities, and interests of states. peter katzenstein (1999), a notable constructivist emphasizes the importance of institutionalized, regulatory, and constitutive national and legal norms in shaping the state identity. he showed this with his analysis of the variant state identity of germany and japan who both have a common history of domination, defeat, and nascent greatpower status. while one seems to be inclined towards the grotian principle of international relations, with its emphasis on the evolution of international legal systems to quell terrorism and protests, the latter is more conservative and passive in international affairs. this method allows for the identication of variations among states but creates more difculty in the identication of similar patterns among states. holistic constructivism: this tries to bridge a gap between the two constructivist schools by bringing both the social and corporate identities into a unied analytical view. it is primarily concerned with the dynamics of global change, such as the rise and fall of sovereign states and they concentrate on the mutually constitutive relationship between the global order and the state. it, 48 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 therefore, creates room for the explanation of the grand shifts that have occurred in the international system, and the recent changes within the modern system which are distinctive yet complementary. though it is less elegant in theoretical construction in comparison to the other two, it allows for the explanation of the ideological and normative structures of the present international system (c. reussmit, 2005:201). this shall lead us to a major focus on the role of constructivism in security studies in the next subheading. the role of constructivism in security studies just as the constructivists initiated an intellectual revolution in the general eld of international relations, so they extended this revolution to the eld of security studies hitherto regarded as the exclusive reserve of the realist perspective that saw security studies only in the arena of military and strategic studies. they brought in their methodology and analytical tool that favours the sociological and cultural approach in the analysis and explanation of policy making. the end of the cold war had some implications for the eld of security studies in the sense that many statesmen, academics, and the general public at large revived interest in areas or issues that were made latent during the cold war years as a result of the ensuing superpower rivalry. the receding of the 'nuclear armageddon' of the cold war years enabled erstwhile marginalized and relegated issues to emerge from the blues and reassert themselves on the global agenda (p. hough 2008:7). however, a prediction into the new constructivist era was already made as far back as 1983, when ullman dened what constituted security threats in a manner unprecedented. to give a vivid insight into this, ullman (1983:133) dened security threats as “an action or sequence of events that (1) threatens drastically and over a relatively brief period to degrade the quality of life for the inhabitants of the state or (2) threatens signicantly to narrow the range of policy choices available to a government of a state, or to private, nongovernmental entities (persons, groups, corporations) within the state.” this was followed by a wave of critical theorists and constructivists who dened security studies exogenously beyond the usual scope of military threat and use of force propagated by the realists. 49constructivist school in international relations... scholars such as ayoob (1997) emphasized the need to examine the internal threats of ldcs (less developed countries) as constituting the principal security concern for most of those areas rather than external threats. also, matthews (1989), owing from ullman's stance on security threats, highlighted the security implications of environmental problems such as global warming and ozone depletion and the implications they had for international security at large. another group of scholars, lynn-jones and miller (1995), emphasized the security concerns posed by issues such as virulent nationalism and the social impact of migration. this widening and deepening endeavour of the constructivist school in security studies was crowned by the emergence of the copenhagen school which asides from dening what security studies should contain, proceeded in providing a framework for the analysis of what should constitute a security threat or not. hence, the copenhagen school made its impact on the eld of security studies with its classic, authored by three notable scholars, barry buzan, de wilde, and waever, titled security studies: a new framework for analysis. in this work, the copenhagen scholars specically made it clear that security threats could arise from many other areas apart from the military including the social, economic, political, and environmental spheres of the state as long as they constituted 'existential threats'. apart from these, they went further to identify the criteria that must make an issue a security threat or not. that is, they have to be distinguishable from the usual political parlance and stated as existential threats to a referent object by a securitizing actor who generates the endorsement of emergency actions beyond the usual conventions that guide and moderate its operations (buzan et al, 1998:5). the copenhagen school added fuel to the wideners and deepeners of security studies by making it clear that an issue could be securitized even if it had no palpable threatening inuence on the state, as long as it is given impetus by the securitizing actor through the medium of the 'speech act'(p. hough, 2008:8) obviously, this development was met with vehement resistance on the part of the realists who feared that security studies would be made to lose focus and articulation if its base was widened beyond the conventional military and strategic studies. hence, the 50 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 likes of walt (1991) and j. mearsheimer (1990) opined that military threats were more apparent in the post-cold war years than ever before which was devoid of the traditional guarantee of state security and that security studies needed to return to the basics to rediscover the lost arts of conict resolution, multilateral diplomacy and conventional defense that dened the cold war years and its threat of nuclear balance of power. this deance by the realist school has continued till this very day, as scholars such as wirtz (2002:311) would opine that if the threat or use of force, or even the logical and technical assistance rendered by military units does not respond to a given problem, it is better not to treat such issues as a security threat. however, as dully noted by p. hough (2008:9-10), the attempt to dene security studies on the basis of whether it involves the use of military threat or not strips the whole enterprise of any real meaning because security is a human condition that cannot be totally negotiated by the mere attempt of state bodies to secure their boundaries and secure the citizens in a certain dimension. it is negatively presumptuous to subsume human security under the auspices of state security. it totally disregards the uniqueness and aspirations of individuals that make up the state entity. hence, it is better to dene security in behavioural terms rather than excluding certain categories of threats simply because they have no military afliations. this imbues the whole enterprise with a little objectivity than the subjective endeavour of realism. there is also a strand of constructivism that strives to deviate a little from the assumptions of other constructivists like the copenhagen school. while the copenhagen school and most of the other scholars in its route tend to be referred to as 'wideners', there are other constructivists who are more deepeners in the sense of their critique of the conceptual framework of the wideners (p. hough 2008: 8). the major bone of contention is the debate about the place of states in the securitization of issues. the deepeners, just like the neoliberals, emphasize the prominence of 'human security' above that of the state. they opine that the so-called 'referent object' propagated by the copenhagen school, should not be only about the state or substate groups alone, but more attention should be directed towards the individuals, institutions, and groups that make a state what it is (p. 51constructivist school in international relations... hough 2008:8). for example, falk (1995:146-147), a notable constructivist would argue that security should be regarded as the negation of insecurity as experienced by individuals and groups in concrete situations. he conceives the wideners of security, including the copenhagen school, as still locked in the web of the elite assessment of securitization the issue with the copenhagen school is the fact that it is a truism they accept the inclusivity of nonmilitary issues as security issues, and they accept that the so-called referent object can be something other than the state. however, they insist on the state as being the major securitizing actor. it is this particular situation thatwyn-jones admits that the aspect the copenhagen school has not fully taken care of, is what he refers to as 'the fetishization of the state' (wyn-jones, 1999). in trying to follow the copenhagen school line of argument, an issue does not ofcially become securitized until it is pronounced as so by the state. hence, the political class is the sole determinant of what should be securitized or not. issues that may not affect the individuals within the state directly, but may threaten the interests of the political class may become securitized, while issues that threaten individuals directly but constitute no threat to the interest of the political class may as well be de-securitized or even regarded as irrelevant. as an illustration, the gaze of the world has been drawn to the outright increasing levels of poverty and hardship of the citizens to the level of the violation of their human dignity in north korea who nd it quite difcult to survive in their present political dispensation. this in itself should be of utmost concern to the global community because the human and economic security of that country is gravely threatening. however, the state, embodied in the totalitarian regime of the kim-jung dynasty does not see this as an immediate point of concern for they would rather expend the resources of the state in the development and expansion of military incentives. they would spend more money on the recruitment of personnel for the army and the development of sophisticated weapons (nuclear weapons inclusive)for the protection of the state. the united nations has gravely been incapacitated in taking any decisive action against the north korean government because of the support they enjoy from their allies such as russia and china. hence, 52 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 the government of north korea sees the referent object of existential threat as the state and not the individuals within the entity, and this informs what they should be securitizing or not. by adopting the human security framework, therefore, analysts are relieved a little of the burden of speculating on what they think is the most threatening of the myriad of issues on the contemporary political agenda, and they can rather concentrate on issues perceived as vital and responded to in an extraordinary way of decision-makers. according to p. hough (2008), the approach is quite pragmatic in the sense that it can be demonstrated through opinion polls what people think is a security threat to them or not, as many people think of security in different terms today than during the cold war. finally, the constructivist school has helped to answer some fundamental questions on the eld of security studies which were hitherto beclouded by the primacy of military strategy. hence, they have heightened deliberations on securitization by asking questions such as: who is being secured? who is doing the securing? what is to be secured? which were largely ignored before the end of the cold war, and have been given prospects for resolution by the constructivist school. we shall now attempt a critique of the constructivist school as no theory is perfect in itself, and neither is it totally nonsensical. critique of constructivism the rst critique of constructivism by the realist school is the unconvincing emphasis placed on the importance of norms and values by the constructivists, especially in the international sphere. the realists insist that the existence and role of norms cannot be doubted in international relations, but they have reservations about the effectiveness of such norms. they insist that international history since the pact of westphalia has been characterized by a constant violation of the sovereign rights of weaker states by more powerful states. the realists insist that the quest for power and domination by states will continue to render the adherence to norms and values quite impotent (j. robert and s. george, 2006: 172-173). another implication of the constructivist submission is that 53constructivist school in international relations... the international space is not a mere 'strategic realm' where actors pursue their pre-formed interests, but a 'constitutive realm' where those interests may be formed by social interaction. however, realists like mearsheimer would dismiss the validity of such a stance, and would imply from the constructivist stance that an international system is a place where states can make friends through social interaction. for realists, anarchy, offensive capabilities, and uncertain intentions of other states leave states with no choice but to pursue an aggressive self-interested agenda. the aspiration towards communitarian norms is therefore acceptable in principle but not in praxis (mearsheimer 1995:367). another critique of constructivism against neorealism is the claim that the quest for power and the serving of the self-interest of states has been a constant reoccurrence in the international arena, and that there is hardly any new development or change in the orientation of states towards self-aggrandizement and acquisitionof power since the time of thucydides one of the earliest greek historians who wrote on the relationship among states. the likes of mearsheimer will claim that the realist standpoint has been at play since the early middle ages. in contrast to this, constructivists believe that change has been a constant factor in the history of international politics and this can be discovered by the analysis of social interaction through the various epochs which include the evolution of norms, culture, and institutions that inform relations among states. however, robert jervis, a neorealist opposes this constructivist argument and claims that the constructivists have not set out to explain the processes at work in political life. not much has been said about how norms are formed and identities are shaped through the historical evolution of international politics (j. robert and s. george, 2006:173) a prominent criticism against the constructivist schools in the eld of security studies, especially as espoused in the ideas of the copenhagen school, is the potential misinterpretation of the idea of 'extraordinary measures' in the tackling of security threats. extraordinary measures imply the tackling of security issues beyond the usual political strategies used in day-to-day governance. however, scholars have called attention to the feasible misinterpretation and abuse of the concept by both developed and 54 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 developing countries. the concept could be used to justify human rights abuses, especially in authoritarian dispensations and overmilitarization of normal security situations in tackling challenges within the domestic clime. realizing the implications of this idea, the copenhagen school suggested the de-securitization of issues to remove them from the 'extraordinary' clime and re-introduce them into the usual political parlance (aihie 2016). a very popular claim made by many constructivists is that constructivism is not a theory, but a mere tool of analysis and critique. to a very large extent, they have tried to sustain this stand by avoiding the formulation of grand theorems like that of realism and liberalism. part of what informs they argue that international politics is subject to the law of dynamism which often renders grand theories obsolete and irrelevant after some time, and this they claim that the conventional theories have fallen prey to. however, they (constructivists) have somewhat fallen prey to what they have been avoiding. theories are sets of statements arranged logically to explain the occurrence of certain phenomena. if we are to view the conception of theory from this angle, then constructivism has ended up roping itself in what it has been denying. by the endorsement of culture, ideas, and values as responsible for shaping the interests and identities of actors, be they state or individual, it has ended up formulating a paradigm for the assessment of international politics which every theory does. hence, it is not just a mere tool for analysis but a standard for assessment. apart from these subtle challenges to constructivism, the theory has gone a long way to change the face of international relations specially. it has reinvigorated the discipline in away most have not imagined. one of such contribution is the breaking away from the monotonous conception of international relations as a discipline locked in a chain of repetition and reoccurrences by the continual replay of the egoism and self-interest of actors across all epochs. constructivism has brought to the fore the importance of studying the particularities of culture and identity, especially with the twists introduced into international politics by the phenomenon of globalization after the cold war. this has in turn resuscitated the interest of the intellectual community in the return to the study of international history and the processes that shaped monumental 55constructivist school in international relations... events of those periods (c. reus-smit 2005:206). another contribution of constructivism is the way they have been able to demonstrate the power of norms and values in shaping relationships amongst states. the dominant theories had always viewed the sphere of ethics or normative science as having little effect on the study of relationships among statesthat are primarily driven by self-interest and the protection of their space in the global community. constructivism in turn has proved that norms and indeed values affect the general outlook of actors in the manner they go about pursuing their interests. their interests are not formed from the blues, but a whole lot of sociological and cultural factors inuence the formation of such interests of which norms and values in society play a very prominent role. constructivism has also downplayed the over-bloated emphasis placed on material structures by the conventional theories emphasizing an aspect of relations among states such as military capability, economic interest, and political might. the erection of international politics based on these material structures alone is an oversimplication of the matter. it makes the whole intellectual endeavour appear haphazard. a thorough understanding of the whole processes that inform the actions of states and individuals cannot be achieved without an understanding of the non-material ideas and principles that guide the formation of the material structures. no material structure is built without prior knowledgeable practices of certain groups and individuals who have perpetuated those practices over time, thereby making them institutionalized. these contributions of constructivism cannot, therefore, be neglected or waved aside. constructivism has contributed in no small measure to the new image the discipline of international relations carries in recent times. conclusion the following summations can be made from the plethora of issues that have been discussed thus far which will help to present a clearer picture of the discussions above. the summations are as follows: a) international relations were like a garden or farmland 56 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 predominantly covered in the trees of the conventional theories, realism most especially, with occasional criticism from close rivals such as liberalism and marxism, with all thereby mutating into some exclusive and 'elect' theorems for an explanation of occurrences in the international sphere. this situation was already giving the discipline a rigid and 'nished product' kind of outlook. b) a real attempt at challenging the basic assumptions of the conventional theories, thereby bringing their exclusive dominance in international relations and security studies to a halt, came with the rise of the 'critical theorists' who were mostly associated with the frankfurt school. they challenged the theoretical foundations of conventional theories in mostly a meta-theoretical and abstract way. c) the constructivists, taking a cue from the critical theorists, and inuenced by sociological discipline, continued in the line of criticisms against the conventional theories. they however differed from the critical theorists in their approach, preferring an empirical/analytical instrument in the analysis of events in the international sphere, and in widening the scope of security studies to cover a plethora of issues hitherto taken for granted, or paid less attention to. d) constructivism propelled the pertinence of examining international phenomena and actors from the lens of the culture, ideas, and values that shape them, rather than the mere treatment of actors or issues as mere atomistic with little or no inuence from their environment and relationships. in the eld of security studies, on the other hand, constructivists brought to the fore, the need to examine issues that profoundly affect human security, which is not just about what the state feels security should be, but also, what determines the individual conception of what it means to be secure or not. they were able to bring to the fore issues which breed insecurity, and are more devastating than military threats. issues which affect the day-to-day living of the average human being on the street, irrespective of his or her continent and demographic afliation. 57constructivist school in international relations... as a way of providing more concrete evidence of the effect constructivism has had in recent policy formulations of the international community, we shall be mentioning some situations worthy of mentioning to show the role constructivism has played in shaping the new face of international relations and security studies in st the 21 century. we can see the inuence of both constructivist and liberal schools in the formulation of some united nations policies. for example, it was clearly stated in 1993 undp (united nations development programme) report, that “the concept of security must change from an exclusive stress on national security to a much greater stress on people's security, from security through armaments to security through human development, from territorial to food, employment, and environmental security.”(undp 1993:2) another major inuence of the constructivist school is the movement of nations towards the consideration of non-military issues as more paramount in their policy formulation. for example, at the lysoen conference of 1998, the canadian and norwegian governments launched the 'human security network' that advocates for the development of global policies that take human security interests into perspective whether these affect state interests or not. as of 2007, eleven other states (austria, chile, costa rica, greece, republic of ireland, jordan, mali, netherlands, slovenia, switzerland, and thailand) had keyed into it (p. hough 2008:15). hence, constructivism has buoyed the vitality of the discipline of international relations and security studies in a very profound way, its inuence will, for a long, continue to shape the face of international relations and blaze the trail for future incentives in these two important disciplines. references aihie, s., (august, 2016) “securitization and the new security challenge”, lecture notes on security and strategic studies (unpbl.) benin: university of benin. ayoob, m., (1997), “dening security; a subaltern realist perspective”, in k. krause and m. williams (eds.) critical security studies, minneapolis: university of minnesota press, pp121-146. 58 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 buzan, b., waever, o., and de wilde, j., (1998), security; a new framework for analysis, boulder co: lynne rienner devetak, r., (2005) “critical theory” in scott burchillet al. (eds.) rd theories of international relations, (3 edition), new york: palgrave macmillan. dunn, f.s., (1948) “the scope of international relations”, world politics vol.1 p.142 falk, r., (1995) on humane governance; towards a new global politics, cambridge: polity press. horkheimer, m., (1972) critical theory, new york: prentice hall ndhough, p., (2008) understanding global security, (2 edt.), new york: routledge taylor and francis group. katzenstein, p., (1999) tamed power; germany in europe, ithaca: pearson and habour. keohane, r.o., (1984) after hegemony; cooperation and discord in world political economy, princeton nj: princeton university press. klotz, a., (1995), norms in international relations: the struggle against apartheid, ithaca: pearson and habour. lynn-jones, s. and miller, s., (1995) global dangers; changing dimensions of international security, london: mit press. matthews, j., (1989) “redening security”, foreign affairs, vol.76 (1), pp162-177 mearsheimer, j., (1990) “why we will soon miss the cold war”, atlantic monthly, vol.226 (2), pp35-50. mearsheimer, j., (1995), “a realist reply”, international security, vol.20 (1) pp82-93 price, r., and reus-smit, c., (1998) � “dangerous liaisons: critical international theory and constructivism”, european journal of international relations, vol.4 (3) reus-smit, c., (2005) “constructivism” in scott burchillet al (eds.) rdtheories of international relations, (3 edition), new york: palgrave macmillan. robert, j., and george, s., (2006)introductiontointernational relationstheoriesandapproaches, (3rd edition), oxford: oxford university press. ullman, r., (1983) “redening security”, international security, 59constructivist school in international relations... vol. 8(1) pp129-153 walker, r.b., (1989) � “history and structure in the theory of international relations”, millennium vol.18 (2) pp125-134 walt, s., (1991) “the renaissance of security studies”, international studies quarterly vol.35 (2) pp211-239 waltz, k., (1979) theory of international politics, new york: random house. wendt, a., (1992) “anarchy is what states make of it”, international organization, vol.46 p.197. wendt, a., (1995) “constructing international politics”, international security, vol.20 (1) p.73 wirtz, j., (2002) “a new agenda for security and strategy?” in j. bayliset al (eds.) strategy in the contemporary world; an introduction to strategic studies, oxford: oxford univ. press, pp 309-307 wyn-jones, r., (1999) security, strategy, and critical theory, boulder co: lynne rienner. 60 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value of yorùbá proverbs francis kayode fabidun abstract despite the relatively late recognition as a source of knowledge and justication, testimony plays a signicant role in our epistemic endeavours. the paper argued that testimony is a common practice in epistemic endeavours. due to its social character, testimony provides a unique dimension to knowledge acquisition. this paper explored the social character of testimonial knowledge and argued that testimony is an inevitable practice to give or receive pieces of information within the day-to-day experience. afrming the commonplace of testimony in our epistemic practice, hume opines that there are no species of reasoning more common, more useful, and even necessary to human life, than that which is derived from the testimony of men, and the reports of eyewitnesses and spectators. situated within yorùbá conceptual scheme, the paper identied further that proverbs play a signicant role in testimonial knowledge among the yorùbá. through a historical survey and critical analysis of the yorùbá conceptual scheme, it is evident that proverbs serve as a reservoir of wisdom and guide for the practical living among the people. furthermore, they contain philosophical issues that cut across epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, and aesthetics. this is in support of the interest of advocates of social epistemology that society and culture inuence our epistemic standard, and that knowledge is dened by people's experience within a particular scheme. therefore, the paper concluded that less arguably, proverbs are veritable instances of knowledge particularly as they share the basic structure of epistemic testimony. keywords: epistemology, proverbs, testimony, yorùbá, thought system introduction the status of testimony, when considered along with other sources of knowledge, except memory, became an issue of interest just in recent times. according to michael huemer, testimony, like memory, is an extremely pervasive source of knowledge that has been neglected by 1 epistemologists. in a loose sense, testimony is any statement or other communication that purports to state a fact or provide information. in the context of epistemology, testimony is not restricted to statements delivered by witnesses at trial, nor does it require a face-to-face 2 encounter. instances of testimony include all cases in which a person asserts something, and another person hears, reads, or otherwise witnesses the assertion. that explains the reason why testimony became an issue of interest since arguably a host of what we know is received from others either in the oral or written form. nevertheless, philosophers have variedly queried its reliability and justication as a source of knowledge. the nature of testimony is its apparent social character, which is a unique dimension through which testimony enhances epistemology. this social character provides a veritable chance to explore testimonial knowledge in the day-to-day experience among people in general and of particular interest among the yorùbá and their conception of reality. it is a common practice among yorùbá people to exchange testimony; to give or receive pieces of information. these, as it were, are taken as sources of knowledge. in this interpersonal or mutual epistemic attitude, proverbs play a signicant role. from the foregoing, yorùbá proverbs serve as a reservoir of wisdom and guide for practical living. the content of proverbs avails 95testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... the opportunity to learn from the wisdom of others which has been carefully preserved and presented from one generation to the other. hence, in the yorùbá culture, proverbs along with other oral traditions have a base in historical reality, because they are the exploration account of group and individual's thoughts and opinions about their historical and reective experience. furthermore, proverbs constitute a core element of verbal dissemination of knowledge and information among the people in the yorùbá nation. these show the social dimension of proverbs as part of human activities within a society. meanwhile, this social dimension favours the consideration of proverbs as testimony since they both furnish the individual with knowledge originating outside of them. it follows then that as a social entity, testimonial knowledge is a common phenomenon among the yorùbápeople as it is evident in their daily experiences. in other words, mutual exchange of testimony either in form of giving or receiving is prevalent among the people, and such instances are taken as generating knowledge. the nature of testimony in epistemology epistemology of testimony is built around the fact that a host of what we know comes from the world of others. we give credence to events, places, theories, and other issues coming from people and in most cases, without prior investigation, and thus we simply accept and live with them as true. testimony is a pervasive and natural source of beliefs. surely many of the beliefs it grounds are justied or constitute knowledge. they may even constitute basic knowledge or basic belief, both in the (moderate) sense that they are not grounded in premises and in the sense that they play a pivotal role in the life of the believer. beliefs that are based on testimony are psychologically, epistemically, and existentially basic. however, they are epistemically basic only in the sense that they do not inferentially depend on knowledge or justied belief of prior premises. they are epistemically dependent, in a way perceptual beliefs are not, on one's having grounds for knowledge or justication, and they are psychologically dependent on one's having at least some non-propositional ground such as hearing someone 96 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 3speak in another, non-testimonial experiential mode. hume correctly noted that “there are no species of reasoning more common, more useful, and even necessary to human life, than that which is derived from the testimony of men, and the reports of 4eyewitnesses and spectators” there are some issues surrounding testimony, such as: when are the beliefs from testimony justied, and why? when do they amount to knowledge, and why? how reliable are the sources of testimony? is testimony an autonomous source of epistemic authority like perception, memory, learning, and inference? christopher r. green raises other sets of queries which include: what conditions should be placed on the recipient of testimonial-based beliefs? must the recipient of testimony have beliefs about the reliability of the testier or for such a belief? or, on the other hand, inductive support is it enough if the testier is in fact reliable, and a recipient may satisfy his epistemic duties without having a belief about that reliability? what external environmental conditions should be placed on the testier? for the recipient to know something, must the 5testier know it, too? philosophers are broadly divided in the line between reductionism and anti-reductionism. the reductionists found the basis of their locus standing in hume and locke who gave a probative value to testimony. for locke, it is practically unreliable to base one's knowledge on someone else's worldview. hume, on his part, testimony is simply one form of inductive evidence among others. from these suppositions, they argued that any justication formed by testimony can be reduced to other kinds of justication, such as; sensory perception, memory, and inference. this implies that our ordinary acceptance of testimony is justied only a posteriori. therefore, it is not a fundamental source of warrant because 6 testimony replies based on other empirical sources of knowledge. the anti-reductionist, on the other hand, following the argument of thomas reid postulated that testimony, in itself is a source of knowledge; it is not reducible to other sources, even if 7 empirically dependent on them. thomas reid argued that to acquiesce to hume's postulation would amount to having little grounds for holding on to our belief in the testimony of others. 97testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... according to him, humans have two innate tendencies which enable us to much more easily to gain knowledge through testimony—our intuitive tendency to tell the truth and our tendency to simply believe 8 what others say. the reductionist and the non-reductionist views expressed above have implications on justication. for the reductionists, justication of testimony depends on other sources of knowledge. thus, testimony is not a basic source of justication but can only be an instance of one when reduced or considered along with perception, memory, inference, and the like. while for the anti-reductionists, testimony is just as basic a source of justication as sense perception, memory, inference, and the like. the central claim of the antireductionist is that the epistemologies of perception, memory, and 9 testimony should all look more or less alike. there are also arguments by those who argue for the receiver's background evidence in an addition to trusting a specic speaker for justication. in this case, elizabeth fricker opines that the onus is on the hearer to be partially disposed to deploy background knowledge relevant and careful analysis of the speaker's statement to 10 detect the aspects of it that betray being trusted. that the hearer deploys background knowledge constitutes some challenges and raises the possibility of jettisoning reductionism for antireductionism. but this problem is averted since, by its very nature, testimony confers prima facie justication on the receiver. tyler burge opines that a person is entitled to accept as true something that is presented as true and that is intelligible to him unless there are 11 stronger reasons not to do so. considering the high demand of the reductionists and the seemingly weak standard of anti-reductionists suppose caution in what the hearer takes as warranted testimony. another issue in epistemic testimony is the interpersonal view of testimony where testimony is considered as a form of evidence, an indication of the speaker's belief in what he asserts, along with the background evidence of the listener (a person's asserting p is evident that he believes p and the hearer regard this as evidence that p is true). however, the understanding of testimony and testimony reception is more than mere evidence as in the case of readings on a gauge or an instrument, because there are instances 98 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 when the speaker's evidence does not seem to be reliable enough and the speaker does not trust such. hinchman and moran believe that testimonial credibility which is a signicant aspect of true communication is missing when a speaker is treated as a mere truth gauge, offering nothing more than words, and does not invite the 12 hearer to trust what he said. in testimonial-based knowledge, knowledge transmission ows from the attester purported to know the truth of the proposition in question to the hearer believing his testimony. in other words, testimony-based knowledge is grounded in the exchange of thoughts. the nature of proverbs in yorùbá thought system the yorùbá constitute the majority of people in south western part of nigeria and are also found scattered in diverse countries all over the world. the yorùbá, in general, have a rich cultural heritage rooted in 13 their traditional thought system. they speak a general language which is yorùbá and there are various dialects spoken in various communities to the other. nevertheless, both the general language and the various dialects are rich in proverbs. proverbs occupy a vital place in the yorùbá frame work of thought and they are considered a strong means of communication in their daily interactions. proverbs constitute a powerful rhetorical device for the shaping of moral consciousness, opinions, and beliefs.” they are a treasure in speechgiving and illuminating the grey aspects of any decision-making. the yorùbá people value proverbs very highly, for they are 14considered to be the wisdom lore of the race. francis sotunde denes a proverb as a short familiar sentence expressing a supposed truth or moral lesson; it often requires an 15 explanation beyond the literal meaning of the words used. in line with mill's postulation, yorùbá proverbs possess both the connotative (basic idea or literary) and denotative (thought or deeper) delineations of meanings. a connotative meaning of a word is the feeling a word evokes in its usage: the implied subtext of words rather than their literal meaning. while a denotative meaning is what such a 16 word literally means. this is succinctly expressed by oladele orimoogunje thus: yorùbá proverbs are highly idiomatic, having both 99testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... denotative and connotative meanings. the denotative meaning tends to be the signier of the connotative meaning, which, is the one held in high esteem. the semantics of the denotative structure, though in itself a truism, is a means to the signied end. the healthrelated meanings of the proverbs are in most cases restricted to the denotative meaning. at the connotative level, the meaning of the proverb may not necessarily be health-related. denotative meaning considers the componential meanings of the symbols in the proverb while on the connotative level, the metaphorical and idiomatic meanings generated from 17usage context are taken into consideration. for instance, in the proverb, “afọwọ́ –fònnàkìídurorojọ́”(gossiping is a luxury for someone whose hands are not carrying re). the connotative meaning refers to the meaning of the keywords in the proverb would just be gossip, hand, and re, and this will portray no lesson. nevertheless, the denotative meaning re would be any unease situation for doing wrong, while hands would imply the freedom/free will of such an individual to execute such an act. proverbial utterances are meaningful to the hearer due to the cultural 18 afnity between the speaker and the audience. it is pertinent to note that proverbs are not gures of speech, rather they are an ingenious manner of speaking which could be deductive speculative afrmative, and empirical. as such they come about through active rational processes, observation of facts, analysis, and speculation on issues of life. every proverb is a logical, practical, wise, witty, and pithy statement created by generations of analphabetic progenitors for our good and the good of future generations. proverbs have been, and remain, the most powerful and effective instrument for the transmission of culture, social morality, manners and ideals of a people. the reason behind the efcacy of proverbs is that as aphorisms or wise sayings, they are based upon people's experiences, and they reect the social values and sensibility 19 of such people. proverbs are a signicant part of yorùbá heritage 100 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 and they are used within and beyond the cultural environment where they were fashioned. adeyeye ogunwusi noted that proverbs are a product of a thought process engaged in by our (yorùbá) analphabetic progenitors who applied their power of observation and intuition to 20fashion the proverbs. this reveals the depth of insight, and wisdom that are inherent in yorùbá proverbs. they also contain knowledge and wisdom intended as a guide in dealing with the vicissitudes of life and nding practical solutions to life's challenges. however, this is sometimes not always obvious, as sotunde rightly noted, it takes an 21 enquiring mind to absorb its philosophical underpinning. as against the common popular conception of proverbs as considered as possessing moral principles only, it has been argued that proverbs contain insights that are related to all branches of philosophy. adegboyega oluyemisi argued that proverbs have philosophical issues that cut across epistemology, metaphysics, 22 ethics, logic, aesthetics, and so on. this means that proverbs are laden with philosophy and can manifest themselves in various ways to diverse people and remain relevant. in other words, yorùbá proverbs often state a philosophical dogma and give regulation for man's relationship with each other and the gods. they present both the positive and negative aspects of human experience, shedding light on them to help people make wise decisions for the good of the self and of others in society. sotunde points out that 'proverbalism' can therefore be said to be a literary tool, a psychological device, and 23 a philosophical vehicle of social cohesion. hence, yorùbá proverbs give expression to the major method of inquiry into african philosophy, along with mythological, humanist, idiomatic, and 24logical methods. furthermore, proverbs belong to the category of oral traditions among the yorùbá, and with others such as fables, folklores, riddles, and prose, with all having a base in historical reality. characteristically, oral pieces of literature provide the exploration account of group and individual thoughts and opinions 25 about their historical and reective experience. adebayo remarked that of all forms of yorùbá oral tradition, yorùbá proverbs (owe) have special attributes and characteristics, which make them particularly 101testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... unique and special. he situated this uniqueness, as stated earlier, in the fact that proverbs are handed down from one generation to another as truthful sayings having been tested by usage. two issues are important in this assertion, namely that proverbs possess the two conditions of truth and testability. as such information, ideas, and thoughts obtained from them would be more reliable than those 26gathered from other oral pieces of literature. speaking of all forms of yorùbá oral tradition, there is a special reference given to proverbs as it is said, “òwel'ẹsinọ̀rọ̀,ọ̀rọ̀l'ẹsinòwe, tíọ̀rọ̀ básọnù, òwe la fìíwa” (proverbs are the prongs of discourse and if a discourse is riddled 27with meaning it is proverbs that we use to lose it). such statements as the one above afrm the importance of proverbs among the people. on the issue of their sources, olumuyiwa pointed out that it is said categorically that the sources of yorùbá proverbs are unknown. proverbs are the product of human observations of what happens in the environment, and that is why yorùbá 'proverbs could be deductive, speculative, afrmative, empirical, mythical, and 28 superstitious' for wande abimbola, yorùbá proverbs were derived from the ifá oracle from which yorùbá proverbs received their rich vocabulary and high semantics from its connection to the ifá oracle. hence, raphael areje asserted that since the proverbs are derived from the ifáoracle, which is an embodiment of yorùbá philosophy and belief, they possess the attributes of the ifáoracle. actually, in a 29way, the proverbs are a microcosm of the ifá oracle. proverbs are formed with the worship of ifá and orishas (gods) in songs, beating drums with proverbial sayings, as they settle disputes, as they make merry or drink palm wine (native drink from palm trees), as they tell 30family or local histories and other social-cultural events. it is said that yorùbá proverbs have socio-cultural origins according to the historical, and religious experiences of the yorùbá people. however, sotunde identied three other sources of proverbs: social interactions between people and the folkloric experiences of communities including their prejudices, beliefs, superstitions, and myths; and third; animism and animatism, through which primitive people sought and found meaning to the immediate natural 31environment. proverbs are considered to be traditional and originate 32 from the observation of natural phenomena and human relations. 102 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 irrespective of this discrepancy, one obvious point is the fact that proverbs come to play in the daily discourse and the oratory of yorùbá from time immemorial and they are used to garnish, conceal and hint messages. they are simply informative. yorùbá proverbs as material for testimony in epistemology as noted earlier, yorùbá proverbs by their very nature are a verbal medium of dissemination of knowledge and information among the people. they are the experiences of people which have been philosophically woven together and presented as a compendium of wisdom to act as companions and guides in the life of the people. there are originally transmitted orally but are now been preserved in written form. nevertheless, being in oral form does not reduce their value: it is in the oral state that the beauty of proverbs becomes more eloquent. this means that yorùbá proverbs validate orality as means of passing knowledge to others in african traditions. there have been inuential philosophical ideas that for a long time remained verbal. they are considered sources of instruction and knowledge because they are taken as materials for knowledge. it follows that their words constitute testimony. this is in line with searle's opinion that the primary speech act of testimony is a speaker's saying, telling, or asserting something. assertion puts forth 33 a proposition that the speaker represents as true. an area that clearly shows yorùbá proverbs as possessing, being communally known, and shared in the society. yorùbá proverbs are key in the social fabric of yorùbá epistemic lives. this is in line with the interest of advocates of social epistemology that society and culture inuence our epistemic standard. yorùbá proverbs constitute valid examples of such epistemic perspective as they form an irresistible part of the daily interactions among the yorùbá. just as a child learns that the stove is hot because others said so, it is in the same way that the proverb “bíọwọ́ọmọdé ò bátìíkanẹ̀kuidà, a kìíbèéreikút'ópa baba ẹni” (this will translate literarily as “when a child has not gotten hold of the sheath of the sword, he dares not ask the manner of his father's death). the meaning of this proverb is that the exercise of power comes with maturity. just as he lives with the knowledge he acquired through the 103testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... testimony of the hotness of the stove, he also learns that authority comes with age and prudence, because he has heard it from the oral testimony of the people. the simple line of argument here is that wisdom is protable to guide. the above shows the informative impulse of yorùbá proverbs. earlier on in this paper, testimony is dened as any statement or other communication that purports to state a fact or provide information. transmission of the information is the goal of testimony. this is also what proverbs are used for in the yorùbá thought system, where the value of a proverb is based on how well it provides information. in other words, the value of proverbs is in their ability to inform people in their daily lives. this information provides knowledge and serves as a guide in making good judgments. this is succinctly expressed in the proverb 'apeèpol'éhìnàgbà, àgbànbòwákàn ó, k'áwonomodér'óhun pa' (he who strips the bark from the back of an elder (i.e. insults him), will become old so that the youngsters will nd something to strip him of (i.e. insult him in turn), 'apeèpo' is one who strips the bark of a tree for medicinal purposes, 34 etc and inculcates. this proverb clearly provides instruction on learning to live in the right manner in line with some ethical virtues and injunctions. interestingly, the irreplaceable nature of testimony among yorùbá is attested to in some proverbs. it is the general belief among the people that it is impossible that one lives all by his wisdom without recourse to the wisdom of others to complement his. this is further pushed forward with the proverb: “ọgbọ́nọlọ́gbọń la fínsọgbọ́n, ìmọ̀rànẹnìkan o t'óbọ̀rọ̀”. (one learns wisdom from other people's wisdom, one person's knowledge does not amount to anything). according to abiodunaderinto, this proverb above in the culture of the yorùbá suggests that one person cannot claim the 35 monopoly of knowledge and wisdom. the proverb implies that we learn from other people and our knowledge alone cannot take us anywhere. if the wisdom of an individual would take him nowhere, it is inescapable for him to acquire the testimony of others either as a complement to or acquiring new knowledge altogether. this is not a 104 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 usual practice in western philosophy where the premium is placed on the self and the issue of knowledge acquisition was conducted around the individual. alvin goldman remarked that rene descartes created a roadmap for epistemology. the plan was to meditate, reect, and otherwise conduct one's intellectual affairs in a thoroughly selfabsorbed way. such a plan does not consider other people's thoughts or opinions, to how their knowledge might inform one's own. the great bulk of epistemology has followed descartes' image of an epistemic agent as a solitary investigator, seeking truth by his own 36 devices. the proverb under consideration shows that credence is always being given to the other and the other is regarded as indispensable when it comes to the issue of acquiring knowledge in the yorùbá thought system. another proverb also supports the testimonial nature of yorùbá. the proverb shows how yorùbá believes in tapping from the knowledge and wisdom of others with particular emphasis on the need to appreciate the wisdom of elders. it is said that: “ọgbọ́nọlọ́gbọ́n ò jẹ´ kápeàgbàniwèrè” (other people's wisdom saves the elder from being called a lunatic). the insights of elders on issues are usually an outcome of deep reection and meditation. presenting such to a youth may sound nonsensical because what the elder says, for instance, in a worrisome situation may have deed the comprehension, and thought of the youth in question, who possibly have expected that such an instance calls for violence and that should be employed necessarily. it is a given in the precinct of the yorùbá epistemic thought system as in other spheres that an individual does possess what is sufcient for him to make an epistemic claim. hence the common proverb enìkankì í jẹ´ à wádé (it is improper for a single individual to refer to himself as the whole). this is because any individual along with others rightly constitutes the whole. in yorùbá proverbs, therefore, the social dimension is always emphasized. this is aptly captured in the proverb below: mo gbọ́ tán, momọ̀ tán, lós eikúpaaláimọ̀kan. (the claim of the fool to know it all, is the cause of his 105testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... death). the onus to listen to the testimony of others lies on all who desire knowledge and long life. let us go back to the instance of the hotness of the stove and the subsequent avoidance on the part of the child from being hurt. the child gets to know that a hot stove hurts from the testimony of others, and not from experiencing it. refusing testimony of others is considered an act of self-impoverishment, particularly when there is no hindrance to such knowledge. the listener in this case comes to know because he is provided with such information. this is explicit in the following proverbs: taníbáarúgbólọgbé? talóbáàlejòwálátiileré? ohun a kòmọ̀ níparẹ̀ akìí da sìí. (where are the old man's childhood mates? who was with the stranger at home? no one should dabble into what he is ignorant 37about). ignorance in this case is because of the non-disclosure of information by the person in question. to know in the light of the proverb under consideration here, the person in question must disclose information. contrary to alvin goldman's claim that hume seems to suppose that from our observations we can infer testimonial 38 justication, and observation is not sufcient because there is a considerable amount of information about an individual or an object that is never available to be experienced. conclusion the paper presented the nature of yorùbá proverbs working with the notion that proverbs are common means of transferring knowledge in the yorùbá thought system. the use of proverbs is an integral part of oral tradition and a medium of communication among the people. for this reason, proverbial utterances are held in high esteem and considered an expression of the wisdom inherent in the culture of yorùbá people. the appreciation that proverbs enjoy at every instance is because it is an expression of the collective voice of the society. as a result of their ability to instruct almost at every given time, it is arguable that proverbs satisfy the conditions necessary for 106 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 testimonial knowledge particularly as it shares the basic structure of epistemic testimony, namely that the hearer receives the utterance of the speaker as true. so, juxtaposing yorùbá proverbs and testimony, one realizes that both focus on the same goal which is the transmission of information. in both cases, the content of the transmission is considered a true and valid means of knowledge. endnotes 1 michael huemer, epistemology: contemporary readings (oxon: routledge taylor and francis group, 2002), p 217. 2 michael huemer, epistemology., p 207 3 audi robert, “the place of testimony in the fabric of knowledge and justication”, in american philosophical quarterly, university of illinois press on behalf of the north american philosophical publications stable, oct., 1997, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 405-422, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009910. 4 david hume, “on miracles”, in michael huemer, epistemology: contemporary readings (oxon: routledge taylor and francis group, 2002), pp. 221 – 232. 5 christopher green, epistemology of testimony in internet encyclopedia of philosophy 6 jonathan adler, “epistemological problems of testimony” the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (winter 2017 edition), edward n . z a l t a ( e d . ) , u r l = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/testimonyepisprob (assessed on 11.12.2018). 7 jonathan, “epistemological problems of testimony”. 8 huemer, epistemology, p. 217. 9 christopher green, “epistemology of testimony” in internet encyclopedia of philosophy (https:www.iep.utm.edu) (assessed on 06.12.2018) 10 elizabeth flicker in michael huemer, epistemology, p 209. 11 tyler burge in michael huemer, epistemology., p 217. 12 flicker in michael huemer, epistemology., p. 210. 13 gbengafasiku, yorùbá proverbs, names and national consciousness in the journal of pan african studies, (vol. 1, no.4, june 2006), p.51. 14 a. o. oluyemisi, philosophical issues in yorùbá proverbs, international journal of african society, cultures and traditions (vol.5, no.2, pp.21-30, september 2017), published by european c e n t r e f o r r e s e a r c h tr a i n i n g a n d d e v e l o p m e n t u k 107testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... ( ) (assessed on 10.12.2018).www.eajournals.org 15 sotunde, yorùbá proverbs and philosophy with 3,225 proverbs translated, (abekuta: f. i. sotunde, 2016), p. 9. 16 https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/denotation (assessed on 16.12.2018) 17 ọládélé orímóògùnjé,yorùbá proverbs: an insight into the indigenous h e a l t h c a re d e l i v e r y s y s t e m a n d h e a l t h e d u c a t i o n , https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/sajal.2012.32.1.11.1 134 (assessed on 16.12.2018) 18 sotunde, “yorùbá proverbs and philosophy”, p. 23. 19 zakariyah moshood, “a pragmatic analysis of proverbs in selected works of ola rotimi”, (zaria: ahmadu bello university, zaria unpop 2016) (assessed on http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream 16.12.2018) 20 sotunde., p. vi 21 sotunde, p. xi 22 oluyemisi,“philosophical issues in yorùbá proverbs”. 23 sotunde, p.22 24 onifáde, “philosophical signicance of yorùbá proverbs”. 25 onifáde. 26 onifáda. 27 oluyemisi. 28 t. olumuyiwa, “yorùbá interrogative proverbs”, in european scientic journal 8(29), 2012,pp. 106-120. 29 raphael areje, yorùbá proverbs, (daystar press, ibadan, 1985), p. iv. 30 david adamo, “ancient israelite and african proverbs as advice, reproach, warning, encouragement and explanation”, in hts theolog ica l s tud ies onl ine vers ion issn 2072-8050 http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s025994222015000100111 31 sotunde, p.2. 32 oluyemisi 33 searle, j., 1969, speech-acts, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1974, p. 92. 34 gbenga fasiku, yorùbá proverbs, names and national., p. 52. 35 aderintoa biodun, “the social implications of some nigerian yorùbá and igbo proverbs on wisdom”, in global journal of human-social science: arts & humanities – psychology, (global journals, vol. 18 issue 1, 2018), p. 40. 36 alvin goldman, epistemology: a contemporary introduction, (oxford: oxford university press, 2014), p. 205. 108 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 37 francis sotunde, yorùbá proverbs and philosophy with 3,225 proverbs translated, 2016, p. 452. 38 alvin goldman, contemporary introduction to epistemology, p. 208. 109testimonial knowledge and the epistemic value... book review title: african philosophy: an introductory guide author: gregory ebalu ogbenika publisher: mindex publishing company limited year of publication: 2022 isbn: 9789788548980 pagination: 136 pages reviewer: patrick sonayon akotonayon man has been perpetually sentenced to eternal quest for knowledge in the court of nature, waiting to be liberated by the man who is desirous of learning. the insatiability of the mind yearning for revitalization of antiquities, and newness of existing corpus of “episteme” would keep residing on the chariots of improvement until creativity is made manifest and innovation thus become evident. this is exactly what happens in the recycling process of thoughts, ideas and knowledge; the essence of which is not to condemn that which is already done but rather to revisit keenly into the treasury of knowledge in order to make that which is good better, and that which is better, best. on this, we intend to embark on a humble academic sojourn by venturing into a review of the book “african philosophy: an introductory guide”; a masterpiece of gregory ebalu ogbenika, who is a priest of the roman catholic church; an associate professor and lecturer at the prestigious institution of the seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma, edo state. the work is simply divided into 11 chapters, in 136 pages. the rst chapter examines the concept “african philosophy”, and presents it as a discourse that describes the life experiences of the african people. the author further expresses that the reality of african philosophy as an academic discipline is such that is often greeted with rebuttals and criticisms, leading to the great debate of whether or not there is an african philosophy in the rst place. be that as it may, the author subscribes to the position of african philosophers such as placid tempels and maurice makumba who both believe in the existence of african philosophy, since africans are full-edged rational beings capable of thinking and engaging in sound reasoning geared towards problem solving as evident in their day to day encounter. again, in the second chapter, the author denes a universal superset of knowledge called “philosophy”, and progresses into dening african philosophy which is a subset of the universal discipline. he exposes the different denitions of african philosophy as enunciated by different african philosophers. very complete among them is the denition rendered by maurice makumba who denes african philosophy as “that which is written, propounded or created by a person born of african stock; a philosophy written, propounded or created on the african continent; and thirdly one that deals with african problems and culture.” in the fth chapter, the author simplies the line of thoughts that make up for the discipline of african philosophy by dissecting their contents into periods namely: ancient, medieval, modern, and the contemporary period. not only that, he states the distinguishing characteristics peculiar to each of the periods mentioned hitherto. furthermore, he notes the periodization of african philosophy as spelt out by some notable african philosophers. while some lay claim to the classical, medieval and modern periods, others subscribe to the traditional classication namely the ancient, medieval, modern, and the contemporary which the author himself subscribes to. irrespective of the various classications, the summation of both thoughts is that the birth of african philosophy follows a chronological, seasonal and progressive sequence in its gestational period of birth. language is the wheel by which thoughts are driven; the vehicle by which concepts are conveyed, and the means by which ideas are communicated and classied. in fact, language is the plate upon which ideas cooked as knowledge are served and eaten. the author in chapter six discusses the problems confronting the universal 195book review acceptance of african philosophy as a rigorous academic discipline, and presents language as one. he drives home the point on the problem of language using the idea of godwin sogolo that “a native speaker of a language and a foreign speaker of that language could use the same words but with different connotations” being ascribed to them. this poses the danger of ambiguity and multiplicity of meaning on words that ordinarily would have one and same meaning. this further raises the question of the most suitable language to communicate the african idea, and the unied channel to express the african thought for the sake of clarity and dissolution of ambiguities. going further as we would see in the eight chapter, the author discusses the african concept of the human person. he says that the human person is congurative of two components: the body and soul. as such, the human person as conceived by africans “does not have a split personality.” taking a leap from this, the author states convincingly that what makes up a person in the african worldview is the fact that the individual is physically, spiritually and morally t. this by implication connotes the tripartite conception of the human person as against the dualistic view hinged on body and soul. the penultimate chapter is pivoted on gender equality. here, the author examines gender imbalance and its implication on national development. in doing this, he discusses practical issues that bother on gender inequality as evident in many african countries ranging from the relegation of women to the background in policy making, more profoundly in matters of politics and governance; opportunities, and even in education. the author therefore stresses that need to realize that women are rational beings too with potentials embedded in them, and that depriving them the opportunity to put into practice their potentials would connote injustice. lastly, the ending chapter hits on the nature of ontology. here, the ontology bothers on the metaphysical discourses as pertaining to the african thought pattern. identifying a problem would be of no importance when solutions to the problems are not proffered. to have discovered that a soul is dead would not be as much meaningful as bringing life to that soul which was realized to be dying or dead. this exactly is what has 196 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 been done in the book “african philosophy: an intoductory guide”, by identifying the problems as pertaining to african philosophy and going further to attempt solutions to the identied problems. by its nature, the book is holistic in scope in the sense that it touches almost every facet of issues bothering african people. more surprising is the variety of the thoughts of african philosophers presented and discussed by the author. this, i dare say, is not what one would easily come by in literatures that bother on the philosophy of the african people. hence, the need to store and preserve our treasury of knowledge by reading the book, having a copy, and also recommending the book to others for intellectual consumption. 197book review 432 32 formation of the youth and its implications on national development osamede christopher, osawaru department of philosophy, university of benin, benin-city, edo state, nigeria. chrisosawaru4@gmail.com, christopher.osawaru@uniben.edu abstract it is often said that today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. the youths are the pillars upon which the success, progress and prosperity of a nations’ future are built. when their strengths and potentials and creativity are properly harnessed, they are great assets to any nation. youths are the major human capital (resources) hence the need to channel their energies accordingly and dissipate it appropriately for the benefit of the nation and humanity as a whole. today’s youths are faced with the challenge of coping with an ever broadening spectrum of influences on decision making and behavior. these influences stem from the home, peer pressure, the media, technological advancement and the society and they have negative effects on their growth and development. the youth cannot be who they ought to be without the gentle and loving guidance of everyone charged with the responsibility of molding their lives. the manifestations of uncivilized acts among the youths are as result of the missing link in the execution of these responsibilities. this paper is an attempt to provide a philosophical investigation into the formation of the youth with a view of emphasizing the need to harness the potentials of these youths for national development. the paper argues that everyone charged with the responsibility of contributing to the formation of the youth are stakeholders in this onerous task and it is justifiable and rational for all hands to be on deck. the paper adopted an expository method of philosophical inquiry section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 433 keywords: youth, youth formation, development, national development, human capital, stakeholders. introduction it is often said that ‘today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. they are our future leaders because they will outlive today’s leaders. historically, this is essentially true. they are the pillars upon which the success, progress and prosperity of a nations’ future are built. when their strength, potentials and creativity are properly harnessed, they are great assets to any nation. but when their abilities are not properly channeled, they can become a great danger to themselves and the society. this is the reason every nation that hopes to remain relevant in future must give priority to the formation, development and training of its youths. there will be no success without a successor. however, it is imperative that the cliché that youths are the leaders of tomorrow go beyond mere platitudes and words to action. efforts must be made to ensure that it actually become a reality because the youths are special breeds with unique abilities to drive positive and lasting change in every facet of life. but in order for them to maximize their potentials and get to the peak of their abilities, they need to be adequately equipped today. the older generation has the responsibility to prepare the younger ones for their future relevance, first by their examples and then by helping the youths understand their calling and future responsibilities. parents, schools, religious organizations, the society and the government are the stakeholders who have special tasks in making the youths ready for the future; to equip them with skills, knowledge and support needed to take advantage of the opportunities of the modern world and make their societies a better place to the benefit of humanity. parents are the primary care givers of their children, the training and development of the youths should begin at home. it is the home that morals are first inculcated and characters moulded. the holy bible for christians stated that “train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (proverbs 22:6). this places enormous responsibilities on parents because parental care and guidance are major cornerstones in the formation process of every child. the school should also help in preparing the youth for the future by preparing them mentally and intellectually so that they can adequately meet the challenge of this century. education remains an essential key to ensuring a brighter future. therefore, the government should make the education of the youth a priority. beyond this, it should also create an enabling environment for young people to actualize their dreams through its policies and programmes. 434 formation of the human person in the 21st century it is axiomatic therefore to posit that there is a linkage between youth formation and national development. this intercourse is not only symbiotically connected; but, one depends on the other for its sustenance. therefore, the role of youth on national development cannot be over emphasized. the wheel of development of any country lies on the shoulder of how productive and creative the youthful populations are. the youth in any society are the engine of growth and development; because, they provide the labour force for production of goods and service to take effect. and also, are the critical masses of people, whose action and inaction can develop or destroy the hegemonies/fabrics of their society. the thrust of this paper is to expose the role of various stakeholders in the formation of the youths using a simple analytical survey, this paper tries to examine how youths could be helped to develop skills that can enhance their abilities and also achieve a promising future for themselves. conceptual clarifications who is a youth? the word “youth” has a relatively clear connotation but for the purpose of this article, it is important we proceed with a clarification of the notion of a youth. there is no universal definition of the youth population. “youths” is traditionally defined as a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. according to chambers dictionary, a youth is a person between childhood/adolescents and maturity, from this, it could be deduced that a youth is a young person still going through the process of formation or development. this starts right from conception through childhood and adolescence to maturity, if this is ever fully achieved. in the african youths report 2009 (uneca 2009), “youths” are defined as people between 15 and 39 years of age. however, several african countries define their youth population differently. for example, ghana, tanzania and south africa define the youth population as those between 15 and 35 years of age; nigeria and swaziland define it as those between 12 and 30 years; and botswana and mauritius define it as those between 14 and 25 years.1 these varying definitions of the youth population make it difficult to effectively discuss issues affecting youths in africa generally and to compare information across countries. the age band used in the ayr is too wide because it is generally agreed that people in their 30s are adults, and hence not part of those youths who are in transition to adulthood. for statistical purposes, the united nations (2011d) defines youths as “those aged 15 to 24 years.”2 although arbitrary, this is the age group that has been recognized internationally as “youths.” though generally acceptable and preferable, its implementation often poses section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 435 problems because the data for different countries are not provided using this definition. for example, population data are commonly presented in five-year age bands or presented for children (below 15 years) and for adults (15 years and above). similarly, labor market data are typically presented for adults (16–64 years).3 a problem with this attempt at defining a youth however is that while we are reasonably sure that the process of formation, employed to define who a youth is, begins right from childhood, we are not sure if and when this process stops and maturity is fully attained. indeed, there are two important questions we need to address in this regard. it relates to when childhood starts. is it from conception, from birth or a certain point after birth? at least, it is obvious that development characterizes the life of each individual right from conception. without unnecessarily belabouring the issue of when childhood commences we may safely put this at immediately after conception. a reason for this position is that we observe in individual persons marked signs of growth, especially physical growth, right from birth with manifestations of other forms of growth (intellectual, emotional, spiritual and cognitive following as the child develops physically. the second question is “is there any point in the life of the human person that he/she finally achieves maturity and ceases from growing and developing?’ from the legal perspective, the age of maturity/adulthood is located between the age of eighteen and twentyone in virtually all countries. but, one fact that we can hardly contest is that the process of growth and development extends far beyond the age bracket of eighteen and twenty-one. thus, if maturity is to be understood as the point at which the process of growth and development terminates and maturity is fully attained then it is obvious that this cannot be rightly located between the age of eighteen and twenty-one. besides, it is very much doubtful that we can identify a definite age at which persons attain maturity, understood as the age of full growth and development. thus, the problem with the attempt to define a youth in terms of the period and the process of development is that these vary from person to person. the process might even continue in some individuals from childhood, far beyond what people would ordinarily want to consider as the period of youthfulness and extend to what is described as the middle or even the old age. there is really no period in human life that development cannot and as a matter of fact, does not take place in ones aspect of life or the other. given this understanding, if we are to retain our conception of the youth being marked by the period and process of growth, then it might be helpful to extend the concept to include anyone who appreciates the need for growth, seeks for growth or is actually growing in areas that are 436 formation of the human person in the 21st century crucial for both personal and social development. however, for our purpose, a youth can be defined as a person who is still in his/her formative years, undergoing character modeling, personality development and sometimes receiving training that has to do with human capacity development. “the youth therefore could be influenced by whatever transpires in and around his/her environment because he/she learns through observation and experience”.4 (adeyemo & co) the concept of development there is no agreement as to what development is. there are various aspects as to what constitutes development; however common to all is a positive change in human wellbeing. the individual and his quality of life must be the center of the conception of national development, for the purpose of this paper; the youth must be equipped to contribute their own quota to the development of the nation. the term development could be used interchangeably with evolution depending on the contexts in which it is being used, either positively or negatively to refer to situations, trends, or issues. development, ordinarily means “man’s effort to make the necessary impact on nature; his environment, and on himself with a view to transforming and improving himself and his environment”5 (nwafor, 2006). it is clear therefore that development and improvement are synonymous. when something has been made to wear a new look from what it was before, we can say that a development has taken place. the words “growth” and expansion” are coterminous with development, and they suggest positive development. these words equally denote progress being made from one stage to another, which do not denote negative development like retardation, degeneration or decline. development is the progressive realization of capabilities, abilities and talents of each individual for his /her own satisfaction and enhancement of the social good. development in a wider context deals with socio-economic and political life of the society; it connotes the fulfillment, realization or actualization of goals and objectives, hopes and aspirations of that society. the process of actualization begins when a society recognizes its inadequacies, and sets goals for itself, and decides to make deliberate efforts to remedy perceived deficiencies in order to attain desired goals.6 (nwafor, 2006). in this regard, nyerere in ezimah (2004) views development as having an emancipator goal, i.e., it liberates man from shackles of ignorance, superstition and oppression in all its ramifications.7 consequently, all forms of development have to some extent a reasonable dose of educational process. for that reason, the development of the intellectual frontiers of the individual youth cannot section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 437 be left untouched. by extension therefore, the development of the individual’s intellectual capacity and capability empowers him/ her socially, economically and politically; thereby giving him not only a sense of self-fulfillment, but also a sense of belonging and commitment to the overall development of society. development entails more than the economic aspect of people lives. a significant development in a country like nigeria must take into account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. this supports the notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary interpretation and usage, these various perceptions only contribute to showing the richness as well as the problems associated with the concept of development. the united nations development program (undp) distinguishes between two sides of development. one is the formation of human capabilities and the other is the use people make of their acquired capabilities. this implies that development could be at the level of individual and also at the level of the society. development is a multidimensional process involving the totality of man in his political, economic, psychological, social relations, among others. development is not a completed affair; it is an on-going process. thus people are the objects of development. it must involve among other things the eradication of certain human -demeaning social phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, lowlife expectancy; development should be the creation and maintenance of livelihood opportunities. development is a social concept standing for the process through which human beings strive to improve the conditions of their lives. development is not an abstraction; it is a process of social transformation, which involves the replacement of those factors that inhibit the capacity of the individual for self-direction and the promotion of social cooperation with those which promote these ideals. in short, it is a process whose essence concerns the quality of life of the people. national development the term national development is a term that refers to a sustainable growth and development of a nation to a more desirable one. national development is people oriented and its success is evaluated in terms of the impact it has had in improving the lot of the masses. true development must mean the development of man, the unfolding and realization of his creative potentials, enabling him to improve his material conditions of living through the use of resources available to him. it is a process by which man’s personality is enhanced, and it is this enhanced personality and creativity, organized and disciplinedwhich is the moving force behind the socioeconomic transformation of any society. according to onabajo and m’bayo (2009), says ‘national 438 formation of the human person in the 21st century development should be man oriented and not institution oriented, that is, individually in collectiveness and not individual.8 to elugbe, (1994), ‘national development refers among other things, to the growth of the nation in terms of unity, education, economic well-being and mass participation in government.9 in summary development entails the provision of all the necessary materials and equipment’s that will guarantee that man in every society make a living and essence out of life. anaeto and anaeto (2010) citing todaro and smith (2003), identified three objectives of development which are; 1. increase availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such as food, shelter, health and protection. 2. to raise levels of living in addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better education, and greater attention to cultural and human values, all of which will serve not only to enhance material well-being but also to generate greater individual and national self-esteem and 3. to expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nation by freeing them from servitude and dependence, not only in relation to other people and nation states but also to the forces of ignorance and human misery.10 development is the socio-cultural, political, economic and the spiritual well-being of a society. in a truly developed state there is assurance of good quality of life, exercise of all human rights, and freedom to participate in the democratic process. from the foregoing, development implies enhanced quality of life, equity and justice, as it takes into consideration the wellbeing, growth and advancement of individuals within the society. national development could be described as the process of putting in place all it require for a nation state to stand on its own as an independent autonomous state.it entails more than the economic aspect of people lives. a significant development in a country like nigeria must take into account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. this supports the notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary interpretation and usage, these various perceptions only contribute to showing the richness as well as the problems associated with the concept of national development. the united nations development program (undp) distinguishes between two sides of development. one is the formation of human capabilities and the other is the use people make of their acquired capabilities. this implies that development could be at the level of individual and also at the level of the society. national development is a multidimensional process involving the totality of the nation in its political, economic, psychological, social relations, among others. national development is not a completed affair; it is an on-going process. thus people are the objects of national development. it must involve among other things the eradication of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 439 certain human -demeaning social phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, lowlife expectancy, national development should be the creation and maintenance of livelihood opportunities amongst the citizens that makes up such nation. such process includes training and retraining of the human resources. the aim is to harness and exploit the available resources in the country. in most cases, the training is focused majorly on areas of critical needs at a particular point in time. national development means the conscious, deliberate and concerted effort made by people to address the fundamental needs or issues of their nationhood. human capital development human capital development was described as an end or objective of development. it is a way to fulfill the potential of people by enlarging their capabilities, and this necessarily implies empowerment of people, enabling them to participate actively in their own development. human capital development is also a means since it enhances the skills, knowledge, productivity and inventiveness of people through a process of human capital formation broadly conceived. thus, human capital development is a people centered strategy, and not goods centered or production centered strategy of development. what really matters is the empowerment of people to identify their own priorities and to implement programmes and projects of direct benefit to them. this in turn implies the active participation of people in the development process and the consequent need to construct institutions that permit and indeed encourage that participation. in human capital development, education and health are essential. education is concerned with the cultivation of “the whole person” including intellectual, character and psychomotor development. it is the human resources of any nation, rather than its physical, capital and material resources, which ultimately determine the character and pace of its economic and social development. according to harbison, human resources constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth of nations. capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic and political organization, and carry forward national development. a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and utilize them effectively for national progress will be unable to develop anything else.11 (harbison, 1973, p.3). education occupies an important place in most plans for economic and social development. whichever way one looks at it, the education sector is important in human development as a supplier of the 440 formation of the human person in the 21st century trained manpower and it is a prerequisite for the accomplishment of other development goals. also, it is the main sector through whose national identity goals and aspirations are given meaning and reality among the people. the uniqueness of youthfulness the youthful age is the most exciting, active, dynamic period of one’s life. this stage of life is characterized by physical strength, dreams of a great future, a quest for adventure and acquisition of knowledge and experience. at this stage, one can achieve the best in life. the average youth is full of life and dreams; they want to try new things. in a way, these are advantageous to them because this penchant to discover, create and try new things can be channeled towards productivity. besides some great innovations in the world today were pioneered by young people who were curious, passionate and adventurous; young men and women who dared to dream. if the youths are well guided and mentored, they will discover their god-given potentials and channel those potentials towards problem solving. they will not only be useful to themselves and their families, they will also be making substantial inputs to national development. history is replete with youths who have contributed immensely to the progress of their countries. so many discoveries and inventions have been made by young minds. sixteen years old olivia hallisely discovered a way to detect ebola in less than thirty minutes compared to the current method that takes up to twelve hours to get results.12 cancer survivor, kylie simonds, designed a stylish backpack that allows children taking chemotherapy intravenously to move around without having to carry iv poles along. kylie was only thirteen when she invented the backpack,13 four nigerian high school students all under age 15 years, devised a “urine-powered” generator that can supply six hours uninterrupted electricity with one liter of processed urine.14 these are ingenious minds and they are just few of the countless numbers of dynamic youths in our generation. youths are unique; they should constantly be reminded of that and be encouraged to be at their best before this stage of their lives passes by. . for example according to the 2006 census, the youthful population constituted over 70% of the nigerian population. therefore, this quantum of population is a great asset for the nigerian state if they are harnessed and utilized in the right direction. interestingly, the transition of society from one generation to another is critical to the formative and developmental aspiration of such society. this is why society that prepares their youth for the sake of future aspiration will not only secure her future development; but, will prepare her next set of leaders with the challenges of national reconciliation and development. hence, the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 441 formation of youth has its implications on national development and is sacrosanct to the whole developmental aspiration of any society. the youth are the cornerstone to societal rejuvenation. societies are not only recreated through the youthful population, but, youth are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow. youth and education education is a process of learning and development the process is embarked upon with the objective of facilitating intellectual and moral development in individuals so as to make the youth become productive members of the society. this process of education involves the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge. it assists individuals to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve their life goals. whether formal or informal, its basic objective is to unleash a person’s potentials and develop knowledge skills and socially desirable and useful behavioural patterns. while formal education is acquired in schools, informal education takes place through everyday experiences and actual relationships with people around you. in our effort to define who a youth is, the process of development stands out as an essential element. this suggests that education understood as a process of learning and designed to facilitate development on youths and the prospect of their development. as a result, an appropriate system of education must facilitate the “holistic enhancement of the youths” and this is essential to overcome the growing doubts africa’s prospects of developing in a increasing competitive world. education of the youths should go beyond mere economic empowerment in order to earn a living, it must also enhance the capacity of all to exert a regenerating and creative moral vibration on the social system, this is highly essential to regenerate the social system and cleanse it of much of the … afflicting it today. for onyechere anyiam-osigwe, holistic education must result in the spiritual, moral, economic and socio-political enhancement of both the youth and the society as a whole, he contends that the collapsing moral fibre of society, which according, to him is worse in countries reputed to be educationally advantaged is due to the neglect of the primordial essence of education” 15which is instill moral order in the individual. the ultimate end of education is to produce good people and good members of the society. in his words, “the primordial essence of education is to reawaken the moral order inherent in the human essence: that is mould the individual in a manner that ensures that he or she becomes a good member of his tribe or community. 442 formation of the human person in the 21st century education is the most crucial secular activity for national development the education of the youth is the highest secular investment that can ever be made because it empowers the youth to be great achievers and leaders. according to eleanor roosevett, “education is essential to good citizenship and that education is important to life because it enables people to contribute to their country and their community. education equally helps to reform the youths’ interpersonal relationship. hence, the youth should be encouraged to socialize and keep healthy relationships to ensure a balanced social life. also it should be inculcated in the youth values that will prepare them for leadership. some of these values include: courtesy, humility, hospitability, compassion, generosity, patience, diligence, sense of responsibility and friendliness. a balanced life is crucial for personal success and peace of mind. helping youths to balance their secular activities will make them more relevant in the society. stakeholders in youth formation in general sense, the term “stakeholder” means any person or group that has a vested interest in a matter. the stakeholder can affect or be affected by the results of that which he /she is said to be a stakeholder, that is that in which he or she has a stake. the stakeholder temporarily owns the project or the business he/ she is involved in while is owner is still being determined. there are various stakeholders responsible for the upbringing and training of the youth: the school, the parent, the society, the government and religious organization .though all these agencies of youth development are expected to mould different aspect of the youth’s life so that he/ she will grow up to become the person he/she is meant to be, their responsibilities are intertwined. the youth world is interesting and challenging. it is a world filled with potentials and opportunities waiting to be explored and developed for wonderful results. everywhere in the world, the great potentials of the young population which is about half of the world’s population are recognized. this is why so much should be committed to ensuring that these potentials are fully tapped and developed because therein lies the strength, growth and development of every nation. sadly, many young people fail to recognize the great potentials that they have and the wonderful future that lies ahead of them if these opportunities are properly harnessed and utilized. many of them are overwhelmed in the euphoria and ecstasy of their age which blindfolds them to the realities of life. others go on without awakening from the stupor their fantasies had drawn then into; thus wasting whole lives filed with untapped potentials. some wake up too late to realize that they had wasted a good part of their lives that would definitely have made them section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 443 better than what they are and have to struggle so hard to come to terms with the realities of life. what this shows is that while the “youth world” has wonderful opportunities, it is also filled with dangers that tend to hamper and undermine some youths. to be able to go through this stage and maximally utilize their potentials, the youth need guidance, this is what has informed this aspect of the article, the youth cannot be who they ought to be without the loving and gentle guidance of everyone charged with the responsibilities of moulding their lives. parents, guidance, religious organizations, government, youth workers, teachers and all adults are stakeholders in this business and hands must be on deck to raise great youths. i. the home/parent/guardians. parents are major stakeholders in youth formation because of their natural affinity with their children. they are traditionally the ultimate caregivers who invest most, if not all, of their time on their children. it is easier to build a child than to repair an adult; that is why child’s training should begin very early. children learn how to act in the world by what they see others do and they learn about controlling aggression through adults hence, good parenting is the key to prevent juvenile delinquency. however, because of unavailability of and neglect by parents in most homes, many youths have been driven to the street by negative and external influences. the dramatic increase in the number of working class mothers with very young children has definitely left a “gaping hole” in the home. today many children are left to their own devices often relying on tv and computers as babysitters or nannies. breakups in families, child abuse and bad examples of parents are also negatively affecting the lifestyles and behaviours of youth. the home is the first school any child attends and the parents or guardians are their first teachers. a child physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development begins here. consequently, parents should endeavor to promote and support all-round growth and development of their children at every stage of life. a child that is well trained will live a happy, healthy and fulfilled life, while a child that is not well groomed will grow up living a lopsided life, becoming a liability to his parents and the nation. the holy bible commands parents to “train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (proverbs 22:6) it therefore behoves the parents to adequately train and prepare their youths for a blessed future both on earth and in eternity. 444 formation of the human person in the 21st century ii. the government/school the school trains the child mentally to make him/her literate or educated, and be able to make impact in this world as they grow up. the youth is the future of the world, tomorrow’s people and the new inspiration, and the school prepares the youth mentally for the future. however, the school is not only to make the youth intellectually capable to meet the challenges of and fit into this fast moving world, but also expected to impart moral lessons into them. this can be fully achieved through education. no doubt education is the backbone of national development; it equips people with knowledge and skills that bring about economic wealth, social prosperity and political stability in a nation. the government should endeavour to build more schools, provide free and quality education, especially for the less privileged. youth empowerment programmes should be organized from time to time. besides classrooms activities, schools should provide avenues for youth to interact with their peers and teachers so that they can develop communication and healthy relationship skills. the government through its policies helps all other agencies to do their jobs and achieve their set goals by coordinating their operations. these two agencies of formation play vital roles in the shaping of the lives of the youths. iii. religious organisation this play an important role in maintaining and helping the youths achieve their divine purpose. the goal of the religious organization is to help the youth established a relationship with god, teach them how to abide in the lord and serve god in love and reverential fear. to do this, youth workers must be passionate and patient. they should come down to the level of the youth and befriend them. they should seek to understand their situation before criticizing and judging them, visit them in their homes, show interest in their well being, provide the shoulder they can cry on, and see about helping them out with whatever challenge is confronting them. the adults in these religious organizations should always resist the temptation to get into any kind of tussle with youths. they shouldn’t approach them with an attitude that says, “we are adults and we know it all, you must listen because we are adults”. they wouldn’t be able to impact these youths with this kind of attitude. they should show them love, intercede for them, but don’t hesitate to correct them when necessary. above all, they should provide mentorship and live an exemplary life. developing essential life skills for youth formation life skills are those abilities that will help the youth adapt and thrive in a world that is filled with daunting demands, they are the skills needed by section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 445 the youth to make the most out of their life often seen as a way to manage and maintain a quality life. life skills will help the youths attain life’s goal and give them an edge over peers and competitors. any youth who understands the importance and the use of these skills and synchronizes them with educational dexterity will be outstanding. experience has shown that there is often a great mismatch between what is taught in class and the realities of life. it is observed also that most graduates lacks employability skills such as team work, skills, communication skills and the ability to cope under pressure. the onus is deliberately on the youth to learn these skills and be taught these skills. someone once said the most important skills one should have are the ability and willingness to learn “by learning new skills we increase our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with the tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life finding ways to cope with the challenge that life inevitably throws at us” below are some of the relevant skills every youth should endeavour to have and the youth should be taught: creative thinking this is the ability to “think outside the box” it involves devising a new approach to tasks, situations or problems. creative thinking helps one initiate novel idea and makes one see situations and problems from a picture perspective. on can stimulate creative thoughts by being curious and following ones curiosity, taking a rest, reading widely, writing, brainstorming, eating healthy, walking, being open to new things, going outside your comfort zone and a lot more. time management time is a precious asset and wasting it is tantamount to wasting one’s life. as a youth, this skill is needed in order for the youth to be able to plan and control the amount of time spent on various activities. time management skill will increase effectiveness and productivity because it will help the youth to discipline themselves and focus on the goal at hand. money management many people are in a financial mess today because they have no clue about how money works. it is better not to wait to learn the hard way: learn to save, no matter how little you earn. it is imperative for the youth to be taught how to save no matter how little you earn. it is necessary for them to have a monthly or weekly budget and strive to spend less then they earn. learning how to make money work for them through investment will help go far in life endeavour. 446 formation of the human person in the 21st century survival skill this skill comes handy when one find himself or herself in a precarious situation they include how to administer first aid, light or put out fire, read a compass, make smoke signals, read topography, change a car tyre, build a make shift shelter, find and purify water and other survival skills like swimming, climbing and self defense. people skill the way one relates with people could determine the extent of one’s success or failure in life. people skill will help you to relate with people appropriately. therefore, it is needful for youth to learn how to treat people with respect and kindness. it is needful to always think win/win when dealing with others and they should treat people the way they would want others to treat them. coping with failure a famous athlete once said “i have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. i have lost almost 300 games, 26 times i have been trusted to take the game wining shot and missed. i have failed over and over and over again in my life. and that is why i succeed”, sometimes failure can teach us valuable lessons of life. though it’s natural to feel bad when you fail, the youth must learn that they don’t have to dwell on it or allow it to define their person. they need to encourage themselves and learn a lesson from experience by asking oneself why the failure and what could have been done better. it is necessary to try to see the brighter side of things and resist the temptation of indulging in vices. the youth should deliberately make effort to try again. the youth must not allow failure to stop them from moving forward in life leadership skills the youth must be taught that as they go on in life, they will find themselves in situations where they need to take on leadership roles. it is needful therefore for them to equip themselves they need to learn how to set goals, make decisions and manage human and material resources well. they can develop leadership skill by learning to take on responsibilities in their home and school. they should always organize themselves and learn how to effectively communicate with different kinds of people. in addition to all these skills that have been explained above, there are other valuable skills the youth should learn, they include assertiveness, cooperation, working independently, prioritizing, positive thinking, problem solving, confidence building, negotiation, presentation, listening skill communication, recognizing diversity, handling disappointment and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 447 networking. if the youths strive to acquire these skills, they will be better equipped for the demands of life and contribute immeasurably to the development of the nation. symbiotic links between youth formation and national development in the world today where spiritual lethargy, moral decadence and mind blowing corruption reign, there is need to raise youths that will be pillars and hope of the nation. this is made possible through education and the inculcation of the right values. this process is embarked upon with the objective of facilitating intellectual and moral development in individuals so as to make them become productive members of the society. the process involves the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge that will assist the individuals to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve their live goals. whether formal or informal, its basic objective is to unleash a person’s potentials and develop knowledge, skills and socially desirable and useful behavioral pattern. while formal education is acquired in schools, informal education takes place through everyday experiences and actual relationships with people around you. this also involves capacity development which has a direct link with human development. in fact, there are a range of issues where the two are closely intertwined. these include: human capital development through health and nutrition, education and training; the accumulation of physical capital that increases the levels of investment to generate employment opportunities; strengthening governance through institutional and policy reforms; and the application of improved technologies, logistics and systems to enhance organizational performance. the ultimate mission of capacity development is for people to increase their incomes and improve their quality of life. capacity building helps create conditions that enable people to derive maximum benefits. it is an on-going process that involves developing competencies (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) to enable people to make things happen. there are various dimensions of capacity development, which includes; individual (human), institutional (organizational) and societal (community) capacities. since the focus of this paper is on youth formation and national development, these two will be discussed: individual capacities individual capacities relates to the availability of the right quantity and quality of human capital to achieve and sustain national human development. there are two key components needed: planning present 448 formation of the human person in the 21st century and future human capital stock by skills and expertise. periodic human resources surveys are needed and a human capital plan should be prepared with the aim of mapping current and future capacity development needs, strategies and programmes; and ensuring that there are adequate teachers, school administrators and education planners in place to design, mount and execute specialized training as well as general and professional education to meet the nation’s needs in accordance with the human capital mobilization plan. the process of individual development involves a number of changes in innate resources such as knowledge, practical skills, mind sets, values, perceptions, stamina and relationships. the goal is for the individual to be empowered to live a happy, long and comfortable life. this may include providing general education and vocational training; creating a competent and motivated cadre of people that will guarantee a high level of productivity and growth; and providing good health services and nutritious food to improve health. institutional capacities institutional capacities is concerned with institutional and organizational capabilities, both public and private, to attract financial and quality human capital and put it to productive use. effective national performance is a condition stemming from efficient use of quality human and financial capital through institutions and organizations that enable the delivery of desired results. weak institutions are often central to the failure of development efforts. for example, poor management of public resources undermines the state as a guarantor of public welfare and security and this is what we presently experiencing in nigeria. consequently, developing capacity at the organizational or institutional level involves reforming, as and where necessary, the structures, mandates, functions, remuneration, management systems, corporate culture and operational processes of organizations – especially the public sector. institutions must also be adequately equipped to attract and make the best use of available resources. this involves improving physical facilities and equipment, institution linkages, networking and relations and institutional philosophies. it should be emphasized at the point that the two components are complementary. for instance, if the institutional setting in a country is not appropriate, the realization of the full benefits of even the best quality human capacity would be illusory. the importance of investing in education and health is well appreciated and understood in economies that wish to attain sustainable growth. the quality of a nation’s development depends on the quality of its workforce. nigeria is rated by international standards as ‘less developed’ and thus has economic growth as a major goal. indeed, the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 449 importance of a prime sector such as education has been stressed in nigeria since the early sixties. presently, there is need to stress the importance of human capital development for nigeria, because the nigerian economy has to be efficient and competitive in the new world order in which national frontiers no longer constitute barriers to human, material, and capital flows, the greatest barriers facing nigeria in this millennium is the issue of capacity building to enhance productivity in the economy of which the youth can play a major role. conclusion our discourse does not pretend to be exhaustive as there are definitely a lot of issues left untouched, with many others yet to be discussed in details. nonetheless, it is hoped that by this brief analysis on youth formation and how it could enhance national development, we have been able to stimulate some interests and thoughts in ways that would motivate philosophical investigation into how this thoughts can be further developed and applied in practical ways that can facilitate social and national development as a whole. one thing that stands out is the concern for holistic formation (spiritual, intellectual, moral, political and economic) of the youth. recommendations: 1. parents should develop and inculcate proper values in their children for the survival of the individual and the society. 2. the individual’s intellectual capacity of the youth should be developed in order for them to understand and appreciate their local and external environments. 3. there is need for the youth to acquire both physical and intellectual skills, which will enable them to be self-reliant and useful members of the society. 4. the government and corporate organization should promote and encourage merit-based scholarship and community service. 5. special attention should be paid to mentoring in the training of the youth since they are looking always for role models.. 6. the government should create avenues for the promotion of national and international understanding and interaction references: 1. adamu, a. “youths and development in nigeria” being a paper presented at national congress of the national youths council of nigeria held at abacha youths centre, lafia, nigeria,2003. 2. african union. african youths charter. adopted by the seventh ordinary session of the assembly ,banjul, gambia, july 2. 2006 450 formation of the human person in the 21st century 3. aiyede, r.e. (nd), “the state, values and development: towards re-orientating the nigerian youths for positive leadership”, 4. amanda s. (2003), youths network and governance, commonwealth journal of youths and development vol. 1 no.2 5. anaeto, s.g and anaeto, m (2010). development communication principle and practice. ibadan, sterlingholden ltd. ibadan 6. anaeto, s.g, onabajo, o.s and osifeso,j.b (2008). models and theories of communication.bowie, maryland, african renaissance books incorporated. 7. adeyemo,l.k and ehiemua g.f(2017) “youth activism ,social media and nation building” in swem journal of religion and philosophy, vol 7,no.1 december. pp.78-89 8. ekanola, a.b(2009) “a critical exposition of the views of emmanuel onyechere anyiamosigwe on youths, education and social development” in olusegun oladipo and ekanola adebola(eds.) the development philosophy of emmanuel onyechere osigwe anyiam osigwe vol.1 9. anyiam-osigwe,c.o et al(eds.) youth and education: africa’s 21st century youth;everyone a fisherman, lagos: osigwe anyiam-osigwe foundation,2002a,pp.52-53 10. “youths the strength of the nation” in christian women mirror magazine august 2018,pp.4-5 284 21 a philosophical inquiry on the place of virtue ethics in human formation for the catholic priesthood in the 21st century williams olorunfemi, aso, ph.d seminary of all saints uhiele-ekpoma edo state, nigeria olorunfemi6697@gmail.com abstract the inquiries concerning the ontological status of man and its implications for human formation for the nobility inherent in human nature become evident have been deliberated and scrutinized by diverse philosophers that defined human nature. it is palpable that plato accentuated that man is a fallen soul imprisoned in a body and needs liberation. aristotle called him a rational animal while severius boethius and thomas aquinas admitted that man is a rational subsistent being. moreover, max scheler and karol wojtyla sustained that the human soul makes him an incarnate spirit. a systematic and comprehensive examination of philosophical anthropology of these philosophers unambiguously affirmed that human nature is ontologically composed of body and soul, emotion and reason, material and spiritual entities in such a way that man is neither an animal nor spirit but a rational animal. this unique status serves as a foundation of human formation that can facilitate the attainment of human personality suitable for the candidates of the catholic priesthood in 21st century. this paper explores how aristotelian-aquinas’ understanding of human nature and virtue ethics can help human formative processes for the seminarians that will later become the intermediaries between god and his people in the field of evangelization, bringing christ to all and bringing all to christ. keywords: human, ontology, nobility, priesthood, formation, virtue section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 285 introduction human formation is a generally defined as a process of helping teenagers to recognise, appreciate and cooperate with available means of developing their inherent behavioural capacities into excellent characters to the admiration of others in the society. in the context of this paper, catholic major seminary is the nursery bed of the church to give appropriate human formation to the candidates for the sacred priesthood of christ. in this perspective, the primary goal of human formation in the seminary is to rationally cultivate the personal and emotional maturity of each seminarian and nurture the human qualities that are necessary to be rationally balanced and capable of bearing the weight of priestly responsibilities in our contemporary world. these responsibilities are often evident and evaluated in the ability “to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity…balanced in judgement and behaviour” (pastores dabo vobis no. 43), hence, the seminary programmes of formation are defined, designed, determined, justified, practiced, promoted and preserved by the church authority in such way that seminarians are well-oriented and naturally behaved like those set apart from others in the society. it is the responsibility of the seminary authority in conjunction with the respective seminary commission to develop the fundamental contents and supervise the application of the needed principles and moral qualities of human formation for the seminarians of their region and time. as a matter of fact, there is need for regularly scheduled human formation conferences to address issues surrounding the seminarians’ physical well-being, habits of good nutrition and exercise, freedom from addictive behaviours, as well as addressing the essential issues in the development of a healthy emotional life, the establishment of mature friendships, maturity in dealing with qualities necessary for leadership and positive social interaction within community (nos. 43-44). the onus is on the dean of seminarians’ affairs in collaboration with other formators to assist the rector in the development of programmes for human formation in the seminary. this is because the collaborative efforts and adequate monitoring of formators are necessary in all the various levels of human formation in the seminary. the efforts, progress and maturity of each candidates to the priesthood are often nurtured and supervised by the community of formators through lectures, seminars, conferences and tested effectiveness of acquired skills and talents through academic, social and liturgical engagements. the appropriate human formation for the candidates of a particular nationality, region, culture and generation before ordination and incardination into a specific diocese is non-negotiable because noble 286 formation of the human person in the 21st century characters expected of a priest cannot automatically derived from the grace of ordination. in his summary of pastores dabo vobis, cardinal pio laghi maintains, “in the normal run of things,…priestly ordination does not put in place a new humanity. in a personality which has not been moulded, in a character which has not had its rough edges smoothed off, in an individual who is not capable of calm and appropriate human relationships, the grace of ordination is discredited. in a mature personality, on the other hand, it shines out in all its fullness”. (https://smseminary.org-human-formation). therefore, this paper attempts to demonstrate how the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, courage and justice obtainable from the providence of the natural law can smooth the rough edges of human traits, reason and emotions to generate excellent habitual characters that can make the nobility in human nature of seminarians of our time undoubtedly evident. the order of expository and evaluation of the concepts and issues involved in this paper are largely based on platonic understanding of cardinal virtues. while the articulation of arguments evident in aristotelian-aquinas tradition will be employed for the justification of the place of each cardinal virtue in cultivating excellent habitual characters appropriate for the candidates of the sacred priesthood. human formation and the moral character suitable for human personality a comprehensive anthropological study of man shows that human beings have some characteristics that are similar with other animals like gorillas and chimpanzees as evident in the need for food, reproduction and social life. however, the distinguished rational abilities of man that are fundamentally rooted in advanced technology and deliberative choice of action set him apart from other animals in the same genus (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 1, art. 1). a closer look at the anthropological foundation of aristotelian-aquinas’ moral philosophy explicitly shows that objective standard for evaluating if a man has adequate human formation is based on the ability of the man to practically live and act excellently well the actions that are ontologically entrenched in human nature. this is a reality that is unanimously acknowledged, cherished, preserved and promoted in every culture of the world. hence, there is need to scrutinize and evaluate the fundamental structures of the system that aquinas defined, analyzed, justified and promoted to elucidate the process of human formation that can facilitate a practical demonstration of human personality suitable for the seminarians of our time. thomas aquinas in the second part of his summa theologiae clearly argued beyond any reasonable doubt that the core of the rational element that actually distinguished human beings section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 287 from other animals in the same group is found in what is known as synderesis [practical reason]. the term synderesis is described by aquinas as the basis of inner principles (conscience) regulating the moral consciousness of every man ‘to do good and avoid evil’. it is obvious that synderesis has two distinct natural powers governing human cognitive and appetitive dispositions (summa theologiae, first part, question 79, article 12). the cognitive disposition is the seat of intelligibility of the goodness that is rooted in the physical and metaphysical entities while the appetitive disposition is the power of desirability for the goodness that the rational power recognizes to be good and necessary. as fagothey clearly upholds, “what appeals may supply a need, satisfy a desire, arouse an interest, stimulate an emotion, provoke a response, motivate a deed, or merely draw an approval” (70-71). this implies that in the process of human formation and character development, an action is good when it agrees with the rational nature of human beings and vice-versa (aquinas summa theologiae, first part of second part, q. 18, art. 5). in human formation, therefore, what is morally valuable is whatever action that man judges to be honorably good, just, worthy, desirable and has inherent values that correspond to the nobility in human nature. aquinas has come up with arguments to show that appropriate human formation is impossible without cultivating the necessary integration of animal and rational elements of man to generate characters needed to demonstrate to others the excellent characters that are feasible in human nature. in aristotelianaquinas moral tradition, this feasibility is achievable through the use of four cardinal virtues [courage, temperament, prudence and justice] to build a solid foundation suitable for admirable characters expected of candidates for the sacred priesthood. it is pertinent to examine the contextual meaning of habit to provide a robust foundation on which the relevance of cardinal virtues in the formation of human characters can be evaluated and justified. habit and attainment of moral character for human formation the term habit is ordinarily known as human way of life that has the capacity to enhance human to act either morally or immorally about himself and others in the society. in the primary sense of the word, habit is a disposition of man toward actions that are possible in human nature. as aristotle posits, “habit means a disposition according to which that which is disposed is either well or ill disposed, and either in itself or with reference to something else” (aristotle, metaphysics, bk. v, chapter 20). in the context of this paper, habit becomes natural capacity of man that can improve and strengthen the consistency of traits inherent in human nature. in human formation, good habits are cultivated into maturity to 288 formation of the human person in the 21st century form good characters through subtle, gradual and dynamic processes that are spread through a period of time before it can be evident in human society. in the understanding of chukwujekwu, “habit becomes one’s second nature in the sense that one now performs or acts in the way of the already acquired character with ease” (chukwujekwu 78). judging from this quotation, the failure to recognise the nitty-gritty of the processes and dynamism involved in the cultivation of habits into good characters is responsible for odious actions of moral deviants that are contrary to the nobility inherent in human nature. it is obvious that, “habits are corrupted or weakened by contrary habits. even mere neglect or laziness can weaken a habit” (gratsch 105). hence, in human formation it is necessary to give adequate attention to good human habits that can facilitate moral characters appropriate to seminarians that are preparing to embrace the celibate priesthood of christ. aside, rational sanctions are necessary to deter bad habits that are capable of becoming the sources of inhuman tendencies and abhorrent characters in their lives. thomas aquinas demonstrated the nuts and bolts of four cardinal virtues in the formation of honourable characters achievable in human nature. thomas aquinas and the relevance of virtue ethics in human formation it is reasonable to briefly examine the historical background and origin of the four cardinal virtues before going to the definition and relevance of each of them in human formation for honourable characters that behove sacerdotes inferi, priests in the making in our major seminary. it is on record that the training of young minds with ten habitual virtues for moral integrity and nobility were at first known with the ancient egyptian priests and neophytes that came all over the world of that time to learn from them (james 30). as evident in the work of g.g.m. james, virtues were not mere…ethical sentiments, but were positive valour and virility [powers] of the soul. temperance meant complete control of the passional nature. fortitude meant such courage as would not allow adversity to turn us away from our goal. prudence meant the deep insight that befits the faculty of seership. justice meant the unswerving righteousness of thought and action (30 and 171, elders 454). plato was one of the greek neophytes that visited ancient egypt to learn about the egyptian mysteries and seboyet [wisdom] between the sixth and seventh century bc. he later condensed the ten egyptian virtues recommended for domesticating human emotions for man to attain appropriate moral insights inherent into four: courage, temperance, prudence and justice (james 3). these four cardinal virtues were considered as the intellectual and moral powers of human soul to section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 289 provide solutions to practical questions of day-to-day relationship with the gods and others in a dignified manner. in a nutshell, the four moral cardinal virtues that serve as the foundational stones of aristotelianaquinas’ formation of human character are perceptible in plato’s republic (aso the place of virtues in attainment of final end, 125-126). it is apparent that aristotle, a student of plato, learnt about the four cardinal virtues in plato’s academy and elucidated more on the nittygritty of their interrelatedness in human formation for deliberative choice of action. thomas aquinas cherished the scholastic definition, analysis, justification and evaluation of the place of each of these cardinal virtues in human formation for noble characters that honour and respect human dignity (summa theologiae, part one of part two, q. 55, art. 4; q. 61, art. 2). as a way of establishing a solid foundation of human formation in any contemporary catholic major seminary in nigeria, it is pertinent to give analysis of how each identified virtue can contribute to the growth and development of characters that befit the candidates for the sacred priesthood in our contemporary world. aquinas and the place of prudence in human formation for seminarians the focus of human formation in the seminary revolves around the aim of helping seminarians to cherish synderesis or practical wisdom to behave excellently well according to the noble and moral potentialities that are naturally realistic in human life. aquinas in his philosophy of human action defined, analyzed, justified and promoted prudence as the virtue that governs the details of factors that are involved in the phenomenology of deliberative choice of human character. as thomas hibbs gathers from aquinas “prudence involves not simply the subordination of particulars to appropriate universals, but the appraisal of concrete, contingent circumstances” (hibbs 92). if this is indisputable, it follows that human acquisition of appropriate knowledge of the principles and circumstances surrounding attainment of noble characters for seminarians is highly cumbrous. consequently, aquinas in his wisdom heightened the obligation of every human being, including seminarians, to previously “grasp what is pertinent and to assess what ought to be done in complex circumstances” (98) before carrying out any deliberative choice of action. judging from this perspective, “the virtue of prudence becomes the source of excellence performances evident in memory, intelligence, foresight, circumspection, caution and shrewdness (summa theologiae part two of second part, q. 47, art, 8) of human beings before noble actions inherent in human nature can be excellently demonstrated for others to cherish. again, it is incontrovertibly evident that any man that ignores the relevance of prudence and its subsidiaries 290 formation of the human person in the 21st century in human formation will definitely end up in moral blunders that often lead to improper characters that are not in tandem with human formation necessary for candidates to the sacred priesthood. this is obvious when unreasonable and cosmetic lifestyles overlaid human judgment and make deficient object of deliberative choice seems more genuine than they really are in themselves. hence, in a house of formation for the sacred priesthood, aquinas would underline the fact that seminarians need to know and cherish the virtue of prudence and employ the same to govern their emotional drives for characters that enhance noble characters. nonetheless, there is need for the virtue of temperance to drive prudence to take its place of importance in honorable characters of man. aquinas and the significance of temperance in human formation for seminarians in part two of his second summa theologiae, aquinas philosophically defined the virtue of temperance as necessary restraint of bodily pleasures like the desire for food, drink, lifestyle, sexual activity and other emotional needs that are capable of making ignoble and inhuman characters abound in human life. he is quite aware that human beings often indulge in short-lived pleasures at the expense of honorable choice of action accessible in human nature because of deficient human formation. in his study of human nature, aquinas authenticated the requisites to nurture virtues that restrain what he called concupiscence drives in the eletrico-chemistry of human body that excessively indulge in pleasure and avoidance of displeasure. in this context, aquinas is not actually condemning bodily pleasure in its entirety. instead, he articulated arguments to heighten the fact that the virtue of temperance is essentially necessary to moderate the way and manner man enjoys pleasures that is not contrary to the nobility concomitant with human nature (art. 3). in other words, whenever the satisfaction from emotional drives are sufficiently governed, the attainment and demonstration of noble characters for others to see and admired will be adequately safeguarded. therefore, it is palpable that abstinence, chastity, humility and similar dispositions that govern the impetuousness of bodily desires of man are derived from the virtue of temperance (summa theologiae part two of second part, q. 161, art. 4). in human formation for the candidates of celibate priesthood, the place of temperance and correlated virtues in governing the resilient urge for activities that are repulsive in human society and endanger to their vocation cannot be overemphasized. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 291 aquinas and the relevance of courage in human formation of seminarians the role of temperance as one of the cardinal virtues is very clear in taming excessive impulse coming from any bodily appetite for pleasure and habitual consequences. it is quite obvious in the phenomenology of human behavior that some emotional dispositions that are polygonal in their unique operations as often evident in emotional feeling of dilemma in which available options of action are equally desirable and undesirable chukwujekwu 151 and gratch 191). in the opinion of aquinas, the virtue of courage and its corollaries are fundamentally meant to govern irascible appetites that are awkward to achieve or avoid like hope, daring, fear, despair and restraint (aquinas summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 23, art. 1; plato the republic, bk. iv, 439c). judging from this background, aquinas wanted us to know that sometimes certain objects of good have associated risks and fear that can inhibit human beings from obeying the command and impulse coming from synderesis of prudence. for instance, the fear and risk associating with giving a helping hands to a victim of accident or arm robbery especially in nigeria of today. in this circumstance, it is worthwhile to do good and avoid evil but any attempt to throw caution into the wind, one’s effort can result to stupidity and extraordinary regret. therefore, aquinas justified courage as the virtue that has all it takes to moderate human irascible appetites that can hinder human being from obeying the moral command of practical wisdom to prefer noble over ignoble characters in human relationship (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 123, art. 3). the knowledge and appreciation of the virtue of courage is necessary in human formation of seminarians for discernment in following the impulses of practical wisdom to courageously behave according to the nobility inherent in human nature and vice-versa. the upshots of the virtue of courage in human psychology includes: endurance, patience and confidence. hence, in aquinas’ human formation, a courageous seminarian is morally equipped to persistently evaluate and confront obvious direct and indirect obstacles against his deliberative choice of honorable character with a firm hope emanating from confidence and doggedness derived from a resolution to be a man of integrity. justice is the virtue that insists on harmonious interrelatedness of all contrivances derive four cardinal virtues to generate conventional characters in human society. it is appropriate to examine how the necessary harmony among the virtues are practically attainable in human formation. aquinas and the role of justice in attainment of noble characters for seminarians in plato’s republic the virtue of justice is fundamentally defined as the 292 formation of the human person in the 21st century habitual disposition to determine, justify, promote and preserve the harmonious relationship with others in a given community without making anyone subservient to others but giving each member a justified place of honour. this is a replica of plato’s thought on the distinct role of each cardinal virtue and interrelatedness among them in the generation of a deliberative choice of characters that are unique to human beings. aquinas employed the platonic-aristotelian taxonomy of moral virtues to demonstrate that the function of justice is to ensure whatever is fundamentally desirable for any of the virtue is equally appropriate for the good of others and the harmony expected to exist among them (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 58, art. 5). in the final analysis, it is apparent that the virtue of justice is basically concerned with the harmony that ought to exist in a community where individuality and equality are cherished, promoted and preserved from any aberration; the virtue of prudence approves necessary motivation for deliberative choice of action; the virtue of temperance controls concupiscent emotions and courage fortify emotional drives against fear and despair in carrying out noble action in the society. judging from this standpoint, it is palpable that “people fulfil their natural end by adhering to the cardinal virtues of justice, temperance, courage and prudence, of which justice is the summum bonum” in accordance with the essential principles enshrined in the natural law. in other words, natural law becomes the knot that naturally tights up the bond that exists among these cardinal virtues and their complementary influence in the growth and development of habitual and noble characters of man. it is necessary to examine the importance of natural law in the coordination of cardinal virtues for human formation. the importance of natural law in human formation of seminarians in a common parlance, the idea of law in human society is designed and preserved to guide man to achieve his desirable goal and to restrain him from circumstances that can encumbered the fulfilment of any anticipated objective. aquinas in the first part of his summa theologiae rationally defined a law as “a rule or measure of human acts, whereby a person is induced to act or is restrained from acting” (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 90, art. 1). the fundamental principle of law and its relationship to human action is based on the fact that the criteria of a good character is logically depends on its conformity with rational justification traceable to eternal law. this is a providential reality for every created being to act naturally according to the proper end that is ontologically established in their respective nature. in actual fact, aquinas clearly showed that the rational and uninhibited participation of human section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 293 beings in this eternal order is acting in conformity with the natural law. this implies that natural law is the ontological platform established by god for human beings to naturally recognize the characteristics of what is good, desirable and commendable and vice versa. it is obvious in aquinas understanding of human action that natural law is indisputably the ontological source of synderesis, the practical wisdom needed all the time to know what is good and do it and recognize what is evil and avoid it. therefore, the rational capacity of synderesis in seminarians are to be cultivated and nurtured into habitual and virtuous capacities for noble characters. in the seminary formative processes, any attempt to overlook the ontological basis and contributions of the cardinal virtues to human deliberative choice of action, nobility will be deficient in the characters of the candidates to the priesthood. integration of rational abilities and emotional feelings in human formation for noble characters the philosophical understanding of human emotions shows that they are natural drives of the animal cravings toward the object of desire and human beings share these yearnings with other animals as perceptible in the sensitive part of the soul (kadankavil 160). as a matter of fact, anthropological studies of human formation have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that human emotions are neither morally good nor bad until the willpower, evaluation and intentional choice of action becomes obvious. this implies that human nature is naturally porous for both honourable and dishonourable human traits and characters. hence, the waywardness that is abound in human nature needs to be tamed through a process of human formation to liberate human beings from barbarity that is capable of obstructing attainment of noble characters (desmond 92). without mincing words, a closer look at aristotelian-aquinas anthropological theory of human action clearly shows that when emotions are govern with reason towards a good end, the action derived from such end becomes morally good, appropriate and correspond to the dignity inherent in human nature. it is also perspicuous in the aforementioned theory that when emotions are allowed to run wild, the action sourced from such disposition automatically becomes immoral, inappropriate and divergent to the nobility that ontologically characterised human nature. if this claim is incontrovertible, it implies that adequate integration of emotional and rational feelings in human formative processes basically serves as the foundation of noble characters associated with a gentleman in human society. a systematic analysis and evaluation of the four cardinal virtues already examined illustrated the fact that each of them has prominent place in the processes of the internal and efficient principles of noble 294 formation of the human person in the 21st century action excellently evident in the habitual character of a man (aristotle nichomachean ethics, bk. ii, chapter 6). in the context of this background, the four cardinal virtues become the software while human habits become the hardware of actions that define, determine, substantiate, demonstrate, facilitate, promote and preserve the dignity entrenched in human nature. hence, a virtuous man or gentleman is the one that knows how to tame those emotions that are contrary to reason and yield to emotional derives that are sourced from rational feelings to form the basis of the deliberative choice of action in human formation (gratsch 108; garrette 67). a strict observation of the processes involved clearly shows that the animal and rational natures of man are integrated together through human formation to arrive at the appropriate actions that befit human beings. as a matter of fact, it is evident in the writings of some metaphysicians like plato and aristotle; philosophical anthropologists like thomas aquinas, max scheler, battista mondin, karol wojtyla and religious existentialists like paul recour, emmanuel levinas, martin buber and gabriel marcel that only human beings among other creatures are endowed with a character in which rational abilities and emotional tendencies are coalesced together as one. in other words, human beings are not totally spiritual to lack element of bodily structures and emotions as palpable among the spirits neither are they like other animals that have no rational abilities except instinctual drives. as a matter of fact, these two aspects of human personality are so intermingled and jointly responsible for human characters. as joseph omoregbe cleverly encapsulates, “man is a harmonious blend of reason and the passions. he is neither pure reason without instincts nor pure instincts without reason…as a result of this fact, man’s instincts are rational instincts, i.e, instincts permeated with rationality (103). hence, no one can easily separate the influence of the two factors in human character and able to justify the ontological basis of human formation and personality with associated values in human society. as omoregbe further claims, “it is because man is a blend of reason and passions that he is capable of weeping (sympathy, love, hatred, benevolence, judgment etc.), neither a god nor a beast is capable of weeping; the former is incapable because it is a disembodied being without passions while the latter is incapable because it lacks reason” (104). judging from this milieu, it means that the instinctual tendencies apparent in ordinary animals are guided purely by regular emotional instincts whereas the ones ostensible with human beings are imparted by rational emotional dispositions. this implies that any attempt to have unblended foundation of rational abilities with emotional feelings in human formation would section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 295 automatically lead to characters that are depraved and contrary to human dignity. it is appropriate that every youngsters especially those in the house of formation and formators to remember and appreciate the fact that human nature is not purely emotional, spiritual, rational or irrational but fundamentally involved in the aforementioned aspects of man and obviously integrated into natural inclinations necessary for human characters. in other words, “human formation is all about the development of a well-rounded and competent man, possessing personal maturity. the basis of this is the fact that we human beings are physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, social, intellectual and spiritual with the potentiality of each being fully realized by our efforts of co-operating with god’s grace”. therefore, the necessity of human formative processes for candidates to the priesthood can never be overstressed because seminarians are not angelic beings with the nature and character that is already determined, structured, universal, logical, fixed, immutable, eternal and perfectly composed to remain the same all the time like those in a mathematical world where 3+3 constantly equals to 6. it is unmistakably clear that human beings including seminarians are composed of body and soul, reason and passion by which they are exceptionally different from other creatures and need to pass through a process of human formation before attaining excellent characters. this implies that, “since the charism of celibacy…leaves man’s affections and his instinctive impulses intact, candidates to the priesthood need an affective maturity which is prudent, able to renounce anything that is a threat to it, vigilant over body and spirit, and capable of esteem and respect in interpersonal relationship between men and women” (pastores dabo vobis no. 44). in the context of this paper, seminarians are obliged to learn how to guide themselves with rational moral calculus to gain foresight for avoidance of any fundamental bad habit that can primarily hinder honorable characters ontologically concomitant with human nature become evident in them. after all, “the goal of the entire seminary formation…should be the development of moral leadership and witness the seminarian manifest to others” (no. 44). this is not easily attainable without some disciplines, sacrifice, practice, pain, patience, perseverance, determination and hope. therefore, it is required that seminarians assiduously cultivate the integration of four cardinal virtues to have appropriate human formation so that the nobility associated with human nature can be exceptionally obvious in their character for their good and the good of the church. 296 formation of the human person in the 21st century conclusion in conclusion, for an appropriate human formation of seminarians to reach an appreciable end, rational abilities are needed for dignified moral choice and precision while emotions are necessarily guided for moral impetus and moral virtues are gradually cultivated for habitual dispositions for noble characters conceivable in human nature (harman 1). the habitual dispositions sourced from the phenomenological interrelationship of reason, emotions and cardinal virtues will eventually become the repository of noble characters expected to characterize the personality and moral ideals of whoever successfully allows human formative processes of the major seminary to pass through him. there is no doubt that human nature is morally promiscuous and can easily wandered into habitual dispositions that are capable of disfiguring the ontological nobility that clearly sets man apart from other animals. however, the conceivable clashes between reason and emotions, good and bad habits, desires and deliberative choice in the process of forming human characters can easily dissolve into a moral disposition that transcends the purported phenomenological conflicts among all the factors that play indispensable roles in the formation of human character provided discipline, sacrifice, assiduousness, perseverance and nobility are appreciated by the seminarians of our time. references aso, w.o. (2017) the place of virtues in the attainment of final end: an appraisal of thomas aquinas’ scholastic ethics. ibadan dominican studies, 3, 117136. aquinas, t. (1947) summa theologiae. translated by the english dominican fathers, new york: benziger brothers. _________ (1993) commentary on aristotle’s nichomachean ethics, translated by c.i. litzinger. notre dame: dumb ox books. aristotle, (2001) the basic works of aristotle. (edited by richard mckeon). new york: random house. chukwujekwu, s. c. (2007) a basic course in ethics: a survey of ethical values. nimo: rex charles & patrick ltd. desmond, w. (2001) ethics and the between. albany: state university of new york press. elder, leo j. (2006) thomism today, annuario filosofico, xxxix, 2, roma, p. 454. fagothey, a. (1989) right and reason ---ethics in theory and practice, edited by milton a. gonzales; 9th edition. new jersey: prentice hall. james, g.g.m. (1954) stolen legacy: greek philosophy is stolen egyptian philosophy. reprinted by molefi kete asante. philadephia: african american images. garrett, a. (ed.) (2014) the routledge companion to eighteenth century philosophy. routledge. gratsch, e.j. (1985) aquinas summa: introduction and interpretation. bangalore: theological publications. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 297 harman, g. (1986) change in view: principle of reasoning. massachusetts: bradford mit press. mondin, b. (1985) philosophical anthropology. rome: urbaniana university press, 1985. omoregbe, j. (1998) ethics: a systematic and historical study. lagos: joja educational publishers limited. rearden, m. (1976). deed and truth. dublin: the doctrine commission of the church of england. thomas, hibbs (2001) virtue’s splendor: wisdom, prudence, and the human good. new york: fordham university press. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 195 c h a p t e r 1 3 the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap between the diocese and the seminary peter abumhenre egbe preamble this project is in honour of very rev, fr. anselm jimoh, phd. a man of honour who has given most of his twenty-five years in the priestly ministry to the work of forming candidates for the priesthood. he is also a priest who has had the opportunity to be involved in parochial work. in addition, he was once a vocations’ director. it will not be an exaggeration to say that his priestly ministry has been one of bridging the gap between the life of the parish ministry and the seminary formation. it is, therefore, appropriate to salute this hero of faith in the catholic church and propose him to all who are in and those who desire to aspire to this ministry to learn from him through these materials presented in his honour. introduction the difference between the life within the seminary walls and the parish setting can be taken for granted and has in fact in many cases been taken for granted. but the reality of the gap between the two is more existential than imagined. many seminarians and even priests believe that there is no relationship between the life of the seminary and parish ministry. it is not novel to hear seminarians openly 196 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age criticizing the regiment of the seminary formation system and the seemingly unpredictable nature of practical life in parish ministry. it is the opinion of this article that there is a problem in this position that holds or argues that it is natural to view life in the seminary and life in the parish as distinct places for pastoral engagement. if the life in the seminary is like a nurturing ground to live the life in the parish, there should be a connection of semblance between the ‘two institutions.’ the problem that one might observe to be responsible for the seeming lacuna between life in the seminary and practical ministry for instance in the parish is the lack of integration. this lack of integration is not just only the difficulty in synchronizing the two separate realities of the seminary system and the parish setting, but also often due to the fact that many seminarians do not allow the life of the seminary exact the right impact on them while in formation. many see the seminary training in most part as theoretical and sometimes cumbersome, as compared to the practical and day-to-day simple parish life. one of the major issues that could be raised is sometimes the sacrifice inherent in the seminary formation and the enormous freedom and independence of life in the parish. but there is something missing in the whole system. fulton sheen once opined that – we who have received the sacrament of orders call ourselves “priest”. the author does not recall any priest ever having said, “i was ordained a ‘victim’’, nor did he ever say, ‘i am studying to be a victim.’ that seemed almost alien to being a priest. the seminary always told us to be ‘good’ priests; never were we told to be a willing victim. and yet was not christ, the priest, a victim? did he not come to die? he did not offer a lamb, a bullock or doves; he never offered anything except himself (see eph.5:2)1 here we can already understand that the risk of not integrating the life of the seminary and that of the parish potent a great problem for the church and it is time to address it. today, between the seminary and practical parish ministry, for instance, is the belief that – while the seminary is ‘a place of torment and suffering’, the ministry in general including the parish is ‘a place of arrival’. one can make a link between this conception and the civil educational system in our country. one is educated so that he can earn the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 197 a living for himself. the seminarian or the candidate for ordination has earned his qualification, so he can think more of how to take care of himself and even make personal investments side-by-side the assignment by the bishop and the two are different. here no one feels there is a problem; at least by what is obtainable in our time, even authorities seem to be complacent or at best helpless about this monstrous cancer of pastoral decay. what can be done to address this among many problems? there are places where people can now go to school and after training, they seek ‘job’ in the priesthood. in the name of doing that personal interest in ministries or programmes are often more important than ‘official’ church assignment. what will be your interpretation of this scenario? there is a need for a true auto-reflection as we get more and more challenged by the realities of our present world order. the true priesthood continues to be a sacrificial offering to god for the transformation of the world.2 in the tradition of the catholic church, “… all the faithful are made a holy and kingly priesthood, they offer spiritual sacrifices to god through jesus christ, and they proclaim the mighty acts of him who has called them out of darkness into his admirable light…”3 however, some are uniquely called and consecrated through the sacrament of holy order to particularly share in the ministerial duties of christ through the instrumentality of the church.4 it is the preparation for this particular function of the ordained faithful that is the duty of this paper. it will consider this function and its relevance by way of introduction and look at preparation for such an office of service to god and humanity. the paper will focus on the role of the parish priest as an agent of formation. it is important to state from the onset that vocation to the sacred ministerial priesthood is not a human initiative, but divine election and entrusted to the church by jesus christ through the power of the holy spirit.5 nevertheless, he is like the rest of humanity in everything. “priests, while being chosen from the midst of humanity and appointed to act on its behalf in what pertains to god, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins (see heb 5:1), live with the rest of humanity as with brothers and sisters.”6 not even angels can one claim to be capable of fulfilling the function(s) of the priest. it is in fact far removed from the ordinary duties of the human agent. it is the work of god established on earth to 198 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age mediate between the divine and mortals. in his reflection about the importance of the work of the priest, alphonsus de liguori states thus: “the dignity of the priest is estimated from the exalted nature of his offices. priests are chosen by god to manage on earth all his concerns and interests.”7 therefore, to talk about priestly formation and ministry means to talk about such duty that is completely outside the human agent, society and function, but for all of them. “the priests of the new testament are, it is true, by their vocation and ordination, set apart in some way within the people of god, but this is not in order that they should be separated from that people or from any person, but that they should be completely consecrated to the task for which god chooses them….”8 nevertheless, the ministry of the priest is a service to humanity. it is the work of god among human beings in the sanctification of the earthly kingdom (the world). divine as this task is, the human agent is still relevant in the dispensing of the work of the mysteries of god at the human and on a daily basis. these demands require candidates to be properly formed before they are ordained priests. the parish priest has a serious role to play here. to the extent that god himself became man, man has become very important in the economy of salvation. the role of a man here requires rigorous education and such education can only be well grounded if it is rooted in the family the cradle of life and nucleus of society. the parish priest is just one among many other agents entrusted with discerning and helping candidates for the priesthood. let us examine some of the agents of vocation to the priesthood and their respective roles in the formation period. the first place the human person encounters formation is in the context of the family. the family here in its purest form will include a couple (male and female), their children eventually. this paper does not nurse any bias against persons or agencies who have their own understanding about the concept of the family, but at the same time, the author is of the opinion that the reference to the family is as defined above. 1. the family the family is the domestic church and the seed-bed of vocation to the priesthood. it is impossible to have a healthy church and suitable candidates for the priesthood without a ‘worthy’ family. the priest is at the centre of this experience in the life of the parish community. “a the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 199 good laity is scarcely possible without truly holy priests. … – just as it is impossible to have a blossoming of vocations without christian families which are the domestic churches9. the obligation of education of children is crucial to priestly formation and rests squarely on the family. education begins in the family. consequently, formation begins with the family. it is incumbent on every family to bring up children in positive values that form the basis of a good and virtuous life of the human person. “since it is the parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the greatest obligation of educating their family. … the role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.”10 since the family is also a product of society, it required that the social order rises to its responsibility of providing the enabling atmosphere for the right form of education to its citizens. the task of imparting education belongs primarily to the family, but it requires the help of society as a whole. as well as the rights of parents, and those others to whom the parents entrust some share in their duty to educate, there are certain duties and rights vested in civil society inasmuch as it is its function to provide for the common good in temporal matters.11 the function of the priest is the work of the salvation of souls and in fact the salvation of the world at large. it is the mission of christ through the working of the holy spirit to win back creation to god who has made all things good and beautiful. it is a function of the redemption of the world. in the gospel of st. john, god declared the reason why he sent his son into the world; this was love (cf. jn.3:16). just so that the world might be saved, god sent his son born of a woman (cf. gal.4:4). it is this work of love that the priest is meant to perpetuate until the kingdom of god is consummated on earth. “and all these activities, since they flow from the paschal mystery of christ, will find their consummation in the glorious coming of the same lord, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to god his father.…”12 from the foregoing, the presence and role of the priest are crucial in the affairs of the world. it is flowing from here that anything that has to do with preparation for this august role must be nothing 200 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age below the best of human effort. the formation of a priest in the catholic tradition occupies a very high echelon in the priority list of the church’s activities. “the formation of future priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral commitment is considered by the church one of the most demanding and important tasks for the future of the evangelization of humanity the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work.”13 to address such a theme as we have is certainly a task long overdue. the role of the parish priest is critical in the formation of individuals for the priesthood. it is in the same vein, that one needs to consider the parish as an entity is an institution. 2. the parish the parish is a community of people under the care of at least a pastor. in the law of the church, the parish is not just a spiritual community, it is also a legal institution. “a parish is a certain community of the christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop.”14 such a community usually has its own territory. “as a general rule a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the christian faithful of a certain territory”15. it also requires a pastor or a priest to administer such portion of the christian faithful. it is the obligation of those who are responsible to make sure that it is only suitable priests that are given the task of the parish priest who is the pastor of the souls of the people within his territory. it is the function of the diocesan bishop to appoint a priest to pastor the souls of the people within the parish territory. this is very important because of the grave role the parish plays in the nurturing of vocation to the priesthood. optatam totius expresses this important point in a categorical manner. the duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully christian life. the principal contributors to this are the families which, animated by the spirit of the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 201 faith and love and by the sense of duty, become a kind of initial seminary, and the parishes in whose rich life the young people take part.16 it is important, therefore, to pay particular attention to the good of the family and the parish respectively to guarantee that the vocations that emanate from these institutions truly represent the ideal of the demands of the gospel. 3. the role of the parish priest in the formation of candidates to the priesthood the life of the parish is built around the priest. “it is therefore of fundamental importance for the parish to have a priest as its pastor and the title of pastor is specifically reserved to the priest.”17 the parish priest very often acts as a bridge between the diocese and the seminary in the process of discernment of a vocation to the priesthood. the evaluation of the parish priest as it relates to the pastoral activities of the seminarians do have great importance on the process of the discernment of the candidates to the priesthood. the function of the parish priest is to act as a bridge between the somewhat activism in the parish and the seminary. the position of this paper about this is that the relevance of the parish priest is before, during and after the seminary formation of the candidate to the priesthood. he prepares the candidate to choose the vocation to the priesthood. he guides him by mentoring through his training with practical experiences. he tutors him to take on pastoral assignment while in the seminary and as a young priest. he continues to provide him with practical life experiences as he even prepares to assume the role of the pastor himself. in the process of monitoring the seminarian, the parish priest should be careful to ensure that the seminarian does not become hesitant. having laid a background of relevance; the next thing is to address the practical importance of the role of the parish priest as a bridge between the parish and the seminary in the formation of candidates to the priesthood. without any doubt, the role of the parish priest cuts across all that the seminary does. in fact, it can be argued that the parish provides a platform first of all for the harvesting of 202 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age candidates for formation in the seminary. secondly, the parish provides the opportunity of practicum to the seminarian while he is still in training for the priesthood. finally, he ends up most of the time in the parish or any other institution primarily as a pastor of souls. hence, the parish is critical for the concrete realization in practice of all the theoretical principles and guidelines which the seminarian would have learnt in the process of his wholistic formation. “formation involves an educational process that is both gradual and progressive, one that is not carried out ‘in fragments’ or in isolated segments.”18 these include human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. “inasmuch as it is an educating community, the seminary and its entire life in all its different expressions is committed to the formation, the human, the spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation of future priests.”19care should, however, be taken not to divorce training in the seminary from practical discipleship which pastoral experience provides and this is most auspicious in the parish setting. it is the duty of a parish priest who is also called a pastor to take care of the parish community. such a task, however, demands a lot of care and practical commitment. it is important, therefore, to make sure that whoever takes this role understands and faithfully carries out his duty according to the required decorum by learning and morals. the pastor (parochus) is the proper pastor (pastor) of the parish entrusted to him, exercising the pastoral care of the community committed to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop in whose ministry of christ he has been called to share, so that for that same community he carries out the functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing, also with the co-operation of other presbyters or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of the christian faithful, according to the norm of law.20 as a result of the gravity of the matter stated in the reference above, apart from the fact that he has to be an ordained21 minister a pastor “is to be outstanding in sound doctrine and integrity of morals and endowed with zeal for souls and other virtues; he is also to possess those qualities which are required by universal or particular law to care for the parish in question.…”22 the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 203 this is because of the gravity of the work of the priest; the pastor ought to be exemplary in the requisite virtues of the priesthood so as to be able to positively influence young parishioners and attract them to the seminary for training as priests. consequently, local ordinaries are to make sure those who are responsible for the souls of the faithful are carefully selected for such assignment to guaranty the welfare of the formation of the parish from where candidates are selected for training to be priests. “consequently, it is recommended that the pastor (parochus), or whichever person is responsible for the pastoral setting that receives the seminarian, should be aware of the formative task entrusted to him and should accompany him in his gradual entry into pastoral ministry.”23 this citation according to the ratio makes specific reference to the diaconal period, but our setting already engages in this task even before the diaconate ordination. it is, therefore, the function of the priest to discern, recommend and get involved in the formation of the candidate to the priesthood. 4. the seminarian the seminarian is usually a male member of the faithful (who ought to be baptized and confirmed), who feels called and presents himself or is presented for training as a priest to be a priest. it is important to indicate some are presented and by parents or guardians. in the case of minors, as they are not matured to make such a decision, they depend on others to be presented. this applies in the case of minors who wish or are made to begin early in life their journey in the training to the priesthood in the minor seminary. this underscores the role of the pastor in the whole process of discerning vocation and eventual training for the priesthood that can occur at any time in life. “this vocation arises in various circumstances and at different stages of human life: in adolescence, in adulthood, and, as the constant experience of the church never fails to show, also in childhood.”24 in the process of formation, the seminarian is a ‘mystery to himself’25. “seminarians need to be accompanied in a personal way in the various stages of their journey by those entrusted with the work of formation, each according to his proper role and competence. the purpose of accompaniment is to carry out vocational discernment and form the missionary disciple.”26 204 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age accompaniment helps to make the journey of formation to be a shared responsibility. furthermore, one needs to point out more about the personal responsibility of the seminarian himself. receiving or perceiving the call of god to ministry, the seminarian has a responsibility to present himself free and sincere to the church for formation. it is the mind of the church that those to be trained as priests take responsibility for their choice and thus submit themselves for formation. each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation...and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account of his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels27 it will be impossible to have a fruitful training process without the free self-giving of the seminarian to the formation in response to god who calls. the history of every priestly vocation, as indeed of every christian vocation, is the history of an inexpressible dialogue between god and human beings, between the love of god who calls and the freedom of individuals who respond lovingly to him. these two indivisible aspects of vocation, god's gratuitous gift and the responsible freedom of human beings, are reflected in a splendid and very effective way in the brief words with which the evangelist mark presents the calling of the twelve: jesus "went up into the hills, and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him" (mk. 3:13). on the one hand, we have the completely free decision of jesus; on the other, the "coming" of the twelve, their "following" jesus.28 freedom makes the work of formation easy both on the part of the seminarian and on the part of the formators. but of more importance here is the freedom of the one to be formed. the success of formation depends on the openness of the formed and his willingness to follow the master. “freedom, therefore, is essential to vocation freedom the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 205 which, when it gives a positive response, appears as a deep personal adherence, as a loving gift or rather as a gift given back to the giver who is god who calls, an oblation…”29 very often the problems that arise can be numerous: in common experience, we have candidates who seem to respond and present themselves for formation who do not really wholeheartedly submit to the formation. some also come into the seminary with a disposition that makes it impossible for the process of the formation to be authentic and fruitful. cases abound in parishes and dioceses where seminarians who were highly esteemed in the seminary for discipline and maturity turn to have pretended all through their formation process only to reveal their true colours after ordination. some seminarians are also caught in the web of the confusion between the principles of their life in the seminary and the remarkable difference the come to experience in the parish setting. what could be done to bridge the gap between the authentic life that the call of the gospel demands on the individual and the reality of the personal experience and his environmental influences? the answer is a structural one. all stakeholders are to be diligent in the discharge of their duties from the family to the parish priest and the individual seminarian who should be honest in the search for god and the direction of such a hunger for god in the right direction. but since it is necessary for the students to learn the art of exercising the apostolate not only theoretically but also practically, and to be able to act both on their own responsibility and in harmonious conjunction with others, they should be initiated into pastoral work, both during their course of studies and also during the time of vacations, by opportune practical projects.30 if there is a true and sincere commitment on the part of the seminarian and the formators, the gap between the seminary experience and the reality in the parish will reduce if not completely eliminated. what is the seminary? 206 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 5. the seminary the word “seminary” is from the latin word seminarium, which means plots where plants are raised from seeds. it means breeding ground, nursery. when is used for in reference to the priesthood, it means a breeding ground for priests. the history of training for service in the house of god dates back to the old testament experience when god called different people to serve in his house. aaron, samuel, prophets, and the disciples in the early formation of the church. it serves the use of this project to make the above reference to some of the ways in which candidates were formed for service at the altar of god. as we have it today, the role of the seminary is more systematic and theoretical. 6. the moment of transition once a seminarian has completed his formation in the seminary, he returns to his diocese. most dioceses do have policies that require pastoral formation while formation in the seminary is going on. seminarians that are assigned to parochial ministries, that is, pastoral work, function under the supervision of the parish priest. he determines the nature of the work of the seminarian, and ensure that the theoretical intellectual formation is brought to bear in the pastoral field. the post synodal exhortation on priestly formation reads: and so pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work. thanks to an initial and gradual experience of ministry, future priests will be able to be inserted into the living pastoral tradition of their particular church. they will learn to open the horizon of their mind and heart to the missionary dimension of the church's life. they will get practice in some initial forms of co-operation with one another and with the priests alongside whom they will be sent to work. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 207 these priests have a considerably important role, in union with the seminary programme, in showing the candidates how they should go about pastoral work.31 one can say that this is the point where the work of the parish priest and that of the seminary meet. it continues from here and strongly demands that the parish becomes a priority of place when it comes to getting really involved in the work of service as priests and consequently priests to be. when it comes to choosing places and services in which candidates can obtain their pastoral experience, the parish should be given particular importance … for it is a living cell of local and specialized pastoral work in which they will find themselves faced with the kind of problems they will meet in their future ministry….these and other pastoral activities will teach the future priest to live out as a "service" his own mission of "authority" in the community, setting aside all attitudes of superiority or of exercising a power if it is not simply that which is justified by a pastoral charity.32 7. the dimensions of the work of the parish priests as a bridge between the seminary and parish. it is clear from the analysis above that the most important role of the parish priest is providing the seminarian with an opportunity to experience first-hand a practical application of the various aspects of theoretical formation he received from the seminary – the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. the proper integration of these aspects of formation both by the individual who aspires to ministry and the system that receives and trains him become the hallmark of a fruitful ministry. 7.1 human the priest is expected to have the natural human virtues that should dispose of him to function properly as a pastor. human virtues such as honesty, dedication, fear of god, love of human being, etc. it is the 208 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age view of the new ratio and other church documents that the basis and purpose of formation is priestly identity.33 priestly identity is being another christ. the priest, who is called to be a "living image" of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church, should seek to reflect in himself, as far as possible, the human perfection which shines forth in the incarnate son of god and which is reflected with particular liveliness in his attitudes toward others as we see narrated in the gospels.34 in addition to this – “future priests should, therefore, cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self but also with a view to the ministry. these qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities.”35this is what the priest is called to be. it is expected that the parish priest having lived such an experience as pastor will be in the best position to guide the seminarian to begin to mirror his life to it through an apprenticeship in the parish with the pastor. all of this will come to its proper expectation if the one who is aspiring is rightly motivated and truly available to be guided in the way of christ. in order for the human formation to complete and become available for the task of leading others, there is a need for spiritual formation. 7.2 spiritual in the words of thomas aquinas, “since therefore grace does not destroy but perfects it, natural reason should minister to faith as the bent of will minsters to charity.”36 it is in this richness of expectation that the life of the church minister to her members. every christian is called to holiness37. but there is a peculiarity in priestly spirituality. the spiritual training should be closely connected with the doctrinal and pastoral, and, with the special help of the spiritual director, should be imparted in such a way that the students might learn to live in an intimate and unceasing union with the father through his son jesus christ in the holy spirit. conformed to christ the priest through their sacred ordination they should be accustomed to adhere to him as friends, in an intimate the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 209 companionship, their whole life through. they should so live his paschal mystery themselves that they can initiate into it the flock committed to them.38 the parish and the parish priest provide the seminarian with the required atmosphere and living example to carrying out his spiritual exercises. having been taught in the seminary the practice of meditation and lectio divina as a routine, the parish now presents the seminarian the opportunity to live out the spirituality developed in the formation ground. it is through the interaction of the seminarian with the parish priest and generally with the parish life that will make the expected accompaniment possible.39 he sees the challenges in the ministry and learns to channel his energy to the required disposition of pastoral integration of the spiritual principles he has acquired in the seminary. with the intellectual and practical applications that he lives in the seminary, the seminarian begins to realize in a concrete way the various aspects of the spirituality of the life of the priest. he also begins to recognize his own personal strengths and weakness so as to be able to equip himself to develop a personal relationship with christ through an authentic practical spiritual life. this can have a tremendous effect on the seminarian while in training to constantly and in a profound manner improve on his own response to the formation. pastores dabo vobis points this out: it introduces him to deep communion with jesus christ, the good shepherd, and leads to the total submission of one's life to the spirit, in a filial attitude toward the father and a trustful attachment to the church. spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.40 7.3 pastoral pastoral dimension speaks to the willingness of the seminarian to take up assignments such as the teaching of catechism, preparation for the liturgical celebration, solicitude for the poor and organization of lay apostolate groups in such a way for them to function properly. here the parish priest is to work assiduously to channel the energy of the 210 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age seminarian to the vast pastoral need of the parish while guiding against excesses. just as it is the duty of the parish priest to take care of the pastoral need of the parish he presides over, it is his duty to gradually introduce the seminarian to the dynamics of this task. the pastor is obliged to see to it that the word of god in its entirety is announced to those living in the parish; for this reason, he is to see to it that the lay christian faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith, especially through the homily which is to be given on sundays and holy days of obligation and through the catechetical formation which he is to give; he is to foster works by which the spirit of the gospel is promoted, including issues involving social justice, is promoted; he is to take special care for the catholic education of children and of young adults; he is to make every effort with the aid of the christian faithful, to bring the gospel message also to those who have ceased practising their religion or who do not profess the true faith.41 in the first paragraph of the can. 528 above, one can claim that a lot of the pastoral work in which the seminarian is to be involved under the supervision of the parish priest is expressed. practical activities to this effect could be the teaching of catechism to the parishioners of different ages and professions. the seminarian can also be given charge of lay apostolate groups in the parish and in fact, the seminarian is a-priestin-making and should be very intimate with the pastoral life of the priest.42 the seminarian is one who is training to mirror the life of christ in his own life and conducts among the people of god. so, he must be made to take a serious part in liturgical celebrations. he is not only to participate actively but must also help other parishioners to understand the importance of liturgical celebrations. principal among these mysteries of the liturgy is the sacrifice of the holy mass. “the pastor is to see to it that the most holy eucharist is the centre of the parish assembly of the faithful.”43 the earlier those training for the priesthood understand and appreciate the role of the liturgy in their training and eventual ministry as priests the better for the church and for the proclamation of the gospel message. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 211 another important aspect of the priest’s role in the guidance of the practical application of the seminarian’s knowledge in the pastoral fields is the ability to visit the parishioners. this is an important part of the formation. sometimes priests are not aware of the material situation of parishioners. the ability to visit parishioners can help the seminarian to appreciate them and their faith-journey. this is within the requirement of the priest to know his parishioners and introducing the seminarian to this pastoral obligation becomes an opportunity integration of theory into the practical existential situation.44 8. remarks the topic that has been addressed here is one that has a lot of practical undertones and it is pertinent to give some remarks. formation for the priesthood has been prime in the church’s evangelical mission. the agents of evangelization must be properly formed to respond to the needs of the human race in all ages. it is also true in our time that the world has known a lot of progress and experienced fragmentations. the church has not been exempted from the present human condition. in nigeria, the effects of globalization also impact on the life of people. the church has tried over time to respond adequately to the imbalances in the world and address their implications on faith expression.45 the most recent of such an effort as it concerns the formation for the priesthood is the new ratio fundamentalis institutionalis. one of the admirable points raised in the document is the capacity of local churches to fashion out their particular programmes based on their own experiences. it is the opinion of this paper that the nigerian church needs to use the opportunity of this document to re-evaluate the priestly training process in the country and create more practical synergy between the seminaries and other institutions like the parish through the dioceses. priests need to be more involved in the work of formation, helping candidates through practical means to integrate their formation in the seminary in the existential life of the parish. the practice of keeping seminarians far away from the priest should be discouraged as there is the most auspicious opportunity that the seminarian has to see closely the realities of the priestly ministry even before ordination. 212 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 9. conclusion the danger every priest must avoid is the temptation to view the value taught in the seminary as mere transitory in the life of a person. the values are to become intimate habits in the life of the candidate for the priesthood. these habits create the ground upon which the grace of the sacrament of the holy orders will build upon. the principle of st. thomas aquinas is very helpful in underscoring the fact that it is the mode of the seminarians that the grace builds on: quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur. whatever is received into something is received according to the condition of the receiver.”46 the role of the parish priest in the formation of candidates for the priesthood is to help the seminarian gradually integrate and appropriate the principles he has learnt in the seminary. therefore, the seminarian should be very close to the priest in the parish when on official and even unofficial pastoral experience. the motivation of the parish priest to do this work should come from his love for the church. failure to ensure that the taught doctrine and spiritual exercises in the seminary are lived out in the parish can cause a crisis of vocation and identity in the individual to be ordained a priest. unfortunately, in many instances that is what obtains today. but the onus is on the parish and the seminary as great institutions of interdependence opportunity to help individuals aspiring to the priesthood to take their vocation seriously. endnotes 1 fulton sheen, the priest is not his own; ignatius press, san francisco, 2005. 10 2 second vatican council, church in the modern world, gaudium et spes, 1965. 3presbyterorum ordinis no. 2. 4 cf. ibid 5 cf. heb. 5:4; ex. 28:1; jn. 15:16. 6 ibid. nos. 3. & 7 7 alphonsus de liguori, dignity and duties of the priest, redemptorist fathers, brooklyn, n. y., 1927. 24. 8presbyterorum ordinis no. 3 9 congregation for the clergy, the priest, pastor and leader of the parish community, libreria editrice vaticana vatican city, 2002. no. 27. 10 vat. ii., gravissimum educationis, 28th oct. 1965. no. 3. 11 ibid the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 213 12presbyterorum ordinis no. 13pastores dabo vobis; no. 2. 14can. 515 §1. 15 code of canon law 518. from the vatican archive cited on the 31st of september, 2019. 16 decree on priestly training, optatam totius october 28, 1965, no. 2. 17 congregation for the clergy, the priest, pastor and leader of the parish community, libreria editrice vaticana vatican city, 2002. no. 2 18 jorge carlos patron wong, the stages of priestly formation, in the gift of priestly vocation in a symposium for formation teams, english-speaking seminaries of canada, april 4-7, 2019. 19 pastores dabo vobis, no. 61. 20 ibid 519. 21can. 521 §1 22 ibid 521 §2. 23 congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocation, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, l’ osservatore romano, vatican city, 2016. no. 75. 24 ibid no. 12 25 cf. ratio 28 26 ratio 44. 27 new ratio fungamentalis, no. 130 28 pastores no. 36. 29 ibid. 30 decree on priestly training, no. 20. 31 pastores dabo vobis. 58 32 ibid. 33 cf. new ration 30 34pastores dabo vobis 43 35 ibid. 36 aquinas, summa theological, part 1, question 1, article 8, response to objection 2. 37 ibid no. 45 38 decree on priestly training, optatam totius, no. 8 39 cf. new ratio no. 44 40pastores dabo vobis, no. 45 41 ccl, can. 528 §1. 42 cf. can. 530. 43can. 528 §2 44cf. 529 §1. 45 church in the modern world, nos. 5, 8, 9 & 10. 46 cf. summa theologiae, 1a, q. 75, a. 5; 3a, q. 5. the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod on synodality augustine johnpaul dodo abstract the path of synodality is very crucial to the church in our time because it constitutes the essential dimension of the church. although, this dimension is kergymatically aimed, our time demands the adoption of modern techniques to combat the widening gap in the church, especially between the laity and clergy, and the laxity towards evangelization. hence, the current synod on synodality is targeted toward bridging the gap between the people and her minister. having realized the effect of the laity in modern time evangelization, participation, communion, and mission, it appears to be a means through which the people can exercise the variety and ordered richness of their charisms, and their vocation, since the notion of synodality refers to the connection and participation of the whole people of god in the life and mission of the church. this mission ought not to be relegated to those in the clerical and religious state alone but should be a collaborative effort with the people. this work seeks to theologically analyze the new synod on synodality and its prospective fruits for the church. key words: synodality, bishops, church, communion, participation, mission. introduction pope paul vi constituted the synod of bishops in 1965, not as an instrument of governance, but as a tool of the widest possible consultation. then it consisted of bishops and other ofcials of the western church including bishops and representatives of the eastern churches. fifty years later, pope francis introduced the possibility of the synod of bishops sharing in the ordinary papal magisterium, with the people. in sixty years that have passed since vatican ii council, the responsiveness of the church as communion has developed in broad sectors of the people of god and there have been encouraging experiences of synodality at diocesan, regional and universal levels. hence, this discourse centers on the new synod on synodality, and its central themes, namely communion, participation, and mission. it begins by giving a brief denition of the concept of synod before exposing the historical development of synod. it reveals the fundamental role of synod in the church, as well as evaluates the current synod on synodality and its themes. this paper also seeks to scrutinize the three core dimension processes laid out in bringing about the fruitfulness of the synod. the crust of the discourse which is the relevance of the synod on synodality is exposed, especially the benets of the synod on synodality in the life of the church today. denition of synod the term "synod" stems from two greek words: "syn," which means "together," and "hodos," which means "way," in other words, to "come together," to "walk together."it is composed of the preposition συν (with) and the noun όδός (path).the greek σύνοδος is translated into latin as synodus or concilium. concilium, in its banal use, refers to an assemblage convoked by an appropriate authority. although the roots of “synod” and “council” are different, their meanings unite. in fact, “council” enriches the semantic content of “synod” by its locus to the hebrew קָהָל(qahal), the assembly convoked by the lord, and its translation into greek as έκκλησία, which, in the new testament, refers to the eschatological convocation of the people of god in christ jesus. historically, synod is an ancient and venerable word in the 152 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 tradition of the church; it is deeply rooted in the scriptures and early church. since the rst centuries, the word “synod” has been applied, with specic reference to the ecclesial assemblies convoked at various levels (diocesan, provincial, regional, patriarchal or universal) to discern, by the light of the word of god and listening to the holy spirit, the doctrinal, liturgical, canonical and pastoral 1questions that arise as time goes by. historical development of synod pope paul vi established the synod of bishops in 1965 when the church had just concluded the second vatican council. his motivation was the experience of the council itself, paul vi desired to: “permanently establish a council of bishops, to provide for a 2 continuance after the council.” hence, the aim of synod is in keeping with the request of the fathers of the second vatican council, to maintain the collegial spirit fostered by the council. in synodal assemblies, the pope and the bishops generally discuss questions relating to the universal church, although they can also address issues of local churches. usually, the participants are representatives of the episcopate. the synod exercises its function primarily as a consultative body under the direct authority of the pope. he convokes the synod; chooses the topic; designates its members; in general, presides over the assembly; and decides how to implement suggestions made by the bishops. three main documents govern the synod. first, the apostolic letter apostolica sollecitudo, published in 1965, by pope paul vi, established the synod of bishops. from the outset, he foresaw that the synod, “like all human institutions, can be improved upon with 3 time.” this document contains the essential components in an outline form which were developed in successive documents. secondly, the document ordo synodi episcoporum, published in 1966, contains all the norms regarding things as general as to how themes are chosen, how the synod of bishops is organized, who presides over the synod sessions, how participants are elected, how information is gathered and communicated; and things as specic as what ecclesiastical garb the bishops are to wear in the 153the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... assembly. this document was subsequently revised in 1969 and 1971 by pope paul vi, and in 2006 by pope benedict xvi. thirdly, the new 1983 code of canon law, devoted a chapter to the synod of bishops, this appears for the rst time under part ii, of the book ii of the people of god, which centers on the hierarchical constitution of the church. there are three types of synod, namely, the ordinary general assemblies, which attend to matters concerning the whole church; the extraordinary general assemblies, which address issues that need rapid resolution; and the special assemblies, which focus on problems relating directly to specic churches or regions. the holy father is the president of the synod. there is also a secretary-general, assisted by an ordinary council of the general secretariat, composed of bishops. there have been 19 synods: nine ordinary, two extraordinary, and eight special. the role of the synod of bishops the synod of bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world to meet together at xed times to foster closer unity between the roman pontiff and bishops, to assist the roman pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions about the activity 4of the church in the world. furthermore, pope francis expresses that the synod of bishops is a body that “manifests the solicitude of the college of bishops for the needs of the people of god and communion among 5 the churches”. the synod is a means of gathering information on a particular theme from the local churches. it provides counsel to the roman pontiff in the synodal assembly. pope francis, repeating what his predecessor, paul vi said, stated that the synod has a “consultative role, offering information and counsel to the roman pontiff on various ecclesial questions, under the guidance of the holy 6 spirit”. furthermore, the role of the synod of bishops is primarily that of 'listening to the people of god'. the synod, therefore, is the 'suitable instrument to give voice to the entire people of god'. 154 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 synod on synodality although the term synodality is not explicitly found as a term or as a concept in the teaching of the second vatican council, it is fair to say that synodality is at the heart of the work of renewal the council was encouraging. the ecclesiology of the people of god stresses the common dignity and mission of all the baptized, in exercising the variety and ordered richness of their charisms, their vocations, and 7 their ministries. synodality is the specic modus vivendi et operandi (the way of life) of the church, the people of god; it reveals and gives essence to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly, and take an active part in her evangelizing mission. synodality denotes the particular style that qualies the life and mission of the church, expressing her nature as the people of god journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the lord jesus in the power of the holy spirit to proclaim the gospel. synodality ought to be expressed in the church's ordinary way of living and working. in this sense, synodality enables the entire people of god to walk forward together, listening to the holy spirit and the word of god, in order to participate in the mission of the church in the communion that christ establishes between us. ultimately, this path of walking together is the most effective way of manifesting and putting into practice the nature of the church as the pilgrim and 8 missionary people of god. th hence, on 10 october 2021, pope francis ofcially declared the xvi ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops, a twoyear process called “a synod on synodality,” ofcially known as 9“synod 2021-2023: for a synodal church.” in brief, the process involves an expansion of an established institution, called the “synod of bishops.” this implies that the synod will consult with everyone from parishioners to monks, nuns, and catholic universities before stcoming together for a discussion for the 1 session xvi general ordinary assembly of the synod of bishops from4-29 october 2023, ndand for the 2 session xvi general ordinary assembly of the synod of bishops in october 2024. 155the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... the synodal theme the theme of the synod is for a synodal church: communion, participation, and mission. the three dimensions of the theme, namely, communion, participation, and mission are interrelated. they are the vital pillars of a synodal church. a church where hierarchy is less emphasized, where each one enhances and familiarizes with the other. hence, there is a dynamic relationship between the three dimensions in the theme of the synod. 1.� communion: god gathers his people together as diverse peoples of one faith through the covenant that he offers to his people. the communion nds its deepest roots in the love and unity of the trinity. it is christ who reconciles us to the father and unites us with each other in the holy spirit. together, we are inspired by listening to the word of god, through the living tradition of the church, and grounded in the sensusdei that we share. theologians such as johann adam möhler, antonio rosmini and john henry newman (1801-1890), stressed that a primary and fundamental element in the life of the church is the dimension of communion, which implies an ordered synodal practice on every level, giving due importance to the sensusdeidelium, fundamentally related to the specic ministry of 10 the bishops and the pope. the entire faithful all have a role to play in discerning and living out god's call for his people. 2.� participation: this dimension is a call for the involvement of all who belong to the people of god, the laity, consecrated and clergy, to engage in the exercise of deep and polite listening to one another. this listening creates space for us to hear the holy spirit together and guides our aspirations for the church of the third millennium. the concept of participation is based on the fact that all the faithful are qualied and are called to serve one another through the gifts they have each received from the holy spirit. in a synodal church the whole community, in the free and rich variety of its members, is called together to pray, listen, analyze, dialogue, discern and offer advice on making pastoral decisions that correspond as 11closely as possible to god's will. candid efforts must be made to ensure the inclusion of those at the margins or those who feel 156 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 excluded. 3.� mission: the dimension of mission focuses on the very essence of the church, which is her kerygmatic task. the mission is to witness the love of god in the midst of the whole human family. this synodal process has a deep missionary dimension to it. it is intended to enable the church to better witness to the gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of our world. in this way, synodality is a path by which the church can more productively fulll its mission of evangelization in the world. hence, synodality is lived out in the church in the service of the mission. ecclesia peregrinansnaturasuamissionariaest; the church exists in 12 order to evangelize. the synodal processes the synodal process in this context is no longer only an assembly of bishops but a journey for all the christ faithful, in which every local church has an essential part to play. the whole synodal process aims at fostering a lived experience of listening, discernment, participation, and co-responsibility, where diversity of gifts is brought together for the church's mission in the world. every synodal assembly evolves in successive phases: preparation, celebration and implementation. 1.� the diocesan local phase: the rst phase of the synodal process is a listening phase in local churches. the aim is to nurture a broad discussion process in order to gather the wealth of the experiences of lived synodality, it comprises the pastors and the faithful of the local churches at all the levels. religious communities, lay movements, associations of the faithful, and other ecclesial groups are encouraged to participate in the synodal process in the context of the local churches. this stage provides the foundation for all the other phases that follow. more than simply answering to a questionnaire, the diocesan phase is intended to offer as many people as possible a truly synodal experience of listening to one another and walking forward together, guided by the holy spirit. 157the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... the diocesan phase of the synodal process is coordinated by the diocesan bishop. this phase is an opportunity for parishes and dioceses to encounter, experience, and live out the synodal journey together, consequently developing synodal tools and ways that are most suited for their local context, which will ultimately become the new style of the local churches on the path of synodality. once the diocesan phase has elapsed with a diocesan pre-synodal meeting and diocesan synthesis, the episcopal conferences will collate the input and feedback that they have received from the dioceses in order to convey syntheses that aptly capture the contributions of participants at the local level. these syntheses will then serve as the basis for the rst edition of the instrumentum laboris, (working document) which will be published by the general secretariat of the synod of bishops. 2.� the regional/continental phase: for the continental stage, religious, clergy and lay people will meet in gatherings called “ecclesial assemblies” to reect on the working document in their regional and continental contexts. the assembly groupings will correspond to existing organizations that bring together episcopal conferences across each continent, such as celam the council of the roman catholic bishops of latin america, and federation of asian bishops' conferences. there will also be a special gathering for representatives from the middle east and the suiiuris eastern catholic churches. 3.� the universal phase: synodality as an essential dimension of the church is expressed on the level of the universal church in the dynamic circularity of the consensus delium, episcopal collegiality, and the primacy of the bishop of rome. bishops will gather with the holy father pope francis in the assembly of the synod of bishops in rome in october 2023 and 2024 to speak and listen to one another on the proceedings that emerged from the synodal process that began at 13the local level. relevance of synod on synodality 1. a church who listens: a synodal church is a church that 158 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 listens. it is a process of mutual listening in which each person has something to learn. the faithful, the episcopal college, the bishop of rome; each one listening to the others and all listening to the holy spirit, the spirit of truth. pope francis explains that the synod of bishops is the point of convergence of this listening process conducted at every level of the church's life. the synod process begins by listening to the people of god, who share also in christ's 14 prophetic ofce. 2. a classless church: synodality as a constitutive element of the church, offers us the best interpretative framework for understanding her hierarchical ministry, in which no one may be 15higher than the others. although, christ constituted the church, placing at the summit the apostolic college, in which the apostle peter is the rock, in this church, as in an upturned pyramid, the summit is below the base. therefore, those who exercise authority are called ministers, because in accordance with the original meaning of the word, they are the least of all. 3. fostering participation: if listening is the method of the synodal process, and discerning is the aim, then participation is the path. fostering participation leads christ's faithful out of themselves to involve others who hold different views from theirs. fostering participation leads us as christ's faithful out of ourselves to involve others who hold different views from ours. dialogue involves coming together across diverse opinions. indeed, god often speaks through the voices of those that are neglected. hence, asynodal church is a participatory and co-responsible church. 4. universal priesthood: the entire people of god shares a common dignity and vocation through baptism. all are called in virtue of our baptism to be active participants in the life of the church. in parishes, lay movements, religious communities, and other forms of communion, all are invited to listen to one another in order to hear the promptings of the holy spirit, who comes to guide our human efforts. the second vatican council revived the sense that all the baptized, both the hierarchy and the laity, are called to be active 159the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... participants in the saving mission of the church. the faithful have received the holy spirit in baptism and conrmation, and are gifted with charisms for the renewal and building up of the church. thus the teaching authority of the pope and the bishops are in dialogue with 16the sensusdelium, the living voice of the people of god. 5. an integral part of her very nature: the church recognizes that synodality is an integral part of her very nature. being a synodal church nds expression in ecumenical councils, synods of bishops, diocesan synods, and diocesan and parish councils. there are many ways by which we experience forms of “synodality” already across the church. yet being a synodal church is not limited to these existing institutions. a synodal church walks forward in communion to pursue a common mission through the participation of every one of its members. the aim of this synodal process is not to offer a temporary or one-time experience of synodality, but rather to allow the entire people of god to discern together how to move onward on the path towards being a more synodal church in the long term. 6. a fruit of the second vatican council: one of the fruits of the second vatican council was the institution of the synod of bishops. though the synod of bishops has taken place up until now as a gathering of bishops with and under the authority of the pope, the church increasingly realizes that synodality is the path for the entire people of god. therefore the synodal process is not just a gathering of bishops anymore but a journey for all the faithful. 7. pastoral dimension: the path of synodality seeks to make pastoral decisions that reect the will of god as closely as possible, 17grounding them in the living voice of the people of god. it is noted that cooperating with theologians, lay, ordained, and religious can be supportive in expressing the voice of the people of god and expressing the reality of the faith on the basis of lived experience. 8. not oriented towards a post-synodal apostolic exhortation: it is clear that the purpose of this synod is not to produce more documents. rather, it is projected to encourage people 160 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 to dream about the church we are called to be, to make people's hopes ourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, to warm hearts, and reinstate strength to our hands 18for our common mission. hence, the objective of this synodal process is not only a series of exercises that start and stop but rather a path of growing authentically towards the communion and mission that god calls the church to live out in the third millennium. 9. spiritual benet: the synodal process is rst and foremost a spiritual process. it is not an automated data-gathering exercise or a succession of meetings and deliberations. synodal listening is oriented to discernment. it requires us to learn and exercise the art of personal and communal discernment. we listen to each other, to our faith tradition, and to the signs of the times in order to discern what god is saying to all of us. pope francis describes the two interrelated goals of this method of listening: “to listen to god, so that with him we may hear the cry of his people; to listen to his people until we are 19in harmony with the will to which god calls us.” 10. a formation process: synodality involves openness to change, formation, and ongoing formation. it exposes how the church community forms people to be more capable of 'walking together,' listening to one another, participating in the mission, and engaging in dialogue. it presents the type of formation needed to foster discernment and the exercise of authority in a synodal way. 11. a means of evangelization: synodality is established to energize the life and evangelizing mission of the church in union with and under the guidance of christ. although the synodal renewal of the church happens through the re-vitalization of synodal structures, it expresses itself rst and foremost in response to god's call to live as his people, who journey through history towards the fulllment of the kingdom. synodality is at the service of the mission of the church, in which all members are called to participate. pope francis states that “all members of the church are agents of evangelization. consequently making a synodal church a reality is 161the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... an indispensable precondition for new missionary energy that will 20 involve the entire people of god,” since we are all missionary disciples. 12. communion of christ's faithful: synodality does not exist without the pastoral authority of the college of bishops, under the primacy of the successor of peter, as well as the pastoral authority of each diocesan bishop in the diocese entrusted to his care. the fullness of the synodal process can only truly exist with the involvement of the local churches, requiring the personal involvement of the diocesan bishop. conclusion today in the spirit of the second vatican council, the entire churchis walking together in synergy with and under peter (and his college) under the guidance of the holy spirit.in this situation, the role of the layperson in the history of the church as well as their contribution to the mission of the church is signicant. for this, structures are needed. the forms of synodal practice may vary. but structures will not function in the spirit of synodality without discernment and conversion. synodal process is not only a series of exercises that start and stop but rather a journey of growing authentically towards the communion and mission that god calls the church to live out in the third millennium. the fruits of the renewal promised by the second vatican council in its promotion of ecclesial communion, episcopal collegiality, and thinking and acting in a synodal way have been rich and precious. the current synod on synodality is the culmination of all the efforts to bring about a greater degree of openness, collaboration and mutual listening in the church. unlike previous synods, this one legitimately begins in dioceses all over the world, with opportunities for mutual consultation at every level and among different church organizations. when the general assembly meets in october 2023 and 2024, its task will be to prayerfully consider how to move forward as a more synodal church in the longterm, a church that walks together 162 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 endnotes 1 international theological commission, synodality in the life and mission of the church, (vatican city: libreriaeditricevaticana, 2021), no. 4. 2 pope paul vi, apostolic letter apostolicasollecitudo, 15 september 1965, (vatican city: libreriaeditricevaticana). no. 57. th 3 paul vi, apostolic letter, apostolica sollicitudo, 15 september, 1965 4 code of canon law, (nairobi: st. pauls, 2005), can. 342. 5 vatican new.com “what is a synod of bishops?” accessed from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-10/what-is-synodth bishops-faq.html, on 12 november, 2022 6 vatican new.com “what is a synod of bishops?” 7 international theological commission, synodality in the life and mission of the church, 6. 8 synod on synodality, preparatory document, no. 1. 9 initially, the synod on synodality was between 2021-2023, but on october 2023, pope francis announced his decision to divide the church's synod of bishops into two sessions, one in october 2023 and a second in october 2024, in order to promote the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church and help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the gospel. the decision, which the pope, was made in order to have a more relaxed period of discernment. 10 international theological commission, synodality, 38. 11 international theological commission, synodality, 67-68. 12 international theological commission, synodality, 53. 13 international theological commission, synodality, 94. 14 general secretariat of the synod, working document for the continental stage, https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/ common/phases/continental-stage/dcs/documento-tappacontinentale-en.pdf 15 pope francis, address at the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the institution of the synod of bishops (17 october 2015). 16 leo donald davis, the first seven councils (325-787): their history and their theology, (collegeville, mn: liturgical press, 1983), 420441. 17 austin flannery (ed.), lumen gentium, second vatican council dogmatic constitution of the church, (nairobi: st. pauls, 2005), no. 32-33. 163the relevance of synod in the church viz-a-viz synod... 18 international theological commission, sensusfidei in the life of the church, (vatican city: libreriaeditricevaticana, 2014), no. 74. 19 international theological commission, synodality, no. 68. 20 synod on synodality, preparatory document, no. 32. 21 pope francis, address at the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the institution of the synod of bishops. 22 pope francis, apostolic exhortation evangelii gaudium, 24 november 2013, (nairobi: paulines, 2013), no. 105. 164 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 134 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 9 contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge for priestly formation1 simonmary asese aihiokhai introduction priestly anniversaries are times for great celebrations and deep reflections on the part of the entire church. silver jubilees ought to be celebrated with great pride and hope. i rejoice with rev. anselm kole jimoh as he commemorates this special moment in his priestly ministry. many like him continue to be the hope of the church even at times when ugly narratives of priestly sexual abuse have come to distort all that the church stands for in our times. i have been asked to reflect on a topic that demands an honest engagement. on that note, let me transition to the purpose of this work. in this work, i intend to do the following; shed light on some of the trends of the emerging sexual abuse cases; present a critical analysis of the formation styles within nigerian seminaries with the intent to articulate a new vision of priestly formation that will help the nigerian church in particular and other national churches both in africa and other parts of the world to prevent future scandals, while properly training the men who present themselves to be trained for the ordained state. contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 135 trends of current abuses a critical question must be asked, one that demands an honest response. does the church have a sexual ethics problem, one that may be inadvertently contributing to the issues it is faced with today? i am convinced by the multiple evidence available that the response is in the affirmative. the ongoing ideological struggles between experts in the social sciences and pure sciences tasked with investigating the human mind, gender and sexuality on one hand, and church experts and theologians who argue for various theological positions on human sexuality demonstrate the point being made here. the dust seems not to have settled but many in the church’s hierarchy are impatient with the perceived ‘slow’ analysis of the sciences and would rather prefer a particular reading of religious texts along with their own cultural and personal sensibilities. it might be important to offer a quick note of caution; science can be a gatekeeper of truth for the church. when healthy relations are built with the scientific community, the church’s doctrinal positions will be greatly advanced and best address the demands of the signs of the times. science is today teaching us that gender binarism is a limited and sometimes a confusing way to speak of the breadth of our human condition. as noted by judith lorber, any discourse on gender ought to be predicated on cultural knowledge, which sometimes varies from one culture to another. in western societies, “until the eighteenth century, philosophers and scientists taught thought that there was one sex and that women’s internal genitalia were the inverse of men’s external genitalia: the womb and vagina were the penis and scrotum turned inside out.”2 lorber further explicates, while looking closely to how gender identities are given in western societies, that the nuances found in the human person, ranging from chromosomal markers, anomalous genitalia, and other physiological differences tended to be rigidly categorized by the duality of male-female; man – woman; and heterosexual – homosexual.3 how is the church’s theological anthropology responding to this new discovery? is the church’s preference to appeal to biblical texts to buttress a particular type of anthropology or is it to have an open mind to what is being discovered by scientists without making any moral judgement? these are options that lead to quite different and sometimes opposing conclusions. again, gender binarism is being challenged by new scientific discoveries in the area of intersex realities.4 based on scientific 136 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discoveries, it is common knowledge that there are “over 70 sex chromosomal” expressions within the human population.5 thus, even language needs to be adjusted to account for such breadth of sex expressions in the human population. male and female are at best labels of erasure and truncate the pendulum reality science is exposing us to.6 one conclusion can be made from these unfolding knowledge of the human organism; our knowledge of ourselves as humans is the knowledge that is not fixed. it is always progressive knowledge. ignoring all these discoveries and simply upholding what is termed traditional views on gender binarism as was recently done by the vatican dicastery, congregation for catholic education in its recently released document on gender theory is problematic.7 an important question worth asking, when one hears arguments on human sexuality that is based on traditional views, is this: what cultural knowledge heritage is one alluding to and defining as the norm? the document from the vatican dicastery fails to address the fact that christian anthropology is not constructed outside of a cultural locus with all the biases that play out in such a locus. what the document calls “right season” as the defining marker of the church’s position on what it means to be human must be engaged critically for what it is.8 reason is always culturally determined. the argument proposed in the document is to reject any “separation of sex from gender.”9 the jewish and greco-roman cultural influences on how the church reasons and its vision of what it means to be human ought to be acknowledged as such. the church’s position does not exhaust the issue at hand. while the church upholds a greco-roman metaphysical grounding of human sexuality, there are also legitimate arguments to be made based on other ways gender expressions are more fluid that are not grounded in metaphysics. examples of nonmetaphysical views of human sexuality can be found among the “berdache in north america and the fa’afafine in the pacific, and the kathoey in thailand.”10 furthermore, if culture is the place where the divine-human drama is fully experienced, then cultural differences that define gender fluidity as found in different human communities should not be dismissed easily simply because they differ from those that have shaped the church’s views. rather than a rigid vision of what it means to be human, these differences can become the contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 137 possibility for embracing a richer vision of what it means to be human in a culturally diverse world. the cautionary note from the american jesuit theologian, james martin that “the document is mainly a dialogue with philosophers and theologians, and with other church documents; but not with scientists and biologists, not with psychologists, and certainly not with lgbt people, whose experiences are given little if any weight” is something that should make everyone to be very concerned.11 to have an informed opinion on an issue demands a deliberate and holistic engagement with all factors shaping that issue. to simply dismiss an aspect of the process and uphold views that are at best one-sided and/or incomplete should not be the approach to the teaching office of the church should be following. conclusions like these hurt people who are already at the margins of society and the church. perhaps, the following cautionary insight is helpful in shedding light on what is at stake here; “it is important to emphasize that although heterosexuality operates in part through the stabilization of gender norms, gender designates a dense site of significations that contain and exceed the heterosexual matrix. although forms of sexuality do not unilaterally determine gender, a non-causal and nonreductive connection between sexuality and gender is nevertheless crucial to maintain.”12 thanks to the social sciences we are more knowledgeable about how human conditioning plays out even in the most private aspects of our lives, our sexual preferences.13 even though no current study has been done in the context of africa, the churches of africa can also learn from the insights and experiences of those in the western world. it is on that note that i intend to call attention to some insights found in the recent study done on the sex abuse crisis in the united states of america. there are some observable trends found in the john jay report of 2004 by john jay college of criminal justice that was commissioned by the united states conference of catholic bishops (usccb). the report focused its studies of sexual abuse in the church between 1950 and 2002. it found out that there were over 10,000 sexual abuse allegations brought against priests and deacons working in dioceses in the united states. it also showed that the percentage of priests and deacons working in the country (109, 694), 4% (4392) were accused of sexual abuse of minors and adults. i 138 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age should be clear here by stating the obvious; the report was not extensive enough. it did not study the members of the hierarchy and members of lay religious orders. recent revelations have shown that the scandal is not just limited to priests or deacons or even to male members of the church with leadership roles. female religious communities have had their own share of the scandal as well. the sex abuse scandal is one that affects every aspect of the church, ordained and lay. the john jay report offers some interesting profile of the abuses and the abusers that may be of use to those interested in revamping priestly formation in the twenty-first century. grooming tactics were prominent ways the abusers used in carrying out their illicit sexual contacts with their victims. the abusers took time to build a trusting relationship with their victims and then threatening them should they betray their confidence and reveal what abuses were occurring. the age profile of the abusers is also telling. half of those accused of abuse were below the age of 35 when they first carried out their first sex crimes. less than 7% of the abusers were themselves victims of sexual abuse as minors. 19% of them were also dealing with alcoholism. 70% of the abusers were formed in seminaries under pre-vatican ii seminary formation programs.14 what do all these tell us? they point to the fact that there is a very strong case to be made for using insights from the social sciences to address this crisis. these are not just accidental cases that played themselves out without any organic pattern in them. rather, a closer study of these patterns reveals some innate deficiencies in the formative programmes operative during the years these abusers were in seminary and/or in ministry. formation styles and lessons to be learned my work as an educator has taught me the relevance of viewing formation as something that must be holistic; one that ought to engage the different aspects of human life if it is to have any transformative impact on the ones being formed. in 1992, pope john paul ii gave to the roman catholic church a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (i will give you shepherds after my own heart – jer. 3:15). here, john paul ii articulates the need for formators of future priests to take seriously the need to tailor their education to contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 139 meet the needs of our times. he called for a clear understanding of holistic formation that accounted for the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. it is worth pointing out the bold claim made by john paul ii, who argued for human formation as the core of all holistic formation on which the other three aspects of formation hinge. his vision of the human is also very interesting; it is conditioned on what he calls “affective maturity.”15 in his words, “affective maturity presupposes an awareness that love has a central role in human life… we are speaking of a love that involves the entire person, in all his or her aspects physical, psychic and spiritual – and which is expressed in the ‘nuptial meaning’ of the human body…”16 following the release of this document, many houses of formation in the western world and in africa began the much-needed conversation to figure out how to revamp their formation process to allow for a clear understanding and expressions of these four aspects of formation. i recall vividly, efforts made by some religious communities in nigeria who began to explore ways of revamping their formation programme to account for this new guidance on priestly and religious formation. furthermore, to show how much work still needs to be done even by the religious communities that want to make a difference, it is proper to share an incident that occurred some years ago during my undergraduate studies. during my senior year as a philosophy student in the seminary, a course on human sexuality was introduced as an elective. it was going to be taught as two sessions. one was to be taught by a nun and the other by a member of my religious community. i happened to have registered for the latter. during our first week of class meetings, it dawned on me that what was needed was not just a course but a total re-education of all priests and seminarians for our lack of training in the area of human sexuality. the instructor kept referring to origen, the great theologian of the early church, as someone who had cut off his ‘third leg,’ a euphemism for castrating himself. when i pushed further by asking the instructor to explain how humans mutated from having three legs to now having two, i was made to know that such types of questions were not going to be entertained by him. that was it for me. i realized that the issues at stake were deeper than just taking a class on human sexuality. the anthropological vision that has defined how we perceive ourselves as sexual beings, our comfort level with our own sexual conditioning, our linguistic comfort in carrying out such 140 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discourses all needed to be critiqued deeply and if necessary, transformed radically if the vision of pope john paul ii was to be realized for the church, particularly in the nigerian context. i am not alone in making this observation. another “reason why renewal and transformation are constantly needed is the fact that our knowledge of reality is constantly increasing and changing and this inevitably affects the way we live our lives. for instance, it makes an enormous difference if our understanding of homosexuality changes from regarding those who engage in same-sex behaviour as either deviant or sick ‘heterosexual’ persons to seeing them as persons whose fundamental orientation attracts them to persons of the same sex.”17 no one denies the fact that the establishment of structured priestly formation has yielded some positive results. the intellectual formation has been a great success for priests over the centuries. lovely spiritual practices have been developed through the quasi monastic settings of seminaries. a good sense of community among the future members of the clergy is developed during these formative years. however, with regard to sexual formation, the outcome has been very poor, if we are to be honest with ourselves. since the church is made up of men and women, one wonders what dictates the rationale behind having junior seminaries that house young boys who are excluded from substantive interactions with young girls their age? as part of their priestly formation, ought not these young boys be provided with healthy sex education and ways of appreciating personal boundaries in their interactions with each other and with women and girls? as reputable psychologists would opine, dating is part of holistic human formation. through the dating experience, a young man or a young woman begins to learn how to negotiate appropriate boundaries for themselves and for those they may have feelings for. they learn to appreciate the fact that consent must be clearly given and sustained always, otherwise it is not consent. as these young men and women attain adulthood, their affective maturity aligns itself also with those of the spiritual and intellectual. when one listens carefully to all the traumatic stories of the sex abuse cases involving ordained men in the roman catholic church, one thing is central, these accused have no sense of what healthy affective boundaries entail. even with the level of intellectual education, they have attained in life, their poor social skills, manipulative contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 141 personalities, puerile tricks at luring their victims to enter into a relationship of trust speak to a disconnect between the different levels of their formation. it is as though one of the four integral pillars of formation (affects) is not properly aligned with others. this is not an accidental reality. this distorted alignment is traceable back to the very origins of the founding of seminaries. the establishment of formal structures for priestly formation came from the council of trent’s attempt at curbing ideas it had deemed injurious to orthodoxy.18 men who were to serve the church were to be trained clearly in ways that the radical ideas of the times could be curtailed.19 interestingly, the psychological background for this approach and attitude is intricately linked to a somewhat problematic attitude toward all things that do not fit perfectly well with the stated goals of raison d’etre for seminaries.20 issues dealing with human sexuality would necessarily be seen as suspect, especially in a church with a strong manichaean heritage; one that frowns at the sensual, and considers the sexual as the pathway for tempting and corrupting the purity of the soul. rather than explore the broad nature of human sexuality as an essential condition for priestly formation for men whose ministerial duties will entail relating with other humans through the breadth of their human affects, a form of spiritualizing of the affects has come to replace that which needs to be addressed in a more pragmatic and concrete manner. celibacy and chastity are spoken of using the spiritual motifs of the heavenly bride. theological and spiritual works have flourished over the years in addressing the sexual urges and realities of these candidates for priestly and religious life. a huge mistake on the part of the church is not to take seriously new fields of knowledge, especially in the social sciences, that deal with the human person as a sexualized being. it is on that note that i want to offer some concrete interventions to help articulate a more robust priestly formation programme for the nigerian church and other local and national churches that may be facing similar problems. envisioning a new formation paradigm priestly formation is not for its own sake. it is for the good of the church. those who chose to respond to the call to serve in the ministerial priesthood are chosen from the community of the baptized in churches located in particular cultures and societies. understanding these facts is fundamental in helping to build up a formation 142 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age programme that is relevant for the times. thus, any seminary formation today in the church, be it in nigeria or anywhere in the global north, must take seriously the reading of the signs of the times. the church of the twenty-first century is not going to be similar to that of the twentieth century. we currently live in the age of technology. different types of community are springing up globally that go beyond previous understandings of that term. new notions of ecclesial structures are being formed. a broader understanding of ecclesial leadership is fast becoming the norm. the laity is becoming very educated theologically and sometimes more informed theologically than the ordained as seems to be the case in the western world. nigeria is not immune from these changes occurring. the existential and ultimate questions being asked by the young are conditioned by the totality of their experiences in more globalized and pluralistic contexts. with the above in mind, i offer the first of four interventions to help articulate new formative programmes for the future members of the clergy in nigeria; priestly formation in nigeria today should begin with a serious reflection on the signs of the times in the country. what does it mean to be a church in today’s nigeria, where religious and cultural pluralism are key components of the lived experiences of the people? what and how does it mean to be a church in an era when nigeria is positioned to become the largest economy in africa and may become a prominent player in the global economy? how and in what ways can the church be relevant to a society where women are rightly reclaiming their roles in society? simply reciting old arguments to address new discourses is at best an insult to people’s intelligence. to read the signs of the times is to position the church for its role as an agent of the new evangelization. this new evangelization ought not to be focused solely on making christians out of people. rather, it ought to go beyond that. it must help people appreciate who they are as sexualized beings. today, we live in an era of full selfexpression. this is the era of the #metoo movement. this is the era of #blacklivesmatter movement. the church in nigeria cannot function as though it is isolated from these global social movements and concerns. it should also resist the temptation to want to appeal to catechesis that offers shallow answers to complex issues. human sexuality is a complex matter, one that must not be seen anymore contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 143 from the locus of the problematic. the church in nigeria ought to come up with a holistic human formation that addresses the spectrum of human sexuality as embodied in the lives of candidates for the priesthood. to think and operate formation programmes with the mindset that all persons in the programmes are themselves heterosexual persons may not be doing justice to the needs of persons who do not identify with heterosexuality. a recent poll conducted by the initiative for equal rights (tiers) found out that “39% of nigerians approve of members of the lgbtq+ community having equal access to public healthcare, education, and housing.”21 the church ought to be leading this conversation and promoting inclusive social teachings that address the needs of these persons. the best way to account for this is to have a robust formation programme that speaks to these social issues. making the hermeneutical shift that moves from the problematic to the locus of giftedness can help the church to see possibilities of hope and new knowledge it may not have been capable of seeing previously. stated differently, “a christian theology of creation means that we accept the whole of reality, ourselves included, as given and gift. the task of human freedom is to become who we are and we cannot do that without continually trying to understand better who we are. this is a never-ending process.”22 thus, reading the signs of the times is itself a form of prophetic response to the call of discipleship that is relevant to our era. the church must be seen and must also see itself as an instrument of god’s mercy. pope francis has made his pontificate a reflector of this theological and ministerial stance. there is beauty in such a strategy. for too long, the church has embraced a rigid normative approach to human sexuality that is defined radically by western notions of natural law, which, of it itself, is culturally conditioned. a legitimate question the nigerian church must respond to is this: are there no cultural insights from nigeria that can help the church to embrace a more humanistic, personalistic, and holistic understanding of human sexuality that is not radically limited by the dualism of good and evil or right and wrong that seems to have defined western understandings of sexual identities and expressions? this question calls for nigerian theologians and the members of the church to take seriously their responsibilities as educated members of the church to articulate an afro-nigerian theology on human sexuality that speaks to what it means to be human in the nigerian 144 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age context. without denying the usefulness of the natural law tradition in western societies’ construction of knowledge, be it in their philosophical or theological traditions, i am of the view that an african pragmatic ethics needs to be the modus operandi for the nigerian church. what does this entail? perhaps, the insight of kwame gyekye will help explicate the point i am making here. in his words: on what grounds are some acts (etc.) considered good? the answer is simply that each of them is supposed … to bring about or lead to social wellbeing. within the framework of akan social and humanistic ethics, what is morally good is generally that which promotes social welfare, solidarity, and harmony in human relationships. moral value in the akan system is determined in terms of its consequences for mankind and society. “good” is thus used of actions that promote human interest. the good is identical with the welfare of the society, which is expected to include the welfare of the individual… it is clear that this definition does not at all refer to the will or commands of god. that which is good is decreed not by a supernatural being as such, but by human beings within the framework of their experiences in living in society.23 in a very abbreviated form, natural law tradition makes a metaphysical assumption that imputes moral normativity on persons, objects, and actions irrespective of the nuances brought about by context or social locations of the acting subject. on the other hand, african pragmatic ethics situates the moral content of a being, object, or action within their complex relational interactions operating in a concrete community.24 let me offer a second intervention. christianity’s achilles heel has always been a bias for a dualistic vision of the human person. question three of the penny catechism begins by asking: in whose image and likeness are humans made? the corresponding answer is that it is in god’s image that humans are made. then the next question asks categorically if the likeness of god is “in your [one’s] body or in your [one’s] soul.” the response is telling. “this likeness contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 145 to god is chiefly in my [one’s] soul.”25 for centuries, many christians have recited these lines and have never stopped to question the theological rationale behind such glaring dualistic anthropology. if the soul is what “chiefly” represents the divine likeness in us, one is thus compelled to ask the question, what then does the body represent? christian theology has a rich and yet very sad history in depicting the body and all that it represents as a pathway for temptations and the corruption of the soul. what does this mean in light of sexual ethics today? i would say, everything. the sexual crisis the church faces today can be traced to this disjointed and paradoxical dualism inherent in the church’s theological anthropology. not being able to see the human body with all its embodied affectivity as epiphanic gifts of god’s encounter with creation reduces the church’s capacity to mediate a rich narrative of how god works in and with us in the concreteness of our embodiment. god did not become human “chiefly” in our soul. rather, the incarnation speaks of a god who chose to become fully one with us in all that we are except sin. in the incarnation, all dualistic arguments are rendered invalid. god became not just a human being but a sexualized being. it is important that theologians take this seriously. if i may be as vivid as possible, the sexualized god-human experienced all the emotions attached to sexual selfdiscoveries and these entail all the hormonal realities involved. i recall a conversation i had with a fellow theologian some years ago when i made the comment that the adolescent jesus must have had wet dreams and thought constantly of the persons he had ‘crushes’ on as do typical adolescents who are going through puberty. i could see my colleague almost having a nervous breakdown. he just could not conceive of his jesus as being described in such ‘dirty’ terms. for him, sexuality is a dirty thing and at best sinful. the keyword here is an experience. “though experience is always open to fallible interpretation, the bottom line is that experience is, and always has been, the most reliable source for discerning god’s will.”26 it is not the abstract postulations of reason as though the reason has its own embodiment different from its unity with the body. the church is in urgent need of a holistic approach to human sexuality, one that must move away from beginning the conversation from fallenness, sinfulness, and evil to a starting point that stresses the beauty, sacredness, and fulfilling nature of being a sexualized 146 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age being. there is too much shame in the current theological discourse on human sexuality. the church should move to a locus of pride in addressing what it means to be fully human. this responsibility must begin with the actual formation of future ministers of the church. one wonders how those who are called to mediate the fullness of god’s life to the church and world and who are trained to see a fundamental aspect of that divine-human life as innately sinful can themselves be effective in their callings. are they not being set up to fail even before they begin their ministry? the challenge for seminary formators today is to address the following questions: how comfortable and healthy are the discussions around human sexuality in the curriculum? how matured are the candidates for the priesthood to express who they are as sexual beings, and what concrete ways do they embrace to ensure that their affects are nurtured while also embarking on the formation of the other aspects of their lives? i do not think the church is capable of bringing about this transformative move on its own. this leads me to offer a third intervention that may be helpful to the church as it addresses the lacunae present in its vision of the human person. human collective wisdom has given us many angles from viewing and understanding our world. groundbreaking research continues to be carried out in different fields. disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and many more continue to enrich our collective understanding of what it means to be human in the totality of our embodiment. even the pure sciences have helped us to understand how our affects and decision-making processes continue to be shaped by the chemical makeup of our bodies. all these discoveries are a wealth of knowledge that can help the church continue to grow in its theological articulation of what it means to be human. may i offer a very direct critique of a strand in the theological tradition of our church and maybe it might help us to make the muchneeded shift to help address the current sex abuse crisis. there is a strong natural law tradition in the church. many of the church’s positions on issues dealing with human sexuality, reproductive health, and even the recent document from the congregation for catholic education on gender theory demonstrate a clear bias for a particular way of reading the natural law tradition – one that is rooted in the greco-roman philosophical, theological, and cultural heritage. but one has to ask the critical questions, is this particular reading of contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 147 natural law done in honest dialogue with these other disciplines and their findings or is this reading of natural law based on an insular approach that preferences a specific narrative even when that narrative has no evidential credence? why can’t the church appropriate more than one approach to understanding humans as ethical beings that include both the western natural law tradition and the african pragmatic ethical approach? how can one cultural knowledge exhaust the richness of human knowledge of how god interacts with creation? it is important to note here that at the core of one’s being one experiences one’s own identity as genderized and sexual being. to simply deny the legitimacy of that self-awareness and existential experience may be a dangerous path to follow for the church if it is to fully be a medium of hope and life for many who seek its counsel at moments in their lives when they need the nurturing and supporting guidance of its counsel. i opine strongly that the starting point for the church’s position on human sexuality ought always to be an open dialogue with other disciplines. the marriage of reason and faith is not a marriage of convenience. it ought to be one of authentic dialogue, however difficult that dialogue may be. i am not a psychologist. but i have had the honour of knowing persons who struggle with their sexual orientations and gender identities. these are not experiences that come from a place of abuse of freedom as the recent document on gender theory from the vatican curia seems to suggest. these are existential struggles that sometimes lead to unimaginable trauma that words cannot describe. how ought the church’s vision of human sexuality speak to these realities in ways that holistic embrace of oneself becomes the focus? this is the current challenge that a robust sexual ethics must address. again, seminaries cannot exempt themselves from this process. seminary curricula should have a robust number of courses in the social sciences and the natural sciences that shed light on what it means to be fully human. what is a course in theological anthropology that does not speak to the realities of cultural, social, philosophical, scientific, linguistic anthropologies? what does it mean to be made in god’s image when the embodied human’s social location is not the starting point of any god-human talk? who is jesus christ without his social location as a jewish man living in an occupied land under strict patriarchal system? of what value is jesus christ to an adolescent who is going through 148 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age puberty and struggling with all the hormonal changes in their body if the said jesus is not presented to him/her as one who went through the same experience and came out of it unscathed? our theological discourses in the seminaries must now be as pragmatic and concrete as they can be if we are to have a handle on the sex abuse crisis. our current crisis lies in the strong urge to flee to the utopic state of abstract discourses on what it means to be human. we are not words. we are embodied beings living in the concreteness of the here and now. i want to begin my fourth intervention for a new paradigm for priestly formation that speaks to our realities today with a question. why seminary formation? this question is the key to understanding how and why the church is faced today with the crises of inauthenticity among those ordained and tasked with the responsibility to be the media of god’s mercy to god’s own people. this question comes also from my own experiences as one who had the pleasure of receiving priestly formation from two very different models, one that is aligned to a more traditional model and another more progressive that seems to be taking seriously insights from discoveries from the social sciences. before i proceed, let me state it clearly, in no way am i ranking these two models. rather, i am attempting to see how one can help the other grow even though i am convinced that priestly formation must be contextually shaped to help address the unique needs of the local church. uniqueness does not mean isolationism. a critical observation of priestly formation both in nigeria and in the united states of america validates the following comments: in nigerian priestly formation programmes that i am conversant with, one can conclude that there is a strong focus on weeding-out candidates for the priesthood who are judged to be lacking in virtue or character needed for priestly ministry. one could argue that the very fact that there are so many candidates for priestly formation along with fewer resources to carryout holistic formation may be contributing to this model. but there are grave implications arising from this model. rather than helping candidates open up to the formative process with all candidness and knowing they would not be judged but rather helped to become better persons who through an elaborate discernment process may discover later their other callings contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 149 away from the priesthood or even to the priesthood, a state of paranoia is created in their lives and they end up being inauthentic and secretive about who they are. paying attention to the study cited earlier in this work on the state of sex crisis in the church in the united states of america, one notices that the height of the crisis came during the time when the church was also experiencing some vocation boom and operating a weed-out model of formation. on the other hand, a different model that is currently being practised by a growing number of dioceses in the united states is what i have labelled the full-authenticity model. it entails a formative process where candidates for the priesthood are invited to self-disclose who they are, and that includes their sexual orientation. whatever level one finds oneself in the sexual orientation spectrum is received as gifts that can be used to help the candidate to fully live out their calling to voluntary celibacy that the priesthood calls for. for this goal to be realized, concrete steps are taken to help the candidates in formation to embrace their inner truths as sexual persons. there are series of evaluations throughout the formative process and these include expert opinions from the social sciences. candidates for the priesthood are considered human beings who are on a life journey and that means they need all the professional, formal, and informal support at the different stages in that journey. knowing that one is in formation not to be judged or weeded out but to be helped to discern correctly and acquire the needed skills, talents, and virtues for the ministry ahead allows for these candidates to open themselves up at their core to the process even if that opening up means embracing their own vulnerabilities. there is beauty in such a process when it is done right. lest my readers think that the american model is free from error, let me offer a few comments based on my time in the seminary in the united states and my interactions with seminary formators here in the country as well; american seminary formation today needs to create a culture and climate that appreciates the beauty of intellectual formation. due to the lack of vocations, there is the temptation to want to water-down the intellectual formation of future priests. there isn’t much, if any, philosophical foundation for seminarians before they embark on their theological formation. even when engaged in theological formation, it has become the trend to see seminarians embracing a cafeteria approach to theological formation. they tend to 150 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age reject theologians and their works they have judged for themselves to be unorthodox. also, american seminary programmes need to take seriously the discoveries in the social sciences on social issues like racism, and systems of oppression. throughout my time in the seminary, not a single course was offered on such topics dealing with systemic racism and xenophobia. if at all there is an original sin of american society, it is racism. to educate men for the ordained priesthood who are supposed to be sources of life and hope for god’s people, and not prepare them on how to address the social sins of the society and the church in this part of the world, is to diminish their ability to be agents of positive change. conclusion in this work, i have intentionally moved away from the simplistic conclusions that tend to define the current clergy sex abuse crisis as being perpetuated by a homosexual mafia in the roman catholic priesthood. there is no evidence justifying such a sensational conclusion. i do not want to give a myth the legitimacy it does not deserve. however, there is clear evidence that the church has a sexual abuse crisis amongst its clergy. the crisis seems to be growing as we begin to see that it goes beyond just priests and deacons. the entire clergy has a sex abuse crisis on its hands and it needs to figure out how to address this issue. the recent decision of pope francis instructing how the crisis ought to be addressed by leaving it in the hands of the bishops and roman curia is a good place to start the much-needed reform.27 to now require a metropolitan to take the lead in the investigation of a suffragan bishop under his jurisdiction, as directed by francis in his motu proprio, vos estis lux mundi, calls for some honest discernment process.28 it might be wise for the church to move completely the investigative process of episcopal sexual abuse and priestly sexual abuse to a more neutral body that is comprised of laypeople. this approach will allow for complete transparency that may not always be the case when a bishop is tasked with the responsibility of leading an investigation into the moral/immoral actions of a fellow bishop. it is worth noting that no institution can reform itself internally. it has never happened even in the history of the church. one wonders why and how pope francis thinks this time around it is contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 151 going to be different. yes, i know that the pontiff is canonically bound to act within the juridical tradition of the church where the local church has its own autonomy. however, a greater good is now at stake, the integrity of the church. this greater good calls for a new approach to canon law and its inherent tradition. without reducing other bishops to mere secretaries of the bishop of rome, it might be useful for the church to articulate new canonical regulations that offer to the laity deliberative powers in helping the clergy to be faithful to its commitment to the people of god, especially in matters dealing with monitoring the unfolding sexual abuse crisis among the ranks of the ordained. each diocese ought to have its own deliberative process with each member having equal deliberative powers to arrive at decisions that should include the reduction of the ordained to the lay state. the fact that the baptism of the laity is what decides their rights and duties in the church, the members of such a commission should be able to apply disciplines to those found guilty that are currently reserved to the holy see. this is not going to slip into the ancient struggles between the ordained and the laity. such fears come from a place of power. it is time for the church to abandon narratives and the psychology of power and embrace the psychology of service and humility. the current sex abuse scandal has injured the church at its very core. how it heals from this self-imposed injury will be determined by its ability to embrace its own vulnerabilities. a church that speaks of vulnerability as the gateway of experiencing the divine must now demonstrate to the world and to itself that it does not only speak the words, it also knows how to live them out. endnotes 1 a longer version of this work will be published under the title “priestly formation and sexual abuse in the roman catholic church: in dialogue with the nigerian church,” journal of black catholic theological symposium (2019). 2 judith lorber, “believing is seeing: biology as ideology,” gender and society 7, no. 4 (1993), 568 3 ibid., 569 – 570. 152 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 4 see i. a. hughes, “intersex,” bju international 90, no. 8 (november 2002): 769 – 776. see also, u. s. national library of medicine, “intersex,” medical encyclopedia, accessed june 17, 2019, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001669.htm 5 christine e. gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure. reconstructing christian sexual ethics (cleveland, ohio: the pilgrim press, 1994), 4. 6 lorber, “believing is seeing: biology as ideology,” 571. 7 see congregation for education, “male and female he created them” towards a path of dialogue on the question of gender theory in education, june 10, 2019, https://www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/congregation_for_catho lic_education_en.pdf. 8 ibid., 1. 9 ibid., 8. 10 world health organization, “gender and genetics,” genomic resource centre, accessed august 27, 2019, https://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html 11 as cited by philip pullella, “vatican condemns gender theory as bid to destroy nature,” reuters, june 10, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/usvatican-gender-iduskcn1tb20e 12 judith butler, bodies that matter (london and new york: routledge classics, 2011), 182. 13 gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure, 5. 14 for a detailed review of the report, see, john jay college of criminal justice, the city university of new york, the nature and scope of sexual abuse of minor by catholic priests and deacons in the united states 1950 – 2002 (washington d.c.: united states conference of catholic bishops, 2004). 15 john paul ii, post-synodal apostolic exhortation: pastores dabo vobis, march 25, 1992, 44, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paulii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabovobis.html. 16 ibid. 17 kevin t. kelly, new directions in sexual ethics. moral theology and the challenge of aids (london and washington: geoffrey chapman, 1998), 25. 18 h. j. schroeder, canons and decree of the council of trent. original text with english translation (st. loui, mo/london, 1941), 175 – 179. 19 ibid., 175. 20 ibid. 21 happiness nleweoha, “watch: a recent statistics on lgbt community in nigeria,” the guardian, august 11, 2018, https://guardian.ng/life/watch-arecent-statistics-on-lgbt-community-in-nigeria/ 22 kelly, new directions in sexual ethics, 28. contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 153 23 kwame gyekye, an essay on african philosophical thought. the akan conceptual scheme. revised edition (philadelphia: temple university press, 1995), 132. 24 for a detailed treatment of this topic, see simonmary a. aihiokhai, “embracing the pragmatic in african indigenous religions: new perspective for interfaith dialogue,” christianity and culture collision: particularities and trends from a global south. eds. cyril orji and joseph ogbonnaya (cambridge, united kingdom: cambridge scholars publishing, 2016): 151 – 163. 25 the penny catechism: a catechism of christian doctrine (charlotte, north carolina: tan books, 2012), 1. 26 gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure, 12. 27 see francis, apostolic letter. on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papafrancesco-motu-proprio-20190326_latutela-deiminori.html. see also, law no. ccxcvii. on the protection of minor and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminorilegge297_20190326_en.html . see also, guidelines for the protection of children and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminorilineeguida_20190326_en.html. 28 see francis, apostolic letter: motu proprio – vos estis, lux mundi, may 7, 2019, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papafrancesco-motu-proprio-20190507_vos-estis-lux-mundi.html 475 35 formation of the youth and its implication for national development praise, korie catholic diocese of uromi praisesilva2@gmail.com abstract the future of any and every great institution in the world, largely depends on folks who fall within the age bracket of those regarded as youths, who undisputedly are the leaders of tomorrow, whether or not they are prepared for it. the youths no doubt are a very important class of any nation, since their resourcefulness, skills, strengths can no doubt be beneficial in sustaining any nation’s development. they bring in a kind of vitality and enthusiasm that can drive any nation to the zenith of development and self-reliance. but more often as we see; especially in developing nations, not much regard is given to youth formation, in a bid to prepare them for their future role. the consequence of which is, being plunged into the future with absolutely no formation and preparation, they also fail to maintain the standards already set in place. this study is therefore, posed towards understanding the importance of youth formation and it’s implication in attaining sustainable national development. it shall also establish the extent of interaction between formation and national development; the challenges of youth formation and the role of major stakeholders. a qualitative, critical and analytical assessment of these issues will help us to arrive at the shores of the objective of this study. this piece, discovers that, in other to situate the youth of today strategically for national development, we must put into consideration the demographics of youth as well as their corresponding formation. this remains the task of every major player saddled with the enterprise of promoting national development. keywords: formation, youth, youth formation, development, national development. 476 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction every nation of the world, strives to attain an all-round growth. and undoubtedly, the future of any nation rests on the shoulders of the youth. they eschew age long out dated mentalities, the values they hold and the qualities they possess, can inevitably bring development to any nation. the knowledge, skills and principles which they have acquired over the years would be used as tools for the development or otherwise of the nation. youths can bring social reform and improvement in society. we cannot do without the youths of a country. a nation requires their participation to achieve her goals and help in taking the nation towards progress. indeed, the youths are the movers and shakers of the nation. without them, the nation has no future, remains moribund and faces extinction if care is not taken. the development of any country requires active participation from the youth. we must make all the youth aware of their power and the role they have to play in nation-building. as well as contribute our quarter to their proper formation. there are many ways in which we can help the youth of our country to achieve their potential. for that, the government must introduce programs that will help in fighting off issues like unemployment, poor education institutes and more to help them prosper without any hindrance. but today what do we find? ill formed youths, who cannot cater for their own well-being less talk, the well-being of a nation. can this situation cannot be blamed totally on the youths? this write up, attempts at presenting a brief insight into the crisis concerned with youth formation and briefly state how their proper formation can aid them to contribute effectively to national development. conceptual clarifications formation: formation can be referred to as the act or process of value adding. this value may be social, religious, an ethical. it is the process of giving a form to a person, or an act of taking form.1 it has to do with character development, value orientation and moral integrity. it is a process of breaking and shapening, breaking out deformations and molding forth a transformation. youths: many definitions of the youths are often done with age classifications. and these categorization differ from place to place. generally those who fall within the age bracket of 14-35 are often regarded as youths. in some cases, the age range can be up to 40. it usually is a period between childhood and adulthood, between dependence and moving towards independence. the definition of a section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 477 youth is a young person who has not yet reached adulthood and refers to the time period before you become an adult.2the united nations, for statistical purposes, defines those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 as youth.3unesco further notes that: youths have the creativity, the potential and the capacity to make change happen – for themselves, for their communities, and for the rest of the world.4 simply put, youths have the vitality needed to transform any society. pope john paul ii affirms this youthful vitality when he avers that: youth is the age of hope, of promise, of enthusiasm, of plans and of ideals. youths do not want to give up in the face of difficulties. youth does not want to put up with the short comings of the status quo. youth believes in a better world and is determined to do something to help bring about it.5 youth formation: youths are the building blocks of every developed nation. youth formation is the process of preparing the young for the future act of becoming leaders. the youthful stage is a formative age, which enhances the youth and makes him or her contribute meaningfully to national development. youth formation is a duty for all, social agents the family, the church, the government, parents and youths themselves. the energy and vigor of the youths act as catalyst for national development. that is why, countries which utilize their youth in positive direction are more developed. youths can constitute both a challenge and an opportunity for development. the need for formation is vital, because the youths of this century live in a dysfunctional world, with so many contradictions, unprecedented changes. a world torn apart by a complexity of conflicting value orientations, divergent worldviews and competing ideologies.6 within the black continent, youths bring out the potentiality for africa’s development. youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as human capital in production, which would improve total factor productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited. when employed, youths could be a reliable source of demand for the economy through their consumption activities. especially in the african continent, the youths of africa could be critical for the development of a new class of entrepreneurs that african countries need to prosper.7 development: development is generally used to denote growth or progress. it is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and 478 formation of the human person in the 21st century demographic components. the purpose of development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment. development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change.8 national development: national development is a constructive process of engaging all the people of the country in building political stability, social unity and economic prosperity of the country. national development involves social harmony, infrastructure development and economic growth of the nation. youths involvement in any growing economy is an essential key to development. youths are the greatest power of the country therefore significant efforts must be established to help empower them to competently and adequately contribute towards sustainable development of the nation. national development will improve the lives of citizens with the growing economy.9 challenges of youth formation many challenges exist today, which impedes youth formation. these range from lack of proper education, lack of social and basic amenities, lack of job opportunities, lack of support for creative innovations and worse still, there is the dysfunctionalism which is associated with the agents of socialization which in turn affects formation. george ehusani, in success without successor, affirms this socializational dysfunctionalism when he avers that the traditional agents of socialization the family, the church and the school, appear to have lost much of their authority and pride of place in the socialization and formative process. today the internet, the television, the cinema, the home video and the peer group appear to have snatched from the parents, the priests and catechists and the school teachers the primary prerogative of imparting knowledge and values and building the character of the younger generation.10 o family. the family is the bedrock of any human formation which is to be impacted into young people. when the formation which the family ought to impart is missing, it requires extra effort to get the formation of young people aright. in these times, news of broken families and failed relationships constitute no new surprise to us. but the end process of these broken families are traumatized children and youths who are left and if not by grace, would themselves become partners of broken families, thus continuing the cycle. again many section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 479 parents are career persons, who love their jobs so much at the expense of valuable family formation of their wards. they at best leave the formation of their wards to uneducated house assistance, who have the potentiality to bring into actuality the deformation of young people. o church. many churches today, are but true churches. they are advanced shrines and medium for business. many main stream churches, have become a reproach and abomination to god. thus the message of christ which ought to have a formative impact on the lives of young ones, is now being distorted for a message that preaches material prosperity and the desire for materialistic relevant miracles. today, the pulpit is been used to advise young ones about the seemingly wastage of time on education. they only present to the young ‘the miracle working god’ and not the ‘suffering jesus’ who carried his cross. every line of scripture is interpreted in a liberalistic manner, and people end up fed with stones instead of bread. o school. many schools today are set up for profit making, over and above value formation. we need to try striking simple conversations with our latest graduates in order to discover the mess many youths have been entangled in. professors who engage in nebulous acts such as mal-practice, were those who had access to quality education. schools today have lost their influence over value and character formation. students and parents decide what they want, and what they do not want and in a bid to retain numbers especially due to financial rewards, the schools watch the children throwaway their future, while they sit and fold their hands. o unemployment. lack of employment destroys certain formation to be gotten from the ethics of work. when jobs are not readily available, and those available are not meant for the educated but the connected. this creeds the contemporary belief among youths that education is no longer the key. o lack of mentorship. lack of mentorship is another factor destroying the affective formation of youths. youths witness everyday those who preach but do not practice; those who outline policies and principles but do not follow them. the end result of this accumulated experience never motivates but translates them into being oppressed oppressors. 480 formation of the human person in the 21st century o social media. the social media frenzy, has taken over the task of formation of these impeded agents of formation. from children who live in abundance but thirst from lack of attention, to those who want answers to the meaning of life, and seek means for channeling their vitality and passion in expressing themselves. the media (wrong use of it), has given young people today the illusion of a false presence, a feeling of accepttedness, and a fabricated feeling of satisfaction. this makes a lot of persons accept whatever is brought to the table. authentic formation of youths: implications for national development can youth formation be beneficial for national development? yes. this is because, we cannot eliminate the important role youths play, in any nation’s development. youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as human capital in production, which would improve total factor productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited.11 youths are critical for the development of a new class of entrepreneurs and leaders that can keep any nation aright. youths spur in-depth research into varying issues confronting our collective existence. they ask questions which set researchers into motion. they challenge, oppose existing foundations, by seeking more and more to make adjustments to existing status quo. thus only when they are adequately formed, that it would be possible for them to make ethical choices, which in the long run would be beneficial to any society. with the new waves of knowledge attained from globalization, youths are better able to make choices that support the pursuit of educational goals and the development of life skills necessary for national and local leadership positions. for instance, youths with access to reproductive health education, services (where they are welcomed), will enable them make rightful decisions as regards their health. youths occupy a prominent place in any society, for apart from being the owners and leaders of tomorrow, they have energy and ideas that are society's great potentials.12 the national youths development policy asserts that: youths are the foundation of a society. their energies, inventiveness, character and orientation define the pace of development and security of a nation. through their creative talents and labour power, a nation makes giant strides in economic development and socio-political attainments. in their dreams and hopes, a nation founds her motivation; on their energies, she builds her vitality and purpose. and because of their dreams and aspirations, the future of a nation is assured.13 the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 481 statement above acknowledges the role of the youths in the peace and security of a nation. youths depending on how they are employed, can be agents of peace as well a instruments of war. they no doubt can play the role of peace mediators. ozohu-suleiman avers that: as [an] active segment of any society, youths are the major determiners of peace and stability of a nation.14 conversely, the degree of disorderliness and instability in society is also determined in part by youths. peace is a precursor of development. the absence of peace means that no meaningful development can take place.15 youth formation: a task for all to our already existing identity as victims of bad government, today, we all are potential martyrs (whether we are ready or not), and also potential victims of kidnap, potential victims of wrong medical treatments, potential victims of collapsed buildings, potential victims of human inhumanness. the formation of the youths remains an absolute task for everyone interested in the well-being of any nation. as faulty foundations can lead to collapse of structures, same can be said for any nation which pays little or no attention to youth formation cum development. everyone must put in whatever it takes to give a better foundation for the youths. there must be a revival of the agents of socialization. the creation of enabling environment for family life. the creation of job opportunities and incentives for the youth. the admittance of youths sufficiently formed into the political and economic structure of society. the political society itself, is an important agent of the formation of the youths. the quest for an all-round character cum moral value formation for young people must have a place in any government’s policies. leaders are to be aware that they must be role models and not pharisaic in nature. government must set up effective youth policies which must move from the level of being an act of government to the level of honest implementation. furthermore, equal opportunities must be provided for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, race, religion and more. there are various issues of nepotism and favoritism which eats away the actual talents of a nation. this must be done away with. since those found in the society are those found also in the church, it follows that if the youths in the society are damaged, the youths in the church would also be damaged youths. given this fact, the church must rise up and contribute her quota to the formation of the 482 formation of the human person in the 21st century youths. she must play her role as an agent of the formation of youths. as george ehusani notes: church based programs and projects for youth development should include not only spiritual, moral and doctrinal education, but also (especially in our economically distressed environment where many youths have dropped out of school and are without skills) to include vocational and basic skills training for economically disadvantaged youths.16 the youths themselves have a role to play in their own formation. the self is the first agent of formation. they should avail themselves of any and every such opportunity provided for their growth and wellbeing. many youths today seem lackadaisical in affairs which should help their self-growth and aspirations. they are lured into all kind of life style which would lead to their unproductivity. if youths do not open and dispose themselves they cannot be formed and cannot eventually contribute to national development. at best they can just be noise makers on social media platforms. youth formation in nigeria: issues and concern. youths have a vital role to play in building this nation. they are spurs to facilitate nigeria’s economic greatness and instigate developmental strides. but the youths of this country have not had a soft bed on which to land on. they are plagued on all sides many factors which are within and without. from lack of adequate formation to absence of infrastructural requirements for right living. some of these issues as well as the resulting concerns are highlighted below. socio-economic and political environment: the socio-economic and political environment in nigeria poses a great challenge to the youths. economic and social statistics present a somber picture that leaves much to be desired. almost half a century after flag independence, the economy continues to be dominated by the primary sector – agriculture, oil and minerals. this is partly because the country has not been able to create an environment for high value added economic activities. there is low domestic capital formation and declining direct foreign investment, with the exemption of the oil and gas sectors, until recently very heavy indebtedness, high unemployment and the informalisation of the economy where the majority of its people live in poverty.17 nigeria performs very poorly in terms of global economic competitiveness. the country lacks basic social and physical infrastructure. as a result, most people on the country have no access to basic services such as potable water, electricity, good sanitation, roads and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 483 healthcare. all of this is coupled with a high illiteracy rate. the country’s underdevelopment has been reinforced by authoritarianism, political instability, ethnic and religious conflicts in the last decade. even almost two decades after the return to democratic rule, we witness today instability in governancelike those in governance do not have an idea about governance. we witness tribalism and nepotism, we see a government that grossly tells lies, and misleads the public, we see non-accountability of public officials, lack of transparency in decisionmaking, electoral frauds and the colonialisation and personalisation of the state and national resources by the political elite. this situation presents particular challenges for the nigerian youths.18 lack of education: education is very crucial to the formation of youths. in nigeria, our educational system is nothing to write home about. the aim of education is to bring about intellectual, moral, social and psychological formation of the human person. a person who is balanced in these areas of life will make the society proud. but today we find students who are intellectual thieves, socially imbalanced, morally bankrupt, psychologically confused, emotionally imbalanced, and physically challenged.19 more worrisome is the fact that education in nigeria today is certificate based education, rather than education for productivity. thus we have more graduates, but less people who can distinguish their left from their right. education also ought to help us make ethical choices, but we have today more educated illiterates, who lack value appreciation and moral ethos. lack of employment. youth unemployment poses a great threat to the country’s stability and development, and if not checkmated on time, it may lead to disastrous consequences for the nation. desperation can drive the unemployed youths into living outside the law in order to survive and as a means of expressing dissatisfaction at the apparent neglect of their very existence. crime as a result of unemployment has adverse effect on the economy.20 e. okafor laments that: high level of corruption in nigeria has robbed the country of developing a vibrant economic base in spite of her abundant natural resources. massive corruption is perpetuated in every sector and has permeated the entire social structure of nigeria. funds meant for development projects which could have generated employment have been misappropriated, diverted, or embezzled and stashed away in foreign banks. endemic corruption has robbed the country of the chance of developing a vibrant economy that would have created jobs for the youths in the various sectors of economy.21 484 formation of the human person in the 21st century the consequences of not fully developing and harnessing youth’s potential could be dire, having enormous impact on the economic, political scientific, moral and social life of a nation. youths are more likely to become frustrated because of legitimate grievances, including a lack of employment opportunities, low educational attainment, little participation in decision making and low social mobility. in this volatile context, greedy and opportunistic politicians could even exploit these grievances by involving these frustrated youths in creating massive instabilities that could impede the development of any nation. we must invest heavily in our children and youth population, so that from among them would emerge better presidents, better governors, better local government chairmen, better mds and directors of companies.22 if posed for a better future, the nigerian youth, has the propensity for greatness. being more technologically attuned and with the desire to improve on existing parameters of development, they can help push the integral part of nigeria’s socio-political cum economic growth and development. the challenge faced by those saddled with the responsibility of youth formation, remains how to sufficiently harness and channel young people’s passion, energy and enthusiasm into positive outcomes. concluding remarks the task of national development of any nation requires the captainship of astute and sound personnel. sound men and women of deep vision, with sincerity of purpose, hardworking credible persons who are selfsacrifical and patriotic. in the words of abolade fagbohun, nation-building and the associated developmental issues require men and women of deep vision; sincerity of purpose; selflessness; genuine love for their country and their people; hardworking; of conscience, integrity, credibility, trustworthiness, honesty, reliable and able; people who do not think of stealing or embezzling; people who do not misuse the authority and power conferred on them, by god or man; people who do not think that getting to positions of authority is a “do-or-die” affair; people who understand the meaning of nation building, leadership, good governance, rule of law, political emancipation, equality, human and civil rights, civility, freedom of speech, rule of law, diversity and religious tolerance; people who will shun and will not tolerate tribalism, corruption and nepotism. these are the people who can build nations and create the change we want to see.23 if a nation believes in its youths and believes that without the youths, she can’t achieve her greatness, then she should make more section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 485 investment in them, because without investing in the youths, the future of a nation will not have any returns. the youths themselves should also be proactive, and help in their own formation. they should indulge in selfless services, and in the long run become positive change agents and role models. the church, family, school, the government and society at large have equal responsibility to provide the youths with an environment that is conducive to bringing about a formation for the youths. there is the need as ehusani avers, …to invest in our future by channeling a lot of our time and resources into the wholesome formation and integral development of our youths, because what we see as our successes today must bear fruits in future generations… because our successes today must not end with our generation. they must have a multiplier effect on the coming generation.24 also, the youths should have a responsibility to be more proactive. an ideal youth who seeks to become a leader of tomorrow, must endeavor to be honest, hardworking, thrifty, idealistic, disciplined, patriotic, compassionate, sportsmanlike, moral/religious and above all he should be capable of dreaming high and positive dreams.25 in the end, youths by their very nature are transforming, and by default, under formation whether or not the society puts effort into their formation, they are being formed, the question is not whether they are being formed or whether they should be formed but that whether by default or effort they receive the appropriate formation. whatever they receive determines what becomes of the development of any nation. to transform the crisis of youth formation and development today, we need a paradigm shift in the structure and method of their formation, as well as the environment we provide for them, and the opportunities we present for them to grow. endnote 1what is formation? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formation 2who is a youth? https://www.yourdictionary.com/youth (accessed march 5th 2020) 3secretary-general’s report to the general assembly, a/36/215, 1981 in https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-definition.pdf (accessed march11th, 2020) 4https://en.unesco.org/youth (accessed march 7, 2020) 5john paul ii, address to the young people of nigeria. 1982 486 formation of the human person in the 21st century 6george ehusani, success without successor is failure in disguise: the challenge of youth ministry today. http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministrytoday 7 adeline idike. a eme, okechukwu innocent, “role of the youths in nationbuilding,” journal of policy and development studies vol. 9, no. 5, (2015): 52-3 8 sid israel, what is development? the israeli center for international aid and development studies, march 11, 2018. https://www.sid-israel.org/en/developmentissues/what-is-development (accessed march 7, 2020) 9 essay on the role of youths in nation building, http://robinnegiclasses.blog spot.com/2019/06/essay-on-role-of-youths-in-nation.html (accessed march 7, 2020) 10george ehusani, success without successor is failure in disguise: the challenge of youth ministry today.http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministrytoday (accessed march 7, 2020) 11 sid israel, what is development? 2018 12 onyekpe, n. “managing youths at election,” the constitution: a journal of constitutional development 7 (1) (2007): 76-87. 13 federal republic of nigeria (2001), national youths policy 14 ozohu-suleiman, a., “the nigerian youths in contemporary political development: relevance, challenges, and role expectation,” the constitution: a journal of constitutional development 6 (4) (2006) : 97-111. 15 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,” 57-8 16george ehusani, success without successor 17 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,” 62 18 ibid. 19anthony ewerido, lazarus ishaku, “youth formation and globalisation in the nigeria context, a theological and pastoral reflection on timothy 4:12-15” in youth formation & globalisation in the nigerian context, edited by luke ijezie, stephen audu and agnes acha, (portharcourt, cathan publicatios, 2018), 102 20 adebayo, abayomi “youths unemployment and crime in nigeria: a nexus and implications for national development” international journal of sociology and anthropology 5 (2013): 350-357. 21 okafor emeka, “executive corruption in nigeria: a critical overview of its socioeconomic implications for development” afr. j. psychol. stud. soc. issues. 2005. 8(1): 21-41. 22george ehusani, success without successor 23abolade fagbohun, the role of nigerian youth in nation building, https://medium.com/@abbjcicero101/the-role-of-nigerian-youth-in-nationbuilding-2fb8a5552520 april 26, 2011. (accessed march 12, 2020) 24george ehusani, success without successor 25 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,”. 64 451 33 the religious roles on youth formation in national development chikodi josiah, wachukwu, ph. d department of religious cultural studies, rivers state university, npkolu, oroworukwo, port harcourt, wachukwu54@gmail.com abstract the study focused basically on ascertaining the roles of religion on youth formation in national development. there has been an ongoing debate on the assertion that religion has any role to play in formation of positive attitude amongst youths needed for national development. the continent of africa is facing great increase in social vices and poor level of development, and nigeria is not left out. this is evident in her educational, social and economic deterioration. this paper sought to discover the reason for the deterioration and sketch the role religion has played in the formation of positive virtues for national development of nigeria to ameliorate her state. qualitative and descriptive method of inquiry was used in this study and it was discovered that lack of adherence to stipulated norms promulgated by religious organization has resulted in increased in social vices, mono economy, corruption, religious intolerance and lack of good governance which has contributed largely to underdevelopment. it also found out that religious groups have played starring roles in national growth through the provision of schools, hospitals, micro loans in partnership with directorate of rural farmers, inculcating morals through teaching in religious and political assemblies for national growth. the article recommends among others an improved partnership of the government arm and the different religions. keywords: religion, youth formation & national development. 452 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction there is virtually no society that does not practice one form of religion or the other. however, the role religion plays in formulation of positive attitude among youth needed for national development varies significantly from one countries to another (ayo, 2011). before establishing the role of religion on youth formulation in national development, it is pertinent to establish the foundation of the study. thus, the key variables like religion, youth formation and national development were thoroughly reviewed. religion is a powerful universal phenomenon that has permeated countries of the world. it has to do with the belief in a supernatural being that is invisible. religion creates great impact in human behavior and in most cases transforms primitive and hostile behavior to a refine and more acceptable attitudes compatible with human cohabitation (awolalu, 2008). it was through the influence of religion that nigerians stopped killing twins and banishing their mothers to evil forest; to start appreciating twin children. religion moderates our greed, hostility and animosity of killing human being as a punishment for a minutes offence. religion makes us to appreciate our creature and seek for ways of moderating our action in order for us to have a peaceful coexistence, and seek for salvation. this change of behavior can impact positively on national development in nigeria. it is the effort of and activities of man that enhances or retard national development. the concept of religion eliade (2010) in his functional perspective sees religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church, ultimate non-material fact and has a “dynamogenic” quality. that is, it has the capacity not only to dominate individuals but also to elevate them above their ordinary abilities and capacities. he argues that social life is impossible without the share values and moral beliefs which form the collective conscience. also, in their absence, there would be no social; order, social control, social solidarity or co-operation. therefore, the sacredness of religion strengthens values and moral beliefs which form the basis of social life. deton (2006) conceives religion as a fixed relationship between the human and non-human entities, the sacred, the supernatural, the self-existent, the absolute or simply, god. however, religion is such a wonderful universal phenomenon that is found in every society, developed or underdeveloped, black or white race. pratt (1996) agrees that religion is a social behaviour associated with individuals or communities directed towards the power or forces which they conceived as having lasting and ultimate control over their religion, men exchange section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 453 obedience and loyalty with security and peace in form of a covenant with the supernatural powers, hence they turn to worship them culminating in a religious exercise. according to eliade (2010), religion is the most substantial bond of humanity, the fear of the unexplainable phenomena of the universe and some superstitious beliefs compel men to enter into a bond or pact with such unknown forces. balm (1994) sees religion as the experiences of the holy. this is where the objective side of religion comes to play. the objective of worship is conceived by man to be holy; having convinced himself thus, man the “experience” of such encounter expresses and passes onto others that which he has internalized. it is easy, therefore to experience the “holy” than to know or localize it. serrate and hawkini (1992) share common views with karl marx when they assert that religion makes one to forget one’s earthly hardship because, for the religionist the other world is where one would lay his treasures. also, there is no retaliation because “vengeance is mine” says the lord. marx was materialistically inclined, so to him the need of this immediate world is more urgent than the imaginary pie in the sky. however, davis (1993) suggests that if religion is practiced honestly, it can open to the realities of life and not cause a blind folding as some of the economic determinists seem to argue. religion, according to dopamu (2005), is a factor of civilization and the knowledge and its seed everywhere have been known to contain such potent elements. forde (2002) relates religion to its role in society through individual members who believe. thus, becomes a factor of cohesion order, peace and solidarity in the society. the researcher is of the view that religion is both god-word and man-word oriented. it involves god and man relationship for the purpose of communion and communication in peace and security ensured on the part of man, a sort of pact resulting in some ritual observances. harry (2006) observes that religion in its essence gives meaning to life and serves as an instrument for promoting social solidarity, value consensus, harmony, and tolerance in the society. also, it strengthens the unity of a group or country and much of the norms of the social system are integrated by religious beliefs. youth formation haralambos and heald (2004) opined that youth formation is the development of positive attitude that prepares a young person to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood and achieve his or her full potential. youth formation is promoted through activities and experiences that help youth develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, and cognitive competencies (ubani, 2003). this developmental phases is 454 formation of the human person in the 21st century part of the youth development process and supports the young person in developing: (a) the ability to analyze his or her own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and vocational goals, and have the self-esteem, confidence, motivation, and abilities to carry them out (including the ability to establish support networks in order to fully participate in community life and effect positive social change); and (b) the ability to guide or direct others on a course of action, influence the opinions and behaviors of others, and serve as a role model capable of influencing others positively (wehmeyer, agran and hughes, 1998). conditions that promote healthy youth formation are supported through programs and activities in schools and communities. researches on carried out on youth formation, emphasize that effective programs and interventions recognize youths’ strengths and seek to promote positive development rather than addressing risks in isolation. youth who are constructively involved in learning and doing and who are connected to positive adults and peers are less likely to engage in risky or self-defeating behaviors (maman, 1990). providing the conditions for positive youth attitudinal formation is a responsibility shared by families, schools, and communities. the conditions for developing such healthy attitude amongst youths needed in national development reside in families, schools, and communities. national development naomi (1995) believes that development is usually taken to involve not only economic growth, but also some notion of equitable distribution, provision of health care, education, housing and other essential services all with a view to improving the individual and collective quality of life. chrisman (1984) views development as a process of societal advancement, where improvement in the well-being of people are generated through strong partnerships between all sectors, corporate bodies and other groups in the society. it is reasonable to know that development is not only an economic exercise, but also involves both socio-economic and political issues and pervades all aspects of societal life. national, according to longman dictionary of contemporary english, refers to a phenomenon that embraces a whole nation. national development therefore can be described as the overall development or a collective socio-economic, political as well as religious advancement of a country or nation. this is best achieved through development planning, which can be described as the country’s collection of strategies mapped out by the government. national development is a process of improving the range of opportunities that will enable individual humans and communities to section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 455 achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental systems. (munasinghe, 2004). lawal (2011) describe national development as the overall development or a collective socio-economic, political as well as religious advancement of a country or nation. however, in this paper, national development will refer to the ability of a country or countries to improve the social welfare of the people, by providing social amenities like quality education, potable water, transportation, infrastructure, medical care etc. nexus between religion roles and youth formation in national development religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements (morreall, 2013). supporting the above assertion, nongbri (2013) opines that religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. it is also seen as the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and actions and signs that refers to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. according to james (2010) religion is a relatively-bounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. religion fosters national unity and development. it offer people the understanding of existence and provide rules and regulations which controls people behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life according to one’s religion is to carry out one’s duty both to god and men. thus, it can be established that religion contributes significant in influencing youths’ attitudinal development and implementation. the more youths’ development and implements the right attitudes preached in the gospel, the more easier it becomes to build and maintain a healthy nation. parrinder (1996) and idowu (2008) are of the view that in nigeria; very little efforts have been made to tap the potentials of religion as cement for unity and the development of nationhood through inculcating positive attitude especially among youths. despite the above attainable benefits, religion is being manipulated to cause ethnic divisiveness and civil strife. some people exploit it for their selfish 456 formation of the human person in the 21st century political ambition. religion is one vital element that can be harnessed for fostering solidarity and unity. mutuah et al., (2010) avers that being life itself, religion can serve as the basis on which a nation can be solidly founded. it can also be used as an instrument of bringing into reality our dreams of a united nation. religion is also characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the sense that it contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of equilibrium. according to clark (1994), religion can be used to make way for the understanding of the world in which we live. it can supply answers to such questions as the existence of god, the sufferings and pains of humans, the problems of after death and so on. it could provide moral values by which a nation may stand. such moral values include what is virtue and vice, thereby enriching the people’s morals, the welfare of the individuals and society at large. denton (2006) suggests that religion may inspire people to develop great ideas as courage, love, endurance and sense of kinship. yinger (1990) avers that national development requires that all hand must be on deck to build a strong and united nation which could be anchored on religious and intellectual capabilities of every citizen. awolalu (2010) succeeded in clarifying that religion can be a part in national development by promoting high moral standards such as honesty, courage, hard work, obedience and respect for leaders especially among youth that are leaders of tomorrow. he suggests that religion could be expected to encourage faith, trust, and confidence in both god and fellow human beings which makes for integration, cohesion and solidarity by bringing people together for worship, festivals, ceremonies, and prayers especially people of different ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. forde (2002) argues that religion help youths develops attitudes capable of solving the problems of selfishness which hinders the pace of progress in nation building. idowu (2002) suggests that religion can effectively provide an understanding of certain occurrences that affect man and his environment, especially some of the trials and tribulations being experienced by nigerians such as anxiety about the structural adjustment programme (sap). the continued drift of the nation may be attributed to our sins, but for people who are deeply religious, it can be argued that through the power of prayers backed by god led ministers these national problems could be successfully resolved to the glory of god. according to tim (1996) there is the beliefs that “if god cares for the things of nature and environment, such as the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea and the animals in the forest, god will definitely cater for the needs of the country which he has created”. meyer (1996) section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 457 describes religion as being capable of promoting national development and moral identity, to inculcate in the individuals the right attitude which would eradicate crime, murder, suicide, rape, corruption, indolence, dishonesty and cheating which has bedeviled the nation. he further stated that when individuals imbibe these attitudes, it will be demonstrated in their families, social groups and other works of life. in summary, the above empirical evidence provided on the role religion in national development made obviously clear that religion helps in developing positive attitude amongst the populace needed for all round positive development. religion instill discipline among the youths especially during their various stages of developing positive virtues like respect for life, adherence established laws, creates a better understanding of the world around us amongst others that contributes to development of the nation. it was also established that religion aid in the formulation and implementation of favourable policies that ensure sustained national development, trains up youths who can be better leaders of tomorrow and minimizes the incidence of corruption amongst the youth who are leaders of tomorrow. factors that hinder national development in nigeria in spite of series of developmental strategies put in place by successive governments, and sometimes with good intentions, all attempts to generate meaningful development proved futile. 1. poor formulation and implementation of policies: there are in most cases, no executive capacity responsible for the formulation and implementation of the plan. some of the previous development plans failed because; there was little or no consultation of the general public. planning is supposed to involve even the peasant in the villages. even the local government officials who are close to the people were not consulted. (mimiko 1997). 2. lack of good governance: this militates against national development. where there is no good governance, development becomes a mirage. this is as a result of bad leadership in the country. most of our leaders have no sense of commitment to development. 3. decolonization: decolonization allowed the crop of leaders that aligned with colonial power to take over nigeria. this ensured the sustenance of a neo-colonial economy even after political independence. these leaders on assumption of power quickly turned up the repressive machinery of the colonial state rather than dismantling it. significantly, they have no vision of development to 458 formation of the human person in the 21st century accompany the efficient instrument of repression they inherited. all they were interested in was access to power and privileges and not development. 4. corruption: high level of corruption and indiscipline is another barrier to development. nigeria is corrupt, managed by corrupt leaders who have made the state an instrument of capital accumulation, rather than using it to project the interest of the citizenry. a very good plan supervised by a thoroughly corrupt state can hardly do a thorough job. corruption and development are antithetical to each other, the two cannot cohabit, and so, where one is present, the other suffers. (chuta 2004). strategies for ensuring national development the beauty of any development plan is the faithful implementation of such plan, which its success lies with the implementers. in the previous subsections, it was mentioned that most of the past development plans failed as a result of implementation problem, lack of committed leadership, lack of adherence to suggestions of religious leaders, etc. based on this fact, new development policies and strategies are currently in place as alternative strategies for ensuring sustained national development, such as seven points agenda, vision 2020, change begins with you, etc. these policies and vision appear to be all embracing but they are not sacrosanct in their totality. but if faithfully implemented, the nation at least will move towards path of national development. first, development requires total commitment on the parts of the leadership (religion and non-religion). the need for discipline and honesty on the part of the project implementers cannot be compromised; such officials should show enough discipline, interest, willingness, dedication and honesty. without these attributes and the will to pursue set economic goals, all other ingredients of development present would amount to nullity. secondly, there is need for attitudinal change. nigerians must as a matter of fact change their pessimistic attitude towards national development. the anticipated changes should be promulgated by religious leaders since they control a greater number of the populace. similarly, the idea or belief that “things cannot work in nigeria or nigerian factor” should be discouraged. real development is achieved through internal activities rather than from external influences. development is seen as a process generated within a society by forces propagated and invigorated by the actual members of that society. it is believed that true development can neither be started nor sustained by outsiders. although, no country can develop in isolation, but heavy section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 459 emphasis should not be placed on foreign resources for the country’s development. importantly, citizenship should be promoted over indigeneity in order to achieve cooperation and participation of all communities in the development process. omotoso (2008) noted that the 1999 constitution is directly or indirectly promoting indigeneity in the country. for example, section 318(1) of paragraph (iv) supports indigeneity. the constitution sets parameters for indigenes and non-indigenes. it equally gives legal bases to various discriminatory policies that actively promote indigeneity, contrary to some sections that argue against discrimination. this is very contradictory. leadership in nigeria must behave in a way to inculcate the spirit of patriotism in the minds of the people, so that they will be ready to stand with the government in her development efforts. when nigerians see themselves as one and not as belonging to one section of the country as portrayed presently, the urge to develop nigeria will be germinated and sustained. additionally, the need to reform electoral process is imperative for socio-economic and political development. electoral fraud is one of the banes of nigeria’s development. the role of leadership in development cannot be overemphasized, all efforts towards development must be coordinated and directed by the leaders, therefore, the leaders must be development conscious, have genuine interest for development and the political will to propel such development. the leaders must also have the cooperation of the people, because, it is the people that develop a nation. honestly, the aforementioned ingredients cannot be possible without a legitimized mandate for the leaders by the people. when a leader assumes office illegimately or through electoral fraud, such leader is bound to fail in his effort to generate meaningful development. this is due to the fact that such illegitimate leaders tend to display characters that repress development such as; selfishness, corruption, pride, thuggery and inefficiency and also, there is apathy and natural detachment to development plans by the people as they did not see such emerging leaders as the products of their consent through voting. based on the foregoing, the electoral process should be reformed in such away that nobody assumes power (political) through crook or fraudulent means. the process should be made opened, free, fair and competitive. all legal battles preceding the elections must be concluded before any swearing in. this, it is believed, will create genuine environment conducive for development. lastly, development plan should not be exclusively regarded as economic issue it should be seen as holistic and encompassing national 460 formation of the human person in the 21st century issue that cuts across economic, social, political and psychological aspects of human endeavour. conclusion and recommendations this study has x-rayed the place of religion in youth formation in nigeria’s national development. it must be noted that religion cannot be rejected in its totality because of how much it has permeated into our knowledge system. more so, the world is gradually growing into a global village within which all kinds of cross-cultural activities are taking place. religion can be used as a tool or means of promoting national development by nurturing youths to development positive attitude. though religious conflict are master minded by greedy and corrupt politician and religious leaders. the structures of the society guarantees religious conflict, and can be used too to strengthen inter-religions cum denominational cooperation; which will promote national development. religion has a direct impact on the individual, the individual are the once who steer the ship of development, due to their ability to peacefully coexist and use their creativity to better themselves and their environment. it is equally the individual that is used to ferment religious conflict. religion preaches the virtues of peace, love, understanding and goodness. if the individual is highly religious, his moral upbringing will impact positivity on national development. however, it is an urgent task for us to raise our religious norms such that it contributes positively to national development through the cultivation of positive attitude among youths. this must be reflected at homes, in governance and in school curricula at all levels. indeed the opportunity to correct the basic error of our religious beliefs is upon us; this is because it will restore to us our inward beauty, identity, and pride. it therefore behooves us to choose where to belong so that we can proceed in putting measures in place to attack any hindrance to national development which we hope to achieve. government should carry out deliberate effort to promote inter-religious and denominational cooperation, meetings, conferences and universal worship, by creating a platform that will handle such responsibilities. the platform will action the followings: i. to periodically host interreligious/denominational worship. ii. promote high moral standards such as honesty, hard work, obedience and respect to elders and leaders. iii. it should be used to build faith, trust and confidence in both god and fellow human beings. iv. build solidarity, integration and cohesion among the people irrespective of one‟s religious denomination. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 461 v. preach against vices, crime, corruption, indolence, dishonesty and cheating. vi. promote value re-orientation of the people through this platform, churches, mosques, national orientation agency, schools and etc. to depart from existing socio-economic vices, impatience, corruption, electoral violence, that is crippling our polity. references awolalu, a. (2008) philosophical analysis of colonization and decolonization in introduction to religion social and political philosophy (ed). samtech. ayo, s. a. (2011). the concept of religion. the humanities press. bahm, a. j. (1994). the world’s living religions. dell publishing co. inc. chuta, s.c. (2004). corruption in nigeria, nsukka: afor-orbis publications limited. clarke, a. (1994). profiles of the future. holt, rinehart and winston. davies, p. (1993). god and the new physics. simon and schuster. deton, m. (2006). the mind of god: the scientific basis for a rational world. simon and shuster. dopamu, a. p. (2005). the history of the challenging relationship between religion and science. confluence of religions and sciences journal. 1 (12). eliade, m. (2010). the social sacred and the propane. harcourt brace and world inc. forde, a. n. (2002) approaching sociology of religion. mc graw hill international book company. haralambos, m. and heald, r. (2004). sociology: themes and perspectives. new edition slough, university press. harry, s. a. (2006). a short history of the early church. wb erdmans publishing grand rapids. idowu, o. (2002). the religious enslavement of the african mind. ray standard baker and williams e, dodd 2 (216). idowu, o. (2008). religion as both inculcation and emancipation. pesaconf. http://www2.hawaii i/pesaconf/zpdfs/bobo. maman, s. h. (1990). christian dialogue with people of other faith. a seminar paper presented at ahmadu bello university, zaria. mayer, s. a. (1996). religious science: myth or reality. vantage press (120). mimiko, o. (1997). the global village. selected topics on international economic relations. akure: olaniyan publishing company. munasinghe, s. (2004). effective instructions through dynamic discipline. ohio, charles e. merill mutuah, et. al. (2000). nce/dls course book on religion cycle 2 kaduna (162-163). omotoso f (2008). the south-west position on the review of the 1999 constitution. paper presented at the south-west legislative conference on constitutional review, 23rd – 24th june. akure, pp. 510. parrinder sa (1976). religion in crisis. bethesda, md: adler and adler (86-87). parrinder, s. a. (1996). religion in crisis. adler and adler (86-87). 462 formation of the human person in the 21st century parsons, t. (1969). the structure and process in modern societies. the free press (216). pdf on 3rd april 2013. pratt, s. (1996). education course on religion. kaduna press. serrte, d. and hawkini, j. d. (1992). god and men: a survey of the world religions. glasgow blackil and sons ltd (102). tim, h. (1996). windows on science and faith. ubani, a (2003). man and religion in africa: longman nyem ltd ikeja (160). yinger, s. a. (1990). in his explanation of naturism and possible origin of religion. university of tutorial press ltd (110-112). 154 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 0 the seminarian and the digital age: implications for authentic formation gregory ebalu ogbenika & anthony ifechukwude akalue introduction in his message for the jubilee year 2000, the holy father, pope john paul ii called for ‘new evangelization’ with new methods in the propagation of the gospel. this pronouncement of the holy father ushers in a wind for the adoption of notable tools for evangelization in the 20th century. the 20th century is said to be a century of digitalization. in the modern wake of science and technology, there seem to be an unparallel form of civilization when compared with the centuries before now. this is due to the adoption of the modalities and methods of science and technology. the digital age began in 1939 with the construction of the first digital computer. in the sixty-five years that have followed, the influence of digitization on our everyday lives has grown steadily and today digital technology has a greater influence on our lives more than at any time since its development1. this is not to say the age before did not have a share of some level of scientific development. in fact, thales, anaxagoras, rene descartes and a host of others had a feel of this reality. however, it is important to note that the media has been bastardized. some persons see it as an avenue for being immoral. this ranges from the awareness of pornography, sextex, plagiarism and so on. the evil about this is that it is with a click of the button. with the the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 155 aid of digitization, scammers and criminals are on the increase. this is why the percentage of cybercrime has gone on the increase in recent years. for this reason, government has brought in different ways to help check and curb its use and excesses. even nongovernmental organizations have waded into helping in savaging the negative effects of digitization. everyone has a right to technology. human rights are those legal and/or moral rights that all persons have, simply as persons. in the current digital age, human rights are increasingly being either fulfilled or violated in the online environment2. the seminarians who are under formation to be catholic priests are also exposed to these right and privileges of technologies. the question now is: will the dangers of the digital age affect the integrity of the church? will it undermine what the church stands for in the formation of candidate for the priesthood? will the church in general, and the seminarians in particular, benefit anything from the gains of science and technology? does digital media pose any threat to authentic formation? our aim in this paper is to identify some of the challenges of seminary formation in the digital age. the method to be employed will be analytic, prescriptive and systematic. the crises of the digital age science and technology are a twin characteristics of the 21st century. this is because the relevance and impact of science and technology in this age has marked tremendous success in the society. the 21st century is almost merged with the digital age. in other words, it is almost impossible to separate the reality of science and technology from the 21st century. digitalization for the sake of clarification is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format, in which the information is organized into bits3. digitization is of crucial importance to data processing, storage and transmission, because it "allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency and also intermingled".4 the age of digitization seeks to move from the analogue way of doing things to a more sophisticated form. this in a way has improved economic cohesion and foster human interaction. this 156 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age digital transformation and translation is seen and felt in virtually every facet of today’s existence. business moguls and other scientific expatriates excel because of the untiring success of digitization. they all use the potential of digitization to offer humanity smarter and faster services and actively shape their immediate environs with the help of digital transformation5. the digital media affects all sectors of society, in particular economies, religious, education, social, political, cultural sphere. at the same time, it has opened up new networking possibilities, and enables co-operation between different persons from different locations. in fact, with the aid of digitization, the world has now become a ‘global village’. the society of research in making a distinction between the centuries before and the twenty-first century development due to the growth of science and technology states: by the beginning of the (twenty-first) century, the notion of progress was closely linked with technological development, and that linkage intensified in the following decades. the automobile and the airplane changed not only travel but the nature of our cities and towns. radio and then television brought more of the outside world into everyone’s home. knowledge about the causes of diseases brought new treatments and preventive measures. computer appeared, and soon the transistor made them smaller, more powerful, more accessible, and cheaper… organized research and development., which are increasingly international in character, have greatly increased the production of new knowledge. deeper understanding of living organisms is leading toward cures of diseases once thought.6 the point here is that the modern society has benefitted from the gains of science and technology. this benefits range from the invention and management of automobile and aircrafts down to the dissemination of information with the aid of television and radio together with other media forms of communication. even the educational sector is not left out since it has benefited in the way and manner researches are carried out. these researches have helped in no small measure in detecting the causes of some diseases and sickness the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 157 and sought ways to combat them by proffering solutions. no doubt that this will also be of benefit to the political sphere of the state, because a state where all of these are evident is said to be an ideal state. religious leaders will also benefit from it, because they can reach out to so many persons as much as possible from all works of life. the age is also characterized with different mode of social media communication as evident in the presence of the internet. the internet has a major impact when it comes to providing new opportunities that were not previously available in the past centuries. this internet is a channel in constant development, enjoying high attention and being currently used by more than a third of the global population7. giving all of these benefits of modernization in this digital age, there exist some mismanagement of the potency of science and technology. this is evident in the increment of cybercrimes and all forms of media violence in this present age. recent polls have shown by percentage, how crime has grown over time. attacks against information infrastructure and internet services have already taken place. online fraud and hacking attacks are some examples of computerrelated crimes that are committed on a large scale everyday. the financial damage caused by cybercrime is reported to be enormous. in 2003 alone, malicious software caused damages of up to usd 17 billion. by some estimates, revenues from cybercrime exceeded usd 100 billion in 2007, outstripping the illegal trade in drugs for the first time. nearly 60 per cent of businesses in the united states believe that cybercrime is more costly to them than physical crime8. looking at all of these crimes, the document went further to stress on the need to protect one’s information “these estimates clearly demonstrate the importance of protecting information infrastructure”9. the reality of cyber-crime in this modern age has brought in the need for cybersecurity in the society. in fact, the 2010 un general assembly’s resolution on cybersecurity addresses cybercrime as one major challenge. their preoccupation is on the need to collaborate 158 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age with the government of each state to enhance cybersecurity so as to protect critical information for nation’s security and economic wellbeing10. hacking of websites established for the collation of election results is a common language in the conduct of elections in most nations of the world today. the 2016 general elections in the united states and the just concluded general elections in nigeria are still fresh in our memories as instances, where cyber crime and manipulations was perceived to have been adopted in the conduct of the elections by the electoral bodies and even some of the political parties that were involved in these elections. even the reality of engaging in sexually immoral act online is another reality with the digital age. some engage in pornography and other sexual crimes online. looking at all of these crimes, can one say the digital age is beneficial to the human person? since the subject of study is its challenges to seminarians, can one say it is still relevant to the church and seminary formation? a close look at the nature of the church and the urgency of digitalization will help underscore whether or not the digital age is a challenge to those in formation. the church and the digital age the church is the new testament (convenant) people of god united in one faith, one baptism and one lord11. the church as a new testament people has the mission of proclaiming the mercies of god. the church which is a community of the faithful, has a mission to teach and sanctify her members. in doing this, she is called to be open to the reality and challenges of her time. in gaudium et spes, the concillar fathers make bold to state that the church must rise up to the challenges of the present innovations of the society and try to interpret them in the light of the gospel. “the church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the gospel”12. one of the signs of this present age is the reality of science and technology. this is the age in which seminarians of today are formed. it is from this perspective that the church calls for the proper education of the faithful to know how to apply some of the products of science and technology. the document on social communication, aetatis novae says: education and training regarding the internet ought to be part of comprehensive programs of media the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 159 education available to members of the church. as much as possible, pastoral planning for social communications should make provision for this training in the formation of seminarians, priests, religious, and lay pastoral personnel as well as teachers, parents, and students.13 in his message for the world communication sunday of 2010, pope benedict xvi calls on the pastors of the church to embrace the reality of the media in the proclamation of the word of god. he also warns that they are to make responsible use of it. in other words, the use of the media for the proclamation of the word of god must make them efficient, compelling and focused. in his words: all priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of jesus christ, the incarnate word of god, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments … the increased availability of the new technologies demand greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the word, but it also requires them to become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts14. there is no doubt, therefore that the introduction of the media to the proclamation of the word of god is in obedience to the mandate of christ ‘go out make disciples of all nations’. with the aid of the media, the church can reach out to as many as she can in the world; so it is left for the pastors of souls to embrace the missionary zeal of st. paul who said “woe to me if i do not preach the gospel(1cor 9:16). the church sees the rise of science and technology as a product of man’s intelligence and creative skill. it is indeed a new stage of history that must be embraced with bravery and sense of mission. the conciliar fathers assert thus: today, the human race is involved in a new stage of history. profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world. triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and desire, both individual and collective, and upon his 160 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and to people. hence, we can already speak of a true cultural and social transformation, one which has repercussions on man’s religious life as well.15 there is no doubt that the reality of science and technology has changed the face of man’s culture and social interactions, so in order not to allow humanity to be easily swayed by this wind of change, the church has as her responsibility, to nurture the faith of her members in the light of this changing culture of science and technology. any form of neglect in this regard will cause major harm to the flock that has been entrusted to her. it becomes pertinent to state here that if the church fails to utilize this powerful means of evangelization, they might end up feeling guilty in the future as evangeli nuntiandi asserts: the church would feel guilty before the lord if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect. it is through them that she proclaims from the house tops the message of which she is the depository16. this is where the instruction from the code of canon law becomes pertinent: while pride of place must always be given to preaching and catechetical instruction, all the available means of proclaiming christian doctrine are to be used: the exposition of doctrine in schools, in institutes of higher learning, at conference and meetings of all kinds; public declarations by lawful authority on the occasion of certain events; the printed word and other means of social communication.17 so in order not to feel guilty before the lord who has endowed the human person with the knowledge of putting together the technicalities of the media, it is important that the church employ every means necessary for the proclamation of the gospel. this will help the pastoral ministry of the priest and the seminarians under formation. now, a close examination of the different areas of priestly formation will be necessary here. this will help to ascertain the different areas in which technological advancement will affect the formation of the seminarian. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 161 the seminarian and the areas of priestly formation in the light of vatican ii the seminary is an institution where candidates for the priesthood are formed. the institution of the seminary was established by the sixteenth century council of trent. seminaries were charged with the formation of men for the priesthood. the character of seminary education was largely unchanged until the second vatican council (1962–1965).18 the second vatican council has on various occasions dealt with the subject of the life, ministry and formation of priests. the church through the vatican ii document, has done this in a more solemn way during the synods of bishops. already in october 1967, the first general ordinary assembly of the synod devoted five general congregations to the subject of the renewal of seminaries. this work as it were, gave a decisive impulse to the formulation of the document of the congregation for catholic education entitled, “fundamental norms for priestly formation”. the second ordinary general assembly held in 1971 spent half its time on the ministerial priesthood. the result of this synodal discourse were incorporated as recommendations, which were submited to pope paul vi. the recommendations were read at the opening of the 1974 synod. and in their recommendations, certain areas of priestly formation were outlined which include the human, spiritual, intellectual and the pastoral. this is a further proof that the magisterium of the church has always shown interest in the ministry and life of the priests. the seminarian who is a candidate for the priesthood is expected to pass through these four areas of priestly formation. here, an excursus will be made on the four areas of priestly formation. the human formation is seen as the basis of all other areas of priestly formation. this is because it is the human person who will be formed to act in the person of christ. one becomes a priest by first becoming a human being, and if one must become a responsible priest he must first become a responsible human being. this further underscores that the essence of human formation is to make a person acquire and develop certain human qualities in order to relate well with his fellow human beings, so that together they all make out of their relationship one human family.19 162 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the spiritual formation has as its target communion with god and the search for christ. it is a response to the call to holiness of the priest. this demand for personal holiness and other spiritual requirements in the life of priests is obvious. the call to priestly holiness implies the need to constantly look into ourselves so as to be able to discover, the abiding presence of god.20 the priest is called to a life of faith, hope and charity. the essential aspect to be looked into in this quest for holiness include prayer, meditation on the word of god, the love for the eucharist and the blessed virgin mary. the intellectual formation seeks above all man’s intelligent, by which he participates in the light of god’s mind and seeks to acquire a wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards knowing and adhering to god. this is because if we want every christian to be prepared in order to make a defence of the faith and to account for the hope that is in us, then all the more should the candidates for the priesthood and priest have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity.21 all the elements of human, spiritual and intellectual formation, have their cumulative point in pastoral formation. every priest is a priest not only for his own sake but for the sake of god’s people. the formation of the priest must lead him to follow in the footstep of the good shepherd.22 it is to this end that pope john paul ii speaks of pastoral charity which is the summation of the way of thinking and acting proper to jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church.23 this pastoral charity has as its component, the need to be selfless in the service of god’s people as christ did when he laid down his life for his sheep. this task of formation by the church is considered as a continuation of the work of christ as evident in the gospels where he went up a high mountain to call those whom he desired to be with him (mk 3:13-15). this means that the goal of priestly formation is: ‘until christ is formed in you’ (gal 4:19). looking at the above areas of priestly formation, does the reality of the digital age have a challenge to authentic formation? the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 163 the digital age and seminary formation: implications for authentic formation the candidate for the priesthood whose duty is to fulfil the obligation of the pastoral ministry of the church, must rise up to the present challenge of his time. it is the challenge of the reality of digitalization. he must strive to see this tool of the age as a veritable means to fulfil his god given mandate. the use of the media has several implications in the life of the seminarians. junko yamamoto and simeon ananou noted four implications of technology to the life of the human person. these implications are: cognitive, social, ethical and emotional implications24. on our part we will add the spiritual implication since spiritual formation is one of the four areas of priestly formation. however, it should be noted that these implications will be situated on the seminarians in formation 1. the seminarian and his mental state: cognitive implication the use of technology has a way of facilitating our mental state. it makes the mind alert at sending and responding to a message and reacting to issues at large. this is because it is expected that one must think and reflect in order to send or respond to a message. however, it becomes disastrous when one responds to issues via social media when such an individual is absent-minded. this is common when the seminarian is trying to multitask; that is, doing many things at the same time and at that same time typing or sending a message via email, whatsapp, or facebook. multitasking has become a predominant behaviour among technology users. watching tv and listening to music on a portable device while drafting an email and trying to respond to occasional text messages from friends is becoming a common practice. the question one might ask is, “how well the human brain is able to process and assimilate multiple unrelated information and tasks?” after all, the brain can only process approximately seven spans of information in working memory25. this simply means that doing so many things (more than seven spans of information for the brain) while trying to disseminate information via the media can be dangerous. the candidate for the priesthood must guide against this danger. 164 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the danger becomes more when it is a hurting messages to another person that may affect the person’s psyche. such an atrocious act has a negative impact on the recipient of such a message; and the retraction more often than not makes no difference. junko and simeon says “ (in) electronic communication, it is impossible to take back a comment and have it erased from the person’s memory when the electronic user has not employed the ability to think before sending, posting or sharing content”26. for the seminarian to give a healthy post or message, the mental faculty must be a reflective one knowing fully well that it will be received by someone who may not have the mental strength to understand the intention at which a message is sent to them. 2. the seminarian and socio-pastoral interaction: the social implication there is no doubt that the influence of the media has a way of making one to reach out to numerous persons no matter the distance. through the aid of cell phones, video chats, e-mails and so on, the seminarian on formation is able to reach out to so many persons within a short space of time. this eventually will be a boost to his pastoral aspect of his life. this social cum pastoral interaction in the digital age is not hindered by location, this is because with the click of a button, one can reach out to those who are miles away. however, it becomes worrisome when one prefers this form of interaction to a face-to-face interaction. it becomes bad when the candidate for the priesthood does not feel the need to give that physical touch to people which christ, his model, gave to all those who encountered him. face-toface interaction is necessary at times because it is not every hurt that can be healed online. the point here is that it will be difficult to ascertain or identify the cause of a conflict if one does not engage in a one-on-one conversation with the person or persons involved. this is why junko and simeon say “it is hard to identify the source of conflict when tone of voice, body language, and facial expression are missing”27. one can be easily misunderstood when there is no physical contact with one another. this is why the seminarian must not lose sight of personal physical touch on the people he is called to socially interact with, no matter how enticing the fastness of scientific gadgets are. he must see that his interaction with people is not hindered in anyway. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 165 on his part, he must guide against individualism. this is because the unhealthy use of social media has made people more lonely than ever. 3. the seminarian and his emotional disposition social interaction has a way of influencing the emotional disposition of the individual and the seminarian is not an exemption. the seminarian must be careful of his integrity and reputation because the media can upload stuffs about him that will leave an indelible mark on his integrity; this no doubt will affect his emotional disposition towards the society. “technology allows us to upload embarrassing videos and pictures of others (and yourself) on a public platform such as youtube, instagram and facebook and it can be sent to hundreds of people with a mobile device. moreover, such insults can remain permanent. emotional scars from such humiliation can be extremely severe”28. this point is necessary because the seminarian must note that integrity is like a glass once shattered, can hardly regain its original look. this is so because science and technology has made the world a global village. an offence done in the east coast of the world, for instance, can spread very fast to other part of the world such that it becomes difficult for the seminarian to easily get off such scandal. even sexually inclined messages has a way of influencing the emotional disposition of seminarians. it is important to state that most of the technological gadgets house pornographic sites such that, if one is not careful one begins to act what is seen in that platform. 4. the seminarian and the ethical implication of research works of the four areas of priestly formation, the emphasis on the intellectual formation is very much encouraged. this is because the intellectual formation of the seminarian, will help him see the need to discern the mind of god. it will help him give answers to the prevailing confusion that has rocked the cohesion of the church’s magisterium. the media here will be of utmost assistance because it affords the seminarians the opportunity to visit numerous libraries of high repute online for proper research. it becomes very sad, when the candidate for the priesthood does not see reason to work hard to develop himself academically. it 166 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age becomes very pathetic when the seminarian sees the innovation of science and technology as a means for making hazardous researches. one must guide against the unhealthy use of facebook, answer.com, medlibrary.org, nih.gov, appers.com, encyclopedia and wikipedia as avenue to cheat academically. in other words, it is against the ethics of research for one to use the social media to plagiarize. commenting on this, junko and simeon say “abundant information from the internet makes plagiarism easy. while a small portion of students admit giving into the temptation to copy others’ work and submit it as their own, a large majority of students perceive cyber-plagiarism as a practice that is prevalent among their peers. the degree of separation between perception and reality in cyber-plagiarism exposes the ethical gap that exists in the academic honesty in the digital age”29. plagiarism is an academic fraud that is frowned at all times in the academic arena. since cyberplagiarism is a crime punishable by law, the seminarian must guide against his actions; this is because, it will be scandalous for a candidate for the priesthood to be jailed for plagiarism. 5. the media and the spiritual implication of formation spiritual formation is an important aspect of the formation of the candidate for the priesthood. this is where they are called to be in close union with god who has called them; for cut off from him, they can do nothing (cf. john 15:5). this simply means that the seminarians must constantly seek god’s face; they must constantly seek his will and do it without hesitation. it is in obeying their maker without hesitation, that their soul is guaranteed a place of rest and happiness for their heart is restless until it rests in god. there is no doubt that science and technology can also help in fostering worship and close union with god. this is because the social media gadget has the space for the downloading of bibles verses, the psalms, the liturgy of the hours, prayers of the church, hymns and so on. all of these help to uplift the soul of the seminarian be that as it may, care must be taken so that one does not spend time adopting the spirituality of the media rather than the spirituality of the church. in other words, one must be careful not to be distracted with other capacities of the gadget while one is praying for instance. it will be wrong to see seminarians praying the divine office with an electronic device and at the same time chatting on the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 167 whatsapp, facebook or yahoo messenger. this no doubt will hinder the real nature of effective prayer. on the other hand, some persons are so engrossed with the workings of technologies that they sacrifice the time for spiritual activities. this is evident when one might have succeeded in downloading or installing somewhat ‘interesting’ applications on their phones, computers or ipad for instance. these applications might have ripple effects as the attention of the seminarians may be drawn to it so much so as to forget that time for prayers and other useful spiritual activities have long passed. benedict xvi warns the priest and the candidate for the priesthood thus. “priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to christ. this will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also, will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the ‘web’”30. looking at all of these implications, can one readily say that technological training of seminarians in this digital age is necessary? the immediate response to this will be positive. this is because the seminarian is formed for the 21st century and as such must be ready to apply himself to every resources at his disposal for the proclamation of the gospel. this is where educating the candidate for the priesthood on the use of social gadget becomes indispensable. education is intended to make them more human by stimulating their creativity, cognitive abilities and ethical value31. benedict xvi stresses the important of educating those in formation on how to use the gadgets when he asserts “using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ. they will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the lord”32. as the holy father noted, a proper education on the use of the media is very important this is because when technology is not well co-ordinated, it can distract the process of strengthening humanity. knowledge of a thing will help one know how to use it and how to 168 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age teach others to use it. how can the seminarian teach those of the 21st century the ethics of the use of technologies if he himself is not grounded in it? this is where it is necessary to incorporate the ethics of science and technology in the formation of the candidate for the priesthood so that they may make useful impact to this age. the seminarians can only teach people how to use the media when they know its workability. to be able to meet up with the responsibility of the media in this digital age, there must be proper formation of the “will” in the use of digital gadgets. this will enable the seminarian know how to make good decisions on the use of the media and teach others same. the seminarian must know the ideal place and situation where the use of internet electronic devices are necessary. those in charge of forming candidates for the priesthood must see to it that the norms of cyber ethics are taught so that the seminarian will be more cautious of their use. conclusion accordingly, from the above, let us embrace the use of the media with the right disposition. this is because the media which is a product of the digital age has its deep influence on the church where it will help both her leaders and her members to grasp the reality of life. the church has a lot to benefit from the proper use of modern media as boniface asuzu citing harry skornia says “a noncommunicating church is unthinkable. and to communicate we must use the communication tools of our age not in an half-heated way … but as a primary (tool)”33. so there is no gain demonizing the use of the media on the ground of its negative influence alone; a thorough investigation on its positive aspects must be explored so that the richness of the church will be savoured by everyone most especially the seminarians in formation, who will be the future leaders of the church. this will help him overcome and meet up with the contemporary challenges of the digital age. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 169 endnotes 1 andrew d. murray & mathais klang. human right in the digital age https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30527170_human_rights_in_the_digit al_age last accessed 28th july,2019. 2 kay mathisen “human right for the digital age” journal of mass media ethics: exploring questions of media morality. vol 29 2014 p.2 3 digitization/digitisation" in collins english dictionary, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/search, accessed 15th of october 2019, 4 cf. mcquail , d mcquail’s mass communication theory (4th edition), sage :london sage, 2000, pp. 16-34 5 daniel schallmo et al “ digital transformation of business modelsbest practice, enabler and roadmap” international journal of innovation management vol. 21 no. 2017 1-17 p.1 6 science, technology, and the federal government: national goals for a near era. washington https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9481/science-technology-and-thefederal-government-national-goals-for-anational academy press 1993 p 9, accessed 28th july 2019 7 alexandra talpau. “social mediaa new way of communication”. buletin of the transvania university of brasov vol. 7 (56) no. 2 2014 p. 45 8 understanding cybercrime: phenomena, challenges and legal response. http://www.itu.int/itud/cyb/cybersecurity/docs/cybercrime%20legislation%20ev6.pdf september 2012, accessed 28th july, 2019. 9 ibid 10 ibid p. 2 11 emmanuel akalue, the true church of christ: a theological discernment of god’s will for his church. onitsha: blue prints ltd. 2006 p.4 12 paul vi. pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world gaudium et spes december 7, 1965 n.4 13 pohn paul ii, pastoral instruction on social communications aetatis novae, on the twentieth anniversary of communion et progression. vatican city 1992 n.28 14 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message: the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 16th may, 2010 15 vatican council ii, gaudium et spes, n.4 16 paul vi, apostolic exhortation evangeli nuntiandi december 8, 1975 n .45 170 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 17 the code of the canon law. new revised english translation. theological publications, india. 2010 n, 761. 18 david oakley. “seminary education and formation: the challenges and some ideas about future developments” international studies in catholic education. vol. 9 2017 p. 1 19 oredipe, paul. saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today. benincity: floreat systems 2018, p. 25 20 ibid p. 35 21 john paul ii postsynodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis lagos: ambassador publications 1992, n. 51 22 oredipe, saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today p. 54-55 23 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, n. 21 24 junko yamamoto & simeon ananou “humanity in the digital age: cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical implications” in contemporary educational technology, 2015, 6(1), 1-18 p.1 25 ibid pp 3-4 26 ibid p. 3 27 ibid p. 5 28 ibid p 5 29 ibid p. 7 30 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message. the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 31 junko and simeon, “humanity in the digital age: cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical implications”, p.7 32 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message. the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 33 boniface asuzu, communications media in the nigerian church today. rome: tipografia ugo detti 1987 p 112 nigeria and the question of climate justice 1 anthony ikechukwu kanu, osa abstract the world has witnessed series of natural disasters that are driven by climate change, and in most cases, the result of anthropogenic activities. nigeria, alongside other countries of the world, faces the threatening consequences of climate change and other forms of environmental degradation. this paper, which takes the form of a case study, is a response to the question of the general level context of nigeria's struggle with the challenges of climate change. it has analyzed nigeria's natio nally determined contributions (ndc) through the lens of climate justice, considering the wider policy frameworks at the national level. it, therefore, touched on the national effort towards keeping 1.5c alive, transition to green energy, the provision for food sovereignty, the capacity of the government to nance for mitigation, adaptation, losses and damages, and nally, the promotion and protection of the roles and rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the preservation of biodiversity. this paper applied a hybrid methodology, which includes collection of data from national and international sources, and from the empirical research of nigerian scholars. these were analyzed critically and presented thematically. it submits that, while the nigerian state is doing her own bit in the direction of climate justice, there is still much to be done, which require more national commitment and international collaboration. keywords: nigeria, climate change, justice, environment, biodiversity i. introduction climate change constitutes one of the greatest threats not only to human existence but to sustainable human development. it is globally agreed to be real and caused by both natural and anthropogenic 2 factors . this report, however, focuses more on anthropogenic activities in nigeria that are bringing about variable rainfall, episodic ooding, drought, desertication in some parts of the country, 3abnormal rise in sea levels, land degradation, etc , and the broad question of nigeria's efforts towards adapting to and mitigating climate change. nigeria is located in west africa, having a total area ndof 356,669 sq mi, making it the 32 largest country in the world. it is bordered in the north by niger, in the east by chad and cameroon, in the south by the gulf of guinea of the atlantic ocean and the west by 4 the republic of benin . as a result of anthropogenic activities, it has been observed that the green house gasses (ghg) have been rising since the industrial revolution. this comes from fossil fuel that produces 5 carbon dioxide (co2) , which constitutes two-third of the 6greenhouse gasses . the recognition of this threat led to several conferences and bilateral agreements with commitment from states to deal with the causative factors. this report focuses on nigeria's commitment to this global vision and effort. it will report on nigeria's effort towards keeping 1.5c alive, transition to clean energy, food sovereignty within the context of climate change, nancing for mitigation and the contribution of indigenous approaches to the conservation of biodiversity. ii. nigeria and the 1.5c commitment 7 that the conference of the parties (cop26) held in glasgow on 13 november 2021, the nearly 200 countries in attendance including nigeria, had a climate pact in which they agreed to limit temperature rises to 1.5c and revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets 8to 2020 known as nationally determined contributions (ndcs) . the progress on this will be determined by a yearly round table report 9on global progress . the credentials of nigeria in relation to domesticating international agreements is quite impressive. apart from being a 2 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 party to the unfccc in 1994, ratifying the kyoto protocol in 2004 and implementing the requirements of the protocols and agreements which includes setting up administrative machinery and 10implementing associated projects , nigeria, following the agreement at cop26, has signed the climate change bill into law with the hope of developing adaptation and mitigation plans. however, there are several factors that affect the translation of these plans into action. the rst is the absence of an accurate data due to poor technology systems and adequate commitment to 11reporting current emission level . this is further compounded by a weak legislation that is necessary for ensuring increment of climate12 friendly activity . the approval of the petroleum industrial bill by the federal government, which will attract new investments into oil and gas is not in line with the paris agreement, and thus not a good sign. another difculty is the inability of the nigerian government to diversify its economy from an entire dependence on non13 renewable fossil energy . there is also the factor of lack of community ownership of the project as a result of a poor commitment on the part of the government to work closely with local 14communities, civil societies, stakeholders and developing partners . this is not unconnected with the poor coordination among federal government's ministries and agencies which shows that climate 15 change is not currently mainstreamed into policy plans and targets . the amount allocated to climate change related matters in the budget 16 is not strong enough for an effective positive action . more so, the plan of the country to expand its domestic, regional and export gas markets, the plan to revive its coal domestic production through the 2018 national energy policy, poor reliable electricity grid that makes citizens spend much on generators, shows indices of dilemma that is at odd with nigeria's resolve to reduce its emissions by 20% by 2030 and 47% conditionally on international 17support . iii. transition to clean energy there is a global emphasis on the need for transitioning from the present energy system dominated by fossil fuel to green energy. in 3nigeria and the question of climate justice this regard, nigeria has met the requirements for participating in clean development mechanism (cdm) projects (tasked with the 18 responsibility of reducing ghg emissions) . in 2006, nigeria established a designated national authority (dna) tasked with the evaluation, endorsement and approval of cdm projects based on national sustainable development criteria, tracking cmd projects 19 and giving unfccc an annual report . the nigeria's department of climate change under the ministry of environment has at least eleven cdm and six national/regional projects under the program of activities (poa). through this, she had recorded notable emission reductions, for instance, from 2015 to 2021, nigeria has recorded annual emission reduction of 6,967 gigagram and 215 gigagram 20respectively . nigeria has consistently made submission of reports in this regard in 2003 and 2014 to unfccc. going by to the 2022 global gas flaring tracker report, nigeria has improved in reducing gas aring. this is also seen when viewed against the report of gas aring in 1991 which was at 4% (13% of the world's total volume of ared gas) with nigeria as second after russia. it is hoped that if the country works on her inefcient methods of exploiting its non-renewable energy resources and the survival strategies adopted by its teaming population, it will further drop below the rst 10 countries. table 1: gas aring volumes 2016-2020 (billion cubic meters) no countries 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 changes from 2019-2020 1 russia 22.37 19.92 21.28 23.21 24.88 1.66 2 iraq 17.73 17.84 17.82 17.91 17.37 -0.54 3 iran 16.41 17.67 17.28 13.78 13.26 -0.52 4 usa 8.86 9.48 14.07 17.29 11.81 -5.49 5 algeria 9.10 8.80 9.01 9.34 9.32 -0.02 6 venezuela 9.35 7.00 8.22 9.54 8.59 -0.95 7 nigeria 7.31 7.65 7.44 7.83 7.20 -0.63 8 mexico 4.78 3.79 3.89 4.48 5.77 1.28 9 china 1.96 1.56 1.82 2.02 2.72 0.70 10 oman 2.82 2.60 2.54 2.63 2.52 -0.11 21 22 23 24 source: noaa , payne institute and colorado school of mines , ggfr 4 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 according to the 2022 global gas flaring tracker report, nigeria thranks 7 among the 10 countries with highest gas aring who contribute 75 percent of the world's gas aring. ahead of nigeria are russia, iraq, iran, the united states, venezuela, algeria. the three countries behind nigeria include: mexico, libya, and china. although the country has remained in the top seven aring countries, it has nonetheless steadily reduced its aring: flaring has declined from over 25 bcm in 2000 to close to 7 bcm in 2020, while oil production has remained essentially at at around 2 million barrels a day. these notwithstanding, the commitment of nigeria is heavy at the level of policies and agreements without sufcient action 25towards implementation . a major aw in the cdm and poa projects, according to nwozor, is their lack of effort towards 26developing the green energy potentials of nigeria . there is also the problem of incapacity of nigeria to put in place sufcient technologies to ensure the achievement of national targets on green 27 renewable energy . at the moment, there are efforts towards expanding the country's hydorcarbon reserves, the use of inorganic fertilizer is still very high, the improper disposal of industrial wastes are seen in most major cities. these notwithstanding, the policies of the country emphasizes its commitment towards mainstreaming renewable 28 energy in line with global aspirations . given the rising population and decit in development, nigeria will require international support to translate these policies into action as she is still far from achieving her target of transition to green energy by 2030. iv. food sovereignty and changing climate nigeria has consistently made efforts towards food sufciency in the 29past . these attempts, however, have done very little to address the underlying causes of declining agricultural capacity. in 2018, an estimated 25 million nigerians were undernourished. this is up by 180% given the records of the previous decade. out of an annual demand for wheat of 3 million tons, only about 100,000 are produced in the country. this is based on poor nancial aid to farmers, extreme temperatures and unpredictable precipitation patterns, recent jihadist 5nigeria and the question of climate justice insurgency and its offshoots in the north eastern and north western parts of the country already experiencing decline in agricultural production by almost 55%, poor mechanized system of farming, dependence on rain for agriculture or on the natural weather 30conditions of localities , increased desert encroachment in the northern part of the country, erosion, ood, environmental 31 32degradation in the southern part of the country , poor storage and 33 huge increase in population growth . from the data reported by the global food security ranking thin 2022, nigeria ranks the 97 county out of the 113 countries on record. table 2: 2021 global food security ranking no. country year trends 1 nigeria 2012 39.0 2 nigeria 2013 2.1 3 nigeria 2014 -1.6 4 nigeria 2015 1.4 5 nigeria 2016 1.5 6 nigeria 2017 -0.5 7 nigeria 2018 -1.4 8 nigeria 2019 2.1 9 nigeria 2020 1.4 10 nigeria 2021 0.1 34source: gfsr 2021 even though the overall trend is positive at +2.3, it is still not enough to ensure food security. in fact, the federal ministry of agriculture 35 lamented that 65% of the population of nigeria is food insecure . with nigeria's population projected to double by 2050 to 400 36 million , the country lives with a catastrophy in view. v. climate finances the challenges that come with climate change require nances to 37 tackle . unfortunately, most developing countries like nigeria do not 6 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 38 have enough nances to tackle the challenges of climate change . more so, the world bank formerly expects a nancial cost of 10-40 billion dollars annually for developing countries, and currently 14039300 billion dollars annually . this posses a serious challenge to countries like nigeria. table 3: aggregate budget expenditures for adaptation (2013–2020) no. year total naira share of total adaptation budget share of adaptation budget to gdp 1 2013 10,753,404,222 34.05% 0.0168% 2 2014 2,591,421,756 8.20% 0.0038% 3 2015 238,646,377 0.76% 0.0003% 4 2016 1,786,363,620 5.66% 0.0026% 5 2017 6,122,821,038 19.39% 0.0088% 6 2018 1,099,037,404 3.48% 0.0016% 7 2019 4,986,075,679 15.79% 0.0069% 8 2020 4,006,552,629 12.69% 0.0057% total 31,584,322,725 40 source: oyimadu and uche 2021 from the foregoing budgetary allocation for tackling climate change and the nancial allocation expected by the world bank, it is obvious that many developing economies like nigeria cannot deal with the issue of climate change without external aid. this explains why a major source of the ow of nancial resources for adaptation mostly comes from developed countries. however, most times, the requirements for accessing these international sources of funds require stringent conditions. this notwithstanding, from the dimension of funding, nigeria cannot fund the adaptation of climate change alone and will, therefore, require external assistance from developed economies and non-governmental organizations. 7nigeria and the question of climate justice vi. indigenous peoples and biodiversity conservation indigenous knowledge systems are a signicant resource which contribute greatly towards increased efciency, effectiveness and sustainability of the environment. so far, the major way through which the nigerian government promotes and accounts for the roles and rights of indigenous peoples and local communities is through representation in governance through the local heads of communities and villages. through them, the voices of the local people are heard, and through through them the government communicates with them in the language that they understand better. regarding the contributions of indigenous knowledge systems to the preservation of the environment, the following are notable: i. their conceptualization of nature as mother, source of life, nourisher, supporter and teacher, brings a new perspective to the 41understanding of nature . ii. motherhood also introduces the concepts of respect, love, care, empathy, support, patience, etc., which are indispensable for the 42promotion of the good health of the environment . iii. the understanding of nature as manifestations of great spirits, means that they are not just considered as things or properties. 43 they are spiritual personalities deserving of respect and care . iv. traditional rites, rituals and festivals become become opportunities for the renewal of nature, as in the case of planting 44of trees . v. the environment is understood as a part of the human world. its destruction would have direct consequences on the health of the 45 human person . in view of the necessary roles of indigenous peoples in the preservation of the environment, there is need for the government to recognize their role in conservation, and thus, include them in discussions about climate change. they need to be given the opportunity to speak for themselves. vii. conclusion nigeria as a country is currently experiencing the severe 8 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 consequences of the mismanagement of the environment, which is 46posing a serious threat our collective existence . in the face of the foregoing, chiras avers that: “together, the problems of overpopulation, depletion, and pollution have created an ecological crisis – a threat to the integrity of natural systems of which humans 47are part, and, therefore, a threat to the survival of human life” . the present report is a contribution to knowledge in the form of a case study as it focuses on nigeria's experience and efforts toward dealing with the challenges of climate change. it analyzed nigeria's nationally determined contributions through the lens of climate justice, considering the wider policy frameworks at the national level this piece remains a very signicant contribution to studies in climate change, and its speciality and focus on the nigerian state has allowed for a broader study that gives a peculiar picture of the situation of climate justice in nigeria. it strongly believes that while the nigerian state has committed in the direction of climate justice, there is still much to be done. climate justice will be achievable if the government gives it the consideration due to it. this effort, however, will remain insufcient without the interventions of developed economies and non-governmental organizations. . 1 ikechukwu anthony kanu, osa is a friar of the order of saint augustine, province of nigeria. he is a professor of african philosophy and religion at tansian university, and also an adjunct to the university of jos; veritas university, abuja; st albert the great major seminary, abeokuta and the augustinian institute, makurdi. he is also the president of the association for the promotion of african studies. 2 intergovernmental panel on climate change 2013: the physical science basis working group i contribution to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. cambridge: cambridge university press, 2013. 3 haider, h., climate change in nigeria: impacts and responses. k4d help. rep. pp. 1-38, 2019 4 ade ajayi, j.f.; kirk-greene, a.h.m.; udo, r.k.; falola, t.o. nigeria. available online: .https://www.britannica.com/place/nigeria 5 sovacool, b. k. the history and politics of energy transitions: endnotes 9nigeria and the question of climate justice comparing contested views and nding common grounds. in the political economy of clean energy transition. d. arent. et al. oxford: university of oxford printing press. pp. 16-35. 2017; elum z. a. et al, climate change mitigation: the potential of agriculture as a renewable energy in nigeria. environ. sci. pollut. res. 24. 4. pp. 3260-3273. 2017. 6 crippa, m. et al, fossil co2 and ghg emissions of all world countries: 2019 report. luxembourg: publications of the ofce of european union, 2019; nwozor, a., the new development gulf: climate change and the new face of african dependency. j. sustain. dev. africa. 15. 12. pp. 162-173. 2013. 7 the cop is the supreme decision-making body of the convention. all states that are parties to the convention are represented at the cop, at which they review the implementation of the convention and any other legal instruments that the cop adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements. 8 nationally determined contribution is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts. each party to the paris agreement is required to establish an ndc and update it every ve years. 9 yinka okeowo, cop26 keeps 1.5c alive and nalises paris agreement: nigeria introduces climate change bill. techeconomy. https://techeconomy.ng/2021/11/cop26-keeps-1-5c-alive-andnalises-paris-agreement-nigeria-introduces-climate-changebill.2021 10 nwozor, a. transition to green energy and sustainable development in nigeria: a perspective and evaluative analysis. a paper presented at the iop conference series: earth and environmental science organized by the electrochemical society,. p. 2. 10-14 october, 2021 11 caleb adebayo, why nigeria must stay below the 1.5c limit, the sun rd newspaper, 23 march 2018, p. 2. 12 caleb adebayo, why nigeria must stay below the 1.5c limit, p. 2. 13 caleb adebayo, why nigeria must stay below the 1.5c limit, p. 3. 14 olugbenga adanikin, nigeria highly vulnerable to climate change british high commissioner. international centre for investigative reporting (icir). 20 november 2021 t h 15 niger ia , c l imate ac t ion tracker, 11 february 2022 . http.//: www.climatectiontracker.org th 16 nigeria, climate action tracker, 11 february 2022 th17 nigeria, climate action tracker, 11 february 2022 18 akinyele d. o. et al., clean development mechanism projects for 10 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 developing countries: potential for carbon emissions mitigation and thsustainable development. a paper presented at the 18 national power systems conference, guwahati, india. 19 adejuwon, s. a., clean development mechanism implementation in nigeria: monitoring of sustainable development, nigeria. accessed on 2/12/2015 from https://www.google.cm/nigeria.acp-cd4cdm.org % 2 f m e d i a % 2 f 3 3 3 5 2 3 % 2 f c d m s d m o n i t o r i n g n i g e r i a _ adejuwon.pdf. 20 first biennial update report (bur1) of the federal republic of nigeria under the. united nations framework convention on. climate change (unfccc).https://unfccc.int › resource › nigeria bur1_final 21 noaa 2020 climate change report. https://www.cnbc.com/ 2021/08/26/noaa-2020-climate-change-report-record-sea-levelsgreenhouse-gases.html 22 payne institute. 2020 https://payneinstitute.mines.edu. 23 colorado school of mines, mines by the numbers 2019-202. https://www.mines.edu/about/by-the-numbers. 24 global gas flaring reduction. world bank. https://www.world bank.org/en/programs/gasaringreduction 2020. 25 nwozor, a. transition to green energy and sustainable development in nigeria: a perspective and evaluative analysis, p. 2. 10-14 october, 2021 26 nwozor, a. transition to green energy and sustainable development in nigeria: a perspective and evaluative analysis. p. 2. 10-14 october, 2021 27 ole, n. c., the paris agreement 2015 as a primer for developing nigerian off-grid solar electricity. african. j. int. comp. law. 26. 3. pp. 426-451, 2016 28 nwozor, a. transition to green energy and sustainable development in nigeriap. 2. 10-14 october, 2021 29 laura leddy, nigeria, climate change and the future of food. asp american security project. https://www.americansecurity project.org/nigeria-climate-change-and-the-future-of-food. 30 medugu, i.n.; majid, m.r.; choji, i. a comprehensive approach to drought and desertication in nigeria. manag. environ. qual. int. j. 2008; abaje, i.; ati, o.; iguisi, e.; jidauna, g. droughts in the sudanosahelian ecological zone of nigeria: implications for agriculture and water resources development. glob. j. hum. soc. sci. b geogr. geo sci. environ. 2013, 13, 1–10; laura leddy, nigeria, climate change and the future of food. asp american security project. 11nigeria and the question of climate justice 31 firdaus, r.r.; gunaratne, m.s.; rahmat, s.r.; kamsi, n.s. does climate change only affect food availability? what else matters? cogent food agric. 2019, 5, 1707607; fao; ifad; unicef; wfp; who. the state of food security and nutrition in the world 2018: building climate resilience for food security and nutrition; food & agriculture organization: rome, italy, 2018; edame, g.e.; ekpenyong, a.; fonta, w.m.; duru, e. climate change, food security and agricultural productivity in africa: issues and policy directions. int. j. humanit. soc. sci. 2011, 1, 205–223; fao. climate change and food security: a framework document; food and agriculture organization of the united nations: rome, italy, 2008. 32 ogunpaimo, o., oyetunde z., surajudeen, j., impact of climate change adaptation on household food security in nigeriaa difference-indifference approach. sustainability. 2021. 13. 1444. 33 korir, l.; rizov, m.; ruto, e. analysis of household food demand and its implications on food security in kenya: an application of quaids model. in proceedings of the agricultural economics society, 92nd annual conference 2018, coventry, uk, 16–18 april 2018; ikudayisi, a.; okoruwa, v.; omonona, b. from the lens of food accessibility and dietary quality: gaining insights from urban food security in nigeria. outlook agric. 2019, 48, 336–343; adeniyi, d.a.; dinbabo, m.f. factors inuencing household food security among irrigation smallholders in north west nigeria. j. rev. glob. econ. 2019, 8, 291–304. 34 global food security ranking 2021. https://impact.economist.com/ sustainability/project/food-security-index/index 35 el-ladan, i. climate change and food security in nigeria. in proceedings of the international conference on possible impacts of climate change on africa, institute of african research and studies, cairo university, egypt, 18–20 may 2014, p. 16 36 timothy obiezu, nigeria's population projected to double by 2050. https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-population-projected-to-doubleby-2050/4874956.html#:~: text=the %20u.s.%20census %20bureau%20says,people%20in%20nigeria%20in%202050. 37 d.b. lobell, climate change adaptation in crop production: beware of illusions global food security, 3 (2) (2014), pp. 72-76 38 b. lim, e. spanger-siegfried, i. burton, e. malone, s. huq, adaptation policy frameworks for climate change: developing 12 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 strategies, policies and measures. united nations development programme, new york (2005); s.c. moser, j.a. ekstrom, a framework to diagnose barriers to climate change adaptation. proc. natl. acad. sci., 107 (51) (2010), pp. 22026-22031. 39 world development report 2010. development and climate change, world bank, washington dc (2010); undp. (2016b). the adaptation finance gap report. https://orbit.dtu.dk/ws/ les/ 177810752/50313_unep_gap_report_2016_v5_sb.pdf unep; (2016); r. barr, s. fankhauser, k. hamilton. adaptation investments: a resource allocation framework. mitigat. adapt. strategies glob. change, 15 (8) (2010), pp. 843-858. 40 oyimadu, o. o. and uche d. s., evaluating the nigerian government's nancial obligations to climate change adaptation strategies. climate services. 24. 1-14. 41 kanu, i. a., african eco-spirituality: nature and sources. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african ecological spirituality: perspectives on anthroposophy and environmentalism. a hybrid of approaches. maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012, pp. 1-22 42 kanu, i. a., ala deity and environmental sustainability. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african eco-theology: meaning, forms and expressions. maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012, pp. 109-122; kanu, i. a. , african eco-philosophy: nature and foundations. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african eco-philosophy: cosmology, consciousness and the environment. maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012, pp. 1-18. 43 kanu, i. a., ecological signicance of mmuo mmiri (water spirit) in igbo philosophy and religion. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african ecophilosophy: cosmology, consciousness and the environment. maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012, pp. 31-42; kanu, i. a., igbo-african market days and the conservation of the eco-system. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african indigenous ecological knowledge systems: religion, philosophy and the environment (pp. 41-56). maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012. 44 kanu, i. a., sacred animals as an igbo-african ecological knowledge system. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african indigenous ecological knowledge systems: religion, philosophy and the environment (pp. 1-18). maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012. 45 kanu, i. a., sacred trees/plants: the greening of igbo-african religion. 13nigeria and the question of climate justice in i. a. kanu (ed.). african indigenous ecological knowledge systems: religion, philosophy and the environment (pp. 73-96). maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012; kanu, i. a., amadioha and the quest for ecological balance. in i. a. kanu (ed.). african eco-theology: meaning, forms and expressions. maryland, usa: association for the promotion of african studies, 2012, pp. 181192 46 kanu, i. a., igbo-african eco-spirituality: an indigenous response to modern ecological crisis. a paper presented at the inaugural conference organized by harvard university on ecological th thspiritualities, from april 27 – 30 , 2022, p.3 47 chiras, d.d., environmental science: a framework for decisionmaking. london: addison-wesley publishing company, 1985, p. 5 14 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 250 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age p o s t s c r i p t tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and servant of god leonard oshiokhamele anetekhai “every high priest is chosen and appointed from among god’s people to act on their behalf in relation to god” (cf. hebrews. 5,1). introduction the most exciting expression of the true nature of a priest is one that finds its true meaning in the phrase servus dei – a servant of god. this expression john e. rotelle, in his foreword to the book, the true priest: the priesthood as preached and practiced by saint augustine, is summed up as ‘service’. herein, the church father, augustine understood service as the “true meaning of ordination – service to god in transmitting the message of jesus to humanity and service to the people of god in helping the power of god’s spirit to enter their lives.”1 to this act of service and from a biblical understanding, gerald o’ collins, and michael keenan jones express that priests are chosen by god and not self-appointed. this thought finds its meaning in the old testament passages of exodus 25–30, 39–40; leviticus 8– 9; and number 1–10, wherein yhwh elected priests (and levites) to serve as his instruments for the benefit of the chosen people. in the new testament, jesus also received a divine mandate to serve as high priest of the new covenant. in the same vein, presenting jesus as a role model, the letter to the hebrews 4:1 affirms the human nature of a priest who is chosen from among human communities and placed at tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 251 their service, and also seen as one representing jesus christ ‘who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin’. in both instances, the divine purpose of a priest, as a ‘friend and servant’ is to bring about the sanctification through divine worship and the proclamation of god’s word to his people.2 to fulfil these above objectives, god calls and chooses priests from specific human and ecclesial contexts, and it is to this end that pope john paul ii believes that a priest is chosen for the service of the gospel message.3 it is to this act of service that this write-up discusses the priest as a friend and servant of god’s people. the priest: who is he? as expressed by karl rahner, a priest, as the name suggests – is an elder, a presbyter, in the community, for the community and from the community (cf. acts 11, rom 12, 8; phil 1, 1; 2 tim 1, 6ff). by and large, however, a priest in today’s world is not of the older generation in the sense of biological age and length of life; but his relationship of service to the community is of importance and essence to the priesthood, to which he is called.4 his vocation in the thoughts of john paul ii is a mystery. a mystery, he termed ‘admirabile commercium’; a mystery of a wondrous exchange between god and man. so beautiful a mystery that, a man offers himself to christ to be used as an instrument of salvation, offering himself as it were as another christ. without comprehending this mystery of ‘exchange,’ the human mind cannot appreciate how conceivably the word ‘follow me’ can motivate a young man, to abandon earthly satisfaction for christ sake, in the certitude that if he pursues this pathway, he will find utter personal happiness.5 consequently, to be a priest according to the teachings of saint paul, matthew levering writes that it demands above all to be a custodian of the mysteries of god. saint paul admonishes that god’s people should regard their priest, as servants of christ and stewards of the mysteries of god through their words and deeds. it necessitates that as servants and stewards, priests are found trustworthy (cf. 1 cor. 4, l – 2). the concept of steward he holds, cannot be replaced by any other. it is deeply rooted in the gospel, and it recalls the parable of the faithful and unfaithful steward, as explained in luke 12, 41 – 48). just like a steward, a priest is not the owner of the ‘field’, but the one 252 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age to whom the owner entrusts his goods so that he will manage them justly and responsibly.6 it is to this end that yves congar in affirming the mission and functionality of a priest believes in the word of saint vincent de paul, that “the priest is a man called by god to share in the priesthood of jesus christ in order to extend the redemptive mission of jesus christ in doing what jesus christ did, in the way in which he did it.”7 indeed, in the same way, “the priest receives from christ the treasures of salvation, in order duly to distribute them among the people to whom he is sent. these treasures are those of faith. a priest is thus a man of the word of god, a man of the sacrament, a man of the ‘mystery of faith.’ through faith, he draws near to the invisible treasures which constitute the inheritance of the world’s redemption by the son of god. no one may consider himself the ‘owner’ of these treasures; they are meant for us all. however, by reason of what christ laid down, the priest has the task of administering them.”8 he has the sole task of administering to god’s people the sacraments and the word, despite the many contradictions’ he faces in today’s world. these contradictions pope john paul ii expresses as the: “increasingly witnessing a powerful thirst for justice and peace; a more lively sense that humanity must care for creation and respect nature; a more open search for truth; a greater effort to safeguard human dignity; a growing commitment in many sectors of the world population to a more specific international solidarity and a new ordering of the world in freedom and justice. parallel to the continued development of the potential offered by science and technology and the exchange of information and interaction of cultures, there is a new call for ethics, that is, a quest for meaning and therefore for an objective standard of values which will delineate the possibilities and limits of progress.”9 within these contradictions, the yearning for god and a productive, meaningful bond with the priest is so intense and essential in today’s tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 253 world that, where there is a lack of a sincere and resonant proclamation of the gospel message, there is a growing spread of forms of religiosity without god and the proliferation of churches with few or no real disciples of christ. for the priest and all god’s people, the upswing of these spectacles within given societies and nation is not only a ceaseless motive to scrutinise our consciences as to the sincerity of our witness to the gospel message but concurrently as a sign of how deep and widespread is our christian faith and search for god.10 in all, though, the priest holds various meaning to different people, he is understood to be one who has no holiness of himself, but just a servant of god’s people who acts as a mediator between god and men. through the gospel message and faithful lifestyle, he dialogues and brings succour to god’s people. he is a servant who brings the love and strength of god to those around him and those whom the gospel message brings closer to him. he is also a friend who warms the hearts of those in need, gives consolation to the broken-hearted, comforts the sick, walks even when it means sacrificing his comfort through the dark with those distressed and in difficult situations. the priest as a friend and servant of god’s people a priest is and can be called a friend because of his unique relationship with all god’s people. without misplacing his priestly identity, he is called to be a friend not just of the rich alone, but also of the poor. his duty is that of service, and as expressed by karl rahner regarding hebrews 5, 1, “he is ‘appointed on behalf of men’, and his whole being is pledged to the service of others. he does not exist for himself: he has a function which orientates him with his whole life, his talk, his action, his example, his sacrifice and suffering, to other human beings. he is an apostle just that, sent to serve.”11 as a friend, a priest must be a fellow bearer of suffering, karl rahner believes: “though, it is difficult if as individual, we are vigorous, healthy, successful, enjoying life, and be patient with those who are suffering, whose lot is very different from ours, but it is difficult to avoid getting rid of these people quickly, regarding them simply as 254 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age hysterical, stupid, naive or sentimental. really to share the burden here, to listen, to get interested, to let people say the same things a thousand times, to put up with their whining, this is a great natural gift and at the same time a gift of grace. there must be someone in the world who takes all this on himself, patiently, while being hard with himself, at least in certain particular cases.”12 this task belongs to the priest who is a friend and being a friend does not eliminate from the priest adversaries who look for at all cost to find fault in him. as conceived by st. john chrysostom, “the priest must be armed with weapons of steel-intense earnestness and continuous sobriety of life-and he must keep watch in every direction, in case anyone should find a naked and unguarded spot and strike him a mortal blow. for everyone stands around him ready to wound him and strike him down, not only his enemies and foes but many of those who pretend to love him.”13 as a servant of god’s people, everyone wants to judge the priest, not as human clothed in flesh, not as a human having same nature as everyone does, but as an angel, free from shortcoming and defects like others. however, if a priest fails to notice his imperfections, and works towards eliminating them as is likely for every human person on his journey through this earthly life, even the best of his homilies and his good deeds would be of no avail to enable him to escape the words of his faultfinders.14 the strength of being a friend to all god’s people for a priest, even in demanding situations, is sustained by a christ-like and a common love of neighbour. it is in a true and genuine sense a fulfilment of this christian love of neighbour that a priest gets fulfilment, not just in his core priestly functions, but also in living out as an exemplary human person. for as human by nature, all god’s people are always essentially related to one another, and this nature develops and is communicated in unique ways according to the diverse strata of our human nature. all humans living within the same social environment through mutual understanding are related to one another via the exchange of objective intellectual goods and values, truth and goodness. together with the priest, god’s people are ultimately related to each other as person to person and united with tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 255 one another by the same holy spirit, who elevates, sanctifies and nurtures all humans into the life of one god’s people.15 the above-mentioned demands of being a friend, that is, of relating with god’s people, sums up the church’s teaching on pastoral charity, which is a priest’s total gift of self to the church in the footsteps of christ. christ who ‘loved the church and gave himself up for her’ (ephesians 5, 25). relating to god’s people through pastoral charity is a virtue by which the priest imitates christ in his self giving and service. it is not just what he does, but his gift of self, which manifests christ’s love for his people and determines his way of thinking and acting.16 the church father, st. augustine of hippo in his iohannis evangelium tractatus 123,5 understands this priestly pastoral charity which characterises the exercise of the priestly ministry as an ‘amoris officium’, and pope john paul ii in elaborating this expressed that: “the priest, who welcomes the call to ministry, is in a position to make this a loving choice, as a result of which the church and souls become his first interest, and with this concrete spirituality he becomes capable of loving the universal church, and that part of it entrusted to him with the deep love of a husband for his wife.” the gift of self has no limits and is evidenced in the same apostolic and missionary zeal of christ, the good shepherd.17 it is in this apostolic and missionary zeal of christ that christian communities are created and in the words of karl rahner such communities are: “based on mutual exchange of saving, redeeming and deifying truth and on· mutual benevolence which can touch the salvation that is, the deepest core of the other person; and a community of in exchangeable individual persons. this is and remains obviously the supernatural foundation sustaining the priestly relationship to the other person. if it is true that the priest genuinely possesses and fulfils his priestly nature only when he believes, hopes, loves, is justified and holy, then his relationship to the other person must as such be sustained by that infused, divine virtue of supernatural love in the holy spirit which justifies man and places him in an intimate relationship to god himself and his neighbour. this 256 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age neighbour is really and truly loved in and with god, for god’s sake and in the light of god, and can be loved deeply and intimately only through the supernatural deifying power of the holy spirit whom god has given to us in the supernatural life of grace.”18 within the people of god and the presbyterate, the priestly pastoral charity requires and demands in a particular and specific way that a priest relates with his fellow priests, united in and with his particular bishop, for it necessitates that a priest continuously work in the bond of communion with his bishop and with his brother priests, lest, his efforts of self-denial for the sake of the gospel be in vain.19 this implies that “whenever a priest becomes unconscious through the vice of pride; that is failing to appreciate humility in his priestly vocation, this most radical relationship with church authority, and to his fellow-men which exists in god himself […], he will also fail to come up to the requirements of his work as a priest. it follows likewise that all inner vitality, closeness, personal esteem for the other person must be included in the ‘heart to heart’ of christian love of neighbour.”20 to this love of neighbour which should emanate from that of loving christ and his church as a trademark of the priestly pastoral charity and true friendship with god’s people, karl rahner believes: “should be sustained by supernatural love and, up to a point, represents a quite specific fulfilment of this love. the priest in his mission formally and explicitly wills his neighbour’s salvation, his supernatural union with god, and thus expresses and makes official the inner core of love of neighbour, which is to love him in as much as god loves him. from this standpoint too we see how the merely authoritative, official, institutional factor not only does not define and cannot constitute by itself the relationship of the priest to men, but that this real, warm, vital, selfless, genuine love for the other person as such belongs to the priestly relationship to men.”21 in his dealings, a priest must see things without prejudice and must love god’s people with a priestly spirit, and in labour and sacrifice tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 257 fulfil his function within the totality of human life and human history as god’s sent. by so doing, he fulfils his priestly vocation of service and his proper destiny. for in loving others and showing such love in service, he finds him, who has called him to embrace the priestly vocation.22 a priest is not a mini-god and should not pretend to know all. as god’s servant “he need not feel threatened in his selfconsciousness, self-confidence and self-respect, if there are things in science which he does not understand, if he is not up to date in matters of art,”23 he must never fail to nurture god’s people through exemplary lifestyle. for this reason, which is “for the nurturing and constant growth of the people of god, christ the lord instituted in his church a variety of ministries, which work for the good of the whole body. for those ministers, who are endowed with sacred power, serve their brethren, so that all who are of the people of god, and therefore enjoy a true christian dignity, working toward a common goal freely and in an orderly way, may arrive at salvation.”24 such is the life and task of a priest which makes him utterly and genuinely human, and through this task, he must be able to win souls for god. as an individual, a priest must try to be convincing when he comes up against the critical attitude of others. small and insignificant, he can effectively win over the other only by displaying in the light of his christian faith that it is worthwhile to be a christian. in this status quo, he must be credible also as a human person.25 to be human in a christian way does not only entails conforming to the material world (rom 12, 2) but also implies that those we encounter as christians have the chance to realise that being a christian is not something contrary to human feelings. in this sense, the priest of today must be truly human.26 being human entail embracing all aspects of the priestly formation and as expressed in the words of karl rahner: “the priest of today must be somehow educated in a broader sense without on that account, pretending to be expert in everything. people expect the priest to be an educated man. since we took our final examinations, studied philosophy and theology, we have acquired a certain amount of education, but it is not this that people expect of us today. our education must be more human, and more generally must be 258 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age linked with an interest in just those things which interest modern man. we do not need to know everything. we cannot be atomic physicists, psychologists, palaeontologists, sociologists, literary experts and politicians in our spare time. however, it would sometimes be more reasonable to read a newspaper or to settle down with a novel than to play cards. we must be genuine, educated human beings. this also means that our education must not be merely intellectual, but a personal formation of the whole man including his emotions.”27 as a friend and servant of god’s people, the priest must be a man of prayer and to a considerable extent, must be one who loves and is not self-seeking. however, without prejudice to the priestly official and mandatory powers, the priest of today, can exercise his calling only when his human nature is evident, and when he is humanly credible and brings his faith to bear in his daily activities of life. he must, therefore, been seen by others as a loving, a selfless and a good man. to these latter attributes and good qualities, no priest would want to be excluded, that is being a good man. however, the question today is how is the priestly life making an effect within the society? as a priest, one must continuously ask himself: is my heart and love, really in the priestly work? if not, then even in the sacred priesthood one can just be a ‘blaring gong or reverberating cymbal’ (cf. i cor 13, 1).28 the priest: his relevance of being a friend and servant in modern times in modern language, to be relevant as a friend and servant of god’s people, there are some principles that cannot be avoided which aid the priest to better understand his chosen vocation within the context of a changing society. this essay wishes to advance two basic principles which affect the fabric of our society (nigeria) today, which arguably are pathways for personal growth and evangelical fidelity, not just those who have been in god’s service, but also as a guide for those in formation. the first principle is that the kingdom of god must be the focus of the gospel message – christ who has called us centred his tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 259 mission on the proclamation of the kingdom of god (cf. mk 1, 14 – 15), making, therefore, the gospel message free for all god’s people, by giving himself even to the poor of the poorest. this implies for the priest that, the focus of the universal purpose of the kingdom of god carries along with it a moral implication that enables not just to give oneself in charity to others as stated above, but to be responsive in attitude to the plight and situation of god’s people. this responsiveness demands a change of personal lifestyle, a change in the extravagance of material possession. to bring this to light, focusing on the gospel message requires that a priest eschew the many forms of prosperity gospel messages that characterise the church today all in the name of fame and money. such a prosperity message, which is a ‘brainwashing’ of god’s people who are supposed to be served, is spiritual enslavement for material gains and does not dignify the human person. being a friend and servant of god’s people calls priest today (and priest to be) to renounce the appearance and the reality of wealth and to uplift the spiritual life of god’s people through the gospel message and not to make them more miserable in their endless effort to seek and find god. hence, as pope john paul ii puts it, “the kingdom which jesus inaugurates is the kingdom of god. jesus himself reveals who this god is, the one whom he addresses by the intimate term ‘abba,’ father (cf. mk 14, 36). god, as revealed above all in the parables (cf. lk 15, 3– 2; mt 20, 1–16), is sensitive to the needs and sufferings of every human being: he is a father filled with love and compassion, who grants forgiveness and freely bestows the favours asked of him.”29 to this gospel message, a priest is called to be faithful. the second perspective is the use of authority and power and seeking of notable titles like jesus warns in matthew 23: 7 of the scribes and pharisees, who love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘rabbi’ by others. this principle requires the radical message of equality among the people of god and being god’s people manifest a principle of life, solidarity, dignity and love for people especially parishioners who must be treasured and respected as made in the image and likeness of god. what this implies is that the church to which a priest shares a part is a community of brothers and sisters, where no one can raise himself or herself above others, whether by sort of sacred authority, or teaching 260 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age or administration. it goes further to explain jesus message in john 13, 12–1, when he washed his disciples’ feet, telling them that no-one should dominate others because the only person who has and shows real authority is the one who serves others. as regards the use of authority and power machteld reynart expressing the thought of herman steinkamp in his book die sanft macht der hirten – the soft power of a shepherd holds that within individuals and communities, “power is always present but often hidden. power can take, for example, the form of loving care and service, of self-giving and self-sacrifice, of social support or wellintended guidance.”30 such power michel foucault calls pastoral power. for him, it is a “power that fully penetrates and shapes the life of an individual subtly. foucault viewed it as a new form of power in modern society that no longer can be understood as a hierarchical form of power, characterised by a direct exercise of power by authorities, or described in terms of sovereignty. foucault used the image of the ‘shepherd/pastor’ as a model for this form of power.”31 in defining a true shepherd which a priest in nature should be and the pastoral powers he commands, machteld reynaert with reference to michel foucault writes that: “a shepherd is a person who gathers, guides and leads the herd and who assures the herd’s well-being, even if this drives him or her to extremes. the shepherd is responsible for and has to focus on the entire ‘herd,’ but this is only possible when no ‘sheep’ escape. everything that the shepherd does has to be done both for the benefit of the herd and each sheep. the shepherd has to assure both the general well-being of the herd and the individual salvation of each sheep.”32 it is to this end of being a good shepherd and pastor, that the priest must know the people in all their various classes, the rich and poor alike; he must know the world of the past and today, but, what is more, he must pattern his life on the new emphasis in the image of his vocation as a priest, a minister of service to god and the people of god.33 tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 261 conclusion the priest is a gift from god’s people to god’s people and “without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: ‘go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ (mt. 28,19) and ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (lk. 22,19; cf. 1 cor. 11,24), i.e.: an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.”34 conclusively, if one takes a closer look at what modern-day christian expect from their priests, all we see, in the end, is that they have but one high expectation: they are thirsting for christ above everything else. their economic, social, and political needs are all summed up in their spiritual needs. from every and in every priest, god’s people ask for christ and have the right to receive christ, primarily through the proclamation of god’s word.35 in all, a priest must not try to connect others to god and be left out of god’s connection. he must, therefore, develop and continue to develop his human personality and priestly qualities to be a fit instrument for the tasks of today, and at the same time he must manifest a sense of community, and nothing on his parts must matter more to the people of god he is called to lead than the priest’s personal and living relationship with the master who has commissioned him.36 endnotes 1 michele cardinal pellegrino, the true priest: the priesthood as preached and practiced by saint augustine, (new york: augustinian press, 1988), p. 7 2 cf. gerald o’ collins, sj and michael keenan jones, jesus our priest: a christian approah to the priesthood of christ, (new york: oxford university press, 2010), p. 7. 3 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 5. 4 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood (new york: herder and herder, 1973), p. 106. 5 cf. matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, (usa.: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc, 2003), p. 134. 6 cf. ibid., p. 133. 262 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 7 yves congar, “le sacerdoce du nouveau testament: mission et culte” cited in guy mansini, osb, and lawrence j. welch, the decree on the ministry and life of priests, prebyterorum ordinis, in matthew l. lamb an matthew levering (eds), vatican ii, renewal within tradition (new york: oxford university press, 2008), p. 208. 8 matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, pp. 133 – 134. 9 pastores dabo vobis, n, 6. 10 cf. ibid. 11 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 137. 12 ibid. 13 matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, p. 32. 14 cf. ibid. 15 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 137. 16 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 23. 17 ibid. 18 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, pp. 138 – 139.) 19 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 23. 20 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 139. 21 ibid. 22 cf. ibid., p. 146. 23 ibid., p. 142. 24 lumen gentium, n. 18. 25 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 150. 26 cf. ibid., p. 151. 27 ibid., pp. 151 – 152. 28 cf. ibid., pp. 156 – 157. 29 redemptoris missio, n. 13. 30 machteld reynaert, a web of power: toward a greater awareness of the complexity of power, in: annemie dillen (ed), soft shepherd or almighty pastor? power and pastoral care, (eugene, oregen: pickwick publications, 2014), pp. 8 – 9. 31 ibid., p. 9. 32 ibid. 33 cf. angelo fernandes, vatican two revisited (india: gujarat sahitya prakash, 1997), p. 79. 34 pastores dabo vobis, n, 1. 35 cf. matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, p. 139. 36 cf. angelo fernandes, vatican two revisited, p. 79. index 263 index a abortion, 62 abrogated, 184 abuses, 135, 138 accountability, 223, 225, 227, 233 acquisition, 15, 184, 221 admirable, 197, 211 adolescent, 145, 147 advancement, 53, 88, 160 advent, 51, 121 affirmative, 135 affirming, 43, 49, 74, 252 agenda, 3, 79, 80 agent, 1, 14, 15, 30, 31, 142, 197, 198 ailments, 87 alignment, 141, 239 amorphous, 78 anchored, 100, 181 ancient, 37, 49, 91, 151, 181, 234 annihilation, 84 anointing, 60, 241 anthropology, 69, 82, 108, 135, 136, 145-147 anti-colonialism, 71 anti-structure, 71 apostasy, 62 apostolate, xv, 63, 129, 176, 205, 209, 210, 243 applications, 50, 167, 209 apprenticeship, 206, 208 aristotle, 29, 39, 40, 43 aspiration, 189 assembly, 62, 63, 69, 97, 115, 119, 122, 124, 128, 130, 131, 161, 210 assimilate, 163 astronomy, 37, 42, 51 attitude, 10, 24, 27, 28, 59, 62, 110, 141, 184, 187, 188, 209, 220, 257, 259 auditoriums, 72, 79 authentic, 58, 60, 70, 72, 89, 147, 154, 155, 162, 163, 178, 190, 205, 209, 241 axiom, 101, 104, 106 b baptism, 60, 103, 104, 151, 158 benefit, 60, 61, 64, 155, 157, 168, 188, 260 bishop, 41, 54, 55, 58, 65, 150, 151, 178, 186, 197, 200, 202, 218, 223-228, 233, 242-245, 256 c caution, 27, 135 celestial, 41 centrality, x, 74, 110, 122, 188, 192 charity, 59, 102, 162, 177, 191, 192, 207, 208, 220, 224, 228, 243, 255, 256, 259 chastity, 27, 141 child molester, 63 christianity, xi, xiii, 6, 35, 36, 44, 49, 67-70, 73, 74, 79, 80, 82, 88, 89, 93, 96, 98, 112, 153 clergy, 22, 42, 121, 128, 129, 131, 140, 142, 150, 151, 181, 187, 194, 212, 213, 232, 233, 243 clericalism, 172, 192, 220 combat, 91, 157 264 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age commission, xiii, 76, 129, 151, 226 commitment, 58, 68, 70, 151, 200, 202, 205, 218, 239, 252 complacent, 74, 197 concrete, 30, 122, 131, 141, 144, 146, 148, 149, 192, 202, 209, 255 conflict, 31, 36, 87, 164, 177, 246 constitution, 96, 107, 111, 112, 114, 169, 242 contemporary, 1, 8, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 31, 36, 50, 68, 75, 80, 94, 111, 113, 118, 121, 134, 168, 170-172, 174, 178, 182, 184, 188, 190, 193, 221, 261, 262 context, 7, 14, 16, 18, 71, 103, 176, 178 contrary, 5, 10, 11, 103, 109, 128, 217, 257 conviction, 41, 72, 108, 110, 127 cosmology, 37, 38, 50 creator, 37, 40, 47, 50, 88 curriculum, 32, 77, 129, 146, 174, 184 cybercrime, 155, 157, 169 d darkness, 4, 85, 102, 197 deacons, 54, 57, 137, 138, 150, 152, 202, 240, 244, 245 deceit, 59, 61 deficiencies, 138, 191 demonic, 80, 88 dialogue, 43, 74, 79, 82, 137, 147, 151-153, 167, 176, 204, 218, 229, 230, 242, 243 dimension, 49, 60, 84, 87, 101, 188, 206, 209, 222, 230 diocese, xii-xvi, 20, 55, 64, 65, 100, 151, 195, 201, 206, 222, 226, 227, 229, 231, 232, 243, 244 discernment, 3, 53-57, 65, 66, 148, 150, 169, 173, 175, 180, 187189, 191, 201, 203 discipleship, 96, 143, 186-189, 192, 202, 215 disciplines, 36, 50, 107, 108, 146, 147, 151, 238, 247 discoveries, 135, 136, 145, 146, 148, 150, 192 distinction, 31, 71, 72, 98, 156, 236, 238 diversity, 68, 74, 114, 241 docility, 55 dominican, 40, 41 dynamic, 84, 171, 216, 241 e ecclesiastical, 51, 58, 74, 105-108, 112, 172, 175, 176, 179, 215, 222, 244, 245 effective, 25, 122, 126, 146, 167, 184, 193, 204, 230, 236-238, 243, 246 embodied, 143, 145, 147, 148 embodiment, 145, 146 embracing, 137, 149, 257 emergence, 71, 72, 101, 111 emotions, 55, 63, 85, 145, 189, 258 encouragement, 54, 119, 123, 225 endeavour, 39, 41, 49, 55, 130 endowed, 23, 160, 202, 257 endowments, 31, 62 enlightenment, 3, 4, 6, 49, 56, 105 enriched, 36, 123 epistemology, vii, xiv, xvi equipped, 79, 106, 108, 129, 174, 185 era, 25, 44, 60, 62, 69, 118-120, 142, 143, 169, 171 index 265 essential, viii, 30, 33, 56, 60, 77, 78, 99, 110, 120, 141, 162, 173, 180, 204, 246, 252 eternal, 28, 29, 46, 92, 93, 105, 111, 116, 244 etymology, 26, 65, 84, 114, 115 evaluation, 8, 26, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 184, 190, 201, 226 evangelical, xv, 68, 72, 73, 82, 211, 258 evidence, 32, 36, 40, 60, 61, 64, 135, 150, 236 evil, 30, 122, 143, 145, 154, 178, 191 exhortation, 34, 62, 117, 120, 124, 125, 138, 152, 169, 170, 206, 216, 232, 243 existential, 117, 124, 142, 147, 195, 211 exorcism, 103, 104 experiments, 42, 43, 45 expression, 30, 32, 40, 48, 142, 164, 189, 211, 250 exsufflation, 103, 104 f facilitate, 12, 126, 184, 228 faith, 22-27, 31-36, 40, 44, 47, 50, 51, 56, 57, 60, 61, 69, 74, 75, 78, 84, 85, 89, 93-97, 99, 101, 102, 104-106, 108, 110, 116, 117, 119, 121, 122, 124, 128, 130, 132, 133, 147, 158, 160, 162, 181, 186, 191, 195, 201, 206, 208, 210, 211, 216, 218, 219, 244, 247, 252, 253, 257, 258 faithful, 23, 37, 38, 60, 64, 113116, 121, 124, 126, 128, 151, 158, 172, 173, 178, 187, 190, 197, 200, 202, 203, 210, 220, 242, 244, 245, 251, 253, 259 fluidity, 91, 136 formation, i, v, vii-xii, 1-3, 7-13, 16, 18, 20-25, 28, 32, 33, 35, 50, 53-59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 70, 84, 85, 91, 100, 101, 106110, 129, 130, 134, 138-143, 146, 148, 149, 151, 154, 155, 158-168, 170-232, 257, 258 fornication, 59, 62 g general overseers, 69, 80 genuine love, 55, 256 globalization, 78, 211 grace, 23, 85, 102, 103, 111, 130, 159, 180, 186, 187, 193, 208, 212, 254, 256 greed, 59, 62 h harmony, 35, 144 hazardous, 166, 189 healings, 69, 80, 88 hereditary, 45, 179 hierarchical, 78, 260 holy eucharist, 60, 210 holy, 23, 37, 43, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 66, 70, 81, 102, 103, 105, 114, 117, 130, 151, 154, 167, 173, 175, 186-188, 194, 197, 199, 208, 210, 212, 215, 228, 231, 255, 256 homiletics, 77, 113, 115, 120, 127, 129 homily, 113-132, 194, 210, 233 homosexual, 59, 61, 62, 66, 135, 150 honest, 108, 134, 135, 140, 147, 150, 176, 189, 205, 206, 247 humankind, 35, 36 humiliation, 71, 75, 165 266 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age i illegal, 73, 157 immune, 4, 142 impediments, 61, 62 implication, 7, 9, 104, 163-166, 259 impoverished, 76, 86 improvement, 131, 221, 226, 228, 230 impulse, 82, 161, 174 incarnate, 159, 208 independent, xv, 15, 68, 69, 71, 76, 81, 82 indigenous, 16, 71, 72, 76, 81, 82, 88, 153 indispensable, 101, 129, 167, 179, 187, 220, 231 influence, v, viii, 2, 6, 9-11, 40, 55, 59, 60, 63, 94, 105, 127, 131, 154, 164, 168, 177, 188, 203, 236, 238 initiation, 61, 87, 112 innate, 30, 138 institutional, 191, 256 integration, 33, 100, 192, 196, 207, 209, 211, 217, 230, 237, 247, 248 integrity, 25, 96, 151, 155, 165, 171, 173, 202 intellectual, 17, 24, 26, 29, 36, 47, 57, 62, 79, 92, 101, 139, 140, 149, 161, 162, 165, 175, 179, 180, 184, 185, 188, 202, 204, 206, 207, 209, 215-217, 219, 221, 222, 225, 229, 231, 254, 258 intelligence, 41, 63, 142, 159 intimate, 47, 208, 210, 212, 243, 255, 259 invalid, 4, 145 k kerygmatic, 114, 116 l lacunae, 146, 220 leadership, 55, 57, 59, 60, 62, 65, 79, 82, 138, 142, 188, 193, 234-243, 245-249 linguistic, 139, 147 liturgical, 24, 59, 62, 63, 65, 94, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 108, 110-133, 185, 194, 209, 210, 242, 245 liturgy, 63, 100-121, 123-128, 130, 132, 133, 166, 177, 210, 227, 242 lying, 59, 61, 87 m magisterium, 103, 120, 130, 131, 161, 165 malicious, 63, 157 materialism, 53, 59, 62, 178 maxim, 101, 104-106, 110, 111 meditation, 121, 162, 209 metaphysical, 28, 92, 94, 95, 136, 144 migrants, 72, 73 mission, 32, 57, 59, 60, 63, 64, 68, 70-72, 81, 131, 158, 159, 174, 182, 183, 185, 190, 191, 199, 207, 211, 217, 219, 220, 242, 252, 256, 259, 261, 262 modernity, 72, 82, 86, 89 modification, 104, 111 monastery, 44, 45 moral exhortation, 117, 125 morality, 36, 49, 50, 169, 177, 178 mutual, 12, 55, 76, 78, 106, 124, 219, 239, 254, 255 index 267 mystery, 59, 74, 95, 106-109, 115117, 119, 121-124, 128, 131, 133, 175, 199, 209, 251 n natural, 22, 30, 31, 37, 49-51, 56, 58, 62, 70, 143, 144, 146, 147, 174, 188, 196, 207, 208, 215, 216, 240, 254 neglect, 107, 160 nonchalant, 59, 62 nurturing, 32, 59, 147, 196, 200, 244, 257 o obligation, 54, 163, 199, 200, 210, 211, 219, 227 observable, 45, 47, 57, 137 openness, 5, 9, 12, 13, 55, 61, 189, 204 opine, 140, 147 oppression, 79, 150 orientation, 56, 84-86, 89, 90, 98, 100, 108, 140, 149, 182, 190, 191, 227 overarching, 30, 91 p paradoxical, 145 paramount, 73, 115, 120, 173 parish, 24, 58, 63, 65, 121, 125128, 175, 176, 187, 192, 195198, 200-203, 205-213, 234, 242-247, 249 parishioners, 127, 203, 210, 211, 220, 231, 259 patriarchal, 6, 63, 147 pedagogical approach, 185, 186 penance, 60, 123 pentecostal, 68-75, 78, 80-83, 8891, 93-95, 97, 127, 130 pentecostalism, 67-75, 77-83, 88, 90, 91, 97 perceive, 45, 71, 139, 166, 229, 236 permanent, 58, 84, 165, 186, 216, 219, 223, 224, 226, 232 persuasion, 72, 80, 114, 115 pertinent, 25, 107, 109, 160, 184, 185, 190, 191, 211 plagiarism, 154, 166 pleasure, 125, 148, 152, 153 possibility, 17, 59, 137, 218 potential, 35, 156, 252 pragmatic, 70, 141, 144, 147, 148, 153 prayerfulness, 55, 228 preserve, 60, 171, 180 prevents, 124, 128 previously, 79, 93, 143, 157 priest, viii, xii-xvi priesthood, i, v, vii, x, 3, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 33, 35, 45, 53-65, 100, 109, 141, 143, 146, 148-150, 155, 161-168, 171, 173, 175179, 181, 182, 184, 187, 189192, 194, 195, 197, 198, 200203, 206, 210-212, 214, 215, 242-244, 250-252, 258, 261, 262 priority, 200, 207 probability, 44, 45 proclamation, 59, 62, 70, 117, 122, 124, 159, 160, 167, 210, 251, 253, 259, 261 progressive, 69, 136, 148, 191, 202 pronouncement, 91, 154 prophetic, 116, 143 prosper, 102, 103 prosperity, 88, 97, 259 protestant, 114 prudent, 57, 63 psychedelic, 98 268 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age psychic illness, 62 puberty, 145, 148 r racism, 70, 150 rationality, 91, 92, 95 raucousness, 69 reappraisal, 186 reconciliation, 227 recruitment, 58, 64, 108, 180 redeemer, 113 redundancy, 192 reflection, 26, 32, 37, 48, 59, 69, 74, 100, 101, 103, 106, 109, 110, 118, 130, 142, 171, 197, 198 renaissance, 3, 41, 53 repercussions, 160, 215 responsibility, 54, 55, 78, 105, 108, 121, 129, 146, 148, 150, 159, 160, 168, 178, 199, 204, 205, 218, 220, 224-228, 238, 242, 243, 245-247 revamping, 138, 139 reverberate, 79 revivals, 69, 71, 79 ripple, 167 s sacraments, 24, 59, 61, 62, 114, 117, 119, 120, 124, 130, 159, 230, 252 sacred, 24, 36, 54, 57, 58, 60, 62, 98, 102, 105, 107, 108, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 120, 121, 129, 131-133, 176, 197, 208, 224, 231, 242, 257-259 sacrifice, 24, 58, 167, 173, 196, 210, 253, 256, 260, 261 scandal, 63, 74, 138, 151, 165 scandalous, 166 scholastic, 70, 71 scripture, xiv, 25, 33, 82, 102, 107, 110, 114-116, 118-121, 126, 128, 129 sectarianism, 74 self-sufficiency, 191 sensitivity, 206, 229, 230 service, 25, 33, 50, 58, 60, 61, 65, 151, 162, 169, 170, 186, 197, 198, 206, 207, 216, 217, 226, 228, 232, 243, 247, 250, 251, 253, 255, 257, 258, 260 sexuality, 135-137, 139, 141-143, 145-147, 230 shame, 96, 146 sincerity, 1, 55, 188, 253 solicitude, 209, 223, 224 solidarity, 144, 252, 259 specific, 5, 23, 25, 30, 67, 114, 129, 147, 192, 203, 221, 226, 230, 239, 244, 247, 251, 252, 256 specificity, 70, 192 spectrum, 36, 84, 143, 149 spiritual training, 208 spirituality, 23, 71, 77, 80, 166, 167, 185, 208, 209, 255 stealing, 59, 61, 64 sublime, 224, 246 success, 20, 88, 91, 140, 155, 156, 204 sufficient, 17, 59, 61, 63, 121, 185, 235 suicides, 87 suitability, 3, 54, 56, 57, 61, 63, 65 supernatural, 56, 58, 62, 144, 188, 255, 256 supervision, 176, 206, 210, 226 sympathy, 59, 64 t tendencies, 59, 61, 62, 66, 178, 192 index 269 testament, 37, 38, 50, 60, 92, 97, 104, 109, 118, 119, 158, 198, 206, 250, 262 theological, 37, 39, 44, 50, 61, 70, 71, 73-76, 78, 80, 81, 92, 9597, 107, 111, 115, 116, 118, 129, 132, 135, 141, 143-149, 151, 167, 169, 170, 176, 181, 184, 185, 187, 206, 213, 216 tongues, 74, 80, 82, 88 traditional christianity, 68, 79 transcendent, 48, 92 transparency, 150, 247 u ultimate, 31, 39, 62, 70, 82, 142 unilateral, 184, 187 union, 45, 67, 82, 166, 207, 208, 256 unprecedented, 75, 181 utilize, 160, 224, 226 v vatican, 42, 96, 106, 109, 111, 114, 121, 123, 129, 136, 138, 147, 152, 153, 161, 169, 173, 175, 180, 193, 194, 212, 213, 232, 242, 262 vibrant, 71, 192, 244, 249 vigour, 120, 224 w welfare, 83, 144, 203, 218, 219, 226, 243 wholeheartedly, 108, 121, 205 witness, 61, 78, 108, 119, 124, 188, 216, 220, 237, 253 x xenophobia, 87, 150 resignation as a juridic act: the question of unjustly inflicted grave fear in canon 188 cic thomas oyode abstract every ofce holder in the church has rights which are well protected by the code of canon law. in protecting the right of a person, the church also protects the common good of the church by ensuring equity in ecclesiastical governance. this paper sought to analyse the validity of resignation as a juridical act vis-à-vis grave fear, highlighting a point that a juridical act is only valid when it is performed with freedom and consciousness. however, the deciency of the required freedom and consciousness is dependent on the degree to which grave fear is inicted. the paper, thus, argued that a resignation from ofce could result from grave fear but the fear must never be unjust if the resignation is to be valid. but how do we determine whether grave fear is just or unjust? with a delineation of two main modes of unjust fear, quoad substantiam and quoad modum, we undertook a study of can. 188 cic by which we note that a threat that inicts grave fear is just provided that it is inicted for the exercise of a right or an obligation; to attain a just end, the salvation of souls. introduction resignation from ecclesiastical ofce is, without doubt, a juridical act. the church itself is a juridical entity and acts which are placed within it have juridical consequences. the recent code of the canon law of the latin church presents the canonical doctrine of juridical acts in a manner that is quite systematic. it places it in book i of the code as a general norm for the entire code so that it could be applied in understanding juridical conditions of persons in the church, it could be applied in interpreting the validity of the sacraments when celebrated and, in our context, it could be applied to loss ofecclesiastical ofces. the focus of this paper is on resignation from ecclesiastical ofce. it seeks to analyse the validity of resignation as a juridical act vis-à-vis grave fear. in other words, if a person resigns an ofce as a result of grave fear, is there a way in which the resignation could be said to be invalid, given that juridical acts which are placed as a result of grave fear are generally conceived in law to be valid rescindable? the rights and obligations of the christian faithful is at stake here and, faithful to ecclesiastical communion as proposed by the second vatican council, the code highlights them sufciently in canons 208-231, bearing in mind the fundamental equality of 1christifedeles as seen in canon 204. the paper attempted a concise analysis the concept of juridical act as found in canon 124 indicating the element of grave fear as one of its defects. it, then, explored the canonical notion of resignation from ecclesiastical ofce highlighting its nature as a juridical act. the fundamental part of this paper is a canonical evaluation of how the element of grave fear can vitiateresignation from ofce. it argued that grave fear can be either just or unjust. it is just when it is aimed at the common good of the church. using canon 1742 § 1 as an example, it concluded by holding that grave fear does not vitiate resignation from ofce when it is justly inicted. juridical acts and the defect of grave fear omnes de nitiones periculo sussunt, says the latin maxim. precisely for this the code does not dene juridical acts. according to thierault, it is difcult to dene juridical acts in canon law but it is 2 3 not impossible. thus some authors only provide descriptions while 4others attempt a denition. juridical act and juridical facts: a distinction juridical acts are different from other acts. juridical acts are commonly distinguished from juridical facts as both could be easily misconstrued. a juridical fact is that which has a juridical 62 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 consequence; the law ascribes juridical effects to it such that questions of right and obligation may arise ad normam legis. however, juridical facts only serve as sources of rights and obligations they are not rights and obligations in themselves neither 5do they serve as an exercise of rights and obligations. on the other hand, there are certain facts that are not beyond the will and choice of 6the subject or person. these are made voluntarily according to the norms of the law. they are called juridical acts. juridical acts are those acts that are performed with personal freedom and with a free intention to produce a juridical effect. in this sense, while the law itself is the source of juridical facts, the source of juridical acts is the human will; take away the human will and its acts lack juridical effects, it lacks validity as a human act. thierault puts it clearly: “actus humanus socialis legitime positus et declaratus, cui a legeideo et eatenus effectusiuridicusdeterminatusagnoscitur, quia et quatenus 7 effectu silleabagenteintenditur”. thus, a juridical act is an act of will externally manifested with certain juridical effect in view. the human person is central here as a subject of rights and obligations. the effects of such a freely placed act are recognized by the law because the law also recognizes 8the private autonomy of the human person. for this same reason, a juridical act must be a human act as different from an act of man. an act of man does spring from the will of the person; it is mechanical, involuntary and reexive. some of these reexive acts can be 9 conscious but they transcend the control of man's will . on the other hand, a human act is an act of man placed consciously and 10 voluntarily , per rationemetvoluntatem. it is a deliberate and responsible act. if there is an absence of sufcient knowledge/ consciousness and a determined will an act cannot be said to be a human act. juridical act is also relational; it is social. it must relate with an external element. thus a mere desire is not enough to place an act. a good example is marriage; it is not enough to desire to marry a person it must be freely expressed in a matrimonial consent by a person who is capable by law. it must also be legitimate, 11positusadnormamiuris, following the stipulations of law. 63resignation as a juridic act validity of a juridical act in canon 124 § 1 having described what a juridical act is, let us now take a look at the elements that make it valid. as noted above, canon 124 § 1 only d e s c r i b e s a j u r i d i c a l a c t a n d i t s v a l i d i t y : a d validitatemactusiuridicirequiriturut a persona habili sit positus, atque in eodemadsint quae actumipsumessentialiterconstituunt, 12necnonsollenmiaet requisite iureadvaliditatemactusimposita. the law thus proposes certain elements for a valid juridical act giving rise to an important distinction between a valid act, an invalid act and a non-existent act. a juridical act is said to be valid when it is efcacious; that is, it produces a juridical effect when it is placed by a legally qualied person with a capacity to act. the law says that only a validly ordained priest (male) can validly celebrate the mass. if a female religious celebrates the mass she is not qualied (un-ordained) and so lacks the capacity to act. such mass is invalid and non-existent because it lacks the essential and constitutive element of a valid 13 priestly ordination reserved only for viretbaptisatus (cf. can. 1024) . a juridical act is said to be null when the constitutive element is there but the procedures and formalities requested by law are absent. resignation from ecclesiastical office: a consideration of canon 188 cic notion of resignation from ecclesiastical ofce chiappetta describes resignation from ofce as the cessation of ofce 14in a voluntary and free way except when it is recommended by the 15 law. here, also, the code does not dene resignation. for garcia martin, resignation is the free cessation or legitimate removal from an ecclesiastical ofce made by a competent authority and accepted 16by the same . his presentation of resignation is very interesting to us here because, as we shall see later, resignation from ofce can also be done by legitimate removal. however, the decretalist godefridus (de tr a n o ) g i v e s a f a m o u s d e s c r i p t i o n o f r e s i g n a t i o n : renunciatioestpropriaereiveliurisspontaneareutatio. according to wiecek, this denition offers us two elements of 17resignation from ecclesiastical ofce; the object and the will. the object of resignation is connected to the ecclesiastical ofce 64 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 adnormamcan. 145 § 1 cic understood as “any post which by divine or ecclesiastical disposition is established in a stable manner to further a spiritual purpose.” for example, the ofce of a parish priest 18is created ipso iure when a parish is created. the object of the ofce is the parish while the subject of the ofce is the incumbent parish priest. in other words, the object of resignation is every ofce stably constituted for the spiritual good of the faithful while the subject is the holder of the ofce who resigns. let us now attempt an exegesis of canon 188 cic on resignation from ecclesiastical ofce bearing in mind that the code recognizes the right of every ofce holder to freely, voluntarily and consciously resign from their ofce for a just cause ex can. 187 cic. the wordings of canon 188 cic are highlighted below. canon 188 cic (latin) canon 188 cic (english) renuntiatio ex metu gravi, iniuste incusso, dolo vel errore substantiali aut simoniace facta, ipso iure irrita est. a resignation which is made as a result of grave fear unjustly inicted, or of deceit, or of substantial error, or of simony, is invalid by virtue of the law itself. we have already said that resignation is a juridical act. this implies that it is regulated by the general norms on juridical act found in canons 124-128 cic. having said that, it is important to bear in mind that can. 125 § 2 cic says that a juridical act placed out of grave fear is not invalid but canon 188 says that a resignation that is a result of grave fear is invalid by virtue of the law itself. how can this divergence be explained canonically? 19 the eminent canonist, chiappetta explains that the will of the ofce holder is very important; he must be free and responsible for 20 his act of resignation with a capacity to will . grave fear affects the will of the person and inhibits his ability to freely and deliberately place an act as serious as resignation from ofce. also, based on canon 125 § 2 cic, an act of resignation would be valid but become rescindable; that is it can be challenged. 65resignation as a juridic act canon 188 cic does not speak of force inicted externally because such act would be absolutely null, in existent. it rather speaks of moral force which acts within the person; it touches on the person's state of mind in the form of psychological pressure or grave threat which results in apprehension thereby pushing the person to do something they would ordinarily not do, as the only available means 21to free themselves from the threat. ancient roman law denes this kind of fear, metus as trepidation of the mind caused by instant or 22future danger. placed side-by-side, therefore, it can be seen that can. 188 cic makes exception to can. 125 § 2 cic. it is, however, an exception which is in conformity with the ipsissimaverba of can. 125 § 2 cic: “unless the law itself provides otherwise.” thus can. 188 cicis a fantastic example of a case where the law provides 23 otherwise. furthermore, the will or voluntariness must be manifested and remain in existence at the moment of the act of resignation. so if a gun is put to his head, coercing him to resign his ofce as parish priest, if he writes the letter and signs it while the gun is still placed to his head, his resignation is invalid. thus, based on can. 124 § 1 cic and canons 187 cic and 188 cic as analysed above, we can say that the requisite elements for a valid resignation include: 1. it must be according to the norm of law, ad normamiuris. for example where the law says the resignation must be accepted by 24 the competent authority 2. it must be based on a deliberate will on the part of the subject who resigns, he/she must be responsible for the act 3. the will to resign must be freely manifested 4. it must be for a just cause. the crux of this paper is a canonical evaluation of the concept of just cause in relation to resignation from ofce. just cause and validity of resignation at this point, it is imperative to note that canon 188 cic falls within the scope of loss of ecclesiastical ofces. it would be noted also that resignation can also come about through legitimate removal as found in can. 1742 § 1 cic for example. it sufces to add that removal from 66 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 ecclesiastical ofce (cf. can. 192) is not a penal act as in deprivation of ofce (cf. can. 196); it is never for punishment. it is a pastoral and disciplinary act of a competent authority, aimed at the salvation of souls. it is different from transfer (cf. can.190). canons 192-195 cic and canon 1740 cic provide for canonical procedures for removal 25 from ecclesiastical ofce. our focus is on just cause. in what way can it be said that the cause or reason for resignation is just? if canon 188 cic says that the grave fear which leads a person to resign must be justly inicted for the resignation to be valid, how does one measure or determine a justly inicted grave fear? in fact, the process of removal of a parish priest by resignation, stipulated by canon 1742 § 1 cic, states that the bishop must “persuade him in a fatherly manner to resign his parish within fteen days.” this paternal persuasion is required ad 26validitatem . should this persuasion include some modes perceived by the parish priest to be threats or unjustly inicted grave fear, would we say the resignation is invalid, if the parish priest resigns? what if the persuasion includes some threat, can there be a form of just threat that does not diminish the sufciency of personal freedom? we say that a cause is just when the act is voluntary and is based on a specic and known cause or ratio and it is determined by 27 the competent authority according to canonical norms . a just cause could be those subjective elements such as the necessity and 28 exigencies of the ofce holder and his peculiar subjective conditions like sickness or ineptitude. it could also be objective such as those elements that concern the ofce itself, the needs of the church, the salvation of souls or other external elements which do not depend on 29the ofce holder . in addition, a just cause can also be the right to defend oneself, which has been well defended by rotal 30jurisprudence, and to protect one's good fame (cf. cann. 220; 1745, n. 1). we also see just cause in the law giving the ofce holder time to 31decide such that the resignation remains the free choice of the ofce holder. there are two ways of assessing an unjust cause. the rst is quoadsubstantiam. that is the threatened evil touches on the right of the person, the passive subject in an unjust way. the second is quoadmodum which is a type of unjust cause that takes place when 67resignation as a juridic act the threatened evil touches on the concrete circumstances in which the threat is made. using these modes to determine a just and unjust cause, we may then re-evaluate the resignation process with can. 1742 § 1 cic as an example. a bishop, having followed the canonical process stipulated by the code, can tell a parish priest to write a letter of resignation from ofce within fteen days or face being removed. if the diocesan bishop accompanies this with a threat that violates the rights of the parish priest, the threatened fear is just all the same because it is just substantially related to the ofce which needs to be vacated and because it is within norms of the law ex can. 1742 § 1 but the manner (mode) of ensuring the resignation or placing the threat could be unjust. thus the canonical doctrine in can. 188 cic is that for a resignation to be free, valid and just, it must not be the result of an unjustly inicted grave fear except such grave fear can be justied by the fact that the threatened evil is for a good cause. this view is well 32supported by a number of eminent canonists. it can be seen, therefore, that resignation as a result of grave fear could be just if the threat is carried out in the exercise of right and obligation. the bishop who asks a parish priest to resign or be removed ex can. 1742 § 1 is exercising his right and duty as bishop of the diocese who exercises a power of jurisdiction and governance. the threat is also just because the removal is aimed at a just end which is the good of the faithful, salus animarum. conclusion we have, so far, analyzed the canonical concept of resignation keeping in mind that every ecclesiastical ofce has a spiritual nality. our analysis of canon 188 cic was embarked upon with a justication of the fact that resignation is a juridical act; it is a human act that must be deliberately and freely placed for it to be valid. a further credence is the grounds that the norms which regulate cessation or loss of ecclesiastical ofces are meant to protect the right of the ofce holder and to preserve the dignity of the ofce itself. hinged on this, we hold that a resignation from ofce could result from grave fear but the fear must never be unjust if the resignation is to be valid. the fundamental question was then raised: when is grave 68 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 fear unjust? our undertaking of the study of can. 188 cic, in relation to can. 1742 § 1 cic, revealed that a threat that inicts grave fear is just provided that it is inicted for the exercise of a right or an obligation: to attain a just end, the good of the church and the salvation of souls. 1 cf. christus dominus on the pastoral ofce of bishops; sacrosanctumconciliumon the sacred liturgy: a. flannery (ed.), vatican ii: conciliar and post-conciliar documents (new york: costello publication co., 1992). 2 m. thierault, “juridical acts”, exegetical commentary on the code of canon law prepared under the responsibility of the martin de azpilicueta institute(pamplona: faculty of canon law, university of navarra), p. 797. 3 v. de paolis, “l'atto giuridico”, atto giuridico nel diritto canonico: studi giuridici lix,(vatican city: libreria editrice vaticana, 2002), pp. 23-42. 4 p.j. pinto, commento al codice di diritto canonico, (rome: urbaniana university press, 1985), p. 74; m. hughes, “a new title in the code: on juridical acts”, studia canonica 14 (1980), pp. 396-397. 5 for instance, age is a juridical fact. by it a person can claim access to certain rights such as marriage (14/16 years) or priestly ordination (25 years). but it does not depend on the will of the person, the subject. you do not choose when and where to be born and your being born in a certain place and at a given time has inevitable juridical effects independent of your choice and whim. 6 canon law also attempts a response to the philosophical question, what is man? who is a human being? who is a person in law? see j.t. mchugh, “what is the difference between a “person” and a “human being” within the law”, the review of politics 54 (1992) 3, pp. 445461; c. paternak, what makes us human (england: oxford, 2007). see also canon 96 cic. 7 m. thierault, “juridical acts”, exegetical commentary on the code of canon law, p. 797: “a social human act placed and declared in a legitimate manner and of which a determined juridical effect is recognised by the law in as much as the effect is intended by the agent”. 8 v. de paolis & a. d'auria, le norme generali. commento al codice di diritto canonico, 2nd edition(vatican city: urbaniana university press, 2014), p. 358. 9 for example, one may be aware of one's palpitations or heartbeat but endnotes 69resignation as a juridic act one may not be able to prevent the heart from beating. it is the same thing with sneezing; a person may be conscious that they want to sneeze but they are unable to prevent it. 10 j. osterle, “human acts”, new encyclopedia, vol. 7 (new york: mcgraw-hill book co., 1967), p. 208. 11 e. roelker, invalidating laws (patterson: st. anthony guild press, 1955), p. 160. 12 can. 124 § 1 cic: for the validity of a juridical act, it is required that it be performed by a person who is legally capable, and it must contain those elements which constitute the essence of the act, as well as the formalities and requirements which the law prescribes for the validity of the act. 13 the same applies to a mass celebrated by a deacon. it is non-existent. there was no mass atall, it lacks juridical effect because he lacks the capacity which can only be obtained by a valid priestly ordination. 14 l. chiappetta, il codice di diritto canonico, commento giuridicopastorale, vol. i (bologna: edizionedehoniane, 2011), n. 1219. 15 francis, apostolic letter, imparare a congendarsi, governing resignation, for reasons of age, of holders of certain ofces subject to papal appointment, 12/02/2018 (rome: libreriaeditricevaticana, 2018).https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/do cuments/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20180212_imparare-acongedarsi.html; see also canon 186, for example, which talks about automatic loss of ofce conferred for a determined time when the time stipulated has elapsed. 16 g.j. garcia martin, le norme generali del codex iuris canonici(rome: editiones institutum iuridicum claretianum, 2002), p. 663. 17 j. wiecek, la natura della rinuncia all'ufcio ecclesiastico nella normativa canonica vigente (rome: ponticia studiorum universitas s. thoma aq in urbe, 2011), pp. 89-90. 18 j.h. provost, “ecclesiastical ofces (cc. 145-196)”, in j.p. beal et al (eds.) new commentary on the code of canon law, (bangalore: theological publications in india, 2010), p.197. 19 in our analysis of godefredus we cited two key elements of resignation from ofce; the object of resignation and the will of the subject who resigns. 20 l. chiappetta, il codice di diritto canonico, commento giuridicopastorale, vol. i (bologna: edizione dehoniane, 2011), n. 1222. 21 v. de paolis & a. d'auria, le norme generali. commento al codice di diritto canonico, 2nd edition(vatican city: urbaniana university press, 2014), p. 377. a rotal jurisprudence on marriage nullity 70 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 says,“…nam ratio nullitatisconiugiiobmetumgraveminitireponendaest n o n t a m i n r e p a r a t i o n e g r a v i s i n i u r i a e , q u a m i n defectusufcientislibertatiselectionis.” it then cites thomas aquinas: “quare quod ex metuagiturest ' s implici tervoluntarium' quamvissecundum quid involuntarium (s. thomas, suppl. q. xlvii, art. 1).” this reiterates the fact that fear itself does not invalidate a juridical act like matrimonial consent or resignation because it does not take away free will, it does not remove the person's capacity to decide but it is involuntary because whatever the person decides to do, though accidental, they do because they are constrained to do so. grave fear restricts the will; it renders personal freedom insufcient to place an act. see coram boccafola (21/01/1991) rrjan.,as cited in v. vondenberger (ed.), rotal jurisprudence. selected translations (washington dc: canon law society of america, 2011), p. 23. 22 see ulpian, l. 1, d., iv, 2. 23 another good example in the code where the law provides otherwise is canon 172 § 1, n. 1 on the invalidity of a vote cast through grave fear. if a person is forced to vote against his choice, their vote is invalid and would not count. 24 resignation of a parish priest lawfully placed and freely manifested, for example, must be accepted by the bishop. if not accepted, the resignation is invalid (cf. can. 189 § 3). see also can. 332 § 2 which gives exception to can.189 § 3 in the case of the resignation of the roman pontiff. 25 see francis, apostolic letter come una madre amorevole (4/6/2016), in aas 108 (2016), pp. 715-717. 26 an ofce created ad beneplacitum, like the ofce of the bishop's chancellor or of the notary of the curia does not require this procedure before the ofce holder is removed (cf. can. 485). the ofce of a parish priest, however is stably constituted and must follow this procedure (cf. cann. 522; 193 §§ 1-3. 27 can. 1740 outlines fundamental reasons/causes (harmful or ineffective) for removal of a parish priest. the specic reasons/causes listed in can. 1741 are not exhaustive, they only serve to amplify can. 1740. in fact they are meant to be read in unity. see f. coccopalmerio, “de causisadamotionemparochorumrequisitis”, periodica75 (1986), p. 275; g.p. montini, “la rimozione del parrocotralegislazione, prassi e giurisprudenza”, quaderni di dirittoecclesiale 24 (2011) p. 113; t.j. paprocki, “method of proceeding in administrative recourse and in the removal or transfer of pastors (cc. 1732-1752)”, j.p. beal et al (eds.), new commentary on the code of canon law, p. 1838. 28 l. chiappetta, il codice di diritto canonico, commento giuridico71resignation as a juridic act pastorale, vol. i (bologna: edizione dehoniane, 2011), n. 1220. 29 ibid. 30 see coram burke, “jurisprudence: apostolic tribunal of the roman rota, november 15, 1990 – incidental question: nullity of a sentence”, in studia canonica 25 (1991), p. 511; m. del pozzo, “rilievi costituzionalistici a proposito della nuova disciplina per la rimozione del vescovo”, in ius misionale 11 (2017), p. 262. 31 for example fteen days as in can. 1742 § 1. 32 r. a. hill, “commentary on canon 188”, j. a. corridenet al (eds), the code of canon law: a text and commentary (new york: paulist press, 1985), p. 109: “in order that a resignation be truly free it cannot be the result of unjustly inicted grave fear…grave fear is caused by the threat of a serious evil, the threat being made to bring about the resignation. the grave fear, however, could also be caused by a justied threat of a serious evil, as in the case of threatening removal from ofce for a justifying cause if the person does not resign”. see alsoa. d'auria, ndiltimore grave nell'attualelegislationecanonica, 2 edition (vatican city: urbaniana university press, 2003), p. 103-104; p. bealet al (eds.), new commentary on the code of canon law, p. 222. 72 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 22 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 2 philosophy and priestly formation isaac ehaleoye ukpokolo ought not a minister to have, first a good understanding, a clear apprehension, a sound judgment, and a capacity of reasoning with some closeness…. is not some acquaintance with what has been termed the second part of logic, (metaphysics), if not so necessary as [logic itself], yet highly expedient? should not a minister be acquainted with at least the general grounds of natural philosophy? john wesley, address to the clergy1 introduction i consider it simply appropriate to bring into a discourse titled ‘formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age’, some candid reflections on the place of philosophy in priestly formation, particularly as attempts have been made in some quarters to represent certain aversion to reason when matters of faith come up. this is known to manifest not only in popular arguments and street conversations but even among pastors, preachers and teachers at bible schools and christian communities as noted above by john wesley. from manifest experience, to embrace faith without reason would either produce a fundamentalist mindset or a fanatical disposition, while of course, reason without faith would either lead to agnosticism or atheism. after all, an act of faith is an intelligent act.2 and in catechism of the catholic church (ccc 155) we are admonished that philosophy and priestly formation 23 “in faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by god through grace. and, i take it to be a privilege to be invited to do an essay in this regard, particularly in honour of a renowned philosopher, teacher and preacher of our time. for me, that an essay on philosophy and priesthood is relevant in contemporary times, stands evident in the light of a number of encounters i have personally had. i would mention just two of many occasions. first, many years ago, i was introduced by a professor of medicine at the university college hospital (u.c.h) ibadan to a woman who was introduced to me as the wife of the founder of “faith clinic,” a worship centre at ibadan city. hearing that i am a philosopher she exclaimed: “so, you don’t believe in god?” yet, i could not readily relate my identity as a philosopher with atheism. i took the time to explain to her and allay her fears. well, i hope i succeeded. the second instance occurred in israel, while on a pilgrimage to the holy land, leading a group of catholic charismatic renewal members, where i was serving as national president of the group and co-ordinator of anglophone west africa. the tour guide could not hide his astonishment when i disclosed to him that i am a teacher of philosophy, not only in a university but also in a catholic major seminary in nigeria. his question was, “how do you manage the marriage between philosophy and catholic charismatic spirituality?” my response was simple, “philosophy and catholic charismatic spirituality are faithful spouses in me; complimenting and mutually assisting”. “philosophy endowed me with reasoning capacity, leading me to the reasonableness of faith”. catholic charismatic spirituality, on the other hand, intervenes in my encounter with reality, with truths, and the good when reason becomes impotent and unable to lead me on. for instance, we say seeing is believing, but i dare to say, it is not. we must believe that a thing is possible before we should believe it even though we saw it (john 20:29)3. and so, in this essay, i attempt to highlight the place of philosophy in priestly formation. for the avoidance of doubt, it is not possible to establish in one essay of less than five thousand (5,000) words, all that philosophy has to do in priestly formation. i would just attempt to identify specific areas in philosophy, and how these areas stand relevant to the training of priest for the church. thus, i do not intend to go into the history of the relationship between 24 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age philosophy and priestly formation, or how and when it started, i would rather attempt some highlight in the relationship. i begin with the question of methodology, wherein critical thinking and sceptical attitude are brought in as philosophical ideals. i then go further to represent certain epistemic modes required for dealing with the surrounding reality. next is an attempt to establish the need for a given metaphysics at every point in our daily experience. the essay goes further to examine some ethical stances in relating with others. finally, i present in a nutshell, that philosophy in its appeal to reason, does not deny the application of faith in our daily experiences, and vice versa. all these, stand necessary not only as points of direction for pastoral ministries outside the catholic church but even in the catholic church that is usually seen as the church wherein the ideal church subsist. priestly formation project the entire training of students (at priestly formation) should be oriented to the formation of true shepherds of souls after the model of our lord jesus christ, teacher, priest and shepherd. they are therefore to be prepared for the ministry of the word: that they might understand ever more perfectly the revealed word of god; that, meditating on it they might possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and in example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that through their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they might perfect the work of salvation through the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make christ present to men, him who did not “come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (mark 10:45;cf. john 13:12-17), and that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more (cf. 1 cor. 9:19). therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards this pastoral end.4 philosophy and priestly formation 25 perhaps, a rather succinct statement of the above representation of the project of priestly formation is that, the entire training is meant to produce men of proven integrity, strength of character and wisdom of the ancients as espoused in the scripture as well as in the teaching authority of the church dedicated to the service of god and his people. it is however very pertinent to note that such candidates are taken from among men – from specific human contexts, which inevitably influenced them; and to these same contexts, the priests are sent for the service of the people.5 yet, the life and ministry of these men must adapt to every era and circumstance of life.6 such is the ground, as well as the goal of priestly education to bring forth the ‘seed’ of god in the person. the term ‘education’ to be sure, derives from the latin word educare or educo ere, which means ‘to bring out’. and so, to educate a person is to bring forth a reality that lies latent in the being. thus understood, the idea of education invokes a certain kind of platonic innatism assisted through effective instruction and learning to be brought forth to manifest in words, thoughts and actions. it could be added here, that, the term education derives from the same root as ‘exodus’ implying a sort of liberation. the foregoing conception of education as a process is brought to bear on the candidate for priesthood in the seminary. as generally understood, the word ‘seminary’ derives from the latin semine which means ‘seed’. the seminary is thus the ground – the nursery – wherein the seeds are sown: the seminarians as it were are seeds, nurtured and carefully bred through watering, pruning, fertilizing, weeding and even grafting until they bloom with the best of values both in faith and reason. the place of philosophy according to bertrand russell, the conceptions of life, and the world, we call “philosophical” are a product of two factors: one, inherited religious and ethical conception; the other, the sort of investigation which may be called “scientific”.7 individual philosophers have differed widely in regard to the proportions in which these two factors entered into their systems, but it is the presence of both, to some degree, that characterizes philosophy.8 the point here is that faith and reason are not necessarily mutually exclusive as it is believed in certain quarters of human culture. philosophy is something overlapping between theology and science.9 like theology, it consists 26 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable: but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation.10 thus understood, definite knowledge belongs to science, while all dogmas as to what surpasses definite knowledge belong to theology. yet, interpenetrating the spaces of science and theology is philosophy. for the purpose of clarity, philosophy by its etymology is the love of wisdom. but this is not the same thing as love of knowledge, in the sense in which an inquisitive man may be said to love knowledge; “vulgar curiosity does not make a philosopher.” and so, properly defined, philosophy is the love of the ‘vision of truth’. and here lies the meeting point of faith and reason. in the light of reason, philosophy employs the aid of critical thinking, endowing the human person with the power of disciplined thought life, an important fruit of college education. critical thinking fosters high-order active, intelligent evaluation of ideas and information. more precisely, it is the general term given to a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual disposition needed to effectively identify, analyse and evaluate beliefs and truth claims; to discover and overcome personal preconception and biases; to formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusion, and to make reasonable, intelligent decision about what to believe and what to do.11 put somewhat differently, “critical thinking is governed by certain intellectual standards such as; clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness and fairness.”12 all these, present philosophy as an activity – a critical, rational reflection on already existing beliefs employing the tools of logic, language and rigour. by these we get easily acquainted with ideas as friedrich von schelling would say: the fear of speculation, the ostensible rush from the theoretical to the practical, brings about the same shallowness in action that it does in knowledge. it is by studying a strictly theoretical philosophy that we become most immediately acquainted with ideas, and only ideas provide action with energy and ethical significance.13 philosophy and priestly formation 27 from the above, those ideas that provide human actions with energy and ethical significance are arrived at through theoretical philosophising employing the tools of critical thinking. in addition to critical thinking as a mindset, is the closely related disposition of scepticism. this is perhaps one of the reasons why it is assumed that philosophy or reason is averse to faith. however, it is important to stress here that, the sceptical attitude referred to here is not the reckless rejection of absolute deity by the atheist, neither is it the methodic doubt of rene descartes, who derives the existence of the absolute deity from the ego rather than the ego from the existence of the absolute deity. this scepticism of philosophical prescription is not the scepticism of david hume who in attempt to take empiricism to its logical conclusion rejected the essence of causality, the practice of induction and the projection that the future could resemble the past, thereby creating a problematic at the very foundation of scientific knowledge. of course, it is not the scepticism of the sophist indicating some reckless current of relativism and its related tyranny. the scepticism here referred to in philosophical prescription is the scepticism of george santayana. his words: scepticism is an exercise, not a life; it is a discipline fit to purify the mind of prejudice and render it all the more apt, when the time comes, to believe and to act wisely; and meantime the pure sceptic need take no offence at the multiplicity of images that crowd upon him, if he is scrupulous not to trust them and to assert nothing at their prompting. scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through a long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness.14 from the above, philosophy prepares a mind to engage its reality – material, social, spiritual-, with care and caution, fairness and modesty, firmness and rigour, and yet, a readiness to consider what is before it. in other words, the mind encounters the environment with a certain epistemic mode characterized by respect for ‘the other’. what 28 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this means is that philosophy equips the candidate undergoing priestly training and formation with certain methodological skills, cognitive mode, metaphysical grounding and moral attitude. this is the contribution of philosophy to the wholistic development and formation of the priest. having highlighted the nature of the methodological skills (critical thinking and sceptical attitude) in the preceding paragraphs, it is now time to examine the cognitive or epistemic mode onto which the candidate is introduced. here the question is that of ‘epistemology’, or ‘theory of knowledge’. and, the history of epistemology reconstructed as a judicial hearing would be deciding one singular question: how is reliable knowledge possible? and by extension, how are we to differentiate knowledge (episteme) from mere opinion (doxa) as we are more rationally right to depend on knowledge rather than opinion. the one who possesses the knowledge, possesses knowledge of something, that is to say, of something that exists, as what does not exist is nothing.15 to be sure, knowledge or ‘episteme’ is always true and is infallible, as it is logically impossible for it to be mistaken. however, opinion or ‘doxa’ can be mistaken. opinion cannot be of what is not, for that is impossible; nor of what is, for then it would be knowledge.16 if this is so, an opinion must be of what both is and is not. but how is this possible? bertrand russell responds: particular things always partake of opposite characters: what is beautiful is also, in some respects, ugly; what is just is, in some respects, unjust; and so on. all particular sensible objects, so plato contends, have this contradictory characters, they are thus intermediate between being and not-being, and are suitable as objects of opinion, but not of knowledge. “but those who see the absolute and eternal and immutable may be said to know, and not to have opinion only. thus we arrive at the conclusion that opinion is of the world presented to the senses, whereas knowledge is of super-sensible eternal world; for instance, opinion is concerned with particular beautiful things, but knowledge is concerned with beauty in itself.17 philosophy and priestly formation 29 to this extent, philosophy arms the human mind with the capacity to transcend particular, sensible, transient, context-dependent objects and phenomena to locate the pure, eternal immutable reality. in the light of this epistemic mode, the mind is able to engage the vision of truth which is the task of philosophy. the foregoing present a strong link between epistemology and metaphysics or ontology which has to do with the nature of reality in itself or the study of being. ontology, for instance, has been characterized as the study of the most general kinds that exist in the universe. usually, the emphasis has been on demarcation: which candidate for existence really does exist. aristotle and plato disagreed in their answers, and philosophers have gone on disagreeing ever since. think of w. v. o. quine’s ontological aphorism, “to be is to be the value of a variable.”18 ontology in itself is an aspect of metaphysics, that branch of philosophy that inquires into the general fundamental normative principles of reality, and how this can be distinguished from appearance. the conception of the reality we have is very functional in the way we relate with the world and our environment in general. it is my belief that every position held and maintained rests on a given metaphysics be it personal, social, political, intellectual, moral or relational, all must rest on some metaphysics, although one may not know this. thus, it is very important to have epistemic consciousness of one’s guiding metaphysics.19 in examining the nature of reality, we do not aim at a detailed knowledge of particular things, such as the special sciences might give, but rather at an outline conception of reality within which all knowledge of particular things must fall, and by which such knowledge must be judged. there are certain general conceptions which make up at once the framework of knowledge at the framework of existence. such are the categories of being and cause, change and identity, space and time: and our knowledge of particular things would depend on the conception we form of these basic categories. on its part, epistemology has shown them to be principles of thought while metaphysics on its part inquires into their real significance. metaphysics as an area of discourse consist in a study of the ontological meaning of the categories, either in themselves or in their specification, thereby marking off its field of concern from that of the special sciences.20 30 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age part of the reality encountered by our minds is human. and so, philosophy projects that branch of discourse that aids the human person to relate with other human persons. this is the area of ethics or moral philosophy concerned with bringing to the fore, those general fundamental normative, immutable principles of behaviour, distinguishing right from wrong, just from unjust, good from evil as we relate with one another. of course, it has been argued in some quarters, that the moral life did not begin by laying down general principles or conduct, but by forming codes of concrete duties. duties to parents, children, neighbours, and nations. these were the concrete forms in which the moral nature first manifested itself, and in which also is still finds its chief expression. in this respect, it is argued, the moral life is analogous to the mental life, which does not begin with abstract speculative principles, or with theories of knowledge, but with specific acts of knowing. in both alike, the knowledge of principles was second and not first; and in both alike principles were implicit from the beginning.21 and so, it is suggested here that, these implicit nature or principles from the beginning makes the search for some overarching ground totalizing framework of reference for moral actions not only necessary but innate in us. and such is the object of focus of the human mind to which a seminarian is exposed. these are normative, axiomatic and fundamental assumptions, precepts, theories and procedures of right action. three of the leading moral ideas are: the good, duty, and virtue. each of these is essential in a system which is to express the complete moral consciousness of a people. where there is no good to be reached by action, there can be no rational duty, and without the notion of duty, the idea of virtue vanishes. furthermore, where there is no sense of duty, but only a calculation of consequences, we would have merely a system of prudence. this may be good enough in a way but lacks moral quality. such conduct may be natural and allowed but it is not virtuous. for in such conduct, we miss the reference to a moral agent. it is a matter of wit and shrewdness only and is not a manifestation of virtuous character.22 these later attitudes and dispositions the seminarians are trained to approach with leprosorial disdain. philosophy and priestly formation 31 faith and science the life of the catholic christian and indeed, the life of a priest in the catholic church is a life of faith. it is a form of life in which the individual agent understands himself first as a contingent being whose existence and those of other beings (human and non-human) proceeds from the being of the supreme god who originates and sustains the entirety of reality. since the priest more specifically receives a vocation to propagate this faith in the providence of god who sustains all things in the universe; one who aspires to be a priest, therefore, must as a matter of necessity be an exemplar of faith in god. yet, the man of faith also lives in a contemporary world that is also driven by the advancements of science. by science, reference is made here to the totality of knowledge which comes to us through the deployment of ratio – reason. here, a distinction is therefore made between matters of faith and science. given the differing methods of faith and science (reason) the debate about the compatibility (if any) of the both has continued even unto contemporary times. we are better off when we conceive of faith and science has being endowments given to the human person by god. hence, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. since the same god who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, god cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. in this connection, pope (st.) john paul ii in the opening of his encyclical letter, fides et ratio stated that “faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.”23 reason here is not restricted only to the activities of the natural sciences; it rather includes the logical ratiocinations that are typically characteristic of philosophical inquiries into ultimate reality. insight from the catechism of the catholic church is apt in this regard: methodical research in all branches of knowledge provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith are derived from the same god. the humble and preserving investigator of the secrets of 32 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of god in spite of himself, for it is god, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.24 the seminarian, therefore, is not formed only to perform parochial duties without the use of reason. i dare to say here that the entirety of the mission of a priest is short-circuited if his activities are not moderated by the use of reason which itself is god’s own gift. the onus is therefore on formators to underscore this important aspect of a holistic formation of priests which combines faith in god with the rational faculties which the same god has bequeathed to humanity. the one in formation too must gradually develop an understanding of the complementarity of the gifts of faith and reason and the importance of both gifts for the nurturing of a divine vocation. concluding remarks it would be rather odd to end this reflection without pointing out some practical signposts by which philosophy is identified in the training of priests. first of such is that the activity of philosophising aids us in the task of apologetics25 – the task of giving a reasoned defence of christian theism in the light of objections raised against it and offering positive evidence on its behalf (1 pet. 3:15). this has to do with making a reasoned articulation of the faith and be ready to disarm any attacks mounted against it. second, philosophy also is meant to aid us in the task of polemics. whereas apologetics involves the defence of christian faith, polemics is the task of criticizing and refuting alternative views of the world.26 third, philosophy is very central to an expression of the image of god in us. this image refers to god as a rational being.27 fourth, philosophy in priestly training curriculum permeates systematic theology and serves as its hand made in several ways. it helps to add clarity to the concepts of systematic theology.28 a fifth consideration is that the discipline of philosophy facilitates the spiritual discipline of study. study is itself a spiritual discipline, and the very act of study can change the self.29 anyone who undergoes the discipline of study lives through certain types of experiences where certain skills are developed through habitual study: framing an issue, solving problems, learning how to weigh a piece of evidence and eliminate irrelevant factors, cultivate the ability to see important distinctions instead of blurring them, and so on. the discipline of philosophy and priestly formation 33 philosophy also aids in the development of certain virtues and values. sixth, philosophy can enhance the boldness and self-image of the christian community in general.30 finally, discipline is most essential for the task of integration to blend or form into a whole. in this sense, integration occurs when one’s belief, primarily rooted in scripture, are blended and unified with propositions judged as rational from other sources into a coherent intellectually adequate christian world views.31 i have in this essay attempted to show that the various elements of critical thinking, which itself generates a positive form of scepticism, and the need to understand the importance of ontology in the grounding of reality, are all crucial to the development of a culture of philosophising which in itself is always at the service of the christian gospel and its ministers. the necessary connection between ethics and human relation was also briefly drawn in view of the nature of the ministry of priests to which seminarians aspire to embrace. i have insisted here on the complementarity of faith and reason in the human quest for truth and meaning. these various elements highlight the importance of philosophical reasoning to priestly formation. indeed, these various elements are means to a wholistic formation of priests. i like to restate that priestly formation is always a continuum which does not cease at ordination to the priesthood but continues through a lifetime. just like the church that is always being reformed, the priest too continues to be reformed by applying himself to the demands of faith and reason as the times demand. the result of such continuous reformation is always a christian community whose roots grow deeper in the soil while bearing a variety of good fruits for the wellbeing of god’s creation. endnotes 1 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 11 2 anthony a. akinwale ‘on the relationship between faith and reason’, in academia.edu. ibadan 3 oswald chambers making all things new (hants: oswald chambers publications association & marshall moegan and scott) pp. 34 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 4 pope paul vi ‘decree on priestly training optatam totius’ proclaimed by his holiness, (1965), no.4 5 pastores dabo vobis ‘pastoral exhortation of john paul ii’ no. 5 6 pastores dabo vobis ‘pastoral exhortation of john paul ii’ no. 5 7 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy (new york: simon & schuster, 1945), 10 8 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 9 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 10 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 11 gregory bassham, william irwin, henry nardone, james m. wallace critical thinking a student’s introduction (new york: mcgraw hill companies, 2013), 1 12 richard paul, critical thinking: what every person needs to survive in a rapidly changing world (rohnert park, ca: centre for critical thinking and moral critique, 1990), 51-52 13 friedrich w. j. von schelling, werke, ed. manfred schroter (munich: beck, 1958 -59), 3:299 14 george santayana scepticism and animal faith introduction to a system of philosophy (new york: dover publication, 1955), 69-70 15 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy (new york: simon & schuster, 1945), 10 16 bertrand resell “a history of western philosophy“ 11 17 bertrand russell “a history of western philosophy“ 11 18 ian hacking, historical ontology (london: harvard university press, 2002), 1-2 19 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),1 20 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),2 21 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),2 22 borden parker bowne, principles of ethics (new york: american book co., 1892), 1-2 23 john paul ii, fides et ratio: on the relationship between faith and reason, (1998), no. 1 24 catechism of the catholic church , no. 159 25 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 14 26 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 14 27 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 14 28 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 14-15 29 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 15 30 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 15 31 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 15 the nexus between morality and politics gregory ebalu ogbenika abstract in the midst of the present political dispensation in africa, in which issues of justice, equality and fairness are been called to question, the issue of the connection between morality and politics is been brought to the limelight again, considering the fact there are a lot of practices going on the political landscape in nigeria today that are totally at variance with the norms and prerequisites for the conduct of such actions. the basic principle is that people must practice leadership with integrity and values. contemporary political practices show that there is a large number of active political issues as a foundation for right and proper conduct of state politics. for instance, in nigeria, issues such as corruption, vote buying and selling, campaigns bereft of ideas and main issues, certicate forgery and numerous doubts about the integrity of political actors occupy the centre stage of the political life. a thorough consideration of the issues mentioned above calls for reassessment of the way politics is fast being separated from morality, which has led to the popular saying that “politics is a dirty game.” due to this anomalies that are prevalent today, this paper calls for the stringent implementation of the ethos of political engagement be they electoral or constitutional. the assessment is that religious institutions might play a crucial role in the formulation of rules that can inuence the political establishment, when making policy decisions and implementing them. the paper shall adopt the expository and analytic approach in accomplishing its task. introduction the issue of morality in politics is an issue that has attracted so much attention among philosophers, scholars, politicians and citizens through the ages. it is particularly topical in times of dramatic political developments that put under severe strain moral constraints on individual and collective choice and action. today, we are facing an array of pressing issues in both national and international politics, which raise difcult moral questions. at the same time, our trust in political leaders who are entrusted with devising and implementing solutions to these issues is sorely tried by their words and actions. under these circumstances, the problem of the relation between politics and morality takes is of paramount importance. in the light of this, this paper attempts to explicate the relationship between politics and morality. it seeks to answer important questions like; can politics and morality be active at the same time? can a politician be moral? what determines political policies, morality or political will? just to mention a few. thus, we shall reexamine the meaning of morality, politics and the relationship between politics and morality. theoritical elucidation morality to think that one denition of morality will be adequate enough is baseless. the reason for this is that morality seems to be used in two distinct broad senses: a descriptive sense and a normative sense. however, in this work, we shall be discussing morality in the normative sense. in the rst place, morality refers to the set of standards that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. it refers to a code of conduct that would be accepted by anyone who meets certain intellectual; and volition conditions, almost always including 1the condition of being rational. that a person meets these conditions is typically expressed by saying that the person counts as a moral agent. however, merely showing that a certain code would be accepted by any moral agent is 166 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 not enough to show that the code is the moral code. morality is dened as a human behavior that is freely subordinating to the ideal of what is good, right, and appropriate, this is not about discovering new principles, but the better application of those that already exist and are accepted. morality is often associated with ethics, but also with the church and religious belief in general. according to the biblical view, morality derives directly from god's revelation to mankind, as it has been described in the bible. the relationship between morality and religion is often discussed, and ethical philosophy believes correctly that moral action depends on religion. “divine command theory includes the claim that morality is ultimately based on the commands or character of god, and that the morally right action is the one that god commands or requires. all versions of the theory hold in common the claim that 2morality and moral obligations ultimately depend on god.” politics the word politics comes from the greek word polis, meaning everything that concerns or belongs to the polis, or city-state. since the city-states no long exist, the modern form of this denition is what concerns the state. thus, politics can be dened as the study of the state, its aims and purposes, the institutions by which those are going to be realizes its relations with its individual members and with other states. politics is also dened as the study of the government a collection of ofcers who make, interpret and enforce rules for the whole community. this denition of politics offers a highly restricted view of politics. according to this denition, politics takes place just within the government departments, cabinet rooms and legislative chambers. this means that politics is the matter of politicians, civil servants and lobbyists. according to this view the vast majority of the people are not involved in politics. all the institutions that are not engaged in running the country are regarded 3 as non-political. this denition can, however, be narrowed still further. this is evident in the tendency to treat politics as an activity carried on by certain designated organization (parties). in other words politics is regarded as an activity connected with political parties. thus, only 167the nexus between morality and politics politicians are considered as political, whereas civil servants are seen as nonpolitical. in the popular mind, politics is associated with the activities of political parties and politicians. this extremely narrow view of politics helps to explain why negative images have so often been attached to the word politics. politics is often described as a negative phenomenon because only politicians are seen as decisionmakers. politics as public affairs is politics something associated solely with government and state? the term is widely used in other context than that of the government and state. people are often said to be acting politically in their relations with their bosses and colleagues in an ofce, or in the management of the club of some kind, or in many other situations in which government, state and political parties are not mentioned. nevertheless, much western political thinking rests on a distinction between the public realm and private life. the distinction between the political and the non-political coincides with the division between an essentially public sphere of life and private sphere. how can we differentiate the public sphere from private sphere? the traditional division between the public realm and private realm conforms to the distinction between the state and civil society. the institution of the state are considered as the part of the public sector, whereas the civil society belong to private sector. thus, public sector is regarded as political, whereas the private sector is considered to be nonpolitical. thus, politics is an essential public activity and it does not take place in private sphere of life. it does not have right to infringe upon private affairs and institutions. the bond between politics and morality politicians and philosophers have always pondered the potential connection between politics and morality, going back to the earliest stages of intellectual thought. additionally, they were supposed to address the issue of where to situate those notable concepts that are directly related to the discussion, such as right, good, virtue and vice, personal liberty, and the public interest. but the crucial query is: should politics be governed by conventional moral precepts and 168 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 demands? in fact, this question has produced two opposing points of view. the aristotelian and machiavellian schools of thought are 4excellent examples of these two diametrically opposed camps. for aristotle, the hallmark of human actions including politics is the pursuit of moral virtue, which in turn will guarantee common happiness for the individual and the society at large. the machiavellian advice to "the prince," in contrast, saw no need to elevate the concept of morality in politics because neither human nature nor the workings of politics call for it. he advised leaders and aspiring politicians to avoid thinking about the potential role of morality in politics. whatever stance one chooses to adopt, the fact remains that morality and politics appear to be related in some way. politics and morality both contribute to the control and direction of human behavior. politics regulates relationships between groups, various socio-political organizations, and the state with the control of state power as the focus, whereas morality regulates interpersonal 5relationships and interactions between person and group. the difference between private and public morality in social life can be found in the exibility of the relationship between these two concepts. the idea being conveyed is that each person is a moral agent with a private and public life. politics and morality are intertwined within each individual. when a person transits from a private to a public life, the crucial connection between politics and morality is highlighted. without dening the place of individuals within the political enterprise, it is meaningless. the scope and justication of politics are determined by the people's actions. the importance of political activities to people is largely justied by their moral standing. when the major players in politics have no moral inhibitions, we can ask ourselves what effect politics will have on the 6lives of people living in a society. the early theories of morality and politics distinguish very little if at all between these two ideas. in their moral and political ideas, plato and aristotle did not distinguish between these two ideas. for them, politics and ethics go hand in hand. according to aristotle, issues with political institutions and individual morality are intertwined. aristotle held the teleological belief that human deeds should be assessed according to their results. the achievement of 169the nexus between morality and politics 7universal happiness is the highest good for him. in his book "the leviathan," thomas hobbes contrasted aristotle's ideas. he argued that people have a self-interested nature. he illustrated this with his famous idea of "war of all against all," which he believed would occur in the state of nature where there would be a devastating competition between men. hobbes is arguing that in such an environment of chaos and conict, moral and just principles has no place. henry cudworth and samuel clarke, two early intuitionists, both disagreed with hobbes' point of view. they believe that morality is universal and objective. this claim sparked a discussion in moral philosophy about whether morality should come from reason or feelings. other theorists, such as hume and hutches on, contended that moral judgment cannot be based solely on reason that reason can only serve to aid us in recognizing moral actions and not to motivate us to carry them out. another participant in this discussion vassil prodanov claims in his article morality and politics in a changing world that the "moralization of politics and politicisation of morality" is to blame for our inability to establish the proper place of morality in politics. he made the case that academics and theorists frequently assess moral issues politically and political issues morally. this, in his opinion, has helped to intensify the conversation about the interplay between politics and morality. this essay and those who are interested in seeing the art of politics have a moral anchorage face a challenge as a result of these controversy: the growing need to nd the 8 place of morality in politics. politics and morality: any relationship political science, in general, aims to discern and resolve many ideological conicts. one of the issues that is constantly at the top of political discourse is whether morality and ethics should be pivotal factors for the political decision-making process in contemporary societies. the core values that stimulate moral political debate are deeply rooted in the personal belief system of the individual, determining how he or she denes his or her own place in the society. those values of primary identity are race, gender, sexual orientation, and especially religion, which is the basis of many of individual's 170 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 9most fundamental values. moral politics pulls us out of the area where facts and reasoning dominate, and social scientists – especially those specializing in political science feel more comfortable in the realm of the value system. moral policies are for the most part dealing with values, especially those values that are accepted by society or the state, and those values that are dened by the society or the state as perverted. “as we have changed from a commercial society to an industrial one, we have developed a new set of values in which selfcontrol, impulse renunciation, discipline, and sobriety are no longer 10such hallowed virtues.” the state acceptance of values reinforces the social status of certain groups, and reduces the status of others the subject of political analysis in contemporary life today is a special matter of consistency of personal values and attitudes, and political practices, when the faithful is in a position to exercise power. the basic principle is that the faithful must practice leadership with integrity, and his personal values and attitudes must correspond and be consistent with his political views and decisions, even at the cost of losing the support of the electorate. the contemporary political practice shows that there are a large number of active political issues as a foundation for right and proper conducting of state politics. this eld is subject to pressure of the type leading to serious compromising with that which is worthy and carnal, thus compromising with god and his instructions. the possibility of re-moralization poses some signicant questions: where do moral values come from, and what, in particular, are the sources of moral values in a postindustrial society? this is a subject that, strangely enough, has not received much attention (…) most people would say that values are either passed along from previous generations through socialization, or are imposed by a 11 church or other hierarchical authority. the answers to these questions will still have to be sought after deep in the sphere of spirituality of god. the assessment is that religious institutions might play a crucial role in the actual imposition of views to the public in order to inuence the political establishment when making policy decisions. according to the morality point of view, there is a need to 171the nexus between morality and politics stress the principle of not making or carrying out any political decisions, pertaining issues deeply tied in with morality and laden with moral scruples, in an exclusively secular sphere, and without any participation of the spiritually-oriented segment of society and without taking into account the opinion of the religious faith sector. any issue that contends ethical or moral elements is an issue that should be delegated to the spiritual and religious camp, in order to try to offer more adequate solutions in a given historical context. my understanding is that answers to moral questions or issues with moral character in it, must have a moral source, and accordingly for this point of view that is the bible. fukuyama concludes that: the virtues of honesty and reliability, which are keys to social cooperation and are intangible compound of mutual trust and engagement, are called 'social capital'. many people have argued that such virtues have religious sources, and that contemporary capitalist societies are living off the cultural capital of previous agesin america, chiey its puritan traditions. modern capitalism, in this view, with its amoral emphasis on prots and efciency, is steadily 12undermining its own moral basis. evaluation and conclusion morality and ethics as social categories are crucial for generating a sound political culture in any society. through the process of political socialization, these categories inuence not only the culture in a nation but its political ideologies as well. even though there are differing views in regards to the source of moral foundation which concern the societal realm outside of the religious or theological environment, it is this religious i.e. theological environment that is the only viable sustainable milieu for moral existence. the principles of morality and ethics established as societal standards are the bases of individual and societal development. the outstanding illustration of the fusing and separation of the provinces of ethics, law, and theology is the growths of the doctrine of natural law… rules based on reason were law by nature or natural law. in this way began the 13 identication of the legal with the moral. 172 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 their impact upon society is sizable, and if we look at the jurisprudence segment of society, that which is apparent is the existence of an eminent moral and ethical human characteristic responsible for the appropriate preparation of a legislation founded in ethics and morality. this is not always the case, due to the secular public overtones and the predominantly secular political sphere. notwithstanding, repeatedly throughout history, these two categories of ethics and morality have made a huge benecial impact driving forward the positive societal development is many segments of society. even if religion cannot tell us anything about what the specic moral rules ought to be, is it necessary in order to secure the observance of the moral code?... still, the belief in an all-knowing and all-judging god remains a tremendous force in ethical conduct today. we may underscore the substantial impact that these two categories of morality and ethics have played in shaping societies in general and political relations in particular. it is morality that digs deep inside a man's personality or inside a person's heart, for his or her benet in general. the morality in politics or the concept of moral politics has the potential to pervade the political scene and to become an indispensable factor in proling the political life in contemporary societies. politics must found the people's power on stable ethical principles in order to reproduce and maintain it in the long term.the ethical principle derives from the ethical demands that human beings place on themselves. and what human beings mostly demand, according to all historical examples, is that they have the ability to exercise their free will. this is the fundamental criterion behind machiavelli's set of virtue ethics which constitutes the benchmark for political conduct. free will is a presupposition of virtue, but it is not virtue itself. virtue requires the ability to constrain free will, and in an aristotelian note, the good practical judgement heavily depends on this ability. in addition, it might be limited by circumstances, or fortune, but in the end free will cannot be ruled out because of fortune. in the same manner, aristotle argued that, in nal analysis, responsibility for moral and political agency lies with the individual irrespective of the circumstances and the social context within which the individual acts. in a few words, the amoral conception of free will 173the nexus between morality and politics understands free agency as unlimited and irresponsible self-assertion based on power, whereas the ethical conception of free will understands free agency under the “laws” of self-restraint. in the rst conception free agency will be naturally heavily depended on fortune, whereas in the second conception circumstances are irrelevant to one's ability to be self-responsible (they might change the actual outcome of one's conduct but not its ethical premises). for machiavelli self-restraint was a prerequisite for freedom, as for plato self-discipline was a prerequisite for happiness. machiavelli's political philosophy, proposes an argument according to which the innate capacities of human beings for free agency, along with their imperfect moral natures, constitute the basis for political ordering. legitimate authority depends on acts of consent, not on the quality of orders irrespective of how they are established, i.e. the ends do not justify the means under any circumstances. thus, hampshire here agrees, the answer to machiavelli's problem may be that there is a recognizable basic level of common decency, which he explains as procedural justice, and that even in weighing in, politically, conicting moral claims and competing conceptions of the good this level of common decency can never be violated. the interdependency of politics and ethics is therefore inferred by machiavelli from the fact that the ethical value of exercising free-will must translate into the general principle of authorization; i.e. always seek consent and consultation, regardless of the relative power of agents and subjects. utilitarianism and idealism would simplify the problem of politics and morality by focusing, respectively, on how to achieve political outcomes regardless of moral costs for the agents involved, and on how to achieve the salvation of moral integrities regardless of practical costs for the collectivity. they both underestimate the importance of the mediating agent's moral decisions; the political gure who personies the conict between political, public and private morality and understands and endures the moral predicament, notwithstanding the absence of a philosophical solution. it is this outcome from the union of the political role with the moral character which best represents the seriousness of the problem and reveals the insufciency of monistic explanations of morality. as we have 174 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 already mentioned, the existence of widespread lying and deception in politics is not, in itself, enough to justify the conclusion that there is a conict between morality and politics, or that politicians are morally worse than us. this latter view is an over-simplication, and one reason for this is that, when politicians lie, it may not be in order to further their own ends; it may be in order to secure important and 14desirable political ends. 'in order to do the right thing, one has to do the wrong thing; in order to be or do good, one must also be or do evil'. on the other hand, doing the wrong thing in order to do good does not wipe out the moral wrongness of the action. this is the kind of moral dilemma politicians usually have to face and this is why the problem of the moral character is so pressing. how a political gure is going to respond to a moral conict and what would be the outcome of this response depends on their moral disposition and their understanding of ethics. in the face of such moral dilemmas, politicians themselves may feel both that they have sacriced their integrities and that it is politics that has demanded that sacrice of them. alternatively, politicians may act as there is no moral dilemma at all, either because they do not accept the peculiar moral demands of politics (a case of moral absolutism), or because they believe moral integrity is irrelevant (a case of unlimited utilitarianism). necessity of morality in politics in politics, the importance of morality cannot be overemphasized for although machiavelli states that morality has no place in politics, that is eventually impossible because the individual himself is his own moral agent and so every action he takes is inuence by his own notion of right and wrong and of good and evil but, whether this can be translated to the public sphere is not a topic that will be discussed in this paper. now, in the nigerian political landscape, it is the absence of morality in politics that has led to so many social and economic ills like poverty, corruption, nepotism, tribalism, and so on. this is seen on the side of the politicians and the electorates. on the side of the electorates, it can be seen in political thuggery, vote selling, stealing of ballot boxes, rigging and so on while on the side of politicians, we can see this act of immorality displayed in corruption, vote buying, 175the nexus between morality and politics not keeping to electoral promises, inated contracts, nepotism, cronism, religious afliations, et cetera. political thuggery is a phenomenon whereby some citizens allowed themselves to be used or weaponised to use the politician to instill fear and cause violence and commit other political crimes in order to achieve a certain political result which in most cases swings the election to their favor, not much explanation is needed in explaining why this is an immoral act as it consists in abled body men and women committing crimes or enacting crimes for money. vote selling is a situation whereby some members of the electorate sell their vote measly amount of money. this is mostly caused by ignorance, poverty and greed and it goes beyond just selling vote it is about selling their dignity and future and one does not need a prophet to show how much harm this has caused nigeria. this situation is however mostly caused by the politicians as they sometimes make the economic situation of nigeria so bad that the poor man will not think twice when asked to sell his vote for money. rigging of election is a political phenomenon whereby false or fake votes are put into the ballot boxes after they must have been stolen in order to sway the election in favor of whoever paid the thugs to commit the act. this act shows immorality on the side of both the electorate and the politicians in the sense that it is the politician that pays for such an act to be done and it is members of the electorate that are paid to commit the act. this immoral way of getting votes has caused many unjust and corrupt and individualistic people to lead nigeria and this in turn has led to a lot of self-evident problems in nigeria such as poverty, ignorance due, to lack of education, lack of jobs and basic social amenities as the money meant for these have been embezzled and siphoned by corrupt leaders whom vote selling, political thuggery and rigging have helped to put in power. one of the prime examples of immorality in the nigerian politics is the issue of broken promises with regard to the policy of rotation of power between the major ethnic groups and the proclamation of manifestoes. a prime example of the former is the promise made by the pdp chairman to step down, that if the next pdp presidential candidate is from the north. the next candidate became atiku abubakar, who is a muslim and fulani and all of a sudden, the 176 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 pdp chairman decided to retain power instead of stepping down as he previously promised. a prime example of the latter is the various promises made by buhari and previous presidents to change nigeria for the better. but in most cases, the most recent being, the case of muhammadu buhari, who as president has done the exact opposite and pulled nigeria deeper into a rabbit hole, that it is only now struggling to get out of with the hope of the new political dispensation that will bring about the desired leadership change that will usher in a better social, political and economic dispensation. in addition, there is the issue of the morality behind the process of selecting politicians to occupy political positions in the polity. instead of election, it is usually selection mainly backed the survival of the richest. this was manifest, during the primaries of the major political parties in nigeria before the campaigns began. the effects of what happened during the primaries are still having a ripple effect on the political harmony in the country today because of lack of transparency in the entire process. the rules that were supposed to be used for these processes which were never properly implemented fall into the same domain of morality. hence, the call for the stringent implementation of sanctions when people are found guilty of offences, irrespective of tribe, religion, class, position, age and personality. if this is properly done, obedience to lay down ethical codes will surely improve tremendously. what are the sources of our laws? this also plays a major role on how people respond to laws that are made for public interest or common good. there has been this clarion call for the need for a new constitution in nigeria. philosophers, political scientist and even scholars of other disciplines have called the drafting of a new constitution altogether. it was this clamour that led to the national conference that was held under jonathan's regime, whose report never saw the light of day, not to talk of the implementation of the content of such a conference. if the desired changes are not effected in the polity, the clamours for a new constitution will never see the lght of day. the argument is that the 1999 constitution is a product of decree 24, which was promulgated by a military regime. it means therefore, that our constitution is a product of military regime and as 177the nexus between morality and politics such it did not emerge from the collective will of the people of nigeria. using the military laws to govern a democratic system is an aberration of the highest order. the above also falls within the realm of morality. in conclusion, this paper subscribes to a codication of ethical norms that could guide society life. such recommendation in the past has been rejected on the basis of the avoidance of the implementation of the morality of a particular religion. it is obvious that morality cannot be divulged from social, political and economic life, that is from public affairs. as such, common objective moral norms can be codied conventionally to meet needs of social life today. a refusal to go this way will spell doom for micro and macro societal life. i join aristotle to uphold the fact that, “the guarantee of human actions including politics is the pursuit of moral virtue, which ows from the moral law, which in turn will guarantee common happiness for the individual and the society at large. it should not be a product of individual and relative morality that are subject to the whims and caprices of powerful individuals or groups who attempt consistently to hijack societal ethos for their own selsh ends. endnotes 1 mendus susan,politics and morality. (cambridge: polity press, 2009), 63 2 austin, michael, divine command theory. the internet encyclopedia of philosophy, in https://iep.utm.edu/submit/100-most-desiredarticles/ accessed april 24, 2022. 3 long, d. stephen, christian ethics: a very short introduction, (oxford: oxford university press, 2010), 31. 4 m. garrnet: introduction to politics and morality, (new york: winston press limited 1980), 30. 5 m. garrnet: introduction to politics and morality, 36. 6 m. garrnet: introduction to politics and morality, 38. 7 m. garrnet: introduction to politics and morality, 39. 8 m. garrnet: introduction to politics and morality, 45. 9 button, james, private life, public conicts, (new york: cq press, 1997), 5-6. 10 guseld, joseph, symbolic crusade: urbana-champaign, (illinois: university of illinois press, 1963), 6. 178 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 11 francis fukuyama, how to re-moralize america, (oxford: oxford university press, 1999), 32. 12 francis fukuyama, how to re-moralize america, 32 13 henry hazlitt,foundations of the morality;(ludwig von mises institute, 199), 62. 14 john parrish, paradoxes of political ethics, (cambridge university press, cambridge 2012), 1-2. 179the nexus between morality and politics theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 113 c h a p t e r 8 theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges in contemporary homiletics lawrence ekhayemhe adorolo introduction the use of the concept, liturgical homily has its foundation on the liturgy and the spirit of the liturgy which has its profound meaning in the actual celebration. the word liturgy is from the greek word “leitourgia” and which is from two-component words laos – people and ergon – work. thus, the liturgy was a concept used for the work carried out by the people. it means public work of any kind, particularly in the civil life of the people.1 but as time went on, it became a concept used in the religious services in the temple. following the etymological meaning of the word, liturgy, we can say that liturgy is the public and official worship of the church.”2 in the history of the church, this has been a general understanding of the term liturgy as expressed in the worship and the rites.3 the use of this concept culminated in the papal encyclical of pope pius xii, mediator dei.4 the document states that: “the sacred liturgy is consequently, the public worship which our redeemer as head of the church renders to the father, as well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to its founder, and through him to the heavenly father. it is, in short, the worship rendered by the mystical body of christ in the entirety of its head and 114 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age members.”5 this was the line followed by the constitution of the second vatican council on the sacred liturgy, which consequently emphasized active and conscious participation of the faithful in the spirit of every liturgical celebration. we must note here that christ is always present in the church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. thus, he is present in his word since it is himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read and preached to us in liturgical celebrations.6 it is in the homily that the actual power of the word is made manifest. the term ‘homily’ has a wide range of definitions. for some, it is a biblical sermon; for others, a doctrinal talk, some say its aim is to edify a congregation; others give as its purpose, moral instruction. even among the christian churches, there is a diversity of usage. many protestant still prefer the word “sermon,” even when they refer to preaching that occurs within the liturgy. when they do use the word “homily” they describe it as walking through the text, step by step.”7 roman catholics on the other hand, now widely use “homily” for the renewed form of preaching ushered in by the liturgical reform of vatican council ii; it is that form of preaching which flows from and immediately follows the scriptural readings of the liturgy and which lead to the celebration of the sacraments. in current roman catholic parlance “homily” is distinguished from “sermon” where the latter is a form of preaching that is not necessarily connected to the biblical readings and is heard outside the context of the liturgy; homily, on the other hand, is a popular exposition and application of the scripture. a homily must have the following characteristics: biblical, liturgical, kerygmatic and must be familiar.8 the word “homily” from its etymology is derived from the greek word “homou” (together) and “homilos (a crowd). the word connotes a familiar conversation with a group of people or a pastor conversing with a flock in words and images that they recognize. the crowd is not some haphazard mob of strangers but a gathering of friends, people familiar to the preacher. it is not a conversation of imposition or of persuasion.9 however, for the purpose of this work, the liturgical homily should be understood as an interpretation primarily from the scriptural and liturgical sources to show god’s wonderful action in the history of salvation, particularly as it is related to the specific community being addressed. thus, it is a type of interpretation drawn from the theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 115 scripture to make practical application to the spiritual life of the worshipping assembly.10 this work attempts to discuss the theology of liturgical homily. it seeks first by establishing a clearer understanding of the concept; its nature and theological basis. it further attempts to examine the role of liturgical homily and subsequently to discuss some of the problems in the practice of liturgical homiletics. it highlights some of the common practices today. this paper concludes with some recommendations to advance faithful adherence and practice as a liturgical action in the spirit and mind of the church. the nature of liturgical homily the word ‘homily is not a conversation or persuasion but rather a discussion like the one the two disciples engaged in as they were on their way to emmaus (cf. luk. 24:14). in the discussion, one noticed that the lord’s interpretation of the things that went on in jerusalem “these past days” is different from their own. in every liturgical homily, the preacher shed light on the word of god and makes the heart of the assembly burn. the preacher does not force his preaching upon listeners. the familiar conversation on the road to emmaus shows that homily is more than information; it is the interpretation that leads to recognition of the good news. with a backdrop from the greek etymology of homily which means familiar conversation chibuko sees the nature of liturgical homily as a familiar conversation on the very mysteries of christ.11 he notes that liturgical homily consists of the systematic exposition of the scripture readings or of some particular aspects of them, or of some other texts taken from the ordo or proper of the mass of the day, having regard for the mystery being celebrated or the special needs of those who hear it.12 more so the character of the homily should be biblical. it must be on interpretation of the scriptural texts. this is thus a distinguishing mark of preaching liturgical homilies. the aim or paramount importance of every liturgical homily is the spiritual feeding of the faithful. this would justify why the liturgy of the word could rightly be called the “table of the word” this nourishment prepares the faithful for the nourishment that comes up 116 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age again at the second table at the liturgy of the eucharist, which is the “table of the body and blood”. in a distinct and expository fashion, robert waznark gave some of the characteristics of a homily which are: biblical, liturgical, kerygmatic and familiar.13 by biblical, he means an exposition and interpretation of some sacred texts and that the preaching should have a scriptural basis; by liturgical he meant that the word is made flesh again in the liturgy celebrated; thus, this preaching is done within the liturgical celebration. ‘kerymatic’ on the other hand connotes preaching that has a herald metaphor which is beyond the words of a mere human messenger but the word of god spoken through a messenger. “familiar conversation” talks of a familiar style in the communication of this word, that is a familiar conversation with a group of people or a pastor conversing with a flock in words and images that they recognized.14 despite the developing trends of the meaning of liturgical homily today, the above four characteristic marks still help to define and explore the nature of liturgical homily. however, they can be further nuanced in the light of liturgical praxis and cultural shifts. be that as it may, every homily must be prophetic in nature. meaning it should be able to move from an interpretation of scripture to life, to the interpretation of our daily life to scripture.15 by nature, every homily is first to proclaim the word of god, not our personal irritations or convictions and then preaching about the signs of god in the lives of the people. the homilist should never be the focus of the homily; he should avoid personal references, mixed metaphors, and negative associations. rather, it should be coherent and brief.16 patrick chibuko discussing the nature of liturgical homily says every homily “should be sufficiently biblical, theological in content and rooted in sound doctrine. it should have a tinge of newness to a familiar topic, should be in time with the liturgical season or occasion, be based on the eternal truth of the gospel and the paschal mystery of christ.17 furthermore, the nature of liturgical homily shows that it is not a time the preacher gives his personal views about current theological debates. however, these are useful in the liturgical homily in so far as thy help the preacher to unfold the mystery of faith being celebrated and help the faithful to appreciate the faith that they are celebrating and to profess it stoutly in their lives. it should consist of only the exposition of the word of god as contained in the scriptures in such a way as to bring home its theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 117 saving and liberating truth to the hearers, enabling them to understand that truth in relation to their daily lives in the world which christ came to redeem and which those who are in christ are called to serve. this ministry of preaching must be done articulately and effectively. it is not at such time the preacher learns oratory or exercises personality power, rather it is the holy spirit who uses the word of the minister to bring home to the hearers the truth of the scriptural message for them.18 this does not mean that the preacher need not spend hours of prayer and study in preparation of his homily; although it is god who gives the increase, the labour of planting and watering must be done by the human minister (cf. 1 cor. 3:6). hence, every liturgical homily must be a proclamation with special relevance to the existential situation of those who are addressed. homily by nature is not picking one or the other phrase or idea from a gospel or an epistle and using it as the basis of moralizing which has little or no relation to the rest of the word of god nor any connection with the sacred banquet into which the whole liturgy of the word is supposed to lead the people.19 its character should be that of the proclamation of god’s wonderful work in the history of salvation, the mystery of christ ever made present and active within us. the object of every homily is to draw from the texts the message of salvation, which they contain and to confront the present congregation with it as if they were hearing it for the first time. in other words, no matter what the text may be, it is always the gospel that we preach, or more precisely, what we proclaim. hence we must say that whatever we ourselves may feel about it, to turn aside from this proclamation and to substitute instruction or moral exhortation for the direct preaching of the word in the liturgy is foreign to the very idea of liturgical homily and indeed of preaching itself.20 in a nutshell, the preacher does two things in every liturgical homily: to teach and move; to teach the virtues and vices: the virtues to make them loved, practised and cling to; the vices to have them detested fought and flown. you to have to give light to the reason and warmth to the will. preachers are always to tie their liturgical homily to one of the four fundamentals: faith morals, sacraments and prayer that remain the foundations of the present roman catechism.21 118 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age theological backgroud of liturgical homily my attempt here in providing a theological background to liturgical homily will include a biblical foundation (old and new testaments), the patristic period, the magisterial and some contemporary theologians on liturgical homily. liturgical homily in the old testament: the old testament contains a great deal of liturgical celebration and rites presided over by the elders of the people of israel. the entire bible is borne out of the liturgical celebration of the people and presided over by elders.22 therefore, the tradition of exposition of biblical readings is found in the jewish synagogue. it was a tradition of interpreting and applying the scriptural message to the contemporary situation like other elements of christian liturgy, this particular ecclesial form of preaching which saw an amazing development during the patristic era is rooted in judaism, especially in the synagogue worship of jesus’s time. this consisted essentially of a liturgy of the word, which is composed of four parts: the reading of the torah, reading from the prophets, the homily and prayer. the synagogue homily being a reflection of the entire biblical tradition is completely original with respect to the other cults. it is associated with the word and its special importance for these people, among whom it is constantly reactualized in the face of new events and the demands of fidelity to the covenant. however, two texts give us a very good idea of the function of the synagogue homily and sum up its history. neh. 8:18 tells us how ezra read from the book of the law of god interpreting and explaining its meaning so that everyone could understand the reading. luke 4:21 recounts the words with which jesus, in the synagogue at nazareth, introduces his commentary on the reading of isaiah 6:1-2 “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”23 new testament: the sabbath bible reading custom which had to be followed by clarifying explanation was for our lord the main opportunity for preaching the word of god to receptive hearers and to proclaim his kingdom.24 in the new testament, we find many elements that lead to the christian homily. on the way to emmaus, the two disciples in their words express disappointment. then jesus appears and began to explain to theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 119 them the scripture beginning from the old to the new testament. at the end of the explanation, there was the breaking of bread and they recognized him. through the explanation of the word, their hearts were burning with joy and the joy came to fullness in the breaking of bread.25 this is a wonderful example of what happens at every liturgical celebration where a well prepared and delivered homily precedes the celebration of the sacraments. jesus taught them the full meaning of the scripture. in the feeding of the five thousand people (5000), jesus taught them before giving them something to eat. he, first of all, taught them and then fed them (matt. 14:13-21). also at the last supper, he taught them before the celebration.26 on the same tradition with jesus, the apostles, therefore, examine the old testament for words and events that are fulfilled in the mystery of christ. the first christian communities express their faith awareness that christ is present among them through the word and sacraments of the church. the acts of the apostles constantly gives us a glimpse of paul as he “converses” with his communities assembled in the name of the lord. at antioch in pisidia, paul and barnabas, in similar circumstances were ordered by the rulers of the synagogue to direct “a word of encouragement to the assembly (cf. acts 13:15). one could be right to say that during the apostolic era as we have it in the new testament; the homily was an effort by the apostles to proclaim the good news of jesus through whom god has acted and continued to act in our lives. patristic era: the exposition of scripture continued in the liturgical preaching of the early christian churches. the witness of justin to the preaching of the homily as an established liturgical practice would always remain a credible reference point for subsequent liturgical tradition. his description of a second century liturgy preaching contains one reliable information which is very old about the homily at mass: “on the day called sunday all gather in the same place, whether they live in the city or in the country: the memories of the apostles or the writing of the prophets are read for long as time allows. when the reader has finished, the president delivers a discourse (logos) urging and exhorting us to imitate these good examples …”27 the basic characteristic of the patristic homily is that 120 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in christian homilies three methods are involved; reading of the sacred text, detailed explanation of what has been read, and contemplation of the mysteries in their realization.28 this was a show of strong desire to proclaim the things of god in human terms. this era was displayed in essence what liturgical homily ought to be, namely an informal conversation by a pastor of souls with his people during a liturgical action based on the biblical texts presented by the liturgy. there was an emphasis on the essential elements of a homily which is derived from the fact that it is given during a liturgical action.29 furthermore, this era through origen strove through allegorical exegesis to adapt the scripture to all levels of the congregation through the homily, to describe the familiar style in which preaching is done. it was a style that is direct and free, a manifestation of mystical exegesis of scripture, practical application and final exhortation, but the tone set is one of familiar conversation.30 also, the systematic reflections in christian preaching by two greatest homilists: st john chrysostom and st. augustine were proud and stimulating during this era.31 this, as it were, is not the place to offer an extended exposition of the patristic fathers’ contribution to the theology of preaching or the relation of preaching to the sacraments. but it suffices to say that their sources and contributions on homiletics provide much valuable information and bedrock for a liturgical homily. the writings of the fathers of the east and west supply much valuable insight in this regard.32 therefore, in general, it can be confidently stated that the patristic fathers of the church commonly teach that god is actively present in the reading of the scripture and the preaching of the word of god in every liturgical celebration. the magisterium: in the church’s magisterium, the ground for the renewed vigour towards the abundant use of the scriptures in the life of christians was softened especially by pope leo xii in his encyclical letter, providentissimus deus (1833), by pope benedict xi in his letter spiritus paraclitus (1920), and by pope pius xii’s divino afflante spiritu (1943). indeed sacred scriptures are of paramount importance in the celebration of the liturgy, especially in the eucharistic celebration,33 for it inspires the other prayers and songs of theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 121 the eucharistic celebration, all the action and signs of liturgy derive their meaning from the scripture.34 with this, it becomes the good wish of the fathers of the second vatican council that easy access to the sacred scripture should be provided for all the christian faithful not only by merely reading the word of the sacred scriptures but above all through exposure to a biblical-based homily. hence, sacrosanctum concilium (sc) states that the sacred scriptures is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy. from it are drawn the lessons which are read and which are explained in the homily.35 furthermore, it says that “by means of the homily, the mystery of faith and the guiding principle of the christian life are expounded from sacred texts during the course of the liturgical year.36 the code of canon law in canon 767 paragraphs three and four went further to recommend that “if a sufficient number of people are present, there should be a homily at weekday masses, also especially during advent and lent or on a feast day or an occasion of grief. it is the responsibility of the parish priest or the rector of a church to ensure that these provisions are carefully observed.”37 in the second typical edition of the 1972 roman missal, paul vi added that homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant.38 the 1981 typical edition of the order of readings of the mass recalls the most important teaching concerning the homily, describing it more briefly as part of the liturgy of the word.39 but it adds some important direction thus: whether the homily explains the biblical word of god proclaimed in the readings or some other texts of the liturgy, it must always lead the community of the faithful to celebrate the eucharist wholeheartedly, so that they may hold fast in their faith. from this living explanation, the word of god proclaimed in the reading and the church’s celebration of the day’s liturgy would have a greater impact. but these demands that the homily is truly the fruit of meditation, carefully, prepared neither too long nor too short and suited to all those present even children and the uneducated. 40 contemporary theologians: in order to correct obvious anomalies in the liturgical celebration, many contemporary theologians have taken pains to educate both the clergy and the laity on the proper 122 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nature of liturgical homily and how it can be best actualize in our liturgical celebrations. according to robert p. waznak, “every homilist represents its community voicing its concerns, by naming its demons and thus enabling it to gain some understanding and control of the evil which afflicts it. he represents the lord by offering the community another word, a word of healing and pardon, of acceptance of love.41 the primary task of the homilist, therefore, is not to explain but to interpret. he seeks to attend to the present moment as revelatory of god’s past events and future possibilities are seen in the light of present theophanies. waznak concludes by saying that every homily should lead god’s people to recognize a living word of meaning in the eucharist and in the concrete circumstances of their lives.42 for a.g martimort, a homily is a pastoral act because it consists in breaking the bread of the word; it is a truly liturgical act because it continues the effective action of the readings and forms a single whole with these. whether delivered by the chief celebrant himself or by another priest or by a deacon, care must be taken not to weaken the connection of homily with the liturgical action.43 he sees the homily as the most important way of bringing out the “today” of god’s word in the life of christian assembly who had gathered for ecclesial prayers and celebration and will soon scatter again and return to the world. a good homily must be first of all a proclamation of joy for what god has done for us and then it should enlighten the concrete life situations of present-day people, revealing where and how this salvation can be achieved and fulfilled.44 a very well proclaimed word of god and well prepared and delivered homily nourishes the faith of the people in a great deal. it keeps the celebration alive. they are usually very challenging and never boring. therefore, the readings and homily are to be celebrated in the same manner as the words of consecration. just as the word of consecration cannot be altered anyhow, the same applies to the readings and homily.45 hence chibuko says that “every homily must speak of life, passion, death and resurrection of christ, namely the paschal mystery. cross of christ must not be found missing in homilies especially in a materialistic society that seems to be deviating from the cross and going after a cross-less christ. the centrality of the paschal mystery of christ must be sufficiently theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 123 emphasized.46 he furthermore brought out the power behind the word of god in the liturgy when he says: anywhere the word of god is powerfully proclaimed and preached, (behind a powerful microphone or public address system), enriched with nourishing fruits of deep prayerful reflections, local idiomatic expressions, poetic forms, proverbs and wisdom titbits, with good liturgical and cultural music to help in digesting the word and signs, the situation is quite different. attendance at such ceremonies are usually full and the christian life and culture boom. then in response, the people are prepared to take up responsibilities to solve social problems because they are now fully armed with christ and all these, of course, lead to reverence to the word of god and the sacrament being celebrated.47 thus, the homily heightens the awareness of who we are now as well as who god is calling us to become. through it, the people receive in their heart a word of encouragement, correction, wisdom, guidance, hope or deeper insight into their selfish claim on their own lives. consequently whatever we need must be in the homily for those who are expecting to hear it. a liturgical homily must always have a deep personal meaning for those who await it openly.48 homily as a liturgical action the designation of a homily from other forms of preaching implies the fact of one given at a liturgical celebration on a biblical text and by an ordinary minister of homily and by a presiding cleric (cf. sc. 52). since the liturgical reform of the second vatican council, the homily is seen to be an integral part of the liturgy of the word. it may be based not only upon the scriptures proclaimed but also upon any of the liturgical texts and upon the mystery being celebrated. this distinguishes the homily from a sermon, which is a religious, but not a strictly liturgical form of oratory and may have no relation to readings or other liturgical elements of the celebration in which it is delivered. the liturgy of the word is prescribed in all the revised liturgical rites, even in the private celebration of the sacrament of penance. the 124 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age liturgical rites themselves proclaim that the christian community is based on god’s written word and only in the context of hearing the word can we celebrate the various sacramental mysteries. thus whether at mass of during the celebration of one of the liturgical rites, it is always assumed that a proclamation of the word may be followed but at least a brief homily.49 the liturgical homily has achieved its esteemed place in all liturgies. the homily has a place and must not be neglected in the celebration of all the sacraments, at para-liturgies, and in assemblies of the faithful. it will in every case, be a privileged moment for preaching the word of the lord: the homily as a liturgical action leads the assembly to celebrate the liturgy more deeply and more fully, more faithfully and be formed for christian witness in the world. the homily enables the people to respond in faith through liturgical word and gesture. it is in such sense we see the homily as liturgical action. in a further development, while the homily provides a bold and existential proclamation to the stability of the liturgy, the liturgical ritual gives the homily its rooted-ness in the gospel and the church’s tradition of prayer. more so, the stability of the liturgical context safeguards the homily from becoming an instruction, a nongospel speech, and an appeal for personal piety over against the needs of the community. the fact of the homily being structured in a liturgical context prevents it from any frivolity preaching can ever degenerate to. thus, the homilist must know that the exhortation he gives is not any kind but one that should be markedly biblical arousing the faith of the people and based on the particular liturgy being celebrated. we can see a kind of mutual association between the liturgy and homily. while the homily gives the liturgy a structure, the liturgy protects the homily from an aberration. the homily is the meeting point between the word proclaimed and christ’s signs, which converge to accomplish among the faithful the mystery of faith.50 the homily in this sense could be said to be interpretative, interpreting the particular liturgy being celebrated. thus as a liturgical action, homily takes on the features of an actual celebration and draws inspiration from particular rites and ritual. the homily, therefore, as a liturgical action should blend with the overall rhythm of the liturgy celebrated. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 125 today’s problems with liturgical homily: the homily is where there is one of the major liturgical problems in today’s liturgy. the grassroots problem of a liturgical homily is in its preparation and delivery. this problem touches on the purpose of the homily and it is deeply rooted in the question of interpretation. a homily must be able to take the word in its original meaning and translate it into ever-new expressions, courageously using it to confront the most dramatic aspects of our constantly changing culture and crisis in which people find themselves today.51 nowadays, insufficient time and lack of adequate preparation characterize the delivery of liturgical homilies. in most cases, the celebrant (homilist) gives only a few minutes to the homily on sunday or other major liturgical celebrations because of other various parish activities that are taking place within the liturgical celebrations. due to lack of adequate preparation, the problem of showing off in the process of delivering is very common among homilists. this comes in various ways. some take the occasion as an opportunity to show off their oratory. in some great liturgical occasions the homily time is now the time for one of those rhetorical exercise with appropriate gestures and vocal inflection which have always delighted the crowd and which like some works of art, exist for the art’s sake, that is, in this case for the pleasure that good people take, as they say, in listening to a “man who can speak well.52 for some, anything could be spoken of as well and besides the gospel and no allusion is ever made, ordinarily, to the other scriptural texts of the liturgy. moral exhortation, political comments, financial appeals, and sometimes, but less frequently, a sort of catechism lesson for adult had long since taken the place of the homily for others, it is the time to speak about social problems in order to win the peoples approval, and for some still, it is a time to entertain the congregation. the situation becomes more problematic when the homilist because of lack of preparation uses the time for delivering a homily for singing, clapping, dancing and even using funny expressions calculated to invoke laughter and applause.53 furthermore, the practice is now gaining ground in our local churches whereby after the gospel, the choir or the homilist himself intones a chorus, sometimes as long as five minutes or longer in some extreme 126 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age cases, before the homily. the homily as an integral part of the liturgy of the word comes immediately after the gospel reading. thus, it is an unnecessary prolongation of the liturgy to begin a hymn after the gospel which takes a considerable length of time during which many in the congregation do not know whether to keep standing up or to sit down. another practical problem facing liturgical homily in today’s liturgical celebrations is the lack of effective public address system in our parish churches. the use of a public address system is to facilitate communication, but this is not always the case; rather, most of the public address systems in our churches are not functioning well. when they are used, the congregation hardly hears the preacher clearly and distinctly, it irritates and alienates the congregation as well as frustrating the genuine effort of the preacher. hence, the obvious presence of poor public address system in most of our churches militates against the actualization of a good liturgical homily. the consequence of all the identified problems is that the faithful go home after each liturgical celebration with little or nothing to inspire and nourish their christian living. present and common practices today: in a liturgical celebration, the people of god who gather to celebrate await eagerly to hear god speak to them through the mouth of the priest when he preaches. even though we can’t deny the fact that some priests still take this part of the celebration seriously by the way and manner they preach the word of god, some others however, have long lost the sense of the mysteries they celebrate in the way they deliver their homily in the liturgical celebration. this point becomes very true, when we consider the singing, clapping, and dancing we often experience during homily time which often results to sweating and losing concentration and end up not getting any spiritual nourishment from the word of god in such liturgical celebration. the only explanation to this in my own view is a desire by the priest to be acclaimed rather than pass across the good news of christ. also, playing to the gallery, that is attempting to impress the people because of poor knowledge of the scripture. indeed the present situation of some liturgical homilies today show lack of adequate preparation, failure to use simple language, failure to go straight to the point and inability to relate the word of theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 127 god to the lives of the people on the part of the priests. priests should be confident of what they say and preach it with authority, power and conviction and without fear or favour or just merely reading abstract ideals that elicit sleep and distraction on the congregation. the situation now shows that some priests no longer follow the catholic methodology of delivering a homily. rather, the pentecostal influence seems to be more evident in our preaching. hence, one wonders the effect of the courses of homiletics and liturgy taught during the seminary’s formative years. some priests now use the ambo during the time of homily in our liturgical celebration as an opportunity to preach politics, talk about themselves, reel insults on personalities and attack those whom they feel hinders their progress in the parish. in some instances, there is no single reference to the readings of the day, rather it will be a talk from one political issue to another or talk about fundraising in different forms all in the name of church projects. though priests should be current on the issues affecting the society in the pages of national dailies and see how they can use the scriptural readings of the day to address the situation, does not mean that priests should be preaching false miracles and healing as we are currently observing in our celebrations now. this practical application is lacking in our liturgical homily today because some homilies are void of adequate preparation, skilful presentation and many often it is not done behind a good public address system. this is very true when you consider the fact that some of the liturgical homilies we listen to today don’t have a particular topic or theme for the day. hence no precise message but repetitions and thus fail to address the people’s fears and worries, rather what we see is an overly emotional style of shouting and dancing as well as preaching christ without the cross. in some occasions the priests rush their masses; hence they give little time to preaching the word of god because they are rushing to meet up another mass in the other stations or in the same church. the consequence of this is that parishioners of such parish after sunday mass go to other churches where more time is given to the preaching of the word of god. in some of our celebrations, the liturgy of the word is generally poorly celebrated. the lectors are not properly trained to read effectively. taking of photographs, video 128 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age coverage and other movements which are now practices of the day contribute immensely to the poor celebration of the liturgy of the word. for a proper celebration of the word and for the actual nourishment of the people, such actions and movements should be discouraged in our liturgy. nobody can give what he does not have. some priests today are carried away with material things and so are easily distracted. some are always and only concerned with the structural development of the parish. thus, they have little or no time to study the scripture, meditate and reflect on the word of god using the bible and other church documents and commentaries to prepare their homily. proper preparations, it is said, prevents poor performance. however, the obvious truth in the present and common practices in liturgical homily is that some of the liturgical homilies have been pastorally enriching and helpful to the spiritual nourishment of the clergy and lay faithful. on the contrary, some of the liturgical homilies both in content and in style of delivery have been poorly done, and cannot properly elicit faith and inspirations in the spiritual life of the people. recommendations: based on this in-depth study, it is obvious that a thorough and critical view of the subject matter has been dealt with by showing that the church is not only to read the word of god but also to see to it that through the homily the christian life is nurtured, by taking into account the mystery being celebrated and the needs proper to the people of god. hence some recommendations offered here are to serve as a working tool to improve the content and style of preaching the homily in liturgical celebrations. they are meant first and foremost to promote evangelization and also to help both the clergy and the lay faithful in the actualization of every word of god celebrated in the liturgy. from the foregoing, one could notice that the homily within liturgical celebration poses a very vital challenge to both the preacher and listeners. thus, these recommendations will in no small measure help the clergy and the assembly to have a better knowledge of the nature of liturgical homily and how it can nourish their spiritual life, and also help in the appreciation of the celebration of the entire paschal mystery of christ. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 129 (1) liturgical commission: the second vatican council recommends a functional liturgical commission for promoting liturgical apostolate. the role of such commission in the liturgical life of any given local church is indispensable. it will help to regularly assist in the formation and implementation of liturgical guidelines. such guidelines and implementation will help a great deal in controlling some of the ugly situations we observe in the practice of liturgical homily today. (2) on-going liturgical formation of priest: since the homily is a type of preaching generally reserved for the clergy and it is seen as part of the church’s teaching office, there is an urgent need for on-going formation among the clergy which was recommended by the document of the second vatican council on the ministry and life of priests. the ministry of priests involves sanctity and knowledge. just as priests have monthly recollections and annual retreats of at most a week duration for their spiritual growth, something comparable ought to be put in place to address their needs for on-going theological formation. (3) proper liturgical formation for major seminarian: the seminarians of today are priests of tomorrow who will be given the responsibility of preaching homilies. according to a popular adage: “the morning shows the day”. the scripture says “train up a child the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it (prov. 22:5). there is a need for proper formation of major seminarians. since the training of future priests starts from the seminary, there is the need for their curriculum to be updated especially in the area of homiletics. the church insists that in carrying out various ministries in the church, the minister must be properly trained. hence, those to be ordained priests require appropriate formation for the role they are called to play in the church. in homiletics curriculum, the formation can be general and specific. the general formation will take the form of doctrinal and liturgical formation. they should be equipped with more than a passing knowledge of the scripture, sacred 130 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age doctrines, the teachings of the magisterium, liturgical norms and practices etc. specifically, they should be formed liturgically, this formation will give them some basic understanding of the meaning and structure of liturgical celebration in general and also the relationship between the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the eucharist. this formation should also involve technical training of the seminarian on how to prepare, and deliver a liturgical homily. (4) faithfulness to the church’s form of worship: there is a need to put some order and uniformity in the liturgical celebration especially in the liturgy of the word. this should be consistently followed in the celebration of all the sacraments. thus, any attempt by the priest to imitate some of the pentecostal churches in their emotional style of shouting and dancing as well as preaching christ without the cross should be discouraged. the essence of liturgical celebration is total transformation expressed in the sanctification of the people, the edification of the church, the glorification of god and witnessing in christian living. (5) proper preparation: there should be proper preparation by the priest before every homily. in the liturgy, there is no room for improvisation. the homilist should and must not go to the ambo just to say something; rather he should go to the ambo with something to say. a very well prepared and delivered homily will nourish the faith of the assembly a great deal. it will also keep the entire celebration alive and will be appreciated by the assembly. all prepared and delivered homily will be very challenging and never boring. as part of the preparation, the homilist should endeavour to guide against too long or too short homilies. he should be able to strike a balance. a good homilist is one who through his proper preparation sees to it that no more than proportionate time is given to each of the integral parts of the celebration so much so that the actions are kept flowing and performed with dignifying grace. the preacher with proper preparation must approach the ministry of preaching with all seriousness, zeal and utter dependence on the holy spirit. (6) a theme for every homily: in every homily delivered, there should be a theme. a particular topic with a reflection theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 131 on the readings or mystery being celebrated should be delivered with depth, precision and especially with contextual relevance. to go through an entire gospel topic can bear fewer fruits because the preacher, who can dwell only very little on every element, cannot develop them or explain to the congregation what he wants to say. bearing in mind, that the assembly is present and disposed to hear sacred ideas that will influence their lives, the preacher, through his theme and content of his message should be able to present commentary of the readings and an application of same to the concrete situations that make meaning to his listeners. from the theme also, the assembly should be able to draw a connection between the content of the homily and their daily life as christians. conclusion: this study has evaluated in-depth the nature and actual application of liturgical homily in the life of the church. it was able to create the awareness that there is a need for improvement in the style and content of liturgical homily today. from the presentation, it was established that lack of preparation by priests hampers proper liturgical homilies in the liturgical life of the church. from the findings of the study, it is also clear that the church has everything to gain if the clergy understands the nature and importance of homily in our liturgical celebrations. by so doing, they will be acting in full conformity with the bible, the theology of the church, liturgical provisions and the teaching of the magisterium. it is a general call for all to recognize and appreciate the nourishment that every well prepared and delivered homily can bring to the church and her mission of evangelization. it is the belief that this work will to a great extent be able to remove any misunderstanding that some might have heard about the nature of liturgical homily before now. thus, we wish to state that although this work does not claim to be exhaustive of all there is to explore and discuss about the liturgical homily, it still has convincingly spelt out the dynamics and challenges of the clergy in 132 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the preaching of a liturgical homily. however, it can serve as a springboard for further researches in the future. endnotes 1 frank l. cross (ed), the oxford dictionary of christian church, 2nd edition) (london: oxford university press, 1974). 2 gasper leferbre, the spirit of god in the litrugy, (london: burns and oattes, 1959) 12. 3 jovian p. lang, dictionary of the liturgy, (new york: catholic book publishing crop, 1989) 254 – 255. 4 pope pius xii, encylical letter on the sacred liturgy, mediator dei nov. 20, 1947. 5 mediator dei 20. 6 sacrosanctum concilium 7. 7 robert waznak, “homily” in peter fink, ed., the new dictionary of sacramental worship, (dublin: gill and macmillan, 1990) 552-553. 8 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 552-553. 9 lang 254 – 255. 10 lang 254 – 255. 11 patrick chibuko, keeping the liturgy alive – an anglophone west african experience, (london: ikoverlag fur interkulturelle kommunikation, 2003) 124. 12 chibuko, keeping the liturgy alive – an anglophone west african experience, 125. 13 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 553-558. 14 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 555. 15 waznak, an introduction to the homily 26. 16william bausch, story telling – the word homilies and how to write them, (new york: paulist press, 1996) 57. 17 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 38 18 richardson 264. 19 emerie a. lawrence, homilies for the year, (collegeville, minnesota: the liturgical press, 1965) vii. viii. 20 emerie viii 21 martin vivies “the nature and content of preaching” in faith and liturgy: the proceedings of the seventh international colloquium of historical, canonical and theological studies on the roman liturgy, (london: ciel, 2002) 29-30. 22 fink 553. 23 domenico sartore, “the homily” in: ansagar j. chupungco ed handbook for liturgical studies, the eucharist vol.3, (collegeville minnesota: the liturgical press, 1997) 91. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 133 24 cf. luke 24:15 – 35 25 ccc 1337 26 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 7 27 sartore 191. 28 sartore 192. 29 fink ed. 553 – 558. 30 sartore 211 – 212. 31 edward j. kilmartin christian liturgy: theology and practice, (kansas city: sheed and ward, 1988) 288. 32 kilmartin 288 – 289. 33 sc 24 34 sartore 194 35 sc 35:2 36 sc 52. 37 the code of canon law, (london collins publication. 1983) 767. 55misale romanum ex decreto sacrosanti occumenici concilii vol. ii instauratum, auctoritate pauli pp promulgatum, ed typical altera. 1975. institution generalis. 42. as cited in: domenico sartore, 195. 39 ordo lectionum missae (olm), 1969, 24. 40 paul vi, “evangeli nuntiandi” evangelization in the modern world. teporis 43, aas58 (1976) 1008 – 125. 41 waznak 558. 42 waznak 558. 43 a.g. martimort ed. the church at prayer vol. i principles of the liturgy, (collegeville, minnesota: the liturgical press. 1987) 139 44 martimort ed. vol. ii: the eucharist 67 – 68. 45 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 30. 46 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 31. 47 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 31 – 32. 48 theodore e. dobson, how the eucharist can transform your life, (indian: paulist press, 1998) 30 and 66. 49 dennis c. smolaski, sacred mysteries: sacramental principles and liturgical practice, (new york: paulist press, 1992) 72. 50 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 16. 51 patrick chibuko, paschal mystery of christ: foundation for liturgical inculturation in africa, (new york: peter lang, 1999) 44. 52 alfred p. gibbs, the preacher and his preaching, (lagos: ken maranatha ventures, 1989) 24. 53hilary p.o. okeke, let us celebrate the mystery of faith: a pastoral letter, (onitsha: good mark print production, 2005) 71. forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 67 c h a p t e r 5 forming future catholic priests in a ‘pentecostal world’: challenges and prospects john segun odeyemi introduction modern ecumenism and pentecostalism are two different phenomena which have occurred in the christian world in the last hundred years. even though pentecostalism was criticized initially by the established churches as theologically unsystematic, lacking in doctrine and dogma, yet its appeal and rate of growth remain undeniable, giving birth to a totally new ecclesial community. this growth is now recognized and acknowledged among the world council of churches as perhaps the new ‘pentecost’ of our age. some make the claim that pentecostalism will be the new face of christianity within a few decades and into the next millennium. using nigeria as a template, this essay investigates the relationship between pentecostalism and catholic seminarians in formation. these seminarians will be priests within an existing but fragile ecumenical union. hence, there is the need for a framework by which one can critically explore pentecostalism’s future challenges and prospects vis-à-vis future catholic priests. in the spring of 2016, missio aachen, in germany awarded me some grant to pursue a study of the impact of pentecostalism in west africa with a specific focus on ecumenism. i had grown up in 68 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nigeria, africa’s most populous nation. this country is also the most diverse in terms of language and ethnic affiliations, it happens to be home too for pentecostalism in west africa. growing up within these complexities of ethnic, lingual and multiple religious identities made me query the idea of the production of multiple meanings within christianity. it is necessary to state, that these multiplicities of the production of interpretations cut through traditional missionary founded churches, the african independent churches(aics), the evolution of classical pentecostal churches, the birth of charismatic and neo-pentecostal bodies and currently the newest form of pentecostalism which i refer to as pentecôtistes nouvelle génération; (png).1 let me clarify that pentecostalism in nigeria and in west africa, from my fieldwork across nigeria, ghana, ivory coast and sierra leone has its own peculiarities and distinctiveness from pentecostalism in the global west. at the turn of the twentieth century, pentecostalism in subsaharan africa had become a phenomenon that no serious scholar of religion could ignore. through its evolutionary stages from the 1920s, pentecostalism for various reasons, which we shall explore later, continued to grow and expound thereby impacting the societies it exists in on all fronts; culturally, economically, socially, politically, and religiously. consequently, it is said that “the pentecostal genre of christianity is becoming the dominant form of christianity in contemporary africa.”2 cephas omenyo, reflecting on the genre which in and of itself is not mono but existing in pluriformity, states, “the variety and diversity of african pentecostalism is palpable. it is sometimes suggested that we should speak of ‘african pentecostalisms’ rather than ‘african pentecostalism’ because of the existing complexities of categorization.”3 the diversities spoken of here deserve another script and research, starting from classical to neo-pentecostals of contemporary times. it can be argued that pentecostalism is the fastest-growing religious phenomenon around the globe currently. some call it a revival of traditional christianity, which is said to have grown lukewarm. cardinal walter kasper calls this a “third wave of christian history” or a third phase where the mission is no longer ‘ad gentes’ – to the nations/peoples of the world, but ‘inter gentes’ – between peoples of same religious commitment.4 this growth is adduced to evangelical movements, pentecostal churches, and charismatic movements. forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 69 west african pentecostalism may be popular, but it has considerable baggage of problems to deal with. for now, a brief reflection suffices; pentecostalism is a proliferation and further splintering of the christian church that was born out of the 16th century reformation. as young as pentecostalism is within christianity and the history of the southern hemisphere, it continues to suffer multiplications and splintering or breakaway factions. in all of the west african countries i visited, most notorious are ghana and nigeria, where the pentecostal billboards and signposts litter the city skyline. television and radio broadcasts are filled daily with competing pentecostal churches, founders and general overseers jostling for adherents and making promises of deliverance, healings and breakthroughs. particularly, in nigeria, this splintering becomes a battle for bodies and minds of people, every new assembly vying for social relevance and survival. within the raucousness, some of these newly founded and self-appointed church ministers create a fundamentalist following deeply steeped in proselytizing. the jesuit theologian, roger haight sees some of these movements not only individualistic and fundamentalist, but extremely suspicious and exclusivistic of other pentecostal assemblies. haight avers, “… so individualistic is their anthropology and piety that they scrupulously avoid all social involvement except for an extreme conservative type; and so independent and at times hostile to the interests of the mainline churches that they reject any ecumenical cooperation.”5 the various ecclesial communities may be witnessing an explosion in numbers across the continent currently but they risk an implosion in the future due to present inaction. the authenticity of a true christian spirit lies in its witnessing, the power of her truth, her forthrightness in speaking against unjust structures and not the domination of the poor. an appeal to divine authority for a ‘gospel of prosperity’, the collection of tithes, the promise of deliverances, revivals, night vigils etc., may not be a veritable vehicle of truth that builds real and enduring faith. if the church cannot speak this language of freedom and be at the forefront of the liberation of the people, political and economic forces will take the driver’s seat. when a new and progressive era dawns in africa and in nigeria, 70 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age particularly, christianity runs the risk of becoming irrelevant, as it has happened to some other continents. it is important, therefore, that seminarians pay attention to the complexities that will mark ecumenical relationships between pentecostals and orthodox christian faiths. this initial formation prepares future priests to be disposed to ecumenical exchanges, which by now should be seen as inevitable. refusal of ecumenical exchanges denies the unifying action of the holy spirit in the christian community. it is the same holy spirit that vivifies the proclamation of the goodnews. it is this sort of unity that gives the christian message credibility and makes for authentic and lasting conversions. according to killian mcdonnell, at a more pragmatic level, it is exactly the church’s credibility that is called into question, “at the level where most persons experience the church… it is the want of holiness, the lack of fruit, and the manifest disunity which make her efforts at evangelization ineffective and constitutes a threat to the power of the gospel.”6 mcdonnell states further that a real commitment to jesus consists of entering into a community of human persons totally committed to resisting popular values “which see the ultimate goal in an ever-increasing, ever higher, standard of living, of resistance to mindless consumerism, and to social values which sanction racism and the exploitation of the poor.”7 the specificity of nigerian pentecostalism: a staring point for ecumenical formation in the seminaries the first step towards understanding any natural phenomenon is a careful study of its history and growth. for seminarians to be adequately prepared to engage pentecostalism in ecumenism, it is important, given their philosophical, theological and scholastic studies to engage in academic research and when possible fellowship and joint acts of praying or worship. the following is an abridged history that is illustrative of the pentecostal movement in nigeria. western and european scholars tend to locate the origin of the renewal of pentecostalism solely to the azusa street mission of 1906, born out of an african american prayer group in los angeles.8 some other scholars from south america, asia and africa trace a different historical origin different from the azusa mission. for instance, ogbu kalu in his seminal work on pentecostalism clarifies that from the very beginning, “african pentecostalism did not forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 71 originate from azusa street and is not an extension of the american electronic church.”9 for kalu, african pentecostalism was as a result of the response to missionary enterprise by the indigenous african christians (also known and referred to as african independent churches, (aics).10 citing the ethiopian movement as an example, which was an attempt at a recovery of african identity through religion; kalu makes the claim “ethiopianism was a muscular movement that operated with a certain theodicy claiming that god has not deserted africans to their humiliation but has raised a people to restore africa’s lost glory.”11 this, kalu perceived to be an african spirituality that will be anti-structure, anti-colonialism which will give birth to a vibrant nationalism. it will empower and energize african pentecostalism post-independence. so, the first question to be asked is, how will seminarians understand and perceive african spirituality in relating to their own scholastic and format theological training? despite the foregoing, there is a clear distinction between the pentecostal movements through the decades, which makes contextualizing a necessity but labelling difficult and unnecessary. in proper context, therefore, one can historically begin to see the emergence of african pentecostalism, revivals and identity from 1900 to 1960. various indigenous ‘prophets’ were already crisscrossing different parts of africa from 1910 when european missionaries were gathered in edinburgh to discuss further mission work in africa. kalu sums up this all-important clarification as follows, from the historical discourse, it can be demonstrated that the movement in africa did not start from azusa street… i conclude that a charismatic wind blew through the african continent in the post-independent period that first hit the youth and women, and later overawed the resistance of the mainline churches. in each country, certain socioeconomic and political factors determined the pattern of the early concerns. but various strands connected across national boundaries.12 this argument does not exclude a variety of missionary influences. what remains clear according to kalu is that the emergence of 72 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age missionary evangelical pentecostalism came to africa to find these religious impulses already in existence. while they initially coexisted, various factors forced a separation. african pentecostalism took its roots from the indigenous impulses.13 it would be difficult to argue successfully that it has remained the same ever since. with the emergence of this new face of pentecostalism, a topological distinction is made between the aics, the first wave of neo-pentecostalism and the current mega auditoriums, and jet-flying pentecostalism. the development and timeline seem to be one and the same along the west african coast and in africa generally.14 brigit meyer concludes that given the current state of african pentecostalism and its classifications and categories it can give way to, “albeit contested, processes of de-essentializing such notions as african, authentic, or local, de-temporalizing tradition, deconstructing modernity, blurring the boundary between religion and politics, and even de-universalizing religion.”15 whatever the case might be, pentecostalism, especially of nigerian persuasion continues to expound and enlarge. for instance, j.d.y. peel notes, “the yoruba16 have exported their brand of neo-pentecostalism all over sub-saharan africa, especially to major cities like nairobi and johannesburg. and in europe too, whether to serve mainly their own in the diaspora or to light the pentecostal fire in a native white population (as with the embassy of god in ukraine.)”17 all over europe and america, pentecostals offer a chaplaincy of welcome and safe haven for the throngs of african migrants. the contention of the relationship between future priests, who are now seminarians takes on another extension worthy of consideration; as we begin to experience a ‘reverse re-evangelization’ of the west by african priests, pastors and preachers, it is important to pay attention to ecumenical relationships in the diaspora. the pentecostals believe there is a trend which constitutes a “major paradigmatic change in the christian mission, popularly labelled a ‘reverse mission.’ african pentecostals are convinced that god’s mandate to them is to reach out to the entire world. this conviction is captured by their including words such as ‘global’, ‘international,’ and ‘world’ in their nomenclature.”18 and the history of european missionaries’ relationships in the evangelization of nigeria is well documented and not much of it reflects ecumenical embrace or friendship. in the united states, catholics, evangelicals and african forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 73 pentecostals are already experiencing tensions based on proselytization. there is much work to be done in this area so as to bridge the existing widening gap between christians in the diaspora. from my personal experience, most africans who arrive in europe and america and who practice the older forms of christianity usually have problems with ‘sombre and solemn’ liturgies they encounter in their new homes. unlike the celebratory and lively worship back home, the migrants encounter a cold and impersonal style. in some instance, their white hosts fail to extend a hand of welcome and sure enough, they begin to “shop” around. once they find the pentecostal communities, they immediately feel at home. they network and are helped to settle down, get accommodation, jobs, social security cards and even for the illegal immigrant, he or she finds welcome and fellowship. pentecostals in the diaspora fulfil a role the older generational churches are unable to fill. gradually, pentecostalism is beginning to impact the host european and american communities. perhaps the pentecostals will be at the forefront of the re-evangelization of the global west. here, the challenge for training future catholic priests in the new evangelization of the next century becomes a paramount task to be fulfilled. a pentecostal perspective on ecumenism nigerian pentecostals generally seems ambivalent when it comes to the question of ecumenism. neo –pentecostals in the west who are beginning to build a viable theological base are willing to engage in ecumenical encounters better than evangelical and neo-pentecostals found mostly in the southern hemisphere. based on my fieldwork and research findings, pentecostals in west africa think that ecumenism is important, but in reality, i did not find many instances of ecumenical associations between pentecostals, catholics and other denominations. there are a few instances where pentecostals had to work with other denominations borne out of immediate expediency. for instance, in sierra leone, immediately after the civil war and the aftermath of the ebola decimation, a coalition between churches was formed to try and respond to the humanitarian needs at the time. 74 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this sort of situation found in sierra leone is one of the examples that show the state of christianity in its supposed glorious upsurge on the face of the continent. interestingly, frank macchia calls attention to ‘the tongues of pentecost.’ macchia avers, “the tongues of pentecost may provide a pregnant metaphor for a distinctly pentecostal reflection on ecumenical exchange with roman catholics.”19 macchia clarifies further, “the tongues event of pentecost exposes the scandal of both a complacent sectarianism that offers no need to strive for unity and a complacent catholicism that is convinced such unity already exists.”20 because the pentecostals lay claim to the centrality of ‘tongues’ as it was given on pentecost day, pentecostalism cannot be sectarian, therefore must be ecumenical. macchia goes further to state, the event of pentecost by nature resists domestication as a metaphor that inspires the narratives of just one movement or segment of the people of god. pentecost is an ecumenical event. it should make pentecostals feel uneasy and insecure within the closet of pentecostal piety. it urges them to come out of that closet and to discover ‘pentecostalism’ in communions other than their own, especially in ways unfamiliar to them. it reminds them that being pentecostal in the full sense of the word means transcending the boundaries of the pentecostal movement in directions unexpected and quite dramatic. it means, in part, facing the ecumenical promise and challenge implied in the presence of the roman catholic church.21 to focus on the mystery and transcendence of tongue-speech, according to macchia is an important theological foundation for understanding and affirming diversity among the various christian traditions. language, culture and doctrinal traditions are relative to the mystery of god who is present in these diversities of traditions where diversity stands for the communion of free humanity with a free self-revealing god. macchia, therefore, concludes that “such diverse communions can fellowship and work together as equal partners as they dialogue across ecclesiastical lines. tongues as a prodigium that breaks in upon us from god’s spirit functions on one level as a kind of ‘anti-language’ that reveals the utter futility of any effort to attribute status to anyone language of faith.” 22 forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 75 allan h. anderson, one of the most acknowledged theologians to have carried out thorough research on pentecostalism views the connection between ecumenical work and contemporary pentecostalism as almost void. anderson posits that despite the belief of evangelicals and pentecostals dating back to azusa street, it was presumed that this new surge of the spirit will become an apostolic faith. this idea, that the pentecostal movement will sweep over the known christian church holds sway till date, and more so in the nerve centre of neo-pentecostalism of the southern hemisphere. anderson asserts that pentecostals saw unity in a spiritual sense, but not unity in creed or doctrine. anderson alludes to one area in which ecumenism seems to function even if not profoundly taken to heart; the interaction between pentecostals and charismatic renewals in the older christian traditions. anderson argues, “at the grassroots level, the charismatic movement brought people together from many different denominations in an unprecedented way… ‘a sense of unity was generated through the sharing of the divine experiences in the spirit which washed away denomination barriers at the grassroots level’…”23 anderson concludes that the greatest weakness of modern pentecostals is their inability to embrace their potentials for ecumenical diversities and unity. the task of ecumenism today: roman catholics, aics, pentecostals relationships our theological ‘elders’ forewarned us when in 1986 they gathered in mexico for the ecumenical association of third world theologians (eatwot) that the task of africa’s theology must be ecclesial, cultural, political and liberating. they posit the following wise words, …. we begin our common methodology of theologizing as people who feel in our bodies not just our own hearts but the pain of others. we theologize together and individually from our suffering and humiliation. we stand by our prior agreements to do theology and live our faith from the energy that flows from ecumenism and to which we pray our theology should make a contribution. together we define 76 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age poverty, in the comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, as whatever robs human beings and groups of peoples of their humanity. all who are impoverished because the culture they created has been trampled upon by others, all who’s right to be human is challenged by socio-political, economic, and religious structures and demands that humiliate, all who have to struggle to have their humanity recognized and respected – all these are poor.24 it is to these poor that the goodnews about the kingdom of god must be preached. it is to them that the christian church must serve, and not dominate, plunder or subjugate further than where they have already been marginalized by the corruption of governments and multi-million dollar corporations. from my experience and fieldwork in west africa, the relationship between catholics, african independent churches and the pentecostals in ecumenical work is not easily navigated. it is different from one socio-cultural milieu to another. in most situations, these relationships are based on mutual suspicion and disregard. while catholics are accused of worshipping images and idolizing mary, the indigenous african churches are accused of syncretism and the pentecostals are perceived to be proselytizers and con artists. at best their relationship can mostly be described as a mutual tolerance or intolerance. the possible avenue by which these christian traditions can ever come together is usually under the auspices of the association of christian churches in each particular church or region as the case might be. in nigeria for instance, (and this nigerian example is almost the exact template of the same situation along with the governments and peoples of the coastline of west africa), christians come together under the auspices of the christian association of nigeria, (can). before can, the nigerian anglican/roman catholic commission (narcc) had existed as an ecumenical body, wherein joint days of prayers for unity are held, and theological discussions ensued. upon the arrival of the pentecostals and in the light of the unstable economic and political situation in the country, it was imperative for the various christian blocs under can to have a common voice facing the new political realities in the nation. there forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 77 have been calls to prayers nationwide and several communiques and papers presented commonly from can in response to burning social issues at different times. most researchers who have made significant contributions to the study of neo-pentecostalism usually do not make concise connections between ecumenism, the christian church, pentecostalism, politics and social impact. it is true that many government officials along the west african coastline are known to frequent prayer camps and pastors. according to john mansford prior, pentecostalism is yet to understand “the imperative of channelling its formidable power into the needs of the temporal world, towards the gospel call to transforming the social order according to the plan of god.”25 john prior asserts that pentecostalism “has confined itself to a spirituality of conversion, of holiness and fellowship, failing to galvanize its adherents into a force of advocacy and action against the structures of sin.”26 pentecostalism with its numbers is naturally expected to collaborate in ecumenical efforts particularly when it speaks to social justice issues; on paper, west african pentecostals (pastors and adherents) agree that ecumenism which pays attention to social justice issues is essential. however, in reality, this is not true. this question can also be asked of the older christian traditions. it can be asked of those who design the curriculum for seminaries in the training of future priests. the preaching of the gospel can no longer be without its political and liberational dimensions. future priests, ecumenism and pentecostalism: prospects and challenges. there is a complexity in approaching the question of anything in the future since no one knows the future. we can try to predict possibilities in the future, but there are too many factors at play beyond human control that can reshape the future. the future of catholic priests and pentecostals at home and abroad, engaging in ecumenical work is bleak. the reality is that both sides view each other with suspicion. the future as far as it can be perceived puts a great challenge on the part of the priests of the next generation. again, there is an urgent need to review the curriculum in the seminaries especially as it affects homiletics, evangelization and 78 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age managing ecumenical outreach. awareness is essential as the future of catholicism in the global west may now be the missionary responsibility of the next generation of catholic priests. the following points are the essentials that i consider a necessity for preparing men who will bear witness to our catholic and apostolic faith in the very near future.  pentecostalism is a reality of the christian church today. we have all to learn to live together as we lay claim to proclaiming christ to the world. pentecostalism in nigeria and on the west african landscape is still very amorphous in nature to be approached in an ecclesial setting. the onus is on the existing older traditions to continue to extend the hands of fellowship to those in the pentecostal assemblies willing to work with others in an ecumenical setting.  there is an urgent need for our seminaries to undertake a theological and ecclesiological understanding of pentecostal teachings, to review its hierarchical/governmental structures. to understand pentecostalism in its various forms is a step forward in building a relationship, that lessens the existing tension and mutual suspicion.  for the christian message to endure on the continent, the pentecostals cannot afford to make the same mistakes their older brothers of the older traditions have made in the past; the idea that it is cosy and safe within their own assemblies, thereby becoming exclusive and not desirous of interacting with other christian churches. the christian church in subsahara africa faces a silent but potent threat from globalization and extreme liberalism. as cultures collide and penetrate each other through technology and the new wave of the internet and electronic media, a common front and ecumenical handshake across the divide is a necessity for the pentecostals and other christians.  in the west african region what makes ecumenical work, a must is the unrelenting insurgency of extreme and radical islam. in nigeria, the hotbed of boko haram insurgency, and in ghana and sierra leone, skirmishes have been recorded between radical islamic jihadists against christians and sometimes against moderate muslims. in nigeria for instance, there are public statements, unrefuted by the federal forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 79 government that there is an agenda to islamize the entire country by jihad. in this volatile situation, presenting a common ecumenical front in protecting the christian population is a necessity.  it seems the future of christianity lies in the soil, sons and daughters of africa, yet the issues, which disunite us, are more than the issues that unite us. ecumenical work, especially in constant dialogue, is the only way forward if the new pentecost breathing in the panting heart of africa will reverberate and will engage in the new evangelization of lands previously home of christianity, out of which the good news came to us.  catholic seminaries hold a wealth of spiritual and intellectual traditions in the training of future priests. this process must now be updated to include methods and approaches by which the priest to be is equipped in religious dialogue broadly. the interaction of traditional christianity with the new face of pentecostalism is only one stage in the dialogical process. there are muslims and traditional religions to encounter and embrace, especially in regions such as ours so deeply polarized and divided. catholic seminaries must begin to produce priests for the future who will take leadership roles in these dialogues.27 conclusion a seeming lack of interest on the part of pentecostals in questions of political engagement, the struggle for liberation and freedom from political oppression and social justice, widens the gap and makes ecumenical work more difficult. in nigeria, one gets a sense of a disconnect between social involvement and evangelism in the christian churches generally. while the pentecostals fill up auditoriums and stadiums for revivals and crusades, most of them are unable to put programs in place which supports social services.28 both pentecostals and the older christian traditions are guilty of building social services like schools and hospitals, which most of their congregants cannot afford monetarily to use. this is very prevalent across the board on the west african coast. it is easily 80 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age noticeable in private secondary schools, polytechnics and universities owned by pentecostal pastors or general overseers (gos). this extreme lack of social consciousness builds a wall that wedges any kind of effort at an ecumenical embrace. according to anderson, for the pentecostals, “there has not been a clearly articulated theological foundation for social ministry.”29 contrarily, they seem to focus on what anderson refers to as an ‘otherworldly’ spirituality that avoids ‘worldly’ issues. most prominent and at the forefront of pentecostal evangelism is material wealth, suppression of demonic forces, healings and miracles, and speaking in tongues – all of which will not feature on the agenda of an ecumenical meeting. in this work, i examined the possible connections between catholic seminarians, who will become future priests, contemporary pentecostalism and the notion of a possible ecumenical engagement towards social, political and religious reconstruction. while acknowledging nigerian pentecostalism and its phenomenal growth over the last few decades, it could well be said that it is the future face and phase of african christianity. however, there is the distressing news; nigerian brand of pentecostalism lack a coherent ecclesiology especially as it focuses mostly on "health and wealth" doctrines. if nigerian pentecostalism would thrive, it must connect and reach out ecumenically, by committing itself to social justice issues. it is also clear that there is work to be done to adequately equip young seminarians ordained into catholic ministry in the coming decades as they encounter their brothers and sisters of the pentecostal persuasion. we all know where we are today, but where we shall be tomorrow is in the hands of god. we can only pray and work assiduously, and together so that “his kingdom may come.” end notes 1 john segun odeyemi. pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon. (eugene, oregon: wipf & stock publishers, 2019), 52 2 cephas n. omenyo. 2014. “african pentecostalism” in cecil m. robeck jr and amos yong (eds). the cambridge companion to pentecostalism. (ny: cambridge university press), 132 3 ibid. forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 81 4 johannes muller & karl gabriel (eds.) 2015. evangelicals, pentecostal churches, charismatics: new religious movements as a challenge for the catholic church. (quezon, philippines: claretian publications), 9-10 5 roger haight, sj. “responding to fundamentalism in africa: three questions for the mainline churches. “ in the new theology review: an american catholic journal for ministry. vol 7, no.1, feb. 1994, 60 6 killian mcdonnell. 1978. the charismatic renewal and ecumenism. (ny: paulist press), 16-7 7 ibid., 18 8 this also is debated by some other scholars who give credence to the missionary work of charles parham in texas where pentecostal charisms had already been experienced before the azusa street prayer meeting. of the azusa street ministry, thomas rausch writes, “it was extraordinary in a number of ways. first, those coming to the mission rejoiced in extraordinary gifts of the holy spirit, including an ecstatic form of worship. second, though it originated in an african american prayer meeting in a still segregated los angeles, the congregation was soon interracial, with blacks and whites praying and singing together. third, from its beginnings the movement spread like wildfire. within six months, members and others interested in the azusa mission had founded several new congregations in los angeles and its environs. its participants held meetings in neighboring communities, often in tents or rented storefronts. by september, its evangelists had traveled from san diego to seattle, by december they were active across the country, and at least 13 missionaries had been sent to africa. in the next two years the movement spread to mexico, canada, europe, africa, even to northern russia. cf. thomas p. rausch. "catholics and pentecostals: troubled history, new initiatives." theological studies 71, no. 4, 2010, 928 9 ogbu kalu. african pentecostalism: an introduction. 2008 (new york: oxford university press), viii 10 other designations for the aics include african initiated churches, african indigenous churches, and african independent churches. 11 ibid. 12 ibid. 13 kalu surmises the situation at the time in the following succinct words, “classical pentecostals appeared early in the african religious landscape and operated with a muscular indigenous agency to charismatize africa … the crucial point is that none of the classical forms of pentecostalism became important in the religious landscape until they benefitted from the spiritual renewal of the 1970s…. and certainly counter the impression that ‘new crusaders’ recently forayed into africa bearing the insignia of fundamentalism. 82 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age pentecostalism emerged from the indigenous response of africans to the missionary message; the missionary input from evangelical ministries such as scripture union, campus crusade, and such; from the increasing missionary forays of pentecostals from the holiness tradition and pentecostal denominations from various countries who utilized the labors of african agents; and from interdenominational parachurches, bolstered by the educational institutions of many american bible colleges and many evangelical evangelizing outreaches. cf, 64 14 meyer expounds on the all too common features of the new pentecostal leadership in the following way, “many pccs present themselves as ultimate embodiments of modernity. building huge churches to accommodate thousands of believers, making use of elaborate technology to organize mass-scale sermons and appearances on tv and radio, organizing spectacular crusades throughout the country-often parading foreign speakers – so as to convert nominal christians, muslims, and supporters of traditional religions, creating possibilities for high-quality gospel music, and instigating trend-setting modes of dress all create an image of successful mastery of the modern world. meyer,birgit. “christianity in africa: from african independent to pentecostal-charismatic churches.” annual review of anthropology. 33, no.1,2004, 459 15 ibid, 467 16 the yoruba nation is the most dispersed ethnic group in nigeria through the trans-atlantic slave trade. they inhabit the south western part of nigeria. among the yorubas, the first impulse of charismaticprophetism and indigenous forms of christianity was born in nigeria. 17 j.d.y. peel. christianity, islam, and oriṣ a religion: three traditions in comparison and interaction. 2016. (california: university of california press), 214 18 cephas omenyo. “african pentecostalism” in cecil m. robeck jr and amos yong (eds). the cambridge companion to pentecostalism. ibid,144 19 frank d. macchia. “the tongues of pentecost: a pentecostal perspective on the promise and challenge of pentecostal/roman catholic dialogue.” journal of ecumenical studies, december 1, 1998, vol.35, issue 1. 20 ibid. 21 ibid., 2 22 frank d. macchia. ibid., 8 23 allan heaton anderson.. an introduction to pentecostalism (2nd ed.) (cambridge, uk: cambridge university press, 2014), 252 24 k.c. abraham (ed.) “third world theologies: commonalities and divergences.” mercy amba oduyoye, contributor, commonalities: an african perspective. (maryknoll, ny: orbis books, 1990.), 103 25 john mansford prior (maumere-flores). “how does the catholic church deal with the new religious movements in a constructive way? (focus on asia)” in forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 83 johannes muller & karl gabriel (eds.) evangelicals, pentecostal churches, charismatics: new religious movements as a challenge for the catholic church. op.cit, 255 26 ibid. 27 most of this section can be found in my book earlier cited, john segun odeyemi. pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon. op. cit. 28 while one must not make a blanket statement or over generalize on this matter, it must be stated that there are in the more established pentecostal churches, some who have some welfare plans for economically disadvantaged members. for instance in nigeria and ghana, there are clear evidences to show that some needy pentecostal members are provided raw food, they are given financial support to pay hospital bills, school fees or in some instances some amount to start a personal small scale business. the problem lies with when you look at the wider picture. 29 ibid. allan heaton anderson, 278 214 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 4 on-going formation of priests: new approaches to post-seminary formation hilary oseabulu odenore introduction i recall an interesting conversation i once had with a very knowledgeable layperson towards the end of my seminary formation. this man was trying to make an argument for the similarity between the calling and work of a catholic priest and the work of a medical doctor. for him, when one considers the length of training and sophistication of the training received, alongside the ethical requirements, and the demands of the job, the priesthood and the medical profession are very similar. he made bold to say that in the light of the regular updating and stress on specialization, the medical doctor eventually becomes more refined than the priest. it was at this point that i mentioned the on-going formation of priests, to which he replied; “what is that? am just hearing of that? what does it mean? but not all priests have post-graduate studies, do they? the on-going formation1 of priests is a reality that is often misunderstood, unknown and under-appreciated. and this cuts across the board, as not only are laypersons largely unaware of what it entails, even those that should know better, namely the clerics themselves seem to underappreciate it. this is despite the fact that it is a concept that is crucial to successful priestly ministry, as we read in the words of pope benedict xvi’s motu proprio ministrorum institutio on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 215 the ongoing formation of priests... is the natural and absolutely necessary continuation of the process of building priestly personality which began and developed in the seminary... with the training programme which aimed at ordination. it is particularly important to be aware of and to respect the intrinsic link between formation before ordination to the priesthood and formation after ordination. should there be a break in continuity, or worse, a complete difference between these two phases of formation, there would be serious and immediate repercussions on pastoral work and fraternal communion among priests, especially those in different age groups. ongoing formation is not a repetition of the formation acquired in the seminary, simply reviewed or expanded with new and practical suggestions. ongoing formation involves relatively new content and especially methods; it develops as a harmonious and vital process which — rooted in the formation received in the seminary — calls for adaptations, updating and modifications, but without sharp breaks in continuity.2 in this paper, we will consider post-seminary formation, from the point of view of new approaches to the on-going formation of priests. we will attempt to articulate the mind of the church as regards on-going formation of priests, according to the four major levels of formation spelt out in pastores dabo vobis, namely spiritual formation; human formation; intellectual formation and pastoral formation, vis-à-vis an overview of what currently obtains in dioceses in the benin city ecclesiastical province (which we will use as a case study of sorts). from this standpoint, we will consider the possibilities for ‘new’ approaches to on-going formation, albeit it will be our argument that we can only consider ‘new’ approaches when we have better understood what should be obtainable. definition of on-going priestly formation when the church talks about the on-going formation of priests, she refers to a distinct phenomenon. “the term ‘ongoing formation’ is a reminder that one’s experience of discipleship of those called to the priesthood is never interrupted. the priest not only learns to know christ but under the action of the holy spirit, he finds himself within a process of gradual and continuous configuration to him, in his 216 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age being and his acting, which constantly challenges the person to inner growth”.3 the directory on the ministry and life of priests uses similar categorization for the concept. here we read; the activity of formation is based on a dynamic demand intrinsic to the ministerial charisma, which is permanent and irreversible in itself. therefore this can never be considered finished, neither on the part of the church which imparts it nor on the part of the minister who receives it. it is, therefore, necessary that this is thought of and developed in such a way that all priests may receive it always, keeping in mind the characteristics and possibilities that vary with age, condition of life, and assignments. such a formation must cover and harmonise all the dimensions of the formation of priests. thus, it must tend to help each priest achieve the development of a full human personality matured in the spirit of service to others, in whatever task he may receive; it will permit him to be intellectually prepared in the theological sciences as well as in the human sciences, insofar as they are linked with his ministry, in order to pursue his function as witness to the faith with a greater effectiveness; that he has a deep spiritual life, nourished by intimacy with jesus christ and by love for the church; and so that he may pursue his pastoral ministry with zeal and dedication. in practice, such formation must be complete: spiritual, pastoral, human, intellectual, systematic and personalised.4 the watershed post synodal apostolic exhortation that was the fruit of the synod of bishops that considered the formation of priests in present-day circumstances also treated the question of on-going formation. according to the synod fathers, “the ongoing formation of priests, whether diocesan or religious, is the natural and absolutely necessary continuation of the process of building priestly personality which began and developed in the seminary or the religious house with the training programme which aimed at ordination”5 without prejudice to the best efforts of bishops and churches who are on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 217 working hard at it, it would appear that in nigeria, the on-going formation of priests is yet to receive the kind of attention that would help to underline its importance. and can be attributed to two factors. culturally, there is the inability to adequately inculcate in both formators and formandees (sic), the fact that seminary formation is preparation for priestly life, and not just for priestly ordination. if the emphasis during seminary formation is for the seminary formators to weed out those who are not suitable for the priestly ministry, it stands to reason that the modus operandi would be faultfinding, in place of journeying along with the candidate, to help him answer his call. and when the seminarians discern that his formators are very interested in seeking out his faults, he will continually seek out creative ways to make sure that these faults are not found out, following the principle of the proverbial eneke the bird6. this would lead to pretence and other related vices, just to ensure that one crosses the line. in this manner, priestly ordination, the end-point of seminary formation, is made to be a terminus ad quem, rather than the starting point of another life-long journey that is meant to build upon what was learnt in the seminary. on the other hand, and this applies to those situations where there are attempts to accentuate on-going formation, the stress seems to be on the intellectual formation, rather than a holistic approach. on-going formation in such instances, is reduced to further studies after ordination, and in certain cases, even this is not regarded as a right of the individual priest, but a privilege. what is clear is that in such situations, the academic degrees that a priest acquires after ordination, tend to overshadow the need to focus on other aspects of his priestly, resulting in arrested development of the other aspects. when the church talks about the on-going formation of her priests, we must be clear that “programmes, resources, and practices do not constitute ongoing formation. they are necessary instruments but always in service to the larger purpose and direction of formation”7. on the contrary, “it is the continuing integration of priestly identity and functions or service for the sake of mission and communion with christ and the church”8. 218 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age a brief overview of on-going formation as it obtains in our circumstances we have seen from the foregoing, that on-going formation of priests is a multi-faceted reality. before we can consider the possibility of new approaches to it, we have to attempt an x-ray of what currently obtains in our immediate environment9. we will do this using the following four questions;  who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests?  when is the on-going formation of priests supposed to take place?  what constitutes the content of the on-going formation of priests?  how is the on-going formation of priests carried out?10 who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests? when we talk about the on-going formation of priests, and who should be responsible for it, the casual observer will immediately point to the individual priest and his bishop. this will be a correct answer, although not an exhaustive one. pastores dabo vobis gives a deeper approach to the question of who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests, by specifying the following agents; 1. the church itself as a communion, under its head, the bishop. 2. the individual priest. 3. the bishop and the presbyterate. 4. experts involved in the formation of priests. 5. the family of the priest.11 as stated above, the priest and his bishop are two agents that quickly come to mind in this regard, and rightly so. in the words of the united states conference of catholic bishops, the priest’s responsibility, “…is linked to their commitment at ordination to serve well the people of god through their ministry and through their own personal faith commitment. priests in dialogue with their bishop, his representative, or other members of the presbyterate need to map out their plan of ongoing formation”12. as for the bishop, it goes without saying that part of his function as a shepherd, is to see to the welfare of his closest on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 219 collaborators, the priests. and the ongoing formation of these his sons falls squarely under the title of welfare. by extension too, since the individual priest belongs to a fraternity of priests, it stands to reason that his brothers should be solicitous for the on-going formation of one another. the ‘novelty’ however, especially given our culture here, lies in the other two agents; the church as a communion and the family of the priest. we belong to a culture that still has great reverence for the ‘man of god’. catholics generally love and respect their priests, and they understand that they have an obligation to care for the priest since he is the one that represents them in their relations with god (cf james 5:1-4). often, this care for the priest gets restricted to praying for them and providing for their material needs. it is noteworthy, therefore, for us to remind ourselves that there are other obligations beyond these two activities, one of which is to ensure their on-going formation. priests are not there to serve themselves but the people of god. so, ongoing formation, in ensuring the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral maturity of priests, is doing good to the people of god itself. besides, the very exercise of the pastoral ministry leads to a constant and fruitful mutual exchange between the priest's life of faith and that of the laity. indeed the very relationship and sharing of life between the priest and the community, if it is wisely conducted and made use of, will be a fundamental contribution to the permanent formation, which cannot be reduced to isolated episodes or initiatives, but covers the whole ministry and life of the priest. …and so the entire people of god, in each and every one of its members, can and should offer precious assistance to the ongoing formation of its priests. in this sense, people should see that priests are allowed time for study and prayer. they should ask of them that for which christ has sent them and not require anything else. they should offer to help in the various aspects of the pastoral mission, especially in those related to 220 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age human development and works of charity. they should establish cordial and brotherly relations with them, helping priests to remember that they are not "to lord it over" the faithful, but rather "work with them for their joy" (cf. 2 cor. 1:24).13 the socio-economic realities in nigeria have created an emerging attitude of distrust towards clergymen in recent times. social media is quick to make viral the mistakes, offences and crimes of selfacclaimed men of god, and in this manner, festering a wave of anticlericalism that is alien to our cultural heritage. while it has always been a pastime of sorts for parishioners to discuss their priests, the present social conditions mean that such discussions are tending more towards looking for reasons to criticize and condemn them. but a true catholic that wants to condemn his/her priest, has to realize that to the extent that the failings being highlighted are rooted in an incomplete formation of the related aspect of the priest’s life, then he/she has some responsibility for making sure that such errors are corrected and lacunae filled up. this is because we all have a role to play in the on-going formation of the priest. the family of the priest has its own part to play in the matter. the joy and festivities that colour the priestly ordination of a person, is to some extent the family’s way of showing gratitude to god for choosing one of them to serve him in a particular manner. beyond the ordination day, however, and without wanting to go into certain negative influences that the priest’s family could have on him, the family is to help him fully realize his identity as a true disciple of jesus, and a minister of god’s mysteries in the church. by being one with their son in his aims, the family can offer him its own important contribution to his mission. the plan of providence chose the priest's family to be the place in which his vocation was planted and nourished, an indispensable help for the growth and development of his vocation. now the family, with the greatest respect for their son who has chosen to give himself to god and neighbour, should always remain as a faithful and encouraging witness of his mission, supporting that mission and sharing in it with devotion and respect. in this way, the family on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 221 will help bring god's providential plan to completion.14 it is a truism that these two agents of on-going formation, have generally not been factored into the efforts in our circumstances. it is one area where improvement can be made, and immediately too, to ensure that priests are given the best possible assistance to fully realize their identity and carry out their obligations. when is the on-going formation of priests to take place? by its nature, the on-going formation of priests is a life-long matter. the ideal is to have a structure that caters for the different phases of life of a priest, and in this regard, there is still a lot yet undone in our circumstances. the present-day emphasis leans towards the formation of newly-ordained priests or what is commonly referred to as ‘junior clergy’ (priests of 10 years of priestly ordination and below). it is commonplace in dioceses in nigeria, to have programmes and activities designed to help them live up to the responsibilities of the priestly state that they assume after ordination, and subsequently, to acquire skills that will help them to handle greater pastoral offices, as they grow in the priestly life. usually, after a priest crosses the threshold of 10 years of ordination, there is rarely any specific programmes aimed at addressing challenges that he might be experiencing, such as burn out, mid-life crises, health challenges that vitiate their ability to fulfil their responsibilities, thereby leading to feelings of inadequacy and frustration. in addition, there is an absence of a strategic plan at the level of the dioceses to see to their intellectual renewal, and the acquisition of new skills and getting acquainted with contemporary church modalities for resolving modern-day challenges. yes, priests are sent to go for studies, and yes, there are workshops, seminars and other activities to impart skills to the priests. the problem is that there is often no strategic plan behind these efforts, hence we tend not to get the desired results. 222 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age what constitutes on-going formation? here, we are talking about the content of on-going formation or better still, its aspects of spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. this dimension of on-going priestly formation is one of the strengths of the dioceses that are in edo state. the present-day practice stresses on intellectual formation and pastoral formation. indeed, the intellectual formation is largely aimed at providing priests with the skills to better function pastorally. it is against this backdrop that dioceses plan for further studies for priests, in order to meet three categories of need; a. ensuring that the diocese has relevant experts for its proper functioning; b. satisfy the requests of institutions like seminaries and other catholic institutions of higher learning, for experts in ecclesiastical and other sciences; c. see to the personal development of priests who may not fall under categories a) & b) above. these three criteria are usually what informs the choice of persons going for further studies, even though many would argue that what obtains could be better organized and made to operate under a defined system. in this way, the on-going pastoral formation of priests is guaranteed, as the intellectual formation is geared towards better pastoral practices. as regards the spiritual formation, this arguably is the strongest of the four aspects in terms of what dioceses are doing for the priests. practically all dioceses in nigeria have annual retreats for the priests and regular monthly recollections, either at diocesan or deanery levels, following the relevant canonical prescriptions15. however, there is a need for due diligence in this area, lest what has always been an area of strength becomes one of weakness. this is because of the twin evils of absenteeism (especially in the case of recollections) and the inability of priests to stay in situ at the retreat grounds for the entire period of the annual retreat for diverse reasons, disrupting the rhythm that the exercise needs, and losing focus therein. on the whole, dioceses have some arrangements for the different aspects of on-going priestly formation. while the spiritual aspect seems to be the most stable in terms of the programmes, to some extent, the intellectual and pastoral formation also enjoy on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 223 reasonable consideration, while it would appear that human formation does not enjoy the same level of planning and programming. how is on-going formation carried out? generally, on-going formation is carried out through courses, programmes and similar activities. this is why we often hear of priests attending seminars, participating in workshops and talks, as well as taking courses that equip them for the priestly ministry. usually, these activities are carried out by groups of priests. however, human and spiritual formation needs more than such activities, and our dioceses need to explore other more personalized options, such as mentoring, so as to get the best out of her priests. this is because after all considered, it is the individual priest that needs this permanent formation, and he has to be open to the promptings of the spirit through these programmes and activities. “for this reason, there should be awareness, especially on the part of those responsible, that all priests must be reached personally, taking care of each one, and not simply having all the diverse opportunities available to them”.16 new approaches to on-going formation having attempted an overview of on-going formation, we recommend the following possibilities as new approaches to on-going formation for priests.  increased episcopal solicitude.  systematization of processes  accountability (through the involvement of other agents of formation)  flipping the pyramid of emphasis. increased episcopal solicitude: the role of the bishop in the ongoing formation of priests is very important. according to apostolorum successores, the bishop is the father of the priestly family and through him, the lord jesus christ is present among believers. for this reason, just as jesus manifested his 224 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age love for the apostles, so too the bishop knows that it is his duty to show particular love and solicitude for priests and candidates for the sacred ministry. guided by sincere and unwavering charity, the bishop should take care to assist his priests in every way, so that they come to appreciate the sublime priestly vocation, live it with serenity and defend it with vigour, radiant with joy as they faithfully carry out their duties.17 all the documents that refer to the agents of formation underline the importance of the bishop in this matter. if we wish to pay attention to the chronology, pastores dabo vobis lists the church and the bishop as first among the agents of on-going formation18, and while the directory on the life and ministry of priests places the priest himself and brotherly assistance as the first two agents, in talking about the bishop, it acknowledges that he has a very clear responsibility as per the permanent formation of his priests. hence we read that the bishop’s responsibility; is expressed both in that which concerns the individual priest, for whom the formation must be as personalized as possible and in that which concerns the formation of all the priests who make up the diocesan presbyterium. in this sense, the bishop will never fail to foster communication and communion among priests, taking particular care, to guard and promote the true nature of their ongoing formation, to educate their consciences regarding its necessity and importance, and finally, to plan the necessary structure and appropriate persons to carry it out.19 bishops have always given their best in the area of ensuring the utmost in terms of the permanent formation of the priests. nevertheless, the need for increased episcopal solicitude cannot be over-emphasized. this solicitude will make the priest understand that the question of on-going formation is neither optional for them, whereby they may or may not apply themselves to it, nor an imposition from ‘without’. the bishop has to utilize a virile pastoral approach to make the priests better appreciate programmes of ongoing formation that are available to them. to this end, we would on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 225 borrow from the document of the united states conference of catholic bishops (usccb), which spells out the duty of the bishop in this regard as including the following; 1. bishop's direct responsibility:  the receipt of a regular report from those charged with the ongoing formation of priests on the "state of soul" of the presbyterate and any particular concerns  at least three contact points with the presbyterate at large, e.g., chrism mass, a study day, or a diocesan retreat (as well as the presbyteral convocation when it is held)  a periodic conversation held either directly or through the bishop's delegate with each priest concerning his ongoing formation to provide for accountability and encouragement 2. bishop's provision for ongoing formation:  provides for the adequate staffing of an office for the ongoing formation of priests (bishop functions as the guarantor of encouragement, time, and resources)  appoints a director to organize, ensure funding for, and communicate the resources of human, intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual formation (whether diocesan based or drawn from other institutions)  appoints and oversees a committee of priests (perhaps drawn from the presbyteral council) and others to regularly examine the process of ongoing formation in its various dimensions  supervises the director to establish linkage between the ongoing formation of priests and other diocesan efforts, e.g., evangelization, catechesis, worship, justice and peace, and lay formation  through the mechanisms of diocesan communication, communicates the values, purposes, and activities of the ongoing formation of priests to the people of god20 a cursory juxtaposition of the recommendations of the usccb above and what obtains in dioceses around us would reveal that while there are some elements already present, there is still much room for 226 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age improvement. the bishop may want to better utilize such offices as the vicar for priests, and such organs as the priests’ welfare committee/commission, and expand their responsibilities to include the on-going formation of priests, such that they can better assist him to carry out his role in this regard. systematization of processes: following from the above, it is necessary to ensure that the ‘director (directorate) of on-going priestly formation’ sees to the systematization of the processes and activities of on-going formation. as we have already seen, there already exists different initiatives as regards permanent formation, but they tend to be unco-ordinated and scattered. it will be the responsibility of the said director, under the supervision of the bishop, to see to the planning, execution and evaluation of the different formation programmes in the diocese. this is particularly important when one considers that the mind of the church is for such formation to span through the life of the priest. consequently, it is expected that; there is a formation that is specific to newly ordained priests, recently ordained priests, priests preparing for the first pastorate, middle-aged priests, priests preparing for retirement, and retired priests. each group has its specific programme needs. still, there are core pieces of identity and service that are constant across priests' lifetimes no matter their age or the particular circumstances of their ministry. a part of formation truly does remain ongoing, permanent, or constant.21 the volume of work that this will entail for the typical catholic diocese in southern nigeria, with its attendant high numbers of ordained priests for instance, already points to the need for an office and staff, with files and other hardware that will cater for the organization of information. and before we get fixated on the office space and the equipment needed, it is more important to ensure that the director himself is trained before undertaking such office. such training does not necessarily mean frequenting a course in a university. it would suffice to spend time in two or three dioceses (preferably overseas) that have a defined and functioning programme on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 227 for on-going formation and to carefully study their modus operandi, with particular emphasis on the content and general orientation of their programmes. it is this knowledge that will guide the director in setting out the office and determining the responsibilities of the staff in the office. it is through this office also that the bishop will be able to monitor the progress of his priests along with set parameters. for instance, the usccb prescribes the following minimum for the priest as regards his on-going formation;  fifty-two contact hours of education per year (in other words, one hour per week)  one week of retreat  daily prayer (especially the celebration of the eucharist and the liturgy of the hours)  monthly celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation, perhaps in conjunction with spiritual direction  monthly contact with a priest group or its equivalent. 22 in a diocese of about 50 priests for example, it will be very difficult to firstly organize, execute and then evaluate each priest from the point of view of the minimum for formation for the year, without such an office. similarly, one can easily imagine the incremental improvements in the lives of priests if the office is well set up and running efficiently, hence its urgency. accountability (through the involvement of other agents) the word ‘accountability’ suffers from a misunderstanding in nigeria, and this misunderstanding sometimes means that when it is mentioned in certain circles, there is a semi-automatic negative reaction towards who uses it. however, in so far as accountability refers to “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions”23 then its relevance vis-à-vis new approaches to the on-going formation of priests becomes clearer. the most important factor in on-going formation is the priest himself. it is critical therefore that there be a system to hold him accountable for his actions in this regard. without prejudice to the 228 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age sense of personal responsibility of the priest (which thanks to his initial formation tends to be very high), and to his free will, the church has to have a way to get assurance that he is taking this seriously, as what negatively affects an individual priest reflects poorly on the corporate identity of the church in a variety of ways. so, the other agents of on-going formation can assist the priest in this regard. this is why the bishop has to receive regular updates from the directorate of on-going formation and to pay close attention to those who may not be pulling their weight, as this could be an indicator of other deep-seated issues. the bishop should not hesitate to raise this matter with his priests during pastoral visits and other encounters, as this will provide rich feedback from the priests’ point of view, which can, in turn, facilitate the further improvement of the existing programmes. the presbyterium shares a special relationship with themselves. “in all the aspects of priestly existence, there appear particular bonds of apostolic charity, of ministry and of fraternity, which serve as the foundation of the reciprocal help that priests give each other. it is to be hoped that co-operation among all priests should grow and develop as regards their spiritual and human life, as well as their ministerial service. the help which must be given to priests in this field can find support in the different priestly associations which tend to form a truly diocesan spirituality”.24 priests should encourage one another to apply themselves to the programmes that can help them make considerable progress in becoming other christ, as it is often the case that they will be the first to discern when a brother priest is in difficulty. in addition, the family of the priest should be made aware of their responsibility to journey along with their brother priest, with the same prayerfulness and joy that they demonstrated during his initial formation25. we have already highlighted the novelty of the stress of the family of the priest as one of the agents of his on-going formation. this has to be put in practical terms in the way they assist their son and brother in striving to become a good and holy priest. one clear way to assist him is not making undue financial demands on him that could distract him from his purpose. furthermore, experts in seminary formation have to be incorporated into diocesan programmes of on-going formation. this on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 229 can be advantageous in two ways; firstly, through their interface with priests in the field, they will be able to identify areas of initial formation that can be improved upon, from the standpoint of the lived experiences of priests. additionally, they are in a good position to play a mentorship role to the priests, and to use the repertoire of their experiences to identify the connectedness between lapses in seminary formation and priestly life, and proffer solutions to the priests. flipping the pyramid of emphasis: as we tried to establish much earlier in this work, on-going formation tends to be identified with further studies. also, extant programmes in diocese stress more on the intellectual and pastoral aspects, while there are already regular activities that cater for the spiritual aspect of the priest’s formation. the human formation does not have these sorts of programmes in the dioceses, and should we continue like this without any intervention, then it would remain de-emphasized. thus, there is an urgent need to flip the pyramid of emphasis as far as on-going formation is concerned, so that the human aspect gets the needed attention and pride of place. in real sense, the human aspect of on-going formation should come first in terms of emphasis. pastores dabo vobis maintains that; fuller development is first required in the human aspect of priestly formation. through his daily contact with people, his sharing in their daily lives, the priest needs to develop and sharpen his human sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their demands, perceive their unvoiced questions and share the hopes and expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people. in particular, through coming to know and share, through making his own the human experience or suffering in its many different manifestations, from poverty to illness, from rejection to ignorance, loneliness and material or moral poverty, the priest can cultivate his own humanity and make it all the more genuine and clearly 230 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age apparent by his increasingly ardent love for his fellow men and women. 26 it is when the priest is a better person that he can be a better christian, and then more fully realize his identity as a close disciple of jesus and a minister of the sacraments within the body of christ. this is why his human formation, which is a life-long affair, cannot be overemphasized. the goal, as the same document puts it, is that “…the people of god should be able to say about the priest, who has increasingly matured in human sensitivity, something similar to what we read about jesus in the letter to the hebrews: "for we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning" (heb. 4:15). 27 in their basic plan for the on-going formation of priests, the usccb states that a genuine human formation has to stress on the improvement of the priest’s capacity to communicate and his capacity for communion; care for the physical body to maintain a healthy and invested life, integration of human sexuality and contact with culture. as regards specific ways of realizing this, it provides that; the specific means include events, resources, and programmes. for example, human formation, as we have described it, can sometimes occur through a oneto-one dialogue of friendship. at times, professional counselling can appropriately and effectively address human growth issues for priests. it need not be reserved, as unfortunately, it is in the perceptions of some, for the treating of illness. professionally facilitated groups that focus on interpersonal dynamics can be effective instruments of human formation. similarly, the human formation can happen in the context of feedback, when individuals are helped to see and appreciate their impact in various situations so that they can learn from that knowledge and confirm what is good and change what is less opportune. programmes of periodic review and assessment are useful feedback mechanisms. as we have described it, the human formation has a direct, personal, and experiential dimension. studies can also on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 231 foster human formation for priests. an intellectual component in human formation enables priests to understand themselves and others better. certain courses, seminars, workshops, or directed readings could advance the human formation of priests. 28 in an ideal situation, even if there is no other programme of on-going formation in a diocese, due to the importance of the human aspect, then the activities listed above have to be running in the typical diocese. bishops, given their position in the church, have to make sure that human formation comes first before the other aspects, to guarantee that the goals of on-going formation as a whole are realized. it is when the priest is truly human, that he can be more holy, an excellent pastor, and a scholar. conclusion: it is often said that there is no small vulture. this is with reference to the fact that all vultures are bald, even the newborn among them. and this saying is often used in discussions involving newly ordained/young priests. i was a beneficiary of the saying too, and i choose the word ‘beneficiary’, because in the context of the discussion then, the saying was meant to boost my morale after some loving parishioners pointed out my error to me in a particular pastoral situation. interestingly, they went on to say that they understood why i made the error, and they trust that a few years down the line, i will not be making such mistakes anymore. it is true that there is no small vulture, but there certainly are inexperienced vultures, who despite their baldness, unless they continue their training under the more experienced ones, they would not get the tools needed to become the best possible vultures they could be. the on-going formation of priests is that indispensable mechanism that will help a priest to fully actualize the gamut of potentialities that are in him after he has assumed the priestly identity with sacred ordination. it is our opinion that this aspect of the life of the church demands closer attention, and the new approaches we have suggested above will go a long way in ensuring that this is the case. 232 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 in this paper, we will use the terms post-seminary formation, on-going formation and permanent formation of priests synonymously. 2 benedict xvi, motu proprio ministrorum institutio, 16th january, 2013. 3 congregation for the clergy, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, 8th december 2016, no 80 4 congregation for the clergy, the directory on the ministry and life of priests, vatican city, 1994, nos 73 & 74. 5 john paul ii, post synodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, 25th march, 1992, no, 71 6 eneke the bird, as we read in chinua achebe’s things fall apart said that ‘since hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, i too have learnt to fly without perching”. 7 united states catholic bishops, basic plan for the on-going formation of priests, 2001, general description. 8 ibid 9 what we will offer here is the fruit of participant observation of the author, as a member of a diocese, as well having carried out informal investigations into what also obtains in benin city archdiocese, and the catholic diocese of auchi. these three dioceses, which are in edo state, nigeria, constitute the ‘immediate environment’ referred to in the paper. while a more scientific study will offer deeper insights into the issues raised above, we do not reasonably expect it to have results that are completely different from the picture we will try to paint in this effort. 10 in drawing up these four categories, we are drawing largely from the usccb’s basic plan for the on-going formation of priests. 11 see nos 78 & 79 12 usccb, ibid, no n. 13 john paul ii, ibid, no 78 14 ibid, no 79 15 we read in can. 276 §1. in leading their lives, clerics are bound in a special way to pursue holiness since, having been consecrated to god by a new title in the reception of orders, they are dispensers of the mysteries of god in the service of his people. §2. in order to be able to pursue this perfection: 4/ they are equally bound to make time for spiritual retreats according to the prescripts of particular law; 16 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no 80 17 congregation for bishops, directory for the pastoral ministry of bishops apostolorum successores, libreria editrice vaticana, citta del vaticano, no 75 (emphasis added) 18 john paul ii, ibid, no 65 on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 233 19 no 89 20 usccb, ibid, no n 21 ibid, no i 22 usccb, ibid, no n 23 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability (last visit 4th september, 2019) 24 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no 88 25 the bishop may choose to devote a part of the homily during priestly ordinations and chrism masses to encourage the families of priests in this regard. 26 john paul ii, ibid, no 72 27 john paul ii, ibid, no 72 28 usccb, ibid, no j collective epistemology and the privilege of the community in african social epistemology francis ikhianosime abstract this article demonstrates the logic and viability of collective subjects in african social epistemology. it exposes the epistemology of collective subjects as one of the central issues in social epistemology. the question of collective subject proves a difculty for traditional epistemology because of its individualistic approach. traditional epistemology privileges the individual over a group or collective. however, social epistemology which is a more uid form of epistemology discusses the uidity of subjects beyond individual persons as knowers. the complexity of regarding a group or collective as a knower involves a lot of implications. this paper critically takes on some of the engaging objections against collective subjects. this paper exposes philosophical perspectives on the community and on this rational ground, takes the community, as an example of collective subject to discuss the philosophy of collective epistemology both from social epistemology in the west and african social epistemology. it holds that the naturalist-structualist view of the community which communitarianism is grounded on is well-reasoned. it defends the communitarian view of the community as a doxastic agent and shows that it does not undermine individual freedom or rationality as advanced by critics of communitarianism, rather, it enhances it. it concludes that the privilege of the community in social epistemology and particularly, african social epistemology, is grounded on epistemological and ontological predisposition, yet, the community can be regarded as an epistemic agent, without diminishing the epistemic integrity of the individual. it holds that the individual knows through the community, which makes the individual's scope to know more holistic. this paper adopts expository and analytic methods in its approach. keywords: african social epistemology, community, communitarianism, collective knowledge, social epistemology. introduction one of the essential differences between traditional epistemology (te) and social epistemology (se) is that the former is individualistic in approach, while the latter is social in approach. in traditional epistemology, there is the privilege of the ego; the “i” over the other; other minds. on the other hand, social epistemology begins from a starting point that there are other minds. it privileges the social character in knowledge acquisition. one approach to understanding se holds that it studies the epistemic properties of individuals that arise from their relations with others, while a more robust vision that many scholars advocate about se maintains that it is “associated with movements in postmodernism, social studies of science, or cultural studies that aim to replace traditional epistemology with radically 1 different questions, premises, and procedures” some conservative scholars think any conception of traditional epistemologically must square with the rst approach in understanding se. however, recent writings and development in the eld of epistemology reveal that the conditions of knowledge or knowing are arguably more dependent on social conditions and factors than the internal and the individual. this latter vision of the social dimension of knowledge is what some scholars like alvin goldman boldly argue as in fact, real epistemology. knowledge and epistemology at large are believed to be more social than individualistic. helen longinoin her paper, “what's social about social 2epistemology” explains succinctly ve senses in which se is social. 16 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 in the rst, she says, social would mean the cognitive agent's social environment. a second meaning has to do with a group of individuals where groups take the mind of an individual or otherwise. the third sense of being social is the concern about the possible inltration of scientic inquiry by non-cognitive factors, such as when commercial or political interests affect how data are collected and interpreted or 3 enter into theory or model choice. the fourth sense is social for social epistemology is what she describes as “interaction”. by this, she means, “the mutual affecting of two or more agents in a way that 4alters each, consistent with their persistent entities”. the sense she intends to draw here is the notion of joint action. however, for her, the term, 'interaction' is stronger than the term joint action. there is a fth sense of social which means “shared”. this holds, for instance, that a belief, attitude, or category may be shared among the members of a group, in the sense that all members hold that belief or attitude or 5are assigned to that category. it is this sociality of sharing, holding something like a belief in common, that is the basis for a community or communality of knowledge or what is being developed as communitarian epistemology. it is this notion of the social that privileges the relevance of communities to individuals in epistemology, that this work seeks to expose and engage some hermeneutical overtures and epistemological objections on the subject matter. this work will expose the concept of collective epistemology and philosophical perspectives of the term, community. it will also expose martin kush's vision of collective epistemology where he exposes his communitarian epistemology; a vision of the social epistemology which advances the sociality of the notion of the “shared” as a social character of epistemology. although kush cannot be said to be the rst to have developed the idea of communitarian epistemology, his thoughts are very symmetrical to those largely espoused in african social epistemology (ase). the last section of this work will be devoted to a systematic exposition of the subject of the community, collective knowledge in african communitarian epistemology which is part of what this work understands as african social epistemology. this work adopts expository and analytic methods in its approach. 17collective epistemology and the privilege... collective epistemology and philosophical perspectives of the community the subject matter of collective epistemology is broad and their spectrums have been developed along several interesting lines to deepen its understanding. this section will devote synoptic attention to areas that concern our conversation. it seems more helpful to begin the conversation on collective epistemology with what its concerns are rather than what is collective epistemology. a common ground concern would perhaps be the interrogation: what kinds of entities are capable of cognition? the traditional focus in epistemology would give ascription to an individual. the individual is the knower. traditional epistemology as stated earlier in the introduction privileges the individual. individualism in western philosophy, arguably, became more prominent with descartes. the ego “i” became the archimedean point of philosophizing. so, when one asks the question, of who the subject of cognition is, the individual would be an impulsive response, at least from the standpoint of traditional 6 epistemology. margaret gilbert exposes to the contrary that everyday life is full of ascriptions of collective cognitive states. we say, for instance, the academic staff union of universities (asuu) believes that the government of the day does not care about education. our family knows that the police were dishonest in their report. the seminary believes in the honesty and sincerity of its students. gilbert opines that such states are collective, yet, scarce attention is paid to this. in the examples, above, groups other than individuals were ascribed doxastic qualities of “belief”, “thinking”, “knowing” etc. this makes us appreciate the initial interrogative: who can hold cognitive states? let us expand the question a little. can groups be believers? can a group have a mind of its own? the responses to these interrogatives are the subject matter of collective epistemology. simply then, collective epistemology is the study of 7 collective cognitive states. jennifer lackey in her introduction to the book, essays in 8 collective epistemology, exposes that collective epistemology involves talking and discussing about collective entities and this is the subject of a variety of epistemic evaluations. she holds that for the most, we acquire knowledge via collective testimony. for example, 18 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 we either found out from wikipedia that abraham lincoln died on april 15, 1865, or found out from the vatican archives that the church thwaged a crusade against the turks in the 16 century and so on. most of our knowledge claims are testimonially-acquired and even so, from collective sources. roughly, collective epistemology, therefore, refers to the study of the epistemological properties of groups and the signicance of group knowledge production and acquisition. two key papers which have arguably provoked the origins of collective epistemology are deborah tollefsen's “challenging epistemic individualism” published in 2002 and margaret gilbert's 9 2004 article, “collective epistemology” there are complex consequences to the central theses of collective epistemology. these largely form the issues, directions, and concerns of this eld of study in se. one central debate, however, which seems to run through collective epistemology is one between summativists and non-summativists. summativism holds that group belief is to be understood in terms of the individual beliefs 10of the members of the group. the interpretation here is that the belief of the group supervenes on the individual group belief. it holds that the group's position is only a reection of the collective or the sum beliefs of the members of the group. on the other hand, nonsummativism holds that a group belief is not necessarily a reection of what the individual members subscribe to. in this, the individual members may not necessarily subscribe to the view. for instance, a football club would believe they would beat their opponent in a forthcoming game. however, the players may not necessarily hold this position based on extant realities and their collective preparation. some anti-summativists have talked about “joint-acceptance” rather than belief, where a group may jointly accept something, yet, they hold a different doxastic attitude towards this. there have been various objections and defenses for both positions. the idea of a community as a doxastic agent is often canvassed along either of these lines. this is why the notion is important for our conversation. while some scholars hold that a community's position is a function of a summative vision, others hold something contrary. however, for a community to hold a doxastic state or attitude, it is an idea within collective epistemology. the latter 19collective epistemology and the privilege... part of this work will discuss the notion of community as a collective entity in some detail. however, it sufces to look briey at some philosophical perspectives on what a community is. the work of john dixon, rhys dogan, and alan sanderson, “community and communitar ianism: a phi losophical 11 investigation” helps with a fair theoretical foundation and a philosophical rubric for understanding a community. they offer a quadripartite distinction of a community and attempt to show the epistemological difculties with each, especially, those who canvass communitarianism. their work is important, to the effect that, it offers us a conceptual framework from the social sciences on how to investigate the perceptions of community, and collective action and show perceptual gaps which are often invisible between communitarian aspirations of a community and what community reality is. their argument is premised on the claim that we all have epistemological and ontological predispositions which also inform what we know or is knowable. epistemological predisposition can either be based on naturalist propositions, whereby social knowledge must be grounded in material phenomena that either take analytic statements or synthetic statements based on deductive logic or inductive inferences, respectively, or hermeneutical propositions whereby social knowledge rests on interpretations or discourses and 12 language. on the other hand, ontological predispositions relate to people's positions about the nature of being, what, and does exists. they argue that ontological predisposition is grounded either on structuralist propositions, that is, 'that social structures impose themselves and exercise power upon agency', or they are based on agency propositions, which indicate that 'individuals have some control over their actions and can be agents of their action, enabled by 13 their psychological and social psychological make-up'. this ideological position is what gave rise to their four methodological families which represent possible ways of describing and explaining the social world. they are (1) the hermeneutic-structuralist perspective, (2)naturalisticstructuralist perspective (3)naturalist 14agency perspective, and (4) the hermeneutic-agency perspective. 20 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 naturalistic-structuralism presumes “an objective social world, knowable by the application of scientic methods, in which social structures exercise power over agency, which makes human 15 behavior predictable” in this methodological trapping, the community is another hierarchical social order. hermeneuticstructuralism on the other hand presumes “a subjective social world, knowable only as it is socially constructed, with people's behavior being determined, and made predictable, by their collective 16interpretation of this reality.” the community in this vision is a collective that places high value on the commitment to engage in discourse to build shared ideas and values regarding their community interests. dixon, dogan, and sanderson argue that communitarians fall under this and their representation of this communitarian vision or view of society makes the community fraught with a lot of epistemological difculties because it involves the denial of naturalism; the conception of what makes a community is not necessarily grounded on ontology but more hermeneutical, it leads to the denial of agency for the community which seems to deny human freedom of individuals in the community and so on. this paper holds a contrary position that this critique of communitarianism as canvassed by dixon, dogan, and sanderson is not farfetched and does not represent accurately the communitarian vision. the vision of the community which the last part of this work gives credence to, exposes to the contrary, that the community is grounded on ontology and also is agential in nature. furthermore, naturalist agency which is another methodological family for viewing the social world “presumes an objective social world, knowable by the application of the scientic method, in which people are agents of their actions with their behavior made predictable by their unconstrained self17interest”. this view holds that individuals in the community do not necessarily have shared interests, but are self-interested individuals. the last methodological family; hermeneutic agency denies the objectivity of social reality which is only contestably knowable as what people believe it to be, with agency constrained by their subjective perceptions of social reality which makes human behavior 18unpredictable.” summarily, therefore, the conception of a community means a lot, and its understanding cannot be presumed. it 21collective epistemology and the privilege... lends itself to several understandings and each position taken has epistemological implications. the concept of community in african epistemology is grounded in the understanding of african communalism. communalism is the viewpoint that underscores the idea of mutual dependence and organic relationships between community and 19individuals, and among individuals.” communalism in africa is largely based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality is molded by community relationships, however, with some degree of development placed on the individual. it understands the community and the harmony of both social conditions and the environment of the individual. this concept of communalism is used coterminous with the concept of communitarianism which shares the 20 same vision with it , and it is the subject matter of social-political philosophy, epistemology, and even metaphysics. however, discussing communitarian epistemology, as it were, is part of the subset of the overall picture of what can be described as african social epistemology. african social epistemology applies to all such contentions that approach the study of knowledge with a leaning on investigating the social dimensions of knowledge, epistemic properties of groups, and collective cognitive states in african epistemology. the specication of social, to african epistemology is to distinguish it from any other epistemological engagements that deal with individual knowers or are individualistic in approach in african epistemology as similarly found in western traditional epistemology. while, it is needless to embark on the debate whether there is such a distinct eld as african epistemology from western epistemology, or rather, epistemology as a broad term, the appropriation of backgrounds like western and african to the broad eld, species the approaches adopted in such areas, granted that philosophy takes note of context, and this always becomes the most viable lens of seeing the world. therefore, african epistemology in this context accommodates properly speaking, epistemologies in africa that lend credence to the african milieu as a shared starting point. african social epistemology is simply epistemologies in africa with the specic approach of a social dimension. this is not a clearly 22 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 delineated eld because earlier descriptions of african epistemology grounds it on african ontology and african ontology is viewed within african culture which is largely social. hence, it is believed to already be social. however, holding this position seems somewhat elementary and does not give room for specic issues in social epistemology to be discussed as understood from an african context. there are dimensions of individualistic epistemology in african epistemology, so, to clearly demarcate any such approach which is not individualistic but social in orientation and focuses on the same concerns can be described as african social epistemology, both for ideological clarity and safety and methodological distinction. it is rather safe to hold that just as social epistemology is still new, african social epistemology is still an evolving eld with growing concerns. to return to the ideological framework of community in african social epistemology, the community can be said to belong to the methodological prism of hermeneutic-structuralism espoused above. however, its interpretation differs from the conception of dixon, dogan, and sanderson. the hermeneutical predisposition does not deny it from being grounded in naturalism. the community in africa is both naturalistic, as it can be physically or tangibly seen, however, that is only an aspect of the community. there is a nonvisible aspect. it is non-visible, but not invisible. the understanding of the community is grounded in african ontology which sees the world both from the natural and the metaphysical points of view. hence, its interpretative dimension does not circumvent or undermine its naturalistic foundations. the difference is that the physical world is only a partial aspect of the entire 'community world' in africa and the physical rests largely on the foundations of the metaphysical. furthermore, the community is further grounded instructuralist propositions, that is, 'that social structures impose themselves and exercise power upon agency'. the individual largely views the world through the community in africa. to deny such a view or methodological outlook is counterproductive, that is because, essentially, we live most of our lives in societies and are shaped by her values, whether we live in denial of this or not. we may deny participation in the community, but we cannot deny its consequences. 23collective epistemology and the privilege... we are essentially tied to the community, hence, man is hardly dened outside of his community. the community in ase and metaphysics is made up of being; visible and non-visible. we are part of the community. to deny being part of the community is to feign a sense of social isolation which is conceptually contradictory. be that as it may, this does not undermine individual freedom as purportedly 21advanced as a critique against this methodological prism. in fact, community in ase is grounded in ontology, yet interpretative and then, it is structuralist to the effect that the community affects the individual, yet, the individual is not denied freedom. this will be better exposed in the section on collective epistemology and african communitarian epistemology. communitarian epistemology is not exclusive to ase. scholars like martin kush have canvassed a vision of communitarianism which is close to the vision systematized in ase. it sufces as a background, to expose briey the thoughts of martin kush's communitarian epistemology. martin kush's communitarian epistemology martin kush's communitarian epistemology is detailed in his book, knowledge by agreement: the programme of communitarian 22 epistemology. although he denies his project as a se, all description about it nevertheless shows both in orientation and direction as a profound version of se. kush's formulation draws upon views from political theory. the idea of communitarianism is a political theory that privileges the group or community over the individual. it means that the individual nds identication, meaning, and direction largely from the community. kush explains that “knowledge and its cognates, like 'know' and 'knower', marks a social status and that the fundamental or primary possessor of knowledge are groups or people 23 rather than the individual”. communitarian epistemology, therefore, explores ways the community is a knower or the individual knows only through the community. kush's epistemology is important because he departs from a majority version of se which has some individualism. kush's version is communitarian which gives primacy to the community as the primary knower and individual belief gets 24 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 interpretation and meaning only from the primary epistemic community. judith simon explains that kush's perspective is dialogically against some theoretical approaches which aim at accounting for the social context of knowledge, like keith lehrer's 24consensualism, donald davidson's interpretationalism, etc. kush developed his communitarian epistemology by rst advancing a communitarian epistemology of testimony. the treatment of testimony in traditional analytic epistemology signals the rst ickers of se which has been placed secondary to other sources of knowledge like perception. kush's treatment of testimony attempts to redene the primacy of testimony as a major source of knowledge and to advance an account of testimony that is communitarian. kush begins by giving a critique of individualistic accounts of testimony. he berates the narrowness attributed to testimony in traditional analytic epistemology but acknowledges that testimony should best be regarded as a generative source of knowledge. the important point for this advancement is a critique against the parochial understanding of testimony within the connes of transmission of existing knowledge and kush nds this worrisome, rather than a generative source of knowledge. kush outlines and defends testimony as a generative source of knowledge with the 25concept of performative testimony. jennifer lackey who reviewed this text of martin kush, explains in some detail, how testimony is generative and almost all forms of testimony are performative, in which case is a generative source of knowledge. she gives the example that for instance when a minister says, 'i hereby declare you husband and wife', the minister's testimony is according to kush, generating the knowledge that the bride and groom in question were married for all those present at the ceremony. from here kush argues that in addition to individual performatives, there can be communal performatives, such as “we hereby declare that it is right to greet people by waving”. such communal performatives are typically made only implicitly, and they 26 are widely distributed across individual instances of testimony”. the communitarian epistemology of kush is incensed by the works of john hardwig's work on the role of trust in knowledge and michael 25collective epistemology and the privilege... welbourne's communitarian account of testimony developed in “community of knowledge, both kush says are predecessors to his work, but his account is to give a more holistic picture to the place of testimony as a generative source of knowledge. although, kush has been criticized for mixing up perceptual knowledge with testimonial knowledge. the instances advanced by kush for testimonial knowledge and square them as performative acts are misleading since performative speech acts involve words does not mean they are testimonial. while this is a criticism leveled against kush, his account of communitarian account of knowledge opens up a wide vista of area for se. in the latter part of his book, he develops how knowledge is a social status acquired by being a member of the community and so when a holds a belief and for it to be true, it is the same with what b holds and which conforms with the community, hence, knowledge by agreement. this view of knowledge makes the community a basis for justication. kush holds that his thesis of communitarian epistemology is in tandem with our intuition and folk epistemology. folk epistemology explores how we ascribe knowledge to ourselves and others. kush's development of his communitarian epistemology follows a few steps. first, his development of the concept of performative testimony, in the second step he develops the notion of communal performativetestimony, in the third that knowledge is a social kind and lastly that his development of his communitarian theory of testimony consists emphasizing the relevance of epistemic communities for the attribution of knowledge. be that as it may, kush's thoughts are not clear on the epistemic signicance of knowledge by agreement. the community, collective knowledge, and african communitarian epistemology martin kush's work is an important preface to understanding collective knowledge and african communitarian epistemology. however, there are some peculiar nuances that this section will dene and defend. peter ikhane and bert hamminga's exposition on the community as knowing subjects in african epistemology are important resources for understanding collective knowledge in african social epistemology 26 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 the african way of knowing is more collective than individual. it is regarded as collective because it is more of a product of a social process than an individual epistemic or cognitive process. the african way of knowing involves the various means africans employ in acquiring knowledge. there are several social ways without discounting the place and role of the individual. african ways of knowing include divination and soothsaying. both means or ways of knowing, owe their relevance to the african worldview of reality which has been discussed above as holistic. the physical and the spiritual are on a continuum. it is believed that in the hierarchy of beings, the spiritual is superior to the physical. the information and contents from the spiritual generally are seen as justied. there can be a problem in the interpretation or conveyance of the epistemic contents from such spiritual consultation as divination and soothsaying. while divination involves recourse to the spiritual which includes: spirits, ancestors, or some suprasensible african force, soothsaying relies on a similar model of consultation to uncover hidden truths and mysteries. in african ontology, diviners and soothsayers are epistemic bridges. they stand between the living and the living dead. they are usually agents of unveiling mysteries of human life. they use divinations to unveil commonsense, intuitive knowledge, and deep truths about nature and life in general. the scope of their knowledge is not limited to what is or what was, but it can cover what is to come. this ordinarily would provoke a deep philosophical question, whether the african ontological system is deterministic or fatalistic? the answer is not farfetched. just the way reality is beyond the physical, so too is reality and time woven within the tripod of past, present, and future. african ontology holds that reality is a complex whole that cannot be explained in isolation. the african perception of reality which also interprets the african indigenous knowledge systems is “expressed in the ontological belief that reality is a harmony of beings of forces – permits a cultural thematic approach to conceiving african epistemology as elucidating the relatively similar epistemological experiences of indigenous africans by drawing on the afnity of the metaphysical conception of reality of the african 27 past”. the knowledge system of the african is a complex one that 27collective epistemology and the privilege... involves a synergy between the individual and the community and the spirit world. in african ontology, there is an almost seamless blend between its metaphysics and epistemology. ikhane puts it that in “the african conception, knowledge presupposes being; epistemology 28 presupposes metaphysics”. ikhane further argues that the seeming seamless relation between metaphysics and epistemology in african epistemology makes us to delineates knowledge as awareness. it sufces to cite him for further clarity: the nature of knowledge emerging from this relation between metaphysics and epistemology is such that knowledge is awareness of that which is known and can be known. it is also awareness of that which is known and can be known. it is also awareness of that which cannot be known and unknowable. what is unknown and unknowable indicates the irreducible component of a transcendent reality, which is integral to how knowledge was conceived by the 29indigenous africans. knowledge as awareness explains that truth or what is only discovered by the knower. it exists already. awareness is when the cognitive agent becomes privy to it. this further makes sense knowing that the african world view goes beyond the human senses. western traditional epistemology talks of belief as a functional element or characteristic of knowledge, but the emphasis is on truthfulness and awareness. the african "knowing subject" is not a person. the "i" does not know, but "we" know. this brings out the collective dimension in african 30 social epistemology . bert hamminga explains profusely the collectivity of african social epistemology. it sufces to cite him elaborately: as an african, when i was born, some ancestor has been "born into" my mother. i will carry his name. i am not this ancestor himself. it is not "reincarnation". i am the vital power this ancestor is willing to invest in me. i am a link in the chain of vital power, the genealogical chain of procreation of my community. i pray often to my godfather when i need power. give 28 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 us power, i ask. the living people depend for their survival on the power of their ancestors. we are nothing but forces endowed with that power. we are a force nding food, shelter, and partners to procreate. and, the ultimate aim: to have vitally powerful children as many as our own vital power allows... our community is a tree. (dead) ancestors are roots giving energy to the adults. adults from the trunk. they in turn supply the branches, leaves, and owers, our children. the tree knows. "we" know. the tree is the knowing subject. westerners can be surprised to see us all getting excited (or sad) a the same moment. that is because we are one body, a tree. we sing, we dance, we weep, we know. we are "together", in such a farreaching meaning of that word that westerners will have a hard time understanding and believing this togetherness. ironically, the west sent christians to teach us about togetherness. but we, here in africa, 31are the experts. knowledge is a form of togetherness. the point hamminga tries to establish is that african ontology is essentially collective and the pursuit of knowledge is not isolated from this understanding. it often goes on to establish the analogy of a tree and how evenly it binds the african people. the african community is not individualistic for that in itself is not a strength but a weakness. hamminga fastens his explanation of the tree to explain the collective nature of the african ontology and also of knowledge by arguing, "that a tree does not choose an individual existence. no part of a body and that is all you are can meaningfully survive cut off from the rest. and everything you do, including the acquisition of knowledge and coming to beliefs, serves the purpose of enhancing 32the vital energy, the procreation of the tribe". from the above explication, the clan or tribe is, therefore, the knowing subject. the clan or tribe is therefore a collective epistemic agent. two maxims that further explain, according to the african is that all knowledge is power and all power comes from the forces preceding us: our ancestors. the clan as a collective epistemic agent 29collective epistemology and the privilege... decides and holds norms and beliefs. the individual who does not share in the togetherness of the group alienates himself and must take responsibility for his departure. since knowledge is like a tree, the branches cannot grow on their own. in the african group, one feels 33the same, though not about oneself, but about the community. just like group knowledge is arguably the primary form of knowledge in western traditional epistemology, the african community as a collective agent, is the primary knower. the individual knows from the group. this does not diminish the individual, rather, it gives him meaning and rationality. if the individual holds a position not consistent with the group, then, he is likely missing out on some essential understanding and meaning. also, since the individual is grossly nite and limited, he rests so much on the community which derives power from the ancestors and such power includes knowledge. to africans, it seems difcult to be an individual in the west because in western society they do not see 34a group in which they can be an individual. collective epistemic subjects or agents in african epistemology, therefore, would include the clan, family lines, ancestors, etc. these, however, pose some difculty for western thinkers. they pose some difculty that not an individual thinks, but the group. nevertheless, this difculty is not far-fetched. in western societies, social classes think, and corporate agents, think. if these collectivities could have minds of their own, there is no grave difculty in seeing how in african ontology or epistemology, the clan or family line thinks. even then, ancestors as collective agents think through the elders as they are regarded as the roots of the tree, using the tree analogy to describe the epistemological w`eb in african epistemology. nowak leszek has argued that epistemological collectivism is not the peculiarity of african thought. it rst became apparent in european thought with hegel and manifests itself wherever the hegelian inuence is or was discernible, e.g. in 19th35century british idealism or marxism. therefore, epistemological collectivism is not just a historical fact, but one open to ideological dynamism. this african epistemological enterprise is what is understood 30 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 as communitarianism. this philosophical concept emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. its overriding philosophy is based upon the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely moulded by community relationships, with a smaller degree of development being placed on individuals. although the community might be a family, communitarianism usually is understood, in the wider philosophical sense, as a collection of interactions, among a community of people in a given place or among a community who share an interest or who share a 3 6history. several african scholars have advanced this communitarian view of the african, especially in the works of placide temples in his bantu philosophy, john mbiti in his african religions and philosophy, s. samkange and t. m samkange in their, hunhism or ubuntuism: a zimbabwean indigenous political philosophy, i. a. menkit in his article, "person and community in african traditional thought", kwame gyekye in his african cultural values: an introduction, etc. the idea of communitarianism does not exclude epistemic responsibility which is supposedly the bane for disdaining african epistemological collectivism. the question is how does a group take responsibility for actions since beliefs cannot be ascribed to an individual? this view of epistemic responsibility has been defended vigorously by some scholars like munamato chemhuru in his article, "an african communitarian view of epistemic responsibility". he argues "that while one may nd almost a uniform framework for the determination of epistemic responsibility in different philosophical traditions based on the rational scheme, in the dominant african communitarian tradition, there is more to responsibility than just individualistic traits like rationality. thus, 37 responsibility is seen from the communitarian perspective”. the question of epistemic responsibility ought to be part of the mission of addressing epistemological theorizing. there is generally a universalist approach to viewing epistemic and moral responsibility which poses difculty to a collective and communalistic view of knowledge or belief. this universalist view of responsibility is based on a reason-centered view of responsibility and comes with an epistemological assumption that 31collective epistemology and the privilege... only humans are capable of reason alone. this rational scheme in western philosophical thinking is inuenced by the platonic, aristotelian and cartesian view of responsibility which holds that only the individual person is a moral agent or capable of reason res cogitans (a thinking being). this individualistic philosophical tradition which was consummated in cartesian philosophy shaped almost the whole of western philosophy to limit thinking, actions, and responsibility to the individual. munamato calls it a 'person38centric view'. to think of philosophy and moral action only from a person-centric view alone is very parochial. the african view of the community or communitarian perspective opens up philosophy and what agential evaluation can be. in african philosophy at large, man is not dened by his individual features alone. in fact, the dominant view of responsibility is grounded in communitarianism. the african man is not atomic, instead, he is grounded in the community and this includes how he knows and also the consequences of his action. responsibility, therefore, in african communitarian epistemology is collectivistic. since the individual forms an intertwine within the community, his actions which are grounded in such a collectivist outlook can also be collective. for instance, a man's action is capable of bringing some ominous effects on a community or his family. this is why communitarian ethics is emphasized in africa and why some people whose consistent bad and ill actions have brought a bad omen to the community can be ostracized. ostracism from the community in this sense, is a form of death, because, without the community, the individual lacks foundation. there are certain knowledge or actions which are based on the individual, he bears the responsibility for those and there are those that are due from the community, and the community takes responsibility. munamato cites, for instance, holding on to knowledge of various taboos that are aimed at safeguarding communalistic values, individuals are not held responsible for such, but the community 39bears epistemic responsibility. such communitarian views of epistemic collectivity are far grounded in such philosophies asubuntu and simunye. 32 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 ubuntu is a version and vision of african communitarian discourse, a bantu word that translates as “i am because we are”. in a deeper philosophical sense, it holds a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. simunye, on the other hand, is descriptive of ubuntu, which literally means “we are one”. it further spirals the communitarian vision from the point of collectivity. ubuntu ontology focuses essentially on the dialogical relationship between the person and the community. a person is not understood from the enlightenment codication whose essential identication mark is rationality. in ubuntu, a person is dened by his relationship with the community. michael eze explains that “a person's humanity is dependent on the appreciation, preservation, and afrmation of other person's humanity. to deny another's humanity is to depreciate my 40 own humanity” . personhood involves a social interaction in ubuntu ontology and so too is knowledge which is largely dependent on the community. j. s. mbiti captures this ontology succinctly: in traditional life, the individual does not and cannot exist alone except corporately. he owes this existence to other people, including those of past generations and his contemporaries. he is simply part of the whole. the community must therefore make, create, or produce the individual; for the individual depends on the corporate group…. whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual. the individual can only say, “i am because we are, 41and since we are therefore i am”. this ubuntu intercourse between the person and community largely explains african communitarianism. although this does not mean that the human person loses his individuality, especially with reference to his cognitive formation, he is largely tied to his community in many varied and foundational ways. what this essentially describes is the ontological primacy of community to the individual. this notion of the primacy or privilege of the community over the individual person has been questioned by some scholars like michael eze, who explains that a community is formed by a group of 33collective epistemology and the privilege... individuals that live under a shared heritage and history. the identity of the individual and community is given essence by this intersubjective formation. although part of the community is formed by individual persons, it does not mean the individual persons have superiority over the community. the community too is not only constituted by living individual persons, but also the living dead. this understanding makes the argument stronger why the community is essentially primary over individuals. therefore, the community is a collective subject that is equally a doxastic agent in this sense. conclusion the focus of this work has been an effort to expose the subject matter of collective epistemology as a broad subject in social epistemology and focus on the community as a collective subject. if one has only been hitherto been grounded on conceiving only the individual to think, know, hold beliefs and so capable of epistemic evaluations, it is pretty difcult to appreciate how collectives are subjects of similar cognitive states. when we talk of having a mind or holding a thought, we gure out some corporeal faculties responsible for this in the human body, like the brain, etc. to begin to ascribe such states to nonhumans can be very conicting. however, one thing that the discussion on collective subjects bring out and which this work has been able to spell is the uidity in our conception of personhood. just as we can have legal persons who are non-humans, so too, we can have epistemic subjects that are not human individuals. this work has exposed that the concept of community is also not conceived in the only parochial understanding found in classical sociology of a community of people. this is just a naturalistic view. a community has a hermeneutical understanding which is conceived beyond naturalism, yet, grounded in african ontology. this is the african community. this work also attempts to resolve the epistemological difculties associated with the communitarian view of holding the community as a collective epistemological subject. the place of the individual in the community is also spelt out and the difculty of his freedom is not diminished. the possibility of fatalism or having individuals in the 34 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 african community as deterministic subjects are also claried. the synopsis of our claim is, in african social epistemology, when we ask: who knows, we say, “we know”; “the community knows”. the individual knows through the community. the community, therefore, is a non-summative collective epistemic agent and this epistemological position serves as one of the foundation stones in the sketching of an outline for a robust african social epistemology. 1 alvin goldman, “why social epistemology is real epistemology” in social epistemology. ed. adrain haddock, alan miller, and duncan pritchard.oxford: oxford university press, 2010. 1-28 2 helen longino, “what's social about social epistemology”, journal of philosophy, 119(4): 2022, 169-195. 3 longino, “what's social about social epistemology”, 170. 4 longino, “what's social about social epistemology”, 171. 5 longino, “what's social about social epistemology”, 172. 6 margaret gilbert, “collective epistemology”, episteme, 1 (2), 2004: 95107. 7 gilbert, “collective epistemology”, 96. 8 jennifer lackey (ed), essays in collective epistemology, oxford: clarendon press, 2014. 9 deborah perrontollefsen, “review of essays in collective epistemology, jennifer lackey (ed)” in retrieved on the november 23, 2022 from essays in collective epistemology | reviews | notre dame philosophical reviews | university of notre dame (nd.edu). 10 see, alvin goldman, “collective and institutional epistemology”, in epistemology: a contemporary introduction, ed. a. i goldman and m. mcgrath (new york: oxford university press, 2015), 224-235. see also, nicholas d. smith, “the new collective social epistemology and the old fallacy of functional equivalence”, in the international journal of assessment and evaluation, volume #, issue #, 2015. 11 john dixon, rhys dogan and alan sanderson, “community and communitarianism: a philosophical investigation” in community development journal, 1 (40), january 2005, 4-16. 12 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 6. 13 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 67. 14 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 7endnotes 35collective epistemology and the privilege... 11. 15 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 8. 16 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 8. 17 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 8. 18 dixon, dogan and sanderson, “community and communitarianism” 8. 19 ikuenobe, polycarp. “oral tradition, epistemic dependence and knowledge in african cultures.”synthesis philosophica.65.1 (2008): 23. 20 daniel bell denes communitarianism as “the idea that human identities are largely shaped by different kinds of constitutive communities (or social relations) and that this conception of human nature should inform our moral and political judgments as well as policies and institutions.” daniel bell, “communitarianism” in stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, revised may 15, 2020, retrieved from https://plato.stanford. edu/entries/communitarianism/ 21 dixon, dogan and sanderson, argue that communitarianism is a product of a social theory which they have identied into hermeneuticstructuralist methodology. they have also argued that communitarianism is philosophically awed. some of the interpretive objections raised arising from the understanding of hermeneutic-structuralist methodology is that it leads to the denial of naturalism and ontology which means the denial of agency and so on. see, dixon, dogan and sanderson “community and communitarianism” 11-13. 22 martin kush. knowledge by agreement: the programme of communutarianepistemology.oxford: oxford university press, 2002. 23 kush, knowledge by agreement, 1. 24 judith simon, “knowing together: a social epistemology for sociotechnical epistemic systems.”, doctoral dissertation, universitat wien, april 2010. web. nov. 20, 2019. <https://www.researchgate.net /publication/233884966_knowing_together_a_social_epistemology_ for_socio-technical _epistemic_systems>. 160 25 kush, knowledge by agreement, 67. 26 lackey, jennifer. “review of knowledge by agreement: the programme of communitarian epistemology.” philosophy and phenomenological research 72. 1 (2006): 236. 27 peter ikhane “epistemic insight from an african way of knowing.” themes, issues and problems in african philosophy.ed. isaac e. ukpokolo. switzerland: palgrave macmillian, 2017, 141. 28 ikhane, “epistemic insight from an african way of knowing”, 141. 29 ikhane, “epistemic insight from an african way of knowing”, 142. 30 hamminga, bert. "epistemology from the african point of view."knowledge cultures comparative western and african 36 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 epistemology. ed. bert hamminga. ponza studies in the philosophy of the sciences and the humanities 88, 2005. 5782. 31 hamminga, “epistemology from the african point of view” 57-58. 32 hamminga, “epistemology from the african point of view”, 59. 33 hamminga, “epistemology from the african point of view” 60. 34 hamminga, “epistemology from the african point of view” 61. 35 nowak, leszek. “on collective subjects in epistemology: the marxist case and a problem for the african viewpoint.” knowledge cultures, comparative western and african epistemology.ed. hamminga bert. new york: rodopi, 2005, 117. 36 aviner i , s and de-shal i t , avner.communi tar ianism and individualism.oxford: oxford university press, 1992, 56. 37 chemhurumunamato, "an african communitarian view of epistemic responsibility." politikon, south african journal of political studies. 46.1 (2019): 1-11. 38 munamato, “an african communitarian view of epistemic responsibility” 5. 39 munamato, “an african communitarian view of epistemic responsibility” 7. 40 michael eze, “what is african communitarianism? against consensus as a regulative ideal.”south african journal of philosophy 27.4 (2008): 107. 41 mbiti, j. s. african religions and philosophy.london: heinemann press, 1969, 108-109. 37collective epistemology and the privilege... metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical positivists' criticism anthony akalue abstract the ontological quest of what truly constitutes the nature of reality has been a major preoccupation of metaphysics from time immemorial. this is because metaphysics is a science of being. the paper states that the notion of being is surrounded by some conceptual issues like act and potency, cause and effect, essence and existence, substance and accident, time and space, and so on. all of these are said to be perennial problems in the history of philosophy. the paper argues that the principles of metaphysics are different from the methods of the natural sciences reason being that the natural sciences have four characters i.e specic, public, objective, and impersonal. a close look at the four character of science shows that the natural sciences deal with the reality of the physical world whereas metaphysics adopts a more holistic approach to reality because it considers both the material and the non-material aspects of reality. this paper further argues that metaphysical postulations have lingered on in history and as such philosophers in the different epochs of philosophy have tried to proffer solutions to the problem of being. there is no doubt that while metaphysicians try to proffer solutions to the nature of being, logical positivists and other members of the vienne circle are against metaphysical assumptions and postulations. they claim that metaphysical assertions are nonsensical and as such should be committed to the ames because they contain sophistry and illusion. this paper concludes that despite these criticisms from the logical positivists, metaphysics as a science of being is very much relevant to humanity. the method to be adopted will be analytical, expository, and prescriptive. key words: being, logical positivism, metaphysics, natural science, introduction from time immemorial, issues relating to the realities of existence have been the main focus of man. this means that man tries to grapple with the ontology of what truly constitutes the existence of the universe. one important discipline which is used to determine the basic substratum of existence is the tools of philosophy. philosophy means man's quest for wisdom about nature itself thus william aso sees philosophy as “man as the subject of philosophy has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge not only for empirical realities alone but also phenomenal realities and everything 1that concern human experience and the universe in general”. nature here is not just to be seen as that which appeals to the senses alone, but also, things that do not appeal to the senses. now one major branch of philosophy that helps man to truly understand the workings of existence is metaphysics. metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that grew up with the quest to understand nature as it is in itself. now, different philosophers from the classical age down to the age of enlightenment have postulated different theories to help in understanding the formulation of the things in existence. this is where metaphysics as a science of 'being' emanated from. for instance, heidegger sees metaphysics as an ontological inquiry into the “sein”, 'being' or 'to 2be' heidegger calls it an ontological inquiry into existence because ontology is a central branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of beings, becoming, existence or reality. this is because everything, in reality, is known as being because 'being is'. there is no doubt therefore that many philosophers have variant views on the notion of 111metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... being. while some hold that being is that which is veriable to the senses, others hold that metaphysical realities (being) are not veriable to the senses. this great divide about the notion of being has led to a thorough investigation into the conceptual analysis of the notion of being and the perennial problems that are attached to it. given the fact of these variant views, the question now is what truly constitutes the nature of metaphysics? do beings exist? if they do, are they to be easily veried by the senses? do they not appeal to the senses? are beings both veriable to the senses and at the same time not veriable to the senses? is metaphysics different from the principles of natural sciences? the main aim of this work is to do an overview of the nature and content of metaphysics as a branch of philosophy vis-à-vis the logical positivists' criticisms of metaphysical speculations. this will usher us into the analogy of being in which certain conceptual notions of being will be dealt with together with the perennial problems that are associated with the nature of being. the methods to be adopted will be expository, analytic, and speculative. however, care must be taken not to see this work as fully expressive in content, but as that which will further spur many thinkers to research this area. meaning of metaphysics the term 'metaphysics' is derived from two greek words meta meaning after and phusis meaning physical. literarily, this means 'after the physica'. this goes to show that metaphysics deals with realities that are beyond the physical world. this concept is said to be derived from andronicus of rhodes who was arranging the works of aristotle. it was reported that while he was arranging the works of aristotle in alexandria, he placed the work that aristotle calls rst philosophy after the ones on physics and gave them the title 'ta meta ta physica' meaning 'after the physica'. the question now is why would aristotle refer to metaphysics as the rst philosophy? the answer is not far-fetched. he calls it the rst philosophy because it is a discipline that deals with the rst causes of all things. thus, ayo fadahunsi sees “metaphysics as speculation not just concerning the particulars of our world, its kinds, and species, but rather the attempt 112 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 3to nd some rst causes from which sprang the diversities of reality. be that as it may, one thing that stands out in the etymological meaning of metaphysics is the fact that it deals with the totality of reality and its rst causes thus joseph omoregbe denes it as “the branch of philosophy that studies the totality of being, that is, nature 4 and structure of reality as a whole” . one thing that stands out about this denition of omoregbe is that metaphysics investigates reality as a whole and not just a part of it. it deals with both realities that apply to the senses are things that do not apply to the senses. this is against the backdrop of those who are of the view that metaphysics concern itself with extraterrestrial realities alone. metaphysics is an interrogation of what is seen to what is unseen. j. omoregbe argues thus: … 'after physics' came to be understood as 'beyond physics', that is, beyond the physical world, and metaphysics came to be understood as the discipline dealing with realities beyond the physical work. this has been the popular understanding of the word down through the ages. but this popular understanding of the word is not quite accurate because it is not only realities that are beyond the physical world that metaphysics deals with. rather, as a branch of philosophy, it is the study of the totality of being, that 5is, the nature and structure of reality as a whole. this holistic nature of reality is traced back to aristotle's metaphysics where he refers to it as 'prime philosophy that examines both the material (celestial bodies) and spiritual (god and the celestial 6 movers) divine realities. this idea about metaphysics further determines how scholars see the term metaphysics. for instance, sylvester enomah sees it as a branch of philosophy that studies and 7investigates the principles that pervade all reality. he also went further to state that metaphysics studies reality as a whole and not just a portion of it. this is because it extends to all reality both those perceptible to the senses which we come to the knowledge of through empirical sciences and empirical investigation and those realities that 8we cannot experience or know experientially. pantaleon iroegbu subscribes to this view when he states that “metaphysics involves 113metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... both the physical and the spiritual, the empirical and the supra9 empirical. it concerns each being, all of being, and being in all. here, there is an interface between empiricism and rationalism, between a priori reasoning and aposterori reasoning. all of these forms the basic fulcrum of metaphysics. pantaleon iroegbu's point de part of metaphysics is to correct the somewhat misconception that metaphysics is a form of occultic discipline. he argues thus “ the layperson's conception of metaphysics is often limited to occultic. many identify metaphysics with occultism: the exploitation of hidden powers in nature. this is a misconception of what metaphysics is. occultism is not metaphysics, 10 metaphysics is not occultism” . this argument becomes necessary when one considers the myopic way by which some conceives of what metaphysics as a study of nature is all about. this was what informs his denition of metaphysics as 11 “ordered investigation into the inner side of existence” . he went further to scintillatingly state that “metaphysics unravels the most fundamental contents of being and beings … it researches into the 12prolixities of being, and the relationship among them” . it is this investigative research into reality as a whole that makes metaphysics not occultic premonstrations, but the discovery of the response to the 13 questions of why things are the way they are. this integrative notion of metaphysics makes it very different from the methods of the natural sciences. this natural sciences are often referred to as 'pure science' when distinguishing them from applied science and social sciences. the natural sciences are different from the principles of metaphysics because they deal with an aspect of nature. that is, the aspect of nature that is veriable to the senses. this notion of the natural sciences is well-buttressed in its four basic characteristics. jack aigbodioh gives the four basic characters that are solely exclusive of the natural sciences. they are 14 specic, public, impersonal, and objective . the natural sciences are said to be specic because they deal with particular observable or identiable objects of this terrestrial world; it is said to be public in character because their methods and techniques as well as their products are exoteric rather than esoteric; it is said to be impersonal because it does not involve idiosyncratic beliefs, that is, beliefs or 114 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 ideals which result from a person's peculiar power of imagination; it is objective insofar as their conclusions (concepts, laws, and theories) are drawn directly from the hard and naked facts about the world of 15 everyday perceptual experience. it becomes clear therefore that the methods of metaphysics are different from the methods of the natural sciences. this is not to say there are no areas of convergence in some aspects but the overall point of divergence shows that while metaphysics deals with the totality of reality; that is, an investigation into the material (empirical) and the spiritual (non-empirical) realities, the methods of sciences deal with realities that can be veriable and validated utilizing the senses. conclusively, it sufces to say that metaphysics is known with variant nomenclatures. it is called ontology because it discourses being toward an ultimate unied report of reality. it is called prime philosophy or rst philosophy because it searches for the rst causes of all things; it is called natural theology in so far as it deals with the science of the divine, the primordial cause of all things, and other supra-sensible realities. all of these nomenclatures show that metaphysics deals with an investigation into being qua being and all that belongs to being as being. having stated this with all its clarity, there is a need to survey the notion of being as it constitutes the basic fulcrum of metaphysics. metaphysics as a science of being: the analogy of being metaphysics down the ages has been referred to as the science of being. the question that readily comes to mind is: what then is being? j. omoregbe says the question ' what is being' is the most fundamental question of philosophy; this is because it has been a problem in 16 philosophy right from the pre-socratic period to our own day . however, the notion of being can be something in reality whether seen or unseen. it can be concrete, empirical or meta-empirical. in fact, the totality of nature is known as being. the term 'being' as present participle of the verb 'to be' means existing (existens, existere). this participle has come to be used as a noun, and as such it does not necessarily imply actual existence hic et nunc. it does imply some relation to actual existence; for we 115metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... designate as being (in the substantive sense) only whatever we conceive as existing or at least as capable of existing and it is from this participial sense, which implies actual existence, that the substantive 17 sense has been derived the different philosophical epochs have helped to spell out the framework from which the notion of being can be accessed. for instance, in the ancient era, it is arguably believed that parmenides was the rst to busy himself with the notion of being. he concludes that being is eternal and unchanging. this is against the backdrop of heraclitus who holds that being is something that is open to change. be that as it may, one will immediately conclude that from 18 parmenides, the things around us that change are not beings . parmenides' philosophy truly inuences that of plato who holds that being is eternal and unchanging and as such anything, we see around us that changes is not being. this position of plato means 19 that he is against heraclitus's theory of flux . however, it is important to note that despite the fact that plato subscribed to parmanides' thought does not mean he agrees with everything. he differed from parmenides in the point of view that reality is not only 20 one. this invariably means that plato is not a monist but more of a dualist as seen in his bifurcation of existence into the material world and the world of form. being for plato are many but not the things we see around us but the ones in the world of form. aristotle on his part holds that the object of metaphysics is 'being qua being'. this being qua being or pure being, aristotle calls 'god' thereby making 21 metaphysic theology . this is further proof of the fact that metaphysics can also be called natural theology. the middle age which was dominated by the era of the papacy tends to tailor things from the theological perspective. thus, thomas aquinas a neo-aristotelian, concurred with the fact that being qua being is god. he went further to state that god is being per excellence 22 while other creatures are being in the analogical sense dun scotus while rejecting this analogical sense of aristotle claims that being is indenable because it is the simplest and the most all-embracing of all concepts. this means that for dun scotus creatures are being in the real sense of the word. thus, one can say that innite beings are 23 beings in the same way as nite beings are . this view of dun scotus 116 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 is in tandem with william of ockham who held on to the univocal notion of being. in the modern era, the notion of being did not gain prominence as many scholars busy themselves talking about substance rather than being. the problem of being in this era began with hegel who gave a dialectical approach to it. he contrasted being 24with non-being, as thesis and antithesis respectively . this dialectical approach between the thesis and anti-thesis is a synthesis. this resultant synthesis is becoming. thus, in the hegelian dialectic, 25 being and non-being are “moments” in the process of becoming . martin heidegger was the one who showed more interest in the notion of being in the modern era in his work being and time. in this work, he distinguished between being itself and individual beings. for him, 'being itself' is the source of the beings of the 'individual 26beings' and it manifests itself in them . it is important to note that heidegger did not identify any particular being with god as aristotle and aquinas did. for instance, you cannot call a chair or a man a being itself. being itself goes beyond particular things, it is rather the ground of all things and the source from which all beings derive their 27 being jean-paul sartre who is also a seasoned existentialist differs from heidegger when he holds that being is whatever is and not something hidden or mystical. in his major work, being and nothingness, he argues that the foundation of being is nothingness, for being emerged from nothing. he went further to distinguish between two kinds of being. they are: being-for-itself (pour soir) and being-in-itself (en soir). the former is a conscious being while the latter is an unconscious being. this notion of being is not in tandem with those who uphold the religious and mystical notion of being like that of aquinas and aristotle. his own is purely natural and atheistic in approach. however, gabriel marcel a catholic existentialist revived the religious notion of being when he holds that being is a mystery and not a problem. for him, a mystery in which we are part 28of; a mystery in which we are involved and engulfed given the historical excursus on the notion of being, one thing that stands out is that being is whatever is. as pantaleon iroegbu concludes, the notion of being is the primum notum (the rst to be 117metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... known) and the per se notum (the most self-evident) reality of the 29 human intellect . he says this because for him, whatever exists is being. this is because everything, in reality, is being. daniel sulivan's argument here becomes expedient. the term 'being' is applied to everything that is or can be, even to possibilities, for whatever is not nothing, is being. (if we can't say 'being', we can only say 'nothing'). being, then, is something that belongs to all things. yet one being is not another being, nor one way of being another way of being. things, in other words, not only agree in that they are all beings, but they also differ by their very being … every being is unique, isolated, and separate from every other being; in a certain sense, every being is nal and ultimate … we are confronted with one more instance of the mystery of sameness and difference … namely that being is common to everything that is, but at the same time things differ by their very being. we say that god is a being and that a stone is a being. man is a being and a possibility is a being. but the being of god is innite, and the being of a stone is nite. my being is actual but the being of my grandchildren is potential. they can all be called being in that they are all 'not nothing'. 30 but they differ in the way they are 'not nothing' the point of daniel sullivan is based on the fact that whatever is seen in reality is a being and since it is being it is not nothing. for that which is not nothing, is a being. however, in the notion of being, there is the reality of sameness and difference. this is because the way a stone is a being is different from the way god is a being. the way man is a being is different from the way a chair is a being. but one common thing is that they are all being yet in different degrees judging from the reality of act and potency. given this notion of being, there is a need to do a bifurcation of what being is all about. pantaleon iroegbu gave three kinds of being. they are: real beings, ideal being and logical beings. all of these three beings are a derivation of the different notions of beings by the earliest philosophers. for instance, the scholastics philosophers distinguished between necessary beings and contingent beings; the same is true of the bifurcation of martin heidegger's (being itself and individual beings) and jean-paul 118 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 sartre's being-for itself (pour-soir) and being-in-itself (en-soir) as seen above, which most scholars have translated into transcendental beings and conceptual beings. for pantaleon iroegbu, the real being is whatever is or that which can be independent of our knowledge of it. this real being according to him, can be actual and potential. it is actual if it exists hic et nunc and it is potential if it can, though it does not yet exist. other features of the real being include: substantial and accidental; necessary and contingent, finite and innite; absolute and relative, 31 ontologically absolute being and logical absolute being the ideal being, refers to being in knowledge; that is, being as it is known. it is also called intentional being because it is the thought-presence or appropriation of the thing by the human mind in its collective consciousness and awareness. lastly, the logical beings, are beings that exist only in the mind. they are a creation of thoughts and the fruit of the reections, comparisons, relations, and extensions of real and ideal beings by the human mind. they have no external existence whatsoever. they are purely mental, logical, or thought beings. logical being has no fundamentum in re if is a mere fabrication of the human mind, for instance, a square circle, but a logical being has a fundamentum in re if its conception is based on real or ideal being, though it does not exist. more so, a signicant part of being is in its basic conceptual principles. in other words, every being is said to be adjudged from the point of view of these conceptual principles and some perennial philosophical problems like act and potency, essence and existence, substance and accident, cause and effect, space and time, appearance and reality, universal and particular, change and permanence and so on. all of these will form the basis for the next discuss. some basic conceptual principles of being and their perennial metaphysical problems having done an examination and investigation into the notion of being that is a subject matter of ontology and metaphysics, there is the need to do an exposition on how it can be applied to some conceptual principles that are proper to it. these principles are necessary because 119metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... before we do a proper study of being we must rst consider its principles as alvira holds “{these principles} are found in all 32creatures and enable us to acquire a deeper knowledge of being” the rst of these principles of being to be considered is act and potency. it is believed that before any being is said to be in its complete state, it must have undergone some processes. while its complete state is known as act (actuality), the processes that led to its completion are known as potency (potentiality). this knowledge of act and potency is premised on our idea of change, motion, and permanence. act is any perfection of a subject while, potency is the 33capacity to have perfection. more so, actuality according to 34 aristotle, is before potency. the actual is always produced from the potential, the potential is always reduced to act by the actual, for that 35 which is already in act, as man is produced by man. act and potency should be assessed from two points of view as they relate to being. first from the physical point of view and secondly, from the metaphysical point of view. from the physical viewpoint, nkwain sam says that act and potency form the elements that make change and motion possible in being more understandable. this is because an actual being cannot be at the same time potential and vice versa. change is the transition between being in potentiality 36 and being in actuality . from the metaphysical point of view, the doctrine of act and potency shows itself in all nite being so much so that potency after having been made actual continues to be a coprinciple of its corresponding act. it, therefore, means that a particular being that has attained an act can also be a potency of something else. however, this is not so with the necessary being. the necessary being is the being that is always in act. its actuality is not dependent or premised by any form of potentiality. another basic principle of being is essence and existence. existence, on the one hand, is the state of being in virtue of which a being is present as an actuality and not merely as a possibility, distinct from the mind; and if it is a produced being, distinct from its 37producing cause. resorting to the issue of acts and potency, celestine's denition sees every existent being as already in actuality and not just a possible being this is because existence connotes concreteness. 120 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 essence on the other hand is what a being is or what a thing is. in other words, it is what a thing is before it takes a concrete existence. pantaleon gave three (3) essential points on what essence is 38 all about. for him, essence is quiddity, nature, and substance. quiddity means that the essence of a being is what denes a being in itself that makes it distinct from another being. it has to do with the beingness of a thing thus it answers the question: quid? (what?). nature as essence means that which brings about the peculiar character and structure of being. for instance, the nature of man is body and soul. substance as essence is used to differentiate being from its accident. this brings about the form of being. here it is believed that every being exist and as such has its essence. if being is whatever is, it means being is that which exists, and whatever exists must have an essence. the seeming interrelatedness between essence and existence has been a cause of concern among scholars from the classical age till this age. this is so because, in ancient times, the notion of essence and existence feature prominently most especially in the work of plato and aristotle. while plato on his part concludes that essence is the most perfect and stable object and to be found in the world of form, aristotle claims essence does not exist in a separate world as plato claims; but essence is to be found in the sensible beings of this world, wherein they are said of having a concrete and singular mode of existence. in medieval times these views of plato and aristotle were absorbed by aquinas and other christian philosophers; where aquinas holds that it is existence that actualizes essence. however, the islamic thinkers who made contributions to this issue in the medieval era are avicenna and averroes. for avicenna, he conceives existence as an accident since essence is a primacy. avicenna conceives of essence as independent of, and before existence. this is because while the essence is uncaused, existence is 39caused. in the modern era, different existentialist philosophers like heidegger, jean-paul sartre, monley ponty, and a host of others lay primacy to existence over essence. for the existentialist, existence precedes essence. jean-paul sartre conceives of this view from an atheistic perspective because for him, “there are no eternal essences, 121metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... presents as “ideas” in the mind of god, which precedes the existence 40 of things” this simply means that being is not created for a purpose. it has no xed nature rather, it is determined by his own choice because it is precisely the way in which being exists and acts that 41expresses the essence of what the being is all about. there is no doubt that this view does not sit well with phenomenologists like edmund hurssell in his eidetic science (the science of essence). this is because, for phenomenologists, essence precedes existence. now, it is important to note that the whole argument on essence and existence is for contingent beings alone and not for necessary beings. joseph omoregbe argues thus: this distinction between essence and existence applies only to contingent beings, and not to the necessary being. in the necessary being essence and existence are identical, existence is part of his essence. consequently, the necessary being cannot but exist since existence is part of his nature. contingent beings do not have existence as part of their nature, it comes from outside them. hence they owe their existence to 42another being outside them. be that as it may, one truth that stands out about the notion of being is a complementarity between essence and existence. they are basic conceptual issues of being. they are indeed inseparable. a being that exists has its respective essence. while essence makes existence what it is, existence is the cause of essence because existence makes essence real or exist concretely. another distinct conceptual issue is cause and effect or the principle of causality. causality is a generic connection of phenomena through which one thing (the cause) under certain 43 conditions gives rise to, and causes something else (the effect). he went further to state that the essence of causality is the generation and determination of one phenomenon by another. this invariably means that for a being to exist, it must have been caused by something. it is so because nature abhors non-causality and vacuum. this means that in nature there is a continuity in the chain of productivity. this is the 122 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 foundation from which the notion of causality stands for “causality is 44 dened as the act of bringing into reality what was not in reality” the notion of causality in being will be discussed in aristotle's four causes. andrea falcon says that the doctrine of the four causes is an indispensable tool for a successful investigation of 45 the world around us. the four causes are the material cause; which is the stuff from which a thing is made; the formal cause, which has to do with the shape or the form which a being takes; the efcient cause is the agent that is responsible for bringing a being into existence; and the nal cause, which has to do with the purpose for which a thing is made. the account of the four causes is general in the sense that it applies to every being that requires an explanation. the principle of causality holds that contingent beings are caused. the only being that is not caused is the supreme being. he is the uncaused cause. h. d. guardeil in his assessment of thomas aquinas's philosophy puts it thus: “a cause is a principle of being … everything except the supreme being depends on something not only for its being but also for its becoming. this something of whatever 46sort is a cause” . this point is further buttressed in the works of aristotle and later adopted by thomas aquinas in his qui que viae for proving the existence of god. in their thought, the supreme being is known to have caused every other being into existence but he is not caused thus he is referred to as the uncaused cause. other conceptual analysis of being space and time. it is believed that every being exist in space and time. this is highly attested to in aristotle's metaphysics and physics. the notion of potency and act in being takes place in time for it is a matter of time before potency becomes act. however, the only being that transcends time and space is the necessary being which has the character of immanence and transcendence as part of its nature. the question that readily comes to mind here is the notion of change. do beings change or are permanent? this contention featured in the early history of philosophy in the work of heraclitus and parmenides. while heraclitus holds that beings change, parmenides holds that beings do not change. according to him (parmenides), nothing goes out of being and nothing comes into being. being is one and eternal. for him, what we call a change in being is due to the deformity of sense 123metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... perception for the senses cannot give us true knowledge. the likes of plato and rene descartes are a proponent of the failures of sensual knowledge. for them, the best that the senses can offer in being is mere appearance and not reality. this is because appearance can deceive us. conclusively, it is important to note that every being has the reality of substance. this substance is said to exist. the substance of being constitute the nature or essence of a particular being as distinct from other beings. having done an examination of metaphysics as the science of being together with the analogy of being and its conceptual framework, can one say metaphysics is relevant to humanity? are there people or schools of thought that are opposed to metaphysical methodology? now an investigation into these questions becomes expedient. the logical positivists' criticisms of metaphysics vis-a vis the relevance of metaphysics to humanity metaphysics as a branch of philosophy has been a subject of attack by many logical positivists who are members of the vienne circle. th the members of the vienne circle are a group of early 20 century philosophers who sought to reconceptualize empiricism 47utilizing their interpretation of reality . their radically antimetaphysical stance was supported by an empiricist criterion of meaningfulness where statements that are to be considered meaningful are those that are mathematical in nature. scholars like moritz schlick, david hume, rudolf carnap, a. j. ayer, and a host of others are a proponent of this view. they disregard every religious and metaphysical concept that does not fall within the ambiance of the sciences. concepts like god, spirit, soul, and so on are considered meaningless. a. j. ayer who is one of the leading members of this group is quoted to say: the mention of god brings us to the question of the possibility of religious knowledge. we shall see that this possibility has already been ruled out by our treatment of metaphysics … for to say that god exists, is to make a metaphysical utterance that cannot be 124 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 either true or false. and by the same criterion, no sentence which purports to describe the nature of the transcendent god can possess any literal signicance … all utterances about the nature of god are 48nonsensical ayer like every other logical positivist sees a talk about god and other metaphysical realities as nonsensical reasons being that they cannot be veriable by scientic assumptions. he even went further to deny the nature of the soul because it can also not be veried when he says “to say that there is something imperceptible inside a man, which is his soul or his real self, … is to make a metaphysical assertion which has no more factual content than the assertion that there is a 49 transcendent god” . david hume holds that every metaphysical content should be thrown into the wind for they contain nothing but sophistry and illusion. added to this, there are some empiricists and rationalists who see scholastic metaphysics as abstract and mere jargon because it deals with realities that cannot be veried. this is almost in tandem with ockham razor of william ockham who holds that reality should not be multiplied unnecessarily. why make a bifurcation of reality into a complex entity when there is a veriable way to explain the nature of existence? with all of these postulations, can one still say metaphysics as a science of being is relevant to humanity? the relevance of metaphysics cannot be over-emphasized. it is relevant in some way in that it helps humanity to understand reality better. this is evident in the different sub-branches that have emanated from it. for instance cosmology, anthropology, natural philosophy, and philosophy of mind. all of these have helped man to understand the world and all it contains. it is said that metaphysics helps scientists in the postulation of laws and theories about nature. this is because while scientists rely on empirical observations to understand reality, metaphysicians employ the use of intelligent reasoning to help make sense of scientic theories. ayo fadahunsi captures this clearly when he says “metaphysics deserves a credit for its high sense of reasoning without which no inquiry can 125metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... be made into any theory because looking into a theory requires a deep 50 respect for reasoning”. giving the fact that science makes use of an aspect of reality means that existence in all its wholeness cannot be grasped by scientic discovery alone. to understand the totality of being, certain metaphysical methods need to be adopted. for instance, it is through the help of the metaphysical method that different conceptual issues about being were considered. concepts like act and potency, essence and existence, substance and accident, space and time, and the like. all of these issues help in understanding the nitty gritty of being and existence alike. metaphysics helps in the understanding of religious concepts like god, angels, spirit, and soul. it is a proper understanding of these concepts that human conduct is well-formed; for the man who has no touch of metaphysics goes through life imprisoned with prejudices from the political point of view, one must not rule out the importance of metaphysics in the formulation of policies. this is because the principle of metaphysics emphasizes the integrity of humanity over racial discrimination and ethnocentric bias. in other words, laws will be made to benet humanity and not party members only or people from the same race or tribes. the benet of metaphysics is also seen in the different areas of the social and natural sciences for they depend on metaphysical speculations to bring about their laws and theories. to put the value or relevance of metaphysics into perspective, chulor c. leo & apebende s. atah citing henry koren outlines some importance or value of metaphysics. this outline will be summarized accordingly. for him, metaphysics is valuable because it is a speculative science. this is because it teaches us how to do certain things. after all, every man desires to know. it is said to have absolute value because it deals with being and all its components. it is said to render secure the ultimate foundations of the sciences because every other science depends on it to make useful postulations; it helps to examine and analyze general principles because it deals with the totality of existence and not just an aspect of existence; it is important 51because it helps in making a balance on the different norms of life. 126 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 conclusion in this work, we have been able to establish that metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that studies the totality of reality. this was further buttressed on the ground that metaphysics is a study of being. there is no doubt therefore that the nature of being is surrounded by some basic conceptual issues like act and potency, essence and existence, cause and effect, and the like. given that the principles of metaphysics have been criticized over time yet its invaluable nature to humanity cannot be sidelined since many sciences depend on it for their postulations. endnotes 1 aso william. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduates; lagos. fropiel international ltd 2018, p. 3 2 heideggar in pantaleon iroegbu, metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy. owerri: international univ. press ltd. 1995 p. 22 3 ayo fadahunsi metaphysics: a historical and thematic introduction. ibadan: hope pub 2004, p.10 4 joseph omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. lagos: joja educational research and publishers ltd. 2011 p. ix 5 ibid 6 aristotlemetaphysics, 1026 a 10 in dario composta, history of ancient philosophy p.257-258 7 sylvester enomah. the nature of metaphysics vol. 1. ibadan bibis press 1997 p. 11 8 ibid 9 pantaleon iroegbu metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy opcit p.15 10 ibid p.15 11 ibid 12 ibid 13 ibid 14 jack aigbodioh philosophy of science: issues and problems. ibadan hope publications 1997 p. 3 15 ibid p. 3-5 16 joseph omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. opcit p. 1 17 peter coffey, ontology or the theory of being. london: longmans, green and co. 1918 p.45 127metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... 18 ibid 19 anthony kanu the problem of being in metaphysics: an international multidisciplinary journal, ethiopia vol. 6 (2), n.25 2012 p. 114 20 joseph omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. opcit p.1 21 anthony kanu the problem of being in metaphysics opcit p. 114; j. omoregbe, metaphysics without tears opcit p. 2 22 ibid 23 anthony kanu the problem of being in metaphysics opcit p.114 24 ibid 115 25 joseph omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. opcit p3-4 26 martin heidegger in joseph omoregbe ibid p.4 27 anthony kanu the problem of being in metaphysics opcit p.115 28 j. omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. opcit p5 29 pantaleon metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy opcit p.60 30 daniel sullivan. an introduction to philosophy: perennial principles of the classical realist tradition. north carlifonia: st. benedict press, llc tan books 2012 p.215 31 pantaleon iroegbu metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy opcit pp 62-63 32 alvira, t., et al., in nkwain sam. act and potency https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337670520_act_and_p otency 33 nkwain sam. act and potency https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337670520_act_and_p otency 34 aristotle metaph., 1049 b 5 in fredrick copleston: a history of philosophy: greece and rome: london bloomsbury 2013 p. 310 35 fredrick copleston a history of philosophy: greece and rome: ibid p.310 36 paul gerard horrigan, act and potency 2009 p.3 https://www.academia.edu/9966369/act_and_potency 37 celestine bittle .n. the domain of beings, milwauke: the bruce pub. co., 1939 p. 116 38 pantaleon iroegbu metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy opcit p.4849 39 catarina belo essence and existence in avicenna and averros. al 128 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 quantara 2009 p. 413 40 fredrick copleston. a history of philosophy: logical positivism and existentialism vol. 11 london: bloomsbury 2013 p. 126 41 blessing agidigbi existentialist philosophy: central issues and themes benin city: kay-babs print 2015 p. 58 42 j. omoregbe metaphysics without tears: a systematic and historical study. p. 9 43 a. spirkin. dialectical materialsim: the system of categories in philosphical thought chap.2 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialecticalmaterialism/ch02-s06.html 44 pantaleon iroegbu metaphysics: the kpim of philosophy p 364 45 andrea falcon aristotle on causality' standford encyclopedia of phlosophy 2019https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotlecausality/#int 46 h. d. guardeil, introduction to the philosophy of st. thomas ndaquinas: cosmology. 2 ed. vol. 2 translated by john a. otto. london: b. herde book co., 1958 p. 61 47 thomas uebel. vienne circle: standford encyclopedia of philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vienna-circle/2020 48 a. j. ayer, language, truth and logic, (new york: dover publications, 1946) pp. 114-120 49 ibid 50 ayo fadahunsin metaphysics: a historical and thematic introduction. p161 51 ochulor c. leo & apebende s. atah “the necesity of metaphysics” american journal of social issues & humanities vol 1 2011 pp40-42 129metaphysics and the ontology of being amidst the logical ... “gratialogy”: towards an existential theory of gratitude its implications for seminary formation peter ajayi wojuaye abstract gratialogy, is the discourse on gratitude, expresses greatly, the pertinence of the attitude of gratitude. this is quite apt, given the fact that in our world today, there is an increasing depreciation in the expression of gratitude among people. it is important to note that gratitude to god should not only be rendered in good times, but in bad times alike. st. paul says in 1 thess. 5:18 that “in all things, give thanks.” the idea of gratialogy, therefore, introduces us to the undying importance of gratitude in seminary formation. we shall in this paper, apply it to humanity and the four areas of formation or as i like to call it, the tetra-inseparable formative process, which is the human, the spiritual, the intellectual, and the pastoral areas of seminary formation. we shall learn through this paper how gratitude gives birth to people who are able to build good relationship with others, and with god. we will also be introduced to how gratitude equips one with good intellectual implements to ward off ignorance and build a stronger faith. this seeks to critically expose the human person in general and seminarians in particular on the need to be thankful at all times. the goal of this theological enterprise will be facilitated through the use of the expository method. key words: implications, gratitude, thanksgiving, seminary, formation. a. introduction experiences in human behaviours have shown that humans do not appreciate their values until they suffer the loss of any of them. a lot of studies and discussions have been done on several aspects of human life and behaviour with no favourable impact on the aspect of gratitude which has seemingly deteriorated in the contemporary times. the sad situation is that ingratitude is rearing its ugly head in a variety of ways, both overtly and covertly. the human person has been viewed and studied from several perspectives and across various disciplines. but here my aim is to bring to light an aspect that calls for attention and needs to be addressed. the context of our concern is about human values of appreciation, thanksgiving and gratitude. this work attempts to examine and study elements of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness. the theory of gratialogy is an attempt to view the human person from the perspective of thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude. that is, examining the human person as an appreciating being or as beings that appreciate. paul o'callaghan beautifully describes this appreciative side of the human person in the book titled eschatology as follows: humans instinctively seek recognition, appreciation, acceptance, admiration, fame, love. they wish to be remembered, if possible, forever, by the people they lived with and loved, and even by those whom they never knew or met. humans wish to be appreciated: they wish to be famous, albeit on a limited scale, although some are happy enough with being infamous, perhaps on a larger one. but nobody is willingly prepared to be neglected or forgotten. people wish to leave a mark in the memory of gods or humans for greater or lesser deeds and noble 1 accomplishments they were responsible for. paul o'callaghan, in the above, gives the better picture of the inherent drive or yearning for appreciation of the human person. it is in recognition of this inherent desire of the human person to be appreciated and extend the value of appreciation, that we propose the theory of gratialogy in which we seek to expose and recommend the 131“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... value of the expression of this capacity of the human person to seek to be appreciated and to show appreciation as it will be expressed, here below: conceptual elucidation ø thanks: the word thank is a verb, to express gratitude or 2appreciation to someone. while “thanks” is used not formally as an expression of appreciation or gratitude or an 3acknowledgment of services or favours given. ø appreciation: ,a feeling or expression of admiration, approval 4or gratitude. ø gratitude: is a feeling of being thankful and appreciative, a feeling of thankful appreciation for favours or benets received; 5 thankfulness. ø thanksgiving: it is the expression of gratitude, especially to god. 6 'he offered prayers in thanksgiving for his safe arrival.' � from the above, it is clear that gratitude, appreciation and thanks are closely related and when it comes to thanksgiving it is offered most especially to god. however, we appreciate things and actions but you thank persons for their actions, you show appreciation for people's actions (to appreciate means to assess the value of something and state it, for example, i appreciate the 7 fact that you came and i thank you for coming. b. literature review gratitude convokes a high sense of emotions but sadly it is often neglected as this paper will further establish. it is neglected because it is often ignored and less attention is paid towards it. psychologists offer little in this regard as even scholars in this eld have not explored it in depths. the term gratitude rarely appears in the emotion lexicon. however, gratitude is a pleasant feeling about the 8 favour received. in the book, psychology of gratitude by robert emmons he traces the historical analysis of the idea of gratitude stating that as an idea gratitude has a long life span but relatively short when seen from its psychological perspective. while it has been appraised by religious writers, very low attention have been paid to its emotional nature. it has been described as the most passionate transformative 132 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 force in the cosmos, the key that opens all doors, the quality that makes us and keeps us young. breathnach opines that “whatever we are waiting for peace of mind, contentment, grace . . . it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and 9grateful heart.” though there have been concerns about its status of emotion unlike anger, fear, or disgust, gratitude does not seem to qualify as a basic emotion. there is unlikely to be a biologically based universal facial expression for it or a unique physiology underlying it. hence, when gratitude is not showed for favour received, especially on human level, there is usually a feeling of animosity that may follow from the giver of such favour. two scholars bertocci & millard, in their holds that gratitude is an emotion, the core of which is pleasant feelings about the benet received. at the heart of gratitude stands the idea of undeserved merit. the grateful person recognizes that he or she did nothing to deserve the gift or benet; it was freely bestowed. this point is clearly reected in one denition of gratitude as “the willingness to 10 recognize the unearned increments of value in one's experience.” similarly, they both opine that the virtue of gratitude is the willingness to recognize that one has been the beneciary of someone's kindness, whether the emotional response is present or not. they thus conceived of it as a “moral virtue-trait,” that leads a person to seek situations in which to express this appreciation and thankfulness. fitzgerald identies three components of gratitude: (1)a warm sense of appreciation for somebody or something, (2) a sense of goodwill towards that person or thing, and (3) a disposition to act that ows from appreciation and goodwill. this shows that authentic gratitude ows from the heart that spurs the receiver of a favour to 11show appreciation for the good that has been received. in a similar manner, fritz heider a social psychologist argued that people feel grateful when they have received a benet from someone who (the beneciary believes)intendedto benet them. this shows the nature of intentionality of the benet received. hence, heider posited that the perceived intentionality of the benet was the most important factor in determining whether someone felt grateful after receiving a benet. he also predicted that situations in which a 133“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... benefactor calls on the beneciary's duty to be gratefulwould produce the opposite effect. moreover, heider noted that beneciaries prefer to have their gratitude attributed to internal motivations rather than 12 extrinsic ones (for example, duty or social norm). these expose us to the profundity of the virtue of gratitude. c. concept of “gratialogy” the word 'gratialogy' is a coinage from the latin word 'gratias' and english sufx 'logy'. the word 'gratias' means thanks. the word 13'gratias' is declined in latin gratia-ae (feminine) which in plural term means gratitude or the act of being thankful. it must be noted that 14the latin word 'gratias' is translated as “thanks” while 'gratia' is grace. 15 gratitude, which rhymes with 'attitude', comes from the latin word gratus, which means 'thankful, pleasing.' when you feel gratitude, you are pleased by what someone did for you and also 16 pleased by the results. the english sufx “logy” however, is from the greek word 'λογος' (logos) which is derived from the verb 'λɛγω' (lego) which means 'i say'. the word 'λογος' (logos) is a greek word, a noun with numerous meanings. it could mean; thing, word, mind, wisdom, science, study, sayings or discourse. however, 'logy' means the 17 science or study of any concept. can we then not have 'logy of gratia' that is, the study of gratitude, thankfulness and appreciation in order to rediscover the beauty of being grateful to god, mankind and all creatures? it is therefore pertinent to inquire into the nature of 'gratialogy' that is, the study of gratitude. it is important to note that 'gratialogy' is an exclusive coinage by the author generated from amalgamation of two words namely: “gratias” and “logy”. gratialogy, therefore, is the theory, discourse or study of gratitude, thanks or appreciation. in other words, it is a systematic study of gratitude, thanks and appreciation. in this way, words that shall be applied in this work are: thanks, gratitude and appreciation as they point to the human person as a being of gratitude; a grateful being, and an appreciative being. however, this work shall be expository and will draw strength from different disciplines to bring out the appreciating dimension of the human person. to this end, this work shall be using the following concepts: thanks or gratitude gratias, human gratitude/gratitude of the human person 134 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 hominisgratias, thanks be to god deo gratias, the gratitude of the church or church's gratitude ecclesiae gratias, gratitude by all gratiasab omnibus and the last gratitude or gratitude towards the end of time eschatological gratias/ gratias ad nem temporis types of gratitude 1. man's gratitude /gratitude of the human person (hominis 18gratias ) this is the gratitude of the human person. this is a kind of gratitude between human beings; thus, it is a courtesy and it is based on the nature of the human person. it has to do with the tendency of the human person to seek to be appreciated and to offer appreciation for a kind deed done to him invariably by another human person. just as the human person wants to be appreciated, so also, he should allow the desire in him from within to offer and share appreciation for being the beneciary of the good deeds done to him by another. any attempt not to reciprocate human good deeds in gratitude, is seen as a wrongdoing against humanity. an example of human gratitude is what we have in the bible when adam saw eve, he instantly exclaimed: “this at last is bone of my bones and esh of my esh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man” (cf. genesis 2:23). this means that adam valued eve as the bone of his bone and esh of his esh and he expressed his grateful heart in “…this at last is bone of my bones and esh of my esh…”.this in a sense, from the biblical point of view, could be called the primus hominisgratias, the rst gratitude of a human being. in our world today, what do we experience? lack of gratitude! i will give some examples here to drive home my point of view. a. family: what do we experience in some families? husbands killing wives and wives killing their husbands at an alarming rate, children are not left out; some children are using their parents for money! if the husband appreciates the wife with human gratitude this would not have surfaced in the rst place. b. places of work: even though, ngers are not equal, an employee deserves respect and needs to be appreciated by the employer. this will greatly increase the productivity of the individual and in turn, the rm or organization. there is no doubt that if men and women of our 135“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... age accept and practice the principle of human gratitude, there will be decrease in racism, tribalism, sectionalism, suicide and lack of respect for human dignity. this means that, the human gratitude has psychological, sociological, economic and even political effect on the human person. c. political ofce holder: in the political domain, if the elected is grateful to their electorate, they will denitely put their people at heart, not minding their own political agenda. leaders elected to various positions ought to be up to the task and be responsible. this indicates that they appreciate their people whom they serve at various levels. this is why human gratitude is very important. also, an aspect of great importance in this regard as far as women participation in politics is concerned, globally, women are under represented in 19politics and it is more pronounced in nigeria. this is a gender issue, and if gratialogyis applied to it, it would mean gender ungratefulness by which women are not given equal opportunity as their male folks. it is another form of ingratitude that needs to be addressed in the political arena. still on the political ground, because of political instability in our world, migration has been in recent time inevitable. even though migration is a ubiquitous reality, people move to another environment base on the place, utility and duration dependence because human beings constantly evaluate their ability to survive and 20 thrive in specic environments. to this effect, migration is greatly inuenced through ingratitude, when one is not appreciated in a given environment, the person migrates to another place. this is to tell us how powerful the virtue of gratitude is. 2. gratitude by all (gratiasab omnibus) this type of gratitude encompasses all living and non-living creatures. for instance, a dog is always appreciative of its owner who takes care of it. the dog appreciates its owner that gives food to it. on the other hand, all creatures can give thanks (both animate and inanimate) to god. this means that appreciation is not exclusive to men and women alone, some other creatures also have this power to appreciate. no wonder mark twain says, “if you pick up a starving dog and make it prosperous, it will not bite you. this is the principal 21 difference between a dog and a human.” this gratitude is seen in all creatures as they extend it towards god in all ramications cf. ps 136 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 148:1ff. the creatures daily extend their gratitude to god every morning as a cock will wake with a crow as early as 4:00am. the leaves will dance in thanksgiving to god with the early morning breeze. the birds will sing in whistles and we can observe the dog also wake to stretch in the morning as a respect to the creator of all things. these are expressions of gratitude in various forms either from an animal to the human person or from the human person to creatures that are not rational beings. human gratitude is also part of all gratitude but the dividing line is that human gratitude is particularly human while all gratitude is in different dimensions of thankfulness expressed by various categories of being. 22 3. thanks be to god (deo gratias ) this simply means thanks be to god. it is an expression of gratitude to god for his providence, intervention and mercy. interestingly, its expression is not restricted to human persons; the rational being. it is rather the one all creatures extend to god almighty. this is the highest form of gratitude in this world, because it is the unity of both human gratitude and all gratitude. it is based on the fact that we consider god as our origin that is why the question of whether god exists or not is not a matter of debate in gratialogy, because gratialogy veries the notion that god exists based on the fact that we believe in him and our belief is strong. it is popularly said that without dreams we reach nothing, without love we feel nothing, without god we are nothing or we do not achieve the fulness of our being. the aim of gratialogy is to cultivate authentic gratitude to god, fellow human beings and all creatures, st. leo the great deepens our understanding of thanks to be god by all creatures and tells us how the creator must be thanked in a special way by the intelligent creation when he says: …dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of god, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of god. the heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a tting expression of its 23gratitude… 137“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... in this light, we call “deogratias” the highest gratitude. in an attempt to give unceasing thanks to god, there comes the church's gratitude ecclesiae gratias or the gratitude of the church because this gratitude is directed towards god. in the light of this, gratialogy brings to the general; public men and women who had appreciated and are still thanking god in their lives and exposes the way the church gives thanks to god also. 4. the last gratitude (eschatological gratias), gratias ad nem 24 temporis gratitude at the end of time: according to daley brian, eschatology is a word with different meanings. essentially as religious doctrine, about “last things” an ordered doctrine of the “last things” such as personal expectation of nal justice and retribution; a person longing 25for rest and satisfaction in a new life that will begin at death. one of these mutual self-giving between creator and creature is this type of this gratitude, eschatological gratias. the basic fact about eschatology is the fact that it is the hope which lies ahead. applying it to gratialogy, it is the gratitude that lies ahead. christian life is always eschatological and of course, human life is always in hope of something to come. to this effect, karl barth says: “christianity that is not entirely and altogether eschatological has entirely nothing to 26 do with christ.” eschatology is the nal state of christology as 27daley brian noted. j. moltmann makes us to understand how eschatological outlook is characteristic of christian faith when he said: the eschatological is not one element of christianity, but it is the medium of christian faith… hence, eschatology cannot really be only a part of christian doctrine. rather, the eschatological outlook is characteristic of christian proclamation, of every 28 christian existence and of the whole church. naturally, if a gift is given to a person and that person uses it judiciously, what do you think that the owner will do? will he not say bravo!? god is not an ingrate, and if life is a gift from god, and it is used for the purpose of which god created it, god will denitely thank the person. this is the rst form of eschatological gratias on 138 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 the part of god. in fact, one could say it is an indispensable work of god at the end of time. the scripture gives us a clearer view of the rst part of eschatological gratias in the parable of the talents in the gospel of matthew 25:14 -30;where those who used the talents were told well done. from the passage, it is clear that god will thank us rst at the end of our lives, if we have lived a life that is in accordance with the purpose for which he created us. the appreciative word used in the passage above in greek isεὖan adverb which means “well done” which could be used for do good, show kindness, do well, act rightly. 29 “well done” is used as a way of praising someone and saying that you are pleased about and approve of something they have done. it is used to express congratulations or approval. “well done—you have worked very hard!” in fact, we see this clearly in jesus christ, as man, he thanked the father (cf. mt 11:25, lk: 19:17) how to be grateful a wise man once said, “the greatest problem of an atheist is, who to give thanks to.” this is because they experience and enjoys the daily miracles of life, and other events which they know, could not have been done by a force not higher than themselves. but because they have conditioned themselves to not believe in the ultimate force (god) they condition themselves also not to give thanks to that force, as a corollary effect of their unbelief. indeed, what a torture! the problem of who to give thanks to sometimes leaves the way for the problem of how to give thanks. as a guide through the second problem, we shall be examining three ways from these ve ways in which we could be grateful. 1. by words 2. by usage of the received gift 3. by being content with the received gift 4. by giving gift also 5. by rendering assistance the aim and need for gratitude as a way of life the aim of gratialogy is to give a study of the human person in relation to god “anthropo-theological” analysis of the nature of men and women as an appreciative being. consequently, it will 'appreciate' appreciation in the attempt to expose the human person as 139“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... a being that gives thanks. to this effect, gratialogy shall teach humanity to say “thank you” in an authentic way. however, it must be noted that authentic gratitude is not only based on the presupposition of 'thank you, ma or sir', it goes beyond that. attitude of gratitude, as a problem-solving tool, avails the human person the opportunity to resolve some existential problems of the human person that makes him to reject himself, others or things around him. for instance, low self-esteem, suicide, abortion, enthronement of relativism, colonialism, racism, oppression of the weak and so on, in human existence. if we live in this authentic relationship of gratitude with one another there is no doubt that our perception will change for better in our personal and interpersonal relationships and with ecology, we will benet from gratitude. if we appreciate nature and the environment, there is no doubt that nature too would be nice to humanity. this is why the attitude of gratitude is a must in this life. a p r a c t i c a l d i m e n s i o n o f g r at i a l o g y: gratialogy as solution to some human problems when we live a life of gratitude, we will come to understand gratitude in itself as a tool to solving fundamental human problems in our contemporary society some of which include: 1. suicide: gratialogy takes into consideration the pitiable condition of suicide that is on the increase in our world. from statistics, an estimated one million people in the world die by suicide every year. globally, suicide ranks among the three leading causes of death among those aged fteen to forty-four years (15-44years). however, incidence of suicide in a society depends on a range of factors, clinical depression, substance abuse, gender differences , religion(atheist), race and sexual orientation, social factors (unemployed, poverty, divorced, the childless), season (during the winter holidays) trends health (depression, substance abuse, obese persons) and suicide attempts are up to 20 times more frequently than 30 thsuicides. according to who account of suicide on 17 june, 2021 records: more than 700, 000 people die due to suicide every year, for 140 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 every suicide there are many more people who attempt suicide. a prior suicide attempt is the single most important risk factor for suicide in the general population. ingestion of pesticide, hanging and 31 rearms are among the most common methods of suicide globally. th rev. fr. emmanuel okami's article on suicide 13 january 2019 gives the following insight and solution to suicide: i. everyone is going through one crisis or the other. fr emmanuel is also facing his own storms. so, you are not alone please. life is a blend of joyful and sorrowful mysteries ii. when there is life there is hope. if anyone is justied to commit suicide, i think the biblical joseph son of jacob should. he was hated by brothers, sold, worked as a slave, when things seemed to be taking shape, then the potipher's wife saga came and then prison followed, but all along he didn't drink poison and thank god he didn't... iii. learn to share your storms with people who can help you, don't bottle up, open up to people with faith, right reason and wisdom. iv. suicide is selshness: consider your parents, family, friends and the sorrow your departure will bring. consider those who might benet from your life later on. v. to terminate one's life doesn't put an end to misery, it "most likely" opens an eternal chapter of endless misery. you can't take a life you didn't create and expect the giver of life to welcome you peacefully at a time he isn't even expecting you. you can't ruin god's plan for you and be "condent" that your soul will nd rest with 32god. this is the reason why we must not despair because the life that offers 141“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... difculties in one way or the other also offers hope because when there is life there is hope. as roger sruton's noted “happiness is directed, in the sense that one's life and circumstances provide the 33 reason and not just the cause of one's state”. in other words, for the fact that one exists is enough reason to be grateful and happy in respective of one's situation. hence, no need for suicide in any situation! 2. racism: racism is a very deadly virus which is affecting the human race, a situation whereby people see others as inferior, and this is eating us up gradually. considering the psychological implications of racism in our contemporary world, it is clear that racism is a problem of humanity. for examples, the famous speech of martin luther king jr. “i have a dream” gives us the reality that racism needs to be addressed. martin luther king jr says: …i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. i have a dream...i have a dream that one day in alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullication, one day right there in alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. i have a dream today...i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. the rough places will be made plain; all the crooked places will be made straight. and the glory of the lord shall be 34revealed, and all esh shall see it together… racism is a global issue which is evident in different areas of life. in history, racism has been demonstrated with a lot of illtreatments from races who thought of being superior to another race(s). the reason why gratialogy is coming in to address this inhuman act is to see how the human person can be appreciated with deep gratitude irrespective of their: gender, colour, tribe or race. in acknowledging this, we can see from the lens of dr martin luther 142 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 king jr. of his dream where our world can live in harmony, love and peace. to this effect, this expresses the sociological dimension of gratialogy and we can now have a world that appreciates. 3. psychological challenges: there are lots of psychological challenges that can give us enough reasons to give thanks and understand that nothing of this world is permanent. particularly, when we come to understand the hand of the good god in such situations, we can then say we have accepted the situation which brings inner joy and peace. self-acceptance: i saw some comments on the facebook concerning the beauty industry about how women beautify themselves with articial features with an application called “sele editor, photo lter, beauty camera and face tune's post”. so, a lady commented “the heart goes out the window now in our days. it is not enough to just be a good woman. you must have a big bootie, big boobs, curves, and perfect face. the whole package”. another lady commented i am fearfully and wonderfully made and i thank god for that… loving myself the way i am i will never do such. another lady commented: i'm grateful for the way i am, i don't need llers or implants to enhance my body parts, i love myself way too much to have complications later on in life trying to appeal to and please others, foreign objects do not dene me i do….”. human being needs to understand that self-acceptance is equal to self-appreciation. 4. family challenges: there are lots of problems facing the family. the fact is that there is no perfect family. there is no gainsaying that every family has one or two challenges to face. challenges can either be from the father, the mother, the children, the extended family or even the neighbourhood. but then, if the husband and the wife extend an appreciative way of life and an acceptance of others with a rm foundation on love, the family can weather the storms of life. it is very sad to realize that husband and wife cannot live together in unity, accept individual differences and weaknesses as well. in the area of unfaithfulness to marital vows, there is a danger of murder from either party of the spouses. when this kind of reality sets in, murder is not the solution but forgiveness is necessary and separation is 143“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... inevitable so to avoid murder. spouses who result to poisoning, or stabbing to death either of the spouses have not given a prudent and courageous judgement of the situation. murder, poisoning and stabbing are not the solutions to violations of marital vows. respect of the life of the unfaithful spouse ought to be top priority. thus, appreciating the spouse's life and hoping on action of grace that can change the unfaithful to a faithful person. today's saul can be changed to tomorrow's paul. today's peter who denies can cry for the three-fold denial. murder therefore is not and can never be the 35solution. having exposed the aim purpose of gratialogy, let us examine it relevance to seminary formation. d. “gratialogy”: towards an existential theory of gratitude and its implications for seminary formation priestly vocation the word vocation is from the latin word vocare which means 'to call'. this meaning is the one that calls one to the state of discipleship. in this case, one is called to become another christ. this call has to be answered within a context and space. to this effect, st. pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis stated that “seminary in its different forms and analogously the house of formation for religious priests, more than a place, a material space, should be a way of life, an atmosphere that fosters and ensures a process of formation…” he went further to state that “…so that the person who is called to the priesthood by god may become with the sacrament of orders, a 36living image of jesus, the head and shepherd of the church.” following from the statement of pope john paul ii, one is able know that the seminary is where the vocation to the priesthood is nurtured to maturity, so that the one called may fully become another christ and imitate him in the life of those who are placed under his care. seminary formation the seminary is the consequence of the council of trent. seminary, just as seen above, is where those who felt the call to live the life of the 37 celibate priesthood are nurtured to maturity. a seminary theological (grandséminaire) provides courses in , , holy scripture philosophy 144 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 theology and so on to give young men the needed qualities and 38requirement in preparation for priestly ministry. in a nutshell, the seminary formation focus on the training of future priests in four core areas; human, spiritual intellectual and pastoral what i have described as “tetra-inseparable formative process.” these areas of formation are indeed good and useful for forming candidates for the priesthood in its synthesis and none of these parts should be neglected as if it were unimportant. and in pastores dabo vobis of pope john paul ii numbers 42 to 59 the four areas of priestly formation as follows: (1) human formation, the basis of all priestly formation, (2) spiritual formation, in communion with god and search of christ, (3) intellectual formation, understanding the faith, and (4) pastoral formation, communion with the charity of jesus christ the good 39 shepherd. let us now look at the implication of gratialogy for each part of seminary formation. from the perspective of human formation, the importance of gratitude in our relationship with others and the environment gave rise to the discipline called psychology of gratitude, a discipline in positive psychology which deals with the examination of the necessity of the expression of gratitude and the need to continuously avoid acts which obstructs gratitude. this form of appreciation seeks not to exploit gifts or the giver's desire to give, but appreciates it. in human formation, gratitude is important because one who is properly humanly formed expresses gratitude to god for his life and the grace to be called by god. this appreciation helps seminarians to accept other persons in seminary as gifts to him in the journey to be formed properly. hence, gratitude in human formation helps to improve community spirit, fraternity, solidarity and so on. to this effect, human formation will be enhanced through gratitude spiritually, gratitude is horizontal and vertical. in the vertical dimension, it is 'nothing theocentric' that is god's center. at this point, we must always bear in mind that human person is nothing and has nothing without god. in the words of john the apostle, “a man can receive unless given him from heaven” (john 3:27). gratitude in spiritual formation seeks to make interesting and lively, the relationship of the seminarian with god. here we are asked questions such as: what is seminarian's disposition to prayers? what is his 145“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... attitude to spiritual direction? how often does he visit the confessional? does he pray outside the compulsory prayer times? what is his disposition to our pious society or societies? in a nutshell, this is the appreciation of the spiritual aspect of the human person which is very important in the life of a seminarian who will later become a man of god. a priest is a man of god. a man of god, who does not know god, knows neither himself nor god who he claims to serve. we must also be reminded of those sublime words of st. jerome “ignorance of the scripture is ignorance of christ.” applying gratitude to spiritual formation give rise to appreciation of things concerning god by the seminarian. in fact, for a spiritual seminarian, in activating his spirituality all activities carried out is always in communion and encounter with god. intellectually, it is also the character of a grateful person to explore the gifts given. intelligence, retentive memory, rationality, wisdom and so on are all gifts of god to humanity by which we secure the ability to make meaning out of our environment. a rejection of the desire to read, to acquire reasonable knowledge, is in itself a rejection of these gifts which is equal to ingratitude. the priest is entrusted with a lot of trust. his words are seen as the word of god. he must therefore read enough to be on the godlike level of intelligence. he must be well grounded with philosophical and theological knowledge, so that through his speeches and homilies, people may come to a clearer understanding of god. this can never be over-emphasized since a seminarian will eventually one day by god's grace become a priest, he needs to be well informed intellectually. seminarians must learn to appreciate their various gifts with regards to intellect. it is not just enough to read to understand or 'cram', write and pass examinations for seminarians. they must go further to teach others, to break down the jargons of specic courses that others may understand and to assist that brother who they know needs your help. 'publish or perish' says rev. fr. prof. pantaleon iroegbu. a seminarian must pick up the attitude of writing. so many great theologians and philosophers of our time fail to publish hence their intellectual eloquence are only experienced when they speak. seminarians must learn to make good records of their intellectual gifts that through it god may speak to generations hundreds of years to come. 146 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 in the area pastoral formation, the virtue of gratitude has a lot to offer in the pastoral formation of the seminarians. since they will become pastors in the future they need to be well graded in pastoral activity. the pastoral dimension of formation is the care for souls according to the heart of jesus and church's mind. in this, the seminarians reach out to souls through visiting the sick, feeding other seminarians that are less privilege and so on. in conclusion, judging from the above, it is clear enough that the virtue of gratitude is very important in priestly formation. one cannot underrate the positive impacts of gratitude in formation. to this end, gratialogy has a lot to offer in priestly formation by which a seminarian can become truly human, authentically spiritual, intellectually sound and pastorally minded through the daily cultivation of the virtue of gratitude. endnotes 1 paul o'callaghan, christ our hope: an introduction to eschatology (washington: catholic university press of america, 2011), 27. 2 'thanks'accessedseptember15,2021 https://www.google.com/search ?client=opera&q=thank&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 3 'thanks' accessed september 15, 2021, thesaurus.com https://www. dictionary .com/browse/thank 4 'appreciation' accessed september 15, 2021 https://www.merriamwebste r.com/dictionary/appreciation 5 'gratitude' accessed september 15, 2021 https://www.your dictionary.co m/gratitude 6 'thanksgiving' accessed september,15,2021 https://www.google.com/search?q=thanksgiving+meaning+&client= opera&hs=xuf&sxsrf=alekk03exvjv67k 7 cf. bishop godfrey i onah, “the word, appreciate” explaining the th difference between thanking and appreciating. may 14 2021. 8. robert emmuons& michael mcculloch, (eds), the psychology of gratitude, (oxford: oxford university press, 2004), 12 9 s.b, breathnach, the simple abundance journal of gratitude, (new york: warner, 1996), 28 10 bertocci, p.a., & millard, r. m., personality and the good: psychological and ethical perspectives. (new york: david mckay, 1963, 389). 147“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... 11 fitzgerald, p. gratitude and justice.ethics 1998, 109, 119–153. 12 heider, f., the psychology of interpersonal relations.(new york:wiley, 1998) 35. 13 in the grammar of latin, greek and certain other languages the variation of the form of a noun, pronoun or adjective, by which its grammatical case, number and gender are identied is called declension 14 cora carrooll scanlon and charles l. scanlon, second latin: for the reading of philosophy, theology and canon law (rockford, tan books publishers, 1976), 247. (the latin course explains further that gratia, feminine is grace, thankfulness: gratis, free; gratiarumactio, thanksgiving; gratias agree, to give thanks) 15 cora carrooll scanlon and charles l. scanlon, latin grammar, 250. 16 what is the latin word of gratitude? accessed september, 13, 2021, https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=what+is+the+latin+ vocabulary+for+gratitude&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gratitude 17 walked, the new international webster's, 749. 18 the literary translation of hominisgratias is man's gratitude 19 gregory ebaluogbenika and mordecai aleoghena, “funmilayo ransome-kuti and women political participation in nigeria” an african philosophical inquiry: an independent forum for the exchange of ideas in philosophy and allied areas, (ibadan: ibadan university press, 2020), 1. 20 eric trinka, “if you will only remain in this land: migration decision making and jeremiah as a religiously motivated nonmover”: the catholic biblical quarterly (vol. 80, no.4/october, washington,dc: the catholic biblical association of america, 2018) 583. 21 robert a. emmons, michael e. mccullough, ed, psychology of gratitude, oxford university press, 2004, 214. 22 the literary translation of deogratias is “i give thanks to god” and in fact, in classical latin, the word gratiasconnotes i do thanks. let us do thanks “gratiasagamus”, “gratiasagimustibi” we give you thanks. and gratias dare means to give thanks. a further historical background on deogratias deogratias is used in answer to the (go forth the mass is ite, missaest ended)and the (let us bless the lord), in benedicamusdomino thanksgiving for the graces received at mass. the formula deogratias was used in extra-liturgical prayers and customs by the christians of all ages. the prescribes that the doorkeeper shall say rule of st. benedict 148 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 deogratias, as often as a stranger knock at the door or a beggar asks for assistance. when announced to the people the election of st. augustine his coadjutor and successor , they called out deogratias thirty-evodius six times. 23 in it was the salutation used by the catholics to distinguish africa themselves from the who said deolaudes (praise god) donatists instead. therefore, in africa, deogratias was used as a catholic given name. for example, , bishop of carthage (r. 453–456), st. deogratias the name of the deacon for whom st. augustine wrote his treatise de catechizandisrudibus was also called deogratias. also, felix of cantalice (1515–1587) used this interjection so often that the people called him "brother deogratias". 24 deo gratias is latin for "thanks be to god". it is a in the response latin mass vulgate 1 corinthians 15:57 2 , derived from the text of and corinthians 2:14 . cf. “deogratias” accessed september 30, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.or g/wiki/deo_gratias 25 cf. ofce of readings sermon by saint, leo the great pope: “purication of spirit through fasting and almsgiving” 26 gratias ad nem temporisliterary means gratitude towards the end of time. 27 daley brian, the hope of the early church: a handbook of patristic eschatology. (peabody, michigan: baker academy, 2010,) 1. 28 k. barth, the epistle to the romans, (london: philadelphia: fortress press, 1989), 314. cited in joseph komonchak (et.al), the new dictionary of theology,usa: gill and macmillan publication, 1987), 329. 29 brian, the hope of the early church: a handbook of patristic eschatology, 2. 30 j moltmann, the theology of hope, (london: s.c.m press, 1967,) 16. cited in joseph komonchak (et.al), the new dictionary of theology, (usa: gill and macmillan publication, 1987), 329. 31 cf. bibleworks8 ε� adverb; ne, well, good; (1) absolutely well done! excellent! (mt 25.21); (2) ε� πρ�σσειν do well, act correctly (acts 15.29); (3) ε� ποιε�ν benet, help, do good (mk 14.7) 32 “how many persons commit suicide annually” accessed may 25, 2020, https://en.m.wikipedia.org.wiki 33 “world health organization detail of suicide 17 june 2021” accessed j u n e 1 7 , 2 0 2 1 h t t p s : / / w w w. w h o . i n t / n e w s r o o m / f a c t sheets/detail/suicide 24 emmanuel okami, reection on suicide, “i want to commit suicide”, 149“gratialogy”: towards an existential theory... january 13, 2019. 25 scruton, “happiness”, cited in tom, angier. “happiness overcoming the skill mode”, international philosophical quarterly, vol. 55, no.1 (usa: international philosophical quarterly, 2015): 15. 26 “martin luther king, jr.: i have a dream” in washington dc 1963, accessed may 28, 2020, https://www.google.com/ search? q=i+ahve+a+dream&oq=i+ah ve+a+dream+&aqs =chrome.6 9i57j0l5.5578j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=utf-8 27 cf. peter ajayi wojuaye, gratialogy: towards an existential theory of gratitude, (benin city: floreat systems, 2021) 1-33. 28 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation 'pastoresdabovobis' i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) no. 42. 29 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: ht tp:/ /www.newadvent.org/ cathen/13694a.htm. 30 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: ht tp:/ /www.newadvent.org/ cathen/13694a.htm. 31 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation 'pastoresdabovobis' i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) 42-59 150 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 an existential-logical analysis of fallacies on the human person benedict egbuchunam abstract in everyday discourse, arguments, which are expected to be logical and reasonable, are used to advance positions and to make statements. however, some arguments are known to be illogical and are generally referred to as fallacies which are errors in reasoning. these informal fallacies are known to have a psychological dimension in the pattern of illusions and deceptions that violate argument rules used in rational thinking or argumentation. the problem this paper deals with is that these fallacies are deceptive and unfortunately are sometimes deliberately used to deceive and mislead others. the deliberate intention to deceive, mislead or induce someone or people to accept a claim undermines human dignity and cannot allow for genuine dialogue and authentic communication. the question of the effect of fallacies in human communication and relationship has raised concerns. using the existential theories of martin buber, gabriel marcel, and karl jaspers, this paper seeks to give an existential analysis of the inuence of informal fallacies on the human person. through the expository and analytical method, this paper concludes that the deliberate use of fallacies in communication and relationships to deceive others is an affront to human dignity and militates against authentic existence. by learning to recognize fallacies and having a critical thinking disposition, we can avoid being deceitful and being misled by others. key words: fallacies, existence, arguments, human dignity � introduction in logic, an argument consists of a set of statements, the premises, whose truth supposedly supports the truth of a single statement called the conclusion of the argument. an argument is deductively valid when the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion; that is, the conclusion must be true, because of the form of the argument, whenever the premises are true. some arguments that fail to be deductively valid are acceptable on grounds other than formal logic, and their conclusions are supported with less than logical necessity. in other potentially persuasive arguments, the premises give no rational grounds for accepting the conclusion. these defective forms of argument are called fallacies. the term fallacy originated from a latin word, fallacia, from fallac-, fallax which means deceitful, or fallere to deceive. fallacies are sophisms or errors in reasoning which is connected with inferences as these errors sound reasonable and valid, however, their unreliability is vague. they are known to have a psychological dimension in the pattern of illusions and deceptions that violate argument rules used in rational thinking or 1 argumentation. in everyday speech, one may have heard someone refer to a commonly accepted belief as a fallacy. what is usually meant is that the belief is false, although widely accepted. a fallacy refers to a logically weak argument that is usually psychologically persuasive but logically weak and not a belief or statement that is widely used and successful. that is fallacious arguments work in getting many people to accept conclusions, that they make bad arguments appear good even though a little commonsense reection will reveal that people ought not to accept the conclusions of these arguments as 2 strongly supported. although logicians distinguish between formal and informal fallacies, our focus is on traditional informal fallacies because they are patterns of mistakes that are made in the everyday use of language. � informal fallacies are fallacies that are expressed in ordinary language and are common in everyday affairs which may be 74 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 psychologically persuasive but logically awed. it is an important concept among students as well as the public at large because some parts of human thinking deceives itself while deceiving others. these fallacies are highly persuasive and deceptive, hence their widespread use in everyday dialogues. it is the point of this paper that these fallacies, which are manipulative and tricky, go against the existentialist thesis of existence and others because they denigrate the dignity of the human person who is to be treated as wholly an other. nature of informal fallacies informal fallacies are dened as reasoning errors with three features: (1) the reasoning employs an implicit cogent (deductively valid or inductively strong) pattern, (2) the fallacy results from the presence of one or more false premises, and (3) there is some degree of culpable ignorance or deception associated with the falsity of the premises. thus, the source of fallaciousness is the falsity of the premises and not the invalidity of the reasoning, unjustied appeals to "irrelevant" reasons, incorrect moves (rule violations) in argumentative discourse, or anything else specied in other accounts 3 of informal fallacies. they are errors in reasoning that we fall into because of carelessness or inattention or because we want to trick others into accepting our position based on convictions that are not factual. informal fallacies are fallacies that can be detected through analysis of the content of the argument (or content of discourses) and they take many forms and are widespread in everyday discourse. very often they involve bringing irrelevant information into an argument or a discourse, wrong use of language, or they are based on assumptions that, when examined, prove to be incorrect – informal 4fallacies are more dependent on misuse of language and evidence. � informal fallacies are concerned not with the form but with the content (and possibly the intent) of the reasoning. they are "proofs that appear at rst glance to be sound but are fatally awed in their reasoning or construction. and from a psychological perspective, "a fallacy is often dened as a mistake in the reasoning used for deceptive purposes." while this certainly is not categorically true of all informal fallacies, many of the informal fallacies are often used in the manipulation of opinion. informal fallacies can also be 75an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... difcult to identify. for instance, a slippery-slope argument often straddles the line between being persuasively plausible and fallaciously exaggerated. a fallacious argument is either inductively very weak, contains an unjustied premise, or ignores relevant, available evidence that the arguer should know about, and the 5 argument can be used to persuade. informal fallacies are persuasive tools that tend to induce errors in the way that other people process and think about information, and they are used to manage what people perceive and eventually believe. they are known to have a psychological dimension in the pattern of illusions and deceptions. they violate argument rules used in rational thinking or argumentation. according to shamala, informal fallacies are elucidated for violations of the rules for dispute resolution through rational discussion and are used for arguments that are psychologically persuasive but logically incorrect. in other words, 6 these fallacies persuade humans when it is not supposed to. the two most fully developed theories of fallacy so far are the pragmatic theory and the pragma-dialectical theory. according to the pragma-dialectical theory, a fallacy is a violation of a rule of a critical discussion where the goal is to resolve a difference of opinion by rational argumentation. in other words, it is a speech act that prejudices or frustrates efforts to resolve a difference of opinion. for the pragmatic theory, a fallacy is a failure, lapse, or error that occurs in an instance of an underlying, systematic kind of wrongly applied argumentation scheme or is a departure from acceptable procedures in a dialogue, and is a serious violation, as opposed to an incidental blunder, error, or weakness of execution. the weakness of these theories is that neither theory has fully taken into account that longstanding intuition, very much evident in aristotle's treatment of the sophisticielenchi, that fallacies are deceptive. they are not just arguments that prejudice efforts to resolve a difference of opinion, wrongly applied argumentation schemes, or departures from acceptable procedures in a dialogue, although they are all that. they are arguments that work as deceptive stratagems. they are arguments 7that seem correct but are not. � informal fallacies have always been part of human history but they became noticeable in fth-century b.c. athens, when a class of 76 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 teachers known as the sophists became the center of attention with "their claim to teach 'excellence' or 'virtue' both in mastering one's affairs and in providing leadership in the city that makes them popular. the sophists were teachers of rhetoric: the fundamentals and art of persuasive speaking, including how to present a case, marshal arguments, and appeal to the audience's emotions. most relevant to the present topic was the sophists' claim to teach "the ability to use the spoken word to persuade the jurors in the courts" and how to make the weaker argument stronger. the sophists were trained at manipulating other people's perceptions and inducing errors in their thinking to manage what they perceive and eventually believe. they also indoctrinated in their students the view of skepticism that the individual can never get at the truth, and thus the only reasonable response is to suspend judgment on all issues and to adopt a theory of relativism, which holds that truth is relative to the individual, the culture, or the time. philosophers have generally disagreed with the sophists' ideas of skepticism and relativism because the philosopher's end goal is to reach the ultimate truth. unfortunately, because the art of rhetoric had become so bound up with the sophists' underlying beliefs, philosophers have tended to reject rhetoric as a legitimate method to get at the truth. beginning with aristotle, philosophers began to develop well-reasoned and systematic tools for uncovering 8sophisms, or fallacious arguments that look good but are not. � aristotle played a pivotal role in logic as the father of logic. in his sophistical refutations, (latin: de sophisticis elenchis), he identied thirteen types of informal fallacies or absurdities, as he used to call them, and classied them into linguistic fallacies, that is, those dependent on language and non-linguistic fallacies, that is, those outside language. under linguistic fallacies, we have accent, amphiboly, figure of speech, equivocation, composition, and division. under non-linguistic fallacies, we have ignorance of refutation, many questions, unqualied generalizations (accident), hasty generalizations, wicked circle (circular reasoning), false 9 cause, and afrming the consequent. thus, philosophers were trained at recognizing the sophists' manipulations and are the ones who labeled their rhetorical tactics logical fallacies. while aristotle focused mostly on formal logic, he also recognized some informal 77an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... fallacies as mentioned above. modern philosophers and logicians have greatly expanded upon aristotle's foundational work and have developed a much broader understanding of informal fallacies. a list of more than 100 fallacies has been developed. there is thus no precisely exact number of informal fallacies. classication of fallacies informal fallacies are numerous and can therefore be best understood if they are grouped into categories, each with clearly identiable features. this classication of fallacies is a controversial matter in logic. there is no one correct taxonomy of fallacies. logicians have proposed lists of fallacies that vary greatly in length; different sets have been specied, and different names have been given to both the sets and the individual fallacies. the grouping of fallacies mentioned here is borrowed from patrick hurley which is not exhaustive and does not encompass the fallacies developed by logicians. the aim here is to provide a comprehensive scheme within which the most common informal fallacies can be helpfully identied—and avoided. fallacies of relevance, as the name suggests, they are informal fallacies with premises that are logically irrelevant to the conclusion. there are two major causes of fallacies of relevance: the use of emotional appeals as evidence and introducing evidence that shifts focus away from the thesis being considered. however emotional evidence is said to be dangerous for two reasons: it is unstable and it is subjective. these fallacies are also known as material fallacies. these are fallacies that depend, for their appeal, upon mistakes concerning the truth by the premise(s) or the possibility of such truth being known. stated differently, material fallacies or fallacies of relevance refer to arguments that fail to prove the material truth of that being argued about; the premise(s) of such arguments is/are logically immaterial or irrelevant to, and therefore, 10incapable of establishing the truth of the conclusion. they include appeal to the populace, appeal to emotion, red herring, straw man, attack on the person, appeal to force, accident, and missing the point. 78 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 fallacies of weak induction fallacies of weak induction are not committed because the premises are irrelevant to the conclusion; they are committed when the premises are not strong enough to justify the conclusion. the emphasis here is derived from the name “weak”: the premise(s) is/are in connection with the conclusion but the connection is loose or weak. the premises of the argument, although relevant to the conclusion, 11 are so weak and ineffective that relying on them is a blunder. they often involve emotional grounds for believing a conclusion. they include arguments from ignorance, appeal to inappropriate authority, hasty generalization, false cause, slippery slope, and weak analogy. fallacies of presumption fallacies of presumption occur when an argument contains premises that assume what they (the premises) purport to prove, or when an unwarranted assumption is used to draw a conclusion. in such awed reasoning, the conclusion rests upon certain assumptions not explicitly stated in the premises. such assumptions are false, or at least uncertain, implausible, or unjustied so that the premises do not strictly support the conclusion. explicating the lurking assumption usually sufces to demonstrate the argument's insufciency, either 12 due to a lack of relevant information or unacceptable premises. they include begging the question, false dichotomy, and suppressed evidence. fallacies of ambiguity fallacies of ambiguity refer to an error in a reasoning due to unclear or imprecise use of language. it often arises because of confusion in the meanings of words or the handling of an idea. the arguer normally makes use of a word, a phrase or a sentence that has two or more possible meanings or an event that has more than one interpretation. in this case, the listener may or may not realize that more than one interpretation is possible, so, he may arbitrarily have to select one of the possible choices. this lack of clarity may lead to the misinterpretation of an idea and an unwarranted conclusion. the 13 fallacies of ambiguity include equivocation and amphiboly. 79an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... fallacies of grammatical analogy these fallacies are arguments that are grammatically similar to other arguments that are good in every respect. because of this similarity in linguistic structure, such fallacious arguments may appear good yet 14bad. they include composition and division. existence and inter-personal relationships in the existentialist thesis, authentic existence can only be realized in and by the solitary individual. nevertheless, authentic existence cannot do without a world and the others. existence requires not only a worldly environment but also a personal environment. the existent so to speak lives in constant interaction with other existents. these other existents are not objects belonging to the world but are persons. in other words, they are co-existents. following from this, it means 15that existence is being with others. existence fullls itself and becomes authentic in genuine communication. � the experience of the other (when written with a capital 'o') is the experience of another free subject who inhabits the same world as a person does. essentially, it is this experience of the other that constitutes inter-subjectivity and objectivity. inter-subjectivity occurs when people agree on a given set of meanings or a denition of the situation. it refers to the shared meanings constructed by individuals in their relations with one another and used as an everyday resource to interpret the meaning of elements of social and cultural life. this is because each thought community is unique and shares social experiences that are different from that of other thought communities. it is through inter-subjectivity that one experiences oneself as different from the other and at the same time available to him/her. � different existentialists of inter-subjectivity in their teachings emphasize the dignity of the human person. the human person is a mystery to behold and ought to be treated as a thou, an other. this implies respect and love and is devoid of manipulation, arrogance, and insincerity. martin buber, a jewish-german existential philosopher; theologian, and biblical translator, in his theory of existence, revolves around a concept of relation. persons and things 16are seen to exist only in relation to other things and persons. 80 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 relation, as an event or action, occurs between two entities, that is, between a person, whose attention is completely turned toward someone or something other than himself, and another person or thing who confronts him. buber says that the essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relationship. the individual is a fact of existence in so far as he enters into relationships with other individuals. he denes man as a creature capable of 17 entering into living essential relations with the world and things. according to buber, the principle of human life is not simple but twofold, being built up in a twofold movement that is of such kind that one movement is the presupposition of the other. he calls the rst movement the primal setting at a distance and the second, entering into relation. in other words, one can only enter into relation with that which is not himself an independent other, a being that has been set at a distance. the primal setting at a distance involves the selfunderstanding itself as being separate and apart from the being which is not the self: the self identies the other as an other. identifying the other as an other allows the self to enter into a relationship with it. this setting at a distance that makes entering into relation possible is 18 proper to the human category. � the underlying principle in buber's philosophy is the idea that man has two modes available to him through which he can engage the world. the rst mode (i-it) is that of experience, while the 19 other mode (i-thou) is that of relation/encounter. these two primary word pairs according to him, represent the two modes of existence. an individual becomes human only in a relationship, and these paired terms describe two possible ways of relating. the 'ithou' relationship is one of intimacy, mutuality, sharing, and trust. while on the contrary, the 'i-it' relationship is one of having, using, manipulating, and exploiting. to put it differently, the 'i-it' relationship is unidirectional moving only from the subject to the object, from 'i' to the thing. but the 'i-thou' relationship is a form of relating in which the 'i' gives and receives from the 'thou'. when we relate to another person as a 'thou', we do not treat that person as a thing or an object. this is what buber means when he says, 'when i confront a human being as my thou and speak the basic word i-thou to him, then he is no thing among things nor does he consist of 81an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... 20things'. � buber believes that authenticity can be gained only in the genuine dialogue between two individuals a dialogue in which the experiencing senses and the real fantasy which supplements them work together to make the other present as a whole and one. for this, dialogue to be real, one must not only focus on the other, but also involve oneself, and that means truly expressing what one thinks about the matter in question. genuine dialogue can thus be either spoken or silent. its essence lies in the fact that 'each of the participants has in mind the other or the others in their present and particular being' and turns to them intending to establish a living mutual relation between himself and them.' the essential element of genuine dialogue, therefore, is 'seeing the other' or experiencing the other side'. 'experiencing the other side' means to feel an event from the side of the person one meets as well as from one's side. it is the inclusiveness that realizes the other person in the actuality of his 21being. another existentialist that upholds the dignity of the human person is gabriel marcel, a french philosopher, dramatist, and one of the foremost thinkers of the 20th century who sought a philosophical position, which was immediately relevant to the deepest concerns of human life. these include love, loyalty, hope, faith, death, 22communication, and community. marcel's philosophy of existence is tied to his problem of being. his existentialism is based on the development of the individual's concrete existence, the restoration of mutual respect, and trust in human relationships; recognition of the true worth of man in relation to his fellow man in the feeling of bondness. and as such, he holds the position that the question of man's existence is not a problem but a mystery. marcel makes a distinction between a problem and a mystery. a problem is a conceptual difculty that can be attacked with the appropriate technique. furthermore, a kind of distance exists between the individual and a problem such that it is possible to solve a problem or withdraw from it. a mystery, on the other hand, is something a person is intimately involved with and which can neither be solved nor is any withdrawal from it possible. the unfortunate tendency of philosophy in the mid-twentieth century was to turn all mysteries into problems. 82 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 this degradation of philosophy results when human beings are 23 objectied among other objects. according to marcel, the most appropriate relationship to what is most intimately associated with us is being which is clear in the relationship with our bodies. our mode of being in the world is to be embodied such that through our bodies, we extend ourselves into the world and actualize our intentions. although we are not identical with our bodies, they, however, become the means through which we can become a part of the objective world of nature. there is a transcendent dimension to our experience that can be described only as the mystery of being. for marcel, it is through the experience of faith, hope, and love that man can open himself up to the mystery of being. these distinctions point us beyond ourselves to relationships with others. a fundamental fact of human existence involves intersubjective relations with others. these relationships with others are 24 dening moments in our selfhood. for marcel, the meaningfulness and the authenticity of one's existence as an individual is totally conditioned by the generosity with which the person makes himself/herself available in mutual love, delity, faith, and responsibility to the other. it is absolutely anchored on one's genuineness, and openness to the other, and it does not give much condence for being exceptionally sensitive, thoughtful, and honest without the other; one has to establish a loving and mutual relationship with other human beings to ensure and live a 25meaningful and authentic existence. when one treats the being of another as a mystery, one does so with a sense of humility and respects the fundamental dignity of the other. this leads to abandonment of one's self, dynamic openness, and delity to others. in this way, marcel calls for greater responsibility to others, not merely through the traditional notion of doing good deeds, but also primarily by being humbly present and open to others with one's whole being. through this availability, a dynamic and creative encounter happens between people, with which they make contact. a person's relationship with others which develops this way helps one 26to be open to the transcendent. we relate to god precisely by turning towards the other and nd the eternal thou through the nite. when this is realized there would be peace in society. 83an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... marcel also points out two ways of comporting oneself towards others that can be used as barometers for intersubjective relationships; disponsibilite and indisponsibilite which can be translated as availability and unavailability. pride is an example of indisponsibilite, although the same state of non-availability would also exist in a person who has come to view himself in functional terms, or who is blinded by a purely technical worldview. to be disponsibilite, (available) to the other is to be present for the other, to put one's resources at his/her disposal, and to be open which will lead 27 to peace and greater responsibility to others. karl jaspers is another existentialist who says that existential communication occurs between two selves that are not interchangeable. this communicative relation is unique, singular, historic, and unrecognizable from without, and in it lies the assurance of selfhood. it means to say, a person cannot be his free self unless the other is and wants to be himself and that person is with him. the necessity of existential communication is one of freedom only. and as such, it is objectively incomprehensible for that which is existential lies outside the objective realm of a person's purposive volition. existential communication is a whole that does not arise utilizing an individual gaining something in addition to his/her 28 nished being. 'it is the person who comes to be in it. � according to jaspers, authentic existential communication requires equality, mutual recognition, afrmation, solidarity, questioning, abandonment of ego protection, no quest for victory, unlimited clarication, and no sophistry while inauthentic existential communication has several defective modes, including affectation, insincerity, deceit and lying, and "pseudo-communication" arising from shyness, fear, suspicion, prejudice, self-centeredness, presumed superiority, callousness, combativeness, bad will, and continually 29idle talk (gordon 113). communication cannot be achieved simply by the goodwill of the purposive intellect. it is attainable through the commitment of self-being. it is only in communication that an individual comes to himself/herself. in other words, communication is a source of existenz. existenz stands for the non-empirical, nonobjective actuality of self-being and true self-hood. it is the authentic ground of human beings, exemplied by the intimate dimension of 84 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 personal autonomy, existential freedom, authenticity, and undetermined moral decisions. it is the absolutely unique inner core 30of the individual that creates the authenticity of the person. � from the above, authentic being with others is precisely that mode of relation with others that promotes existence in the full sense while inauthentic being with others suppresses and manipulates the genuinely human and personal and imposes insincerity, deceit, and brutishness. authentic relations between two existents require respect, trust, equality, recognition, availability, and so on. negative effects of fallacious statements on inter-personal relationships and their implication for formation fallacies are errors that occur in discourses. it has been afrmed in this paper that fallacies are erroneous forms of reasoning that can obstruct the validity of an argument. strictly speaking, a fallacy is a mistake in reasoning. one commits a fallacy when the reasons advanced or accepted in support of a claim fail to justify its acceptance. a fallacy can be committed either when one is deciding whether to accept a claim based on a fallacious argument with which one has been presented or when one is presenting the fallacious argument oneself. committing aws in reasoning is very common. sometimes fallacies just pass unnoticed. but sometimes they are intended, whether because the arguer is uninterested in being reasonable or wishes to induce someone else to make a rational error; they mislead people to accept faulty reasoning or arguments as correct or good reasoning. and that is the point of this paper, that a deliberate intention to deceive, mislead or induce someone or people to accept a claim undermines human dignity and is an affront to the human person. � buber says entering into relation means entering into an ithou relationship, and at the same time one cannot identify distance with i-it. the 'i-thou' relationship is one of intimacy, mutuality, sharing, and trust. while on the contrary, the 'i-it' relationship is one of having, using, manipulating, and exploiting. deliberating deceiving or misleading a person is not entering into an i-thou relationship which implies trust, respect, and sharing. rather, it is having an i-it relation that involves using, manipulating, and 85an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... exploiting. intentionally using fallacies to trick someone into accepting an argument is reducing the person to an it; seeing the person as an object to be used for one's purpose. mental trickery is devoid of mutuality and reciprocity, which are characteristics of dialogue, and cannot allow for genuine dialogue. � marcel teaches us that it is through the experience of faith, hope, and love that a person can open himself/herself up to the mystery of being. the meaningfulness and the authenticity of one's existence as an individual is totally conditioned by the generosity with which the person makes himself/herself available in mutual love, delity, faith, and responsibility to the other. it is absolutely anchored on one's genuineness, and openness to the other, and it does not give much condence for being exceptionally sensitive, thoughtful, and honest without the other; one has to establish a loving and mutual relationship with other human beings to ensure and live a meaningful and authentic existence. when one treats the being of another as a mystery, one does so with a sense of humility and respects the fundamental dignity of the other. a deliberate use of these informal fallacies to trick others to accept a claim does not give room for openness and growth in the authenticity of one's existence. it has within it a trait of arrogance and lack of respect for the mystery of being and the fundamental dignity of others and is an example of unavailability (indisponsibilite) which has pride as one of its characteristics. � according to jaspers, authentic existential communication requires equality, mutual recognition, afrmation, solidarity, questioning, abandonment of ego protection, no quest for victory, unlimited clarication, and no sophistry while inauthentic existential communication has several defective modes including affectation, insincerity, deceit and lying, and "pseudo-communication" arising from shyness, fear, suspicion, prejudice, self-centeredness, presumed superiority, callousness, combativeness, bad will, and continually idle talk. a deliberate intention to deceive and manipulate people through these fallacies portrays inauthentic existential communication which is characterized by insincerity, deceit, and lying. authentic existential communication needs no sophistry, no quest for victory, no manipulation, and so on. 86 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 � as is clear from existentialists' teaching, deliberately deceiving or misleading a person or persons to accept a conclusion is belittling and demeaning. there are times that unconsciously, we fall into these fallacies. but efforts must be made to come out of them once we recognize that we've fallen into it. buber notes that most encounters (i-thou meetings), unfortunately, cannot last very long they are necessarily eeting. eventually, an individual comes to reect on the thou, to see it for its various qualities, to analyze it. once this is done, the thou dissolves into an it, and man falls back into the realm of experience. the i-thou relationship, therefore, needs to be ever actively re-established and renewed it demands constant effort. the i-it situation can also be reverted to i-thou by a 31change of attitude. in other words, being in the i-thou relationship requires effort. sometimes, the person may fall into i-it mode due to human nature. but through constant effort, the person returns to ithou mode. in the same vein, we may fall into these fallacies without knowing them. but as soon as we become aware of it, we ought to extricate ourselves from it rather than indulging in it to the detriment of human dignity. � we must make a conscious effort to avoid deliberately using these fallacies to deceive, mislead, attack, show superiority, or dominate others. philosophy is not studied to intimidate people or put others down. it is a search for truth. human beings must cultivate a disposition toward critical thinking. it is noted that critical thinking skills do not stand alone for one to become a good critical thinker. it needs to be accompanied by good habits of thinking which are termed as “critical thinking disposition”. critical thinking disposition can be traced back to education philosopher, robert ennis, who denes it as a tendency to do something given certain conditions. to qualify as a 32 thinking disposition, the disposition must be exercised reectively. the dimension of critical thinking disposition has seven conceptually non-discrete constructs which emphasize developing the habitual intention to be truth-seeking, open-minded, systematic, analytical, inquisitive, condent in reasoning, and mature in making judgments. dispositions are thought to be a critical spirit, a probing inquisitiveness, and a keenness of mind that weak critical thinkers generally lack. a person can be positively or negatively disposed 87an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... 33toward certain thinking skills but not toward all dispositions equally. according to shamala, truth-seeking involves intellectual integrity and a courageous desire to strive for the best possible knowledge, asking probing questions, accepts reasons and shreds of evidence although they are against the person's beliefs. open-minded refers to a person who has tolerant divergent views and is sensitive to biases, a person who respects others' opinions. an analytical person is habitually alert to potential problems and alert in predicting consequences. a systematic person is always orderly, focused, persistent, and diligent in problem-solving. they are condent in their reasoning skills which produce good judgments. a person, who yearns to be well-informed and wants to know how things work is termed inquisitive. a judicious person has the cognitive maturity to distinguish between black and white as well as able to make judgments in an uncertain context. it is important to note that in every rule, there may be an exception. when it comes to the question of justice and saving a life, things are not always straight. according to cory, informal fallacies should not be viewed to completely avoid them-at least not in the law. truth and justice hold a unique place together in the legal world. this is why the lawyer has a different end goal than both the sophist and the philosopher: the lawyer's attempt to seek justice for his client is presumed to be in line with the truth. and the skilled, persuasive lawyer knows that pure appeals to reason alone using deductive reasoning and syllogisms are not sufcient to win his client's case. informal fallacies may help to persuade the listener to care about the 34outcome of a case and to see things the way the lawyer sees them. this is further buttressed in the story about socrates: socrates asked his friend euthydemus if he thinks that cheating is immoral. of course, it is, answered euthydemus. however, what happens, replied 88 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 socrates, if your friend, feeling terrible, wants to commit suicide and you steal his knife? there is no doubt that you cheat him in that case, but is this immoral? no, said the embarrassed euthydemus. here euthydemus followed the statistical way of thinking since in most cases cheating is considered to be an immoral action. socrates, however, taught him to combine it with critical thinking. it is recalled that critical thinking is considered to be a higher mode of thinking by which the individual transcends his subjective self to arrive rationally at conclusions 35 substantiated using valid information. but in all, seeking truth, the primary purpose of studying fallacies is to avoid falling foul of them and using them in deceiving others. by showing why and when a certain way of reasoning does not support the truth of the conclusion, that is, does not offer enough convincing evidence for it, the study of fallacies becomes inescapable. further, identifying these fallacies requires more than relying upon formal logic; it also involves a good deal of discourse analysis. that is, we are required to ask key questions related to the content of the relevant arguments: who speaks? to whom? from which perspective? with what purpose? for this reason, the study of fallacies must take into account not only failures in logic but misuses of argumentative techniques. what is argumentatively appropriate in one context may not be in another. the appropriateness will depend on, among other things, the purpose of the argument and the intended audience. we must pay attention to three basic characteristics of good reasoning: 1. a good argument is logically well-framed. this is the minimum requirement: the premises of a good argument offer reasons for the conclusion. however, different individuals can have different ideas about what counts as a good reason or not—good reasons for one person can be inadequate for another. so, while necessary, this requirement isn't sufcient. 2. as there may be disagreement about the premises, a good argument starts from acceptable premises, or premises that 89an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... are warranted, and not only for the reasoner but mainly for the audience. of course, even though not true or plausible at all, certain premises may be acceptable, depending on the audience or even on the function of the argument in a given context. considerations of form and content necessarily have to be taken together then. 3. the premises must contain relevant information for the conclusion—if not all that is relevant, at least enough to make the conclusion acceptable. concealing relevant information is a well-known form of deceiving people, just as taking certain information for granted when it has been widely 36 contested is a mistake. fallacies contain errors in one or more of the senses given above. of course, there are uncountable reasons for accepting a conclusion, such as social, cultural, and psychological reasons. however, the criteria for identifying good arguments are nevertheless logical that is, they are rational criteria, publicly open to evaluation. so, anyone could identify fallacies by paying attention to the following: 1. do the premises support the conclusion, or only offer very weak support for the conclusion? 2. are the premises well-supported? 3. do the argument's premises include all the important relevant 37 information? to avoid being fallacious, an argument must be able to answer all of these questions in a positive. bearing this in mind, we do not need to attempt to provide an exhaustive list of every possible fallacy. all we must do is learn how to identify when and how those criteria are not met, so we can understand when and how arguments fail to be good. conclusion this paper examined the nature of informal fallacies, the existentialist thesis of existence and interpersonal relationships and the negative impact the negative use of fallacies has on human dignity. it is obvious from the foregoing that the deliberate use of informal fallacies to deceive, manipulate or mislead people to accept 90 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 a conclusion militates against the dignity of the human person. it is belittling and shows disrespect and disregard for the individual. � as human beings striving after truth and excellence, we must cultivate respect for one another and learn to treat one another as thous and not as an it (as something to be used for your purposes). having that respect for one another and seeing one another as a mystery of being would guide our actions. we must also cultivate a critical thinking disposition, pay more attention to the study of fallacies, and learn to think in critical, analytical, and evaluative ways using mental processes such as attention, alertness, selection, and judgment. this will help in recognizing fallacies and avoid being deceitful and manipulative and also being misled by others. 1 shamala, ramasamy, informal reasoning fallacy and critical thinking dispositions: a univariate study of demographic characteristics among malaysian undergraduate, (malaysia: asia e university, 2011), 3. 2 a formal fallacy is any violation of any of the six rules of the categorical syllogism or the rules of the hypothetical or disjunctive alternative syllogism. it is an argument whose conclusion could be false even if all its premises are true. it can be detected merely by examining the form (hence its name) or structure of the argument. 3 daniel, boone, “the cogent reasoning model of informal fallacies,” informal logic 19 (1999): 1. 4 richard, ansah, a critical study of informal fallacies in some sociopolitical discourse in ghana (university of south africa, 2019), 62. 5 cory, clements, “perception and persuasion in legal argumentation: using informal fallacies and cognitive biases to win the war of words,” byu law review 319 (2013): 333. 6 shamala, “informal reasoning fallacy,” 3 7 douglas, walton, “why fallacies appear to be better arguments than they are” informal logic, 30, (2010): 17. 8 cory, “perception and persuasion,” 22 9 evangelos, athanassopoulos and michael gr. voskoglou, “quantifying aristotle's fallacies,“mathematics 8 (2020): 2-3. 10 richard, a critical study, 64. 11 irving, copi m., carl cohen, and kenneth mcmahon, introduction to endnotes 91an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... th logic, 14 ed., (delhi: pearson, 2012), 107. 12 cassiano, rodrigues t., “informal fallacies,” introduction to philosophy: logic, accessed october 2, 2021. https://press.rebus. community/intro-to-phil-logic/chapter/chapter-4-informal-fallacies/ 13 richard, a critical study, 88. rd14 patrick, hurley, a concise introduction to logic, 3 . ed., (belmont: wadsworth publishing company, 1988), 136. nd 15 kurt, reinhardt, the existentialist revolt. 2 ed.,(new york: frederick ungar publishing co., 1960), 231. 16 maurice, friedman, martin buber: the life of dialogue,(chicago: the university of chicago press, 1955). 57. 17 martin, buber, the knowledge of man: selected essays,(amherst: humanity books, 1998), 7. 18 martin, buber, the knowledge of, 50. 19 martin, buber, i and thou,(edinburgh: t & t. clark, 1937), 3. 20 diwan, khan t., the concept of authentic existence in existentialism, (aligarh: aligarh muslim university, 2007), 71. 21 diwan, khan t., the concept of authentic, 83. 22 robert, katsina, an appraisal of the existentialist philosophy of gabriel marcel,(nsukka:university of nigeria, 2009), 29. 23 gabriel, marcel, philosophy of existence,(london: harvil press, 1954), 1. 24 gabriel, marcel, the mystery of being, reection mystery. vol. 1.(new york: regney gateway inc., 1978), 2. 25 adesewa, ogundele c. ,an essay on gabrie l marcel ' s existentialism,(lagos: university of lagos,2018), 6. 26 gabriel, marcel, the mystery of being,34. 27 adesewa, ogundele c., an essay on, 6. 28 lichtigfeld, a. and lichtigfeld, f. j. “k arl jaspers (1883-1969)” tijdschriftvoorfilosoe 34:1 (1972): 109. 29 ronald, gordon, “karl jaspers: existential philosopher of dialogical communication” southern communication journal 65 (2000): 113. 30 onyenuru, okechukwu, the theme of existence in the philosophy of karl jaspers. (ibadan:dominican institute, 2014), 6. 31 it is important to note that although the i-thou and i-it relationships seem to be radically opposed to each other; though the i-thou is an ideal relation, the i-it relation is an inescapable, but also a vital, one. 32 robert, ennis, (1987). “a taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions 92 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 and abilities” in teaching thinking skills: theory and practice, eds., j.boykoff baron &r.j.sternberg, (new york: w.h. freeman, 1987), 33 shamala, ramasamy, “informal reasoning fallacy and critical thinking dispositions, 2. 34 cory, clements, “perception and persuasion in legal argumentation, 360, 324. 35 evangelos, athanassopoulos and michael gr. voskoglou, “quantifying aristotle's, 5. 36 cassiano, rodrigues t., “informal fallacies. 37 cassiano, rodrigues t., “informal fallacies. 93an existential-logical analysis of fallacies... “to whom shall we go?”: the yearning for effective and true leadership in light of the gospel. akotonayon patrick sonayon and okwuelum barnabas chukwunweike abstract the problem of bad leadership is one that cuts across virtually all nations within the earthly space; and the effect it generates is one that affects the well-being of humanity at large; from economic challenges to security problems, and even to psychological challenges that affect the general well-being of the human person. however, the problem of man is man, because nothing happens without the involvement and cooperation of man, and if the world is to be a better place where the general well-being of man is being taken care of, competent individuals must be elected. the scripture which is “basic instruction before leaving earth” presents us with gures of history and models of authentic leadership, particularly our lord jesus christ, the leader per excellence. in it, we are presented with the attributes of an authentic leader. this paper therefore bothers on the ideals of choosing and electing the right leaders in light of the gospel, and provides answer to the prevailing question asked by many today: “to whom shall we go?” this paper by its very nature is political, sociological, philosophical, psychological, and theological. keywords: yearning, leadership, gospel, church, state. introduction “truth has been sentenced to death”, and its executioners are those who failed to tell it. this expression summons us to the court of conscience and leaves us to confront reality as it is. taking a closer examination at global happenings, various emerging phenomena in all facets of life, bordering issues eating deep into the heart of humanity, and causing her heart to bleed profusely; the multiplicity of evils in all ramications as a result of the idleness of the heart of many young opulent parading themselves in the skin of desperation in the bid to make it at all cost for which many initiate a lot of unthinkable acts, all of which eternity might not exhaust, leave everyone to wonder rhetorically: “where are we heading to?” can we claim to be oblivious to the fact that all is not well? can we deny the fact that the chorus which everyone sings mournfully is “save us, lord”? in a situation where the cost of food surpasses the cost of the bride price of many of our parents in those days and even outweighs the monthly earnings of the average masses, is this not worrisome? in a situation where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, how long shall we be silent? experiencing countries waging war against themselves, can we say that peace has not been pieced? where children are now led to the slaughter by their fathers, and elders now negotiate with the adopters of their sons in the market of betrayal for selsh gain, are we to fold our arms, see evil thrive and pretend nothing is wrong? the circumstances pictured above are indicators of the agony and anguish of the helpless masses crying for help and seeking a savior. no doubt, the body will ache when the head is bad and the society will never be better when there are no right leaders, and when suffering persists as a result of the failure of leaders to do what is “right and just” in serving those whom they represent, the masses would have no choice than to cry to god their maker saying “lord shall you watch us while we perish?” (cf. mk 4:38) the boat of leadership across the world and particularly in nigeria is sinking and will need to be salvaged before the nation is drowned in the sea of helplessness as a result of the boat capsizing and as a result of the tide and current of inappropriateness weighing heavily upon us. in this way, any sane mind will be bothered about who will be the “jesus” to still the storm of failed leadership in our 181“to whom shall we go?” dear country nigeria particularly as we are fast approaching the year when leaders will be elected again, and the sleeplessness caused by the situation at hand is the cause of the choiceless vigil and restlessness keeping us awake because our 'house is on re' and the man whose house is on re does not sleep. stemming from this, this essay bothers on the ideals of choosing and electing the right leaders in light of the gospel where we are confronted with a countless number of individuals, both good and bad, sheep and wolves alike, and other unknown realities which we are confronted with prompting us (the masses) to raise our voice unanimously by asking: “to whom shall we go?” while basking on the euphoria of the gospel mandate on christ's expectation of choosing the right leaders, let us keep wondering: “to whom shall we go?” this quest we hope to attempt to address in this essay. conceptual clarification/definition of terms it is pertinent here to properly delineate the terms that will be used in this work. such words include yearning, leadership, gospel, church, and state. yearning: we ordinarily speak of yearning as a deep desire for something. the merriam-webster dictionary denes yearning as “a tender or urgent longing”. in this work, 'yearning' would mean a profound desire for something, which in this milieu would mean good leadership. leadership: leadership is an ambiguous word with several meanings. the merriam-webster dictionary denes leadership as “the ofce or position of a , capacity to lead or the act or an leader instance of ”. a true leader does more than merely direct leading others. he must be motivated by the proper factors and have a positive inuence on others around him. a leader is someone who can envision how things may be made better and motivates others to work toward that vision. leaders can endeavor to realize their goals while prioritizing people. this is the sense in which leadership will be used in this work. gospel: gospel has several senses in which it is used. the merriamwebster dictionary expresses it in different senses. first, it could 182 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 mean “the message concerning christ, the kingdom of god, and salvation”. again, it could be conceived as “an interpretation of the christian message”. as used in this write-up, the gospel does not neglect other books of the scripture as other parts of the scripture are also the word of god. church: we ordinarily conceive 'church' as a building where christians worship god. the merriam-webster dictionary denes church as “a building for public and especially christian worship”. it could mean a specic christian denomination with its clergy, structures, and unique teachings. in this work, church would mean the roman catholic church and its traditions. state: the word 'state' is a word that is so ambiguous and has multiple meanings. it could mean the unique condition that someone or something is in at a particular time. it could also mean, a country or region seen as an established political community with a single head of state. it is in this latter sense that 'state' will be used in this work. where did we miss it? what really went wrong? scripturally, it is recorded that man was initially in a state of agreement and friendship with god until he went contrary to the will of god, thereby breaking the divine union between god and man (cf. gen. 1:26; 2:16-17, 3:1-24). this gives the background to the genesis of how sin began. thereafter, people began to do things contrary to the will of god and from then on, evil began to multiply. this was the case with the roman empire where there was rampant sexual immorality, multiple marriages, and divorces, child abuse (physical and sexual), over-taxation, and a growing national debt that threatened the empire's solvency and national defense. these and other causes would all become her downfall. this reects the genesis of the problem of bad leadership and by implication sin in most countries across the world today. since nothing happens outside of the sovereign will of god (matt 10:29), the various state of a quagmire, disorderliness, crisis, and ineffective leadership across the 2 world must have been a judgment of god. the national and civilian population had reached a point that reected the days of noah, where all they thought about was sin (cf. gen 6:5) and when a nation nally 183“to whom shall we go?” forsakes god, god will surely forsake them. that is because any nation that exists and operates by indiscriminately breaking (in fact defying) god's laws are subject to the same fates as the ancient israelites, the roman empire, and any other people who live outside of the will of god. politically, most countries thrived in their “states of nature” until they got themselves baptized in the pool of selshness only to have their offspring starved of abundance. the likes of adolf hitler the german dictator, benito mussolini of italy, sadam hussein of iraq, muammar gadda of libya, and sanniabacha of nigeria to mention but a few who fell victim to greed, recklessness, and misguided ambitions. retreating into the darkest corners of their deranged minds, these genocidal tyrants committed deeds that have forever entrenched them as badges of shame on humanity's common conscience. taking nigeria as a nation-state for example, where the campaign for election against 2023 is at its peak and boiling at the moment, we see men parading themselves in the regalia of goodwill and capability while their intention is that of reckless abandonment of the poor masses. hence, we dare to ask again, where did we miss it? following the sequence of the progression of the death of true leadership according to the mind of god, and taking our minds back to memory lane, we would see that adolf hitler got it wrong when he targeted the wrong people by invading poland after the french and british had promised to protect it. benito mussolini got it wrong when he failed to unite the country while at the same time making disastrous economic policies. sadam hussein got it wrong when he wrecked the economy of his own country with reckless, and semiliterate policies whose only effect was to impoverish the nation and expand the wealth of the corrupt wealthy while sanni abacha got it wrong when he fashioned for himself a murderous regime; a terric reign, unbridled despotism and repressive season, until the point where god intervened and he dozed off eternally. but we could sum it 3 up by saying we got it wrong when man decided his intention to “kill” god as a result of the doings of selsh leaders; those who embraced greed while neglecting the needs of the poor masses. we got it wrong when we lost the foresight of concern for others. if all of this could not satisfy the insatiable mind, let everyone 184 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 keep searching where we got it wrong, and not until we get to know where we got it wrong, we are never going to make it right, and not until only then can the world become a better place. leadership: its meaning and true essence a person who stands at the head of a group and directs its activities is an example of a leader. there are numerous alternative denitions of leadership, even though there is only one denition of leadership. this is because leadership is required in a variety of disciplines. to gain an understanding of leadership, one must rst separate it from its etymological and denitive contexts. etymologically speaking, “leadership” is derived from the word "leader" which is found in the english language. the concept of leadership originates from the root word "to lead," which is a verb that can imply to direct, head, captain, or guide. beginning with the concept from an etymological standpoint, then leading the work of someone else about how how to lead others is addressed is presented. denitively, the denition of leadership, as articulated by a few distinguished individuals is the ability to morally and intellectually foresee and work toward what is in the best interest of a 4 rm and its employees.” “leadership is inuence; there is nothing 5more and nothing less,” says author john c. maxwell. creativity in action is what leadership is all about. it is the skill of being able to look at the here and now in terms of where we want to be in the future while yet having reverence for the past. respect for the past and the awareness that real progress is achieved by building on already existing capabilities are the cornerstones of leadership. the ability to lead is in part an ambitious effort, but to succeed, one must have the strength and adaptability to put one's idea into action. ability to take action as well as the capacity to collaborate with other people and to follow in the footsteps of a superior individual when necessary makes a leader. resilience is another quality that leaders need to have to work effectively during both normal and not-so-normal times. 185“to whom shall we go?” a strong leader needs to be able to think critically, be willing to take risks, and have a clear vision for the future of the organization. a person who is innovative, daring, creative, forward-thinking, open to change, able to learn from failure and successfully overcome it; a person who can get along with others, contribute to the development of teams, and never stops learning; sincere, dependable, competent, supportive, fair-minded, cooperative, respectful, motivational, values-driven, inspiring, resilient, patient, tenacious, credible, emotionally mature; these are just a few of the attributes that describe someone who is a true leader. giving team members what they need to be productive is central to the concept of a servant leader, which in turn helps the team achieve its goals. this leader is more of a tool for getting the job done than a driving force behind the transformation. the effects of this type of leadership, which is comparable to democratic leadership, are achieved over a longer period, but with a greater level of employee participation. leaders need a vision, but great leadership turns that vision into reality. leadership in light of the gospel, and the g o s p e l m a n d a t e t o wa r d s o u r c i v i c responsibility no one who understands truly the mission of christ and the essence of his life on earth scripturally will doubt that christ himself is the source and summit of leadership. there would be no personality to be acclaimed as a leader in the whole of the new testament if christ is relegated. aside from christ, we could see that the teaching of the scripture in terms of leadership is such that is exemplied. going through the chronicles of the scripture from the torah (the law) to the nevi'im (the prophets), to the ketuvim (the writings), and down to the new testament, we would come to terms with the fact if anyone seeks a true denition of leadership, and the qualities of a good leader, he should seek recourse to the bible and live particularly with the teachings and examples of christ which is the crux of this work. we shall now analyze the leadership qualities and instructions of some great personalities in the scripture and of course those of jesus, the greatest leader ever born in this world. 186 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 jesus is the greatest leader who ever lived in this world. he is a leader par excellence. he lived in an era where the terms “psychology” and “human management” were never heard of. yet, this man from galilee was able to change the world and the lives of millions of people and left the world after making an indelible mark on it simply because of his leadership qualities. surprisingly, he still inuences the world today. this poor man from galilee remains the “founder” of the largest movement in the world even after 2000 years of death. 6he cannot be but a simply exceptional and extraordinary leader. the four gospels present the life and teaching of jesus more than any other books of the bible. jesus never gave a lengthy discourse on the theme of “leadership”. jesus' style of leadership could be traced from his life as well as his teaching. there was consistency between the life and the teaching of jesus. his life was what he preached and taught and what he preached and taught was his very life. a leader like jesus should be poor in spirit, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, pure in heart, peacemaker, and ready to face difculties and pain for the just and righteous causes ( matt. 5:3-12). on the contrary, like herod, many of our leaders today take the people for granted, and even go as far as leading them to the slaughter, thus becoming murderers instead of leaders. if that is not true, how would you explain the killing of some youths who came out to express their dissatisfaction with the style of leadership across the country only for them to see their earthly existence being cut short by the so-called “unknown gunmen” at the lekki toll gate in lagos, nigeria, even when it was clear that their killing was orchestrated by the government of the day? a leader must be empathetic. in mark's gospel 6:30-44, it is recorded that jesus fed ve thousand men, not counting women and children. he felt what it means to stay without food. he went as far as providing for them and giving them food in excess. a leader must be the salt and light of his/her family or community (matt. 5:13-14). a leader is never to lose his temper and get angry unnecessarily. he asks the leaders never to judge their staff members and those entrusted to their care (matt. 7:1-5). one's attitude towards leadership and others would undergo drastic change if he/she practices the golden rule of jesus: “do to others as you would 187“to whom shall we go?” have them do to you” (matt. 7:12). as citizens of a sovereign nation, upholding the law is our top priority. and one way that we accomplish this is through tax payments. it is a directive from jesus, the master, and lord of our lives. taxes are a necessity for governments everywhere if they are to meet the responsibilities inherent in good governance, including the creation of jobs, the improvement of transportation, the provision of a good education, and a safe and secure living environment for all citizens. it is true that in nigeria, the only people who are required to pay taxes are those who are employed in the public sector or the organized private sector, and this is because paye requires taxes to be withheld at the point of employment. the majority of people do not pay taxes for the same reason that the jews hated doing so: they believe that governments are dishonest, wasteful, and ineffective. however, the word of god does not in any way absolve christians of their obligation, regardless of the circumstances. as the world's guiding light, christians are expected to provide a good example for others to follow (matthew 5:14). it is incumbent upon us to let our “light so shine before others, that they may see your good deeds, and praise your father which is in heaven” (matthew 5:16). because “we must all come before the judgment seat of christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad,” it is incumbent upon us to guarantee that our works survive the cleansing re of the holy spirit (2 cor. 5:10). building restrictions are another way we respect the law. our salt-and-light position is harmed when churches assist others in outing norms yet complain when punished. we must obey the nation's laws if they do not contradict god's. in a struggle, we must obey god's greater rule since god's appointed political power has limits; “we should obey god rather than man” (acts 5:29). shiphrah and puah rejected pharaoh's order to slaughter newborn hebrew men (ex. 1:17). our leaders and others need our prayers. seek the peace of the city where i have taken you captives and pray to the lord for it; in its tranquility, you will enjoy peace (jer. 29:7). 188 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 what matters is the person's controlling authority, not who is in power. as a church, we must pray for the right people to get into leadership and for those in leadership – the president and his staff, governors and their aides, legislators, elected ofcials, judges, 7political appointees, and captains of industry – that the spirit of god will touch their hearts and work through them so that we can enjoy a quality of life that produces joy, fulllment, and overall prosperity. if we want our prayers to succeed, we cannot criticize our nation. by the blessing of the upright, a city is elevated; by the voice of the wicked, it is ruined (prov.11:11). you get what you speak is a spiritual rule (mark 11:23, 24). our acts after praying are more essential than our prayers, in my opinion. christians often pray but negate them with bad confessions regarding their nation. james warned against using the same lips to bless and condemn (james 3:10). as christians, we must bless our country's people, leaders, and future. third, spread the gospel. before his ascension, jesus commissioned his disciples and all christians. “go into the world and preach to every creature. whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not will perish. in my name, they will cast out demons, talk with new tongues, take up serpents, and if they drink anything dangerous, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. after speaking to them, the lord ascended to heaven and sat at god's right hand. the lord worked with them and conrmed the word with signs. amen” (mark 16:15-20). evangelism is the church's principal purpose, and we may fulll it in three ways: god wants “all mankind to be rescued and to know the truth” (1 tim. 2:4). every christian must preach the gospel. we must utilize all possible means to convey this truth to sinful mankind in workplaces, business, politics, government, entertainment, media, and academia. “christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 cor. 15:3-4). those who believe this truth obtain salvation and become god's and christ's heirs (rom. 8:16-17). free salvation cost god his son. churches need well-dened organizations and programs for worldwide missions and evangelism. a church's sending capacity, 189“to whom shall we go?” not its sitting capacity, should be measured. god inuences the world one person at a time. transformed hearts and minds enhance transformation, growth, and society. acts 1:8 states, “be my witnesses in jerusalem, judaea, samaria, and to the ends of the globe.” our faith must affect our actions and character or it's in vain. “preach the gospel always, use words if necessary,” urged a sage. apostle paul urged us to live “known and read by everyone” epistles. (2 cor. 3:2). as christ's ambassadors (2 cor. 5:20), we must model christ so that others perceive him in us. christians should live differently from non-christians. a christian's inner purity and moral greatness are hallmarks. we are to “be spotless and harmless, the sons of god, without censure, amid a crooked and wicked land” (phil 2:15). daniel and joseph are christian business models. indeed, christians were initially called so because their lifestyles reected jesus christ's (acts 11:26). as the salt of the soil, we should cleanse, season, and preserve the earth. without it, moral and spiritual degeneration ensues. the tragedy of our day is not that christians are not everywhere; it is that they are not always what they should be. unholy churches cannot conquer unholy worlds. god frowns on “forms of godliness without strength” (2 tim. 3:5). we must not pretend to be god-fearing in public but not in private. as the lord commanded king solomon, we must behave uprightly and with integrity (1 kings 9:4). whoever has the world's goods, sees his brother in need, and shuts up his compassion from him, how does god's love reside in him? (1 john 3:17) this verse supports christian charity. in a world of sickness, poverty, misery, and suffering, christians may show the grace and mercy of christ. many of our churches deserve praise for supplementing government efforts by creating hospitals, schools, and food kitchens to feed the needy. i can only urge these churches to keep up the wonderful work and encourage individual christians to mimic the churches by purposefully helping the poor, widows, and the vulnerable. the world will witness god's mercy and grace in action through our service to others and society. we must share burdens and do good to others. (gal. 6:2,8-10). we must hold up the bowed (psalm 190 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 146:7-9) and help the weak (roman 15:1-3). the wealthiest among us shouldn't rely on their wealth, but on the living god, so they might be rich in good acts. (17-1 timothy) christians should love each other. first john 3:18 says to “love in action and truth, not in speech or mouth.” the christian must know what god expects. every kingdom lives differently. jesus christ taught us to sacrice, love, compassion, humility, dedication, moderation, faith, and fellowship. paul tells the romans, “love one another with brotherly affection” (rom 12:10). the christian must be ethically responsible to god and others every day. he or she must put god rst (matt 10:37) and submit to god's plan. in ephesians 4:22-24, we are told to throw off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceptive lusts and put on the new man, which god created in righteousness and true holiness. daily self-examination and removal of ungodly objects and acts are required (eph. 4:25-32; eph. 5:1-7). christians obey. proof of our repentance and trust is following god's will. prayer, forgiveness, and diligence are our duties. jesus christ the righteous is our advocate before god. all christians must check their faith frequently (2 cor. 13:5 and lam. 3:40). we must base our reection on the gospel to avoid hypocrisy. (psalm 139:23-24, 19:14). christian family responsibility: marriage covenants need mutual love and respect, and children must obey god and their parents. as christians, we must engage in actions that strengthen our connection with god. we must account for the abilities, talents, status, and resources god has given us because “a steward must be loyal” (1 cor. 4:2). god's callings and talents are irrevocable (rom.11:29). as god's and man's stewards, we must walk in this reality. we need jesus' enabling grace. christian leaders must vote for their leaders. refusing to vote lets evil actors inuence the system. every bible-believing christian should vote. when we are to vote, long lines and glitches should not dissuade us. faith-based ngos should ght for social justice, campaign for the proper candidates, and dene national and subnational agendas. our options and inuence as citizens may be restricted, but we cannot stay silent when things go wrong. we must 191“to whom shall we go?” hold our leaders responsible for god's truth, righteousness, and fairness. to whom shall we go? at this critical point, we shall dene the one whom we shall run to in three dimensions namely: god, the self, and the right person (leader). first, at a time like this, we are all to turn back to god to guide us, give us a new heart, and since he alone can do all things. this, however, is not to mean that man should leave all he is supposed to do to god because he “might” not do it. we are to play our part by choosing the right leaders, not based on political party, blood relation, or ideology, but one who would lead us rightly; the “man after god's own heart”; the man who is ready to wash the feet of his followers; who is ready to serve at the table; the man who is ready to have himself nailed for the sake of others so that the wellbeing of the people can resurrect in him; the one who is ready to submit himself at the cross of service, ready to have his ego crucied; the one who will be the christ in form of a man ready to serve and not be served(matt. 20:28). only to such a person shall we go. not to the judas in care of the national treasury ready to embezzle and abscond with the public fund. not to the judas who will betray the trust that the masses repose in him, and not to the peter who will deny the people their right for his selsh gain, and not to the thomas who would doubt being called to serve. going further, while we think of going to god, everyone should equally go deep within himself. man must ensure that his interest is not against the collective benet of all. here, the individual goes to the self, and make up their mind not to collect bribe but to rather vote for the right leader. the individual must transcend and have a dialogue both with his creator and himself because the problem of man is man. by doing this, he can choose the right leader. conclusion the choice of who leads the people depends on those electing them. when the masses are not rightly guided on how to make the right choices, it falls back on society at large. it is therefore expedient that everyone resorts to jesus, the author and nisher of our faith who is 192 ekpoma review, volume 9, 2022 1 a personal discussion with matthew amosu on “the situation of nigeria at large” (21.10.2022) 2 https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2016/08/16/whathappened-to-nations-under-corrupt-or-bad-leadership-in-the-bible/ (accessed on 15.10.2022) 3 the death of god here is as a result of the deterioration of sound morality by man. theologically, man cannot kill god because god is omnipotent. by saying man killed god, we guratively mean that man did what was/is against the will of god. 4 essentials of organisational behaviour, laurie mullins, (usa: financial times/prentice hall, 2008), p. 8 5 john maxwell, leadership 101, (nashville : thomas nelson, 2002), p. 17. 6 arul jesu robin, leadership in the bible: the paradigms of moses and jesus, article, august 2020 7 the christian and responsibility, ifeanyi okowa, in the guardian newspaper daily, 07 march, 2022. the model of true and authentic leadership. also, a man who is the inventor of his problem is the solution to his problem. on this ground, it requires that every individual resort to himself and look inwardly at the need to make the right choices to which the right leaders are voted. when we miss it in any of these three, we miss it in all because all must be integrated and work together. above all, it is still left for each individual to ask deep down in his heart: “to whom shall i go?” ln making a great and healthy society, we must elect the right leaders, and save the future of our nation. only then, would our yearning for true and effective leadership become a reality. endnotes 193“to whom shall we go?” formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age i formation, t che atholic priesthood and the modern age festschrift in honour of rev. fr. anselm jimoh e d i t o r s francis e. ikhianosime, gregory e. ogbenika, ph.d department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, edo state, nigeria. ii formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age published by: mindex publishing co. ltd. #22, benin technical college road, ugbowo, p. o. box 5089, benin city, nigeria. tel: +234 802.345.3848, 803.740.4398, 805.475.5695 email: info@mindexpublishing.com, mindexpublishing@gmail.com website: www.mindexpublishing.com *benin *lagos *abuja *aba isbn: 978-978-8548-03-4 copyright © the editors (if applicable) and the author(s) 2019 this work is subject to copyright. all rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. the use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademark, service marks, etc, in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. the publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are belived to be true and accurate at the date of publication. neither the publisher nor the authors or the editor give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the materials contained herein or for any errors or omissions that have been made. the ideas contained herein are not necessarily those of the editor(s) but those of the author(s). printed in nigeria by: mindex press, benin city. tel: 08054755695 notes on contributors iii iv formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age notes on contributors v acknowledgements t gives great delight and pleasure to have completed this volume, formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age: festshrift in honour of rev. fr. anselm jimoh, and for this we are grateful. different persons are worthy of thanks who cooperated with us during this work. first, we want to thank the silver jubiliarian in whose honour this book is written and dedicated; rev. fr. dr. anselm jimoh. we can say, the idea of putting this volume together would not have been a reality without his influence, contributions and personality. as we celebrate with him, we are thankful to god for him for this milestone achievement in his priesthood. we also want to thank the various contributors to this volume. we are immensely thankful to contributors who have contributed from their various fields of specialization and study particularly frs. stan-william ede, ferdinand okafor, john odeyemi, paul adaja, anthony omodunbi, lawrence adorolo, michael olofinlande, oseabulu odenore and leonard anetekhai. we are also grateful to priests who are currently in formation and have shared from their wealth of experience, particularly, anthony akalue, kenneth adesina, peter egbe, francis ikhianosime and gregory ogbenika. we are also grateful to lay contributors particularly prof. isaac ukpokolo, dr. simonmary aihiokhai and dr. emmarex okhakhu. we specially appreciate prof. isaac ukpokolo for his editorial direction, suggestions and involvements. we extend warm sentiments of thanks to rev. fr. prof. anthony kanu for reading through the papers and writing the foreword to the text. we also thank those who contributed resources towards the floating of this publication. we also appreciate the role played by mindex for the publication of this book. the summation of this exercise is the offering of thanks to the almighty god for his i vi formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age enablement and grace that guided the entire process leading to the publication of this book. to him be glory and honour and power forever and ever, amen. francis ikhianosime and gregory ogbenika notes on contributors vii preface his idea of publishing a book was mooted to celebrate the 25th priestly anniversary of rev. fr. anselm jimoh, phd and also to contribute to knowledge in a field the silver jubilarian has spent most of these years; which is formation. for the last 25 years, fr. anselm jimoh has been around the corridors of formation; preparing and teaching young men who have made a choice to become priests. fr. anselm jimoh is a profound academician with specialty in epistemology, particularly in african epistemology. his contributions in this field of academics have been so immense that he has risen to the academic rank of an associate professor of philosophy. he has taught philosophy in three seminaries, namely, seminary of all saints, ekpoma, st. albert the great seminary, abeokuta and ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodijaibadan where he is currently the head of the department of philosophy. he has devoted time, interest and efforts in sharpening african epistemology, defining its parameters and theorizing largely about its nature. all these, he has done within the ambience of formation. his contributions are not just notable they are influential. hence, with him reaching a milestone age in his priestly ministry, it became an auspicious time to have a book of reading in his honour as well as contribute to knowledge in the area of formation. furthermore, since there are ubiquitous literature on formation, this volume has adopted an approach that would address extant challenges, while satisfying the primal motive for this publication; a robust book on formation in our modern age. thus, a title which would satisfy these directions was adopted, namely: formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age – festschrift in honour of rev. fr. anselm jimoh. formation is indisputably a critical variable in the preparation and eventual ordination of priests. the catholic priesthood has been the t viii formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age spotlight of many conversations in recent times from the good to the ugly. although the priest or priest-to be is called to be set apart, this is first a call from the people. as a man called from the people, he is not completely immune from the challenges of society. the formation then helps to shape, prepare and dispose of the priest-to-be to the gospel he is called to embrace. the church invests richly in the formation of seminarians and priests because of this critical importance. the formation covers four essential aspects of the priest, namely, the spiritual, human, social, intellectual and pastoral life. hence, it becomes expedient, to have a rich resource on formation, granted many factors influence it today, consequent on the signs of the modern age. this demands that new approaches and perspectives are evolved to make the priest of today as relevant as ever. this book, therefore, reflects on some of these issues and perspectives to formation in the modern age. the challenges of the modern age to formation cannot be exhausted in one volume, however, care has been taken to look at some areas of critical importance in our social context. also, contributors to the issues are scholars who have made research in those areas of allocation or they pertain to their area of expertise. the contributions are generally analytic and prescriptive in approach and the subscription of individual authors on certain issues are not necessarily a reflection of the collective view of other contributors of this volume. the idea is to evolve a systematic approach to the issues rather than viewing them from a stereotypical lens. the goal is to see the issues from a wider perspective and therefore evolve viable ways to provide answers to current intriguing questions. this volume, therefore, promises to be both contemporaneous and also a propitious literature on formation in our modern age. it is believed that the silver jubilarian who has contributed immensely to knowledge in different ways, particularly to formation, would find this book a memorabilia in his honour in making contributions to knowledge particularly in the area of formation. it also would serve as a launchpad to mirror the years ahead on issues of formation as well as assist pastoral agents in charge of formation with rich materials to peruse. francis ikhianosime and gregory ogbenika notes on contributors ix foreword ope francis, during his address at the congress on ratio fundamentalis institutions sacerdotalis organized by the congregation for the clergy on october 7, 2017, stated that the theme of priestly formation is decisive to the mission of the church. he taught that priestly formation depends firstly on the action of god in our life, and not on our activity. it is a work that requires the courage of letting ourselves be formed by the lord, to transform our heart and our life. he employed the biblical image of clay in the hands of the potter (jer 18: 1-10) and the episode in which the lord says to the prophet jeremiah: “arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there i will cause you to hear my words” (jer 18:2). observing the potter who works the clay, the prophet understands the mystery of god’s merciful love. he discovers that israel is conserved in the loving hands of god who, like a patient potter, takes care of his creature, places the clay on the wheel, models it, forms it and, in that way, gives it shape. if he realizes that the vase has not turned out well, the god of mercy once more puts the clay into the mass and with the tenderness of a father, begins to mould it again. consequently, god, therefore, is the patient and merciful artisan of our priestly formation and, this work lasts a lifetime. every day we discover with saint paul that we carry “this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of god and not of us” (2 cor 4: 7), and when we detach ourselves from our comfortable habits, from the rigidity of our mindsets and the presumption that we have already arrived, and have the courage of placing ourselves in the lord’s presence, then he can resume his work in us: he forms us and transforms us. p x formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the present work on formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age: festschrift in honour of rev. fr. anselm jimoh edited by francis e. ikhianosime and gregory e. ogbenika, is a realization of one of the greatest dreams of our timethe dream of keeping the fascination of the centrality of god in priestly formation alive and attractive even in modern times. this foreword, therefore, beats the drum for this harvest of thoughts from the best minds you can ever imagine. it contains a college of perceptions crystallized as a thought contribution by various authors, which will survive the physical structures of generations yet to come. this foreword sounds the drum for a piece by productive academics whose productivity is marked by happy versatility, rich variety, unfailing originality, consistent incisiveness, high voltage reasoning, limpidity of style and unwavering logic. in this piece, the authors, like artists, combine originality with insightful imagination. they have substantially treated the historical, conceptual, basic and substantive issues on priestly formation with such an envious distinction. their coherent, systematic and encyclopedic approach has the capacity to expand the intellectual and professional horizon of their readers. you can only applaud at the end of each chapter and wait to applaud again at the end of the next chapter. i, therefore, present to you a monumental, learned, lucid, patient and comprehensive piece. and i strongly recommend this book for all who treasure good literature on priestly formation; and most especially for anyone who wishes to be abreast with important debates and developments within the parameters of formation. experts, researchers, beginners and casual readers are bound to treasure the usefulness of this piece. rev. fr. prof. kanu, ikechukwu anthony, osa dep. of philosophy and religious studies, tansian university, nigeria. notes on contributors xi contents 1. prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly formation: anselm jimoh and the pursuit of genuine knowledge 1 francis e. ikhianosime 2. philosophy and priestly formation 22 isaac e. ukpokolo 3. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science: priestly formation and the praxis 35 of eruditio stan-william o. ede 4. the vocations director and the discernment of vocations: some considerations for 53 priestly formation ferdinand n. okafor 5. forming future catholic priests in a ‘pentecostal world’: challenges and prospects 67 john s. odeyemi 6. the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria: context and content 84 paul ọ. àdajà 7. liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from lex orandi, lex credendi 100 anthony o. omodunbi xii formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 8. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges in contemporary homiletics 113 lawrence e. adorolo 9. contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge for priestly formation 134 simonmary a. aihiokhai 10. the seminarian and the digital age: implications for authentic formation 154 gregory e. ogbenika & anthony i. akalue 11. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary changing society 171 michael b. olofinlade 12. seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light of modern challenges 182 kenneth a. adesina 13. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap between the diocese and the seminary 195 peter a. egbe 14. on-going formation of priests: new approaches to postseminary formation 214 hilary o. odenore 15. co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial administration 234 emmarex e. okhakhu postscript: tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and servant of god 250 leonard o. anetekhai index 263 notes on contributors xiii notes on contributors paul ọ. àdajà is a ph.d candidate in new testament and early christianity, department of theology, loyola university chicago, usa. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of ekiti, nigeria. his contact email: adajapaul@yahoo.com kenneth a. adesina, ph.d has a ph.d in classics and christian literature from universita pontificia salesiana in rome. he is also a formator and lecturer in the departments of philosophy and theology, ss. peter and paul seminary, bodija ibadan. he is also an adjunct lecturer in dominican university, ibadan and a member of the society for classical studies, usa. he is a catholic priest from the diocese of oshogbo. his contact email is kennade@yahoo.com lawrence e. adorolo holds a licentiate in liturgy from the catholic institute of west africa (ciwa), port-harcourt, nigeria. he is the chairman of the liturgical commission of the catholic diocese of auchi. he has different researched published papers in liturgy. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of auchi. his contact email is: adolo9@yahoo.com simon mary a. aihiokhai, ph.d is an associate professor of theology (systematics) of the department of theology, college of arts and sciences, university of portland, portland, oregon, usa. he is widely published and the author of fostering interreligious encounter in pluralist societies: hospitality and friendship (2019). his contact email is: aihiokhai@up.edu xiv formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age anthony i. akalue is a formator and lecturer at the seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. he teaches philosophy at the department of philosophy of the seminary. his research interests are in the areas of metaphysics and philosophy of mind. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of issele-uku. his contact email is: ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com leonard o. anetekhai is a ph.d candidate of church history, department of theology, universitat tubingen (university of tubingen), tubingen, germany. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of auchi. his contact email is: leonibus4real@yahoo.com stan-william o. ede is a doctoral candidate in sacred scripture at the pontificium institutum biblicum, rome. his research interests include philosophy, theology and scriptures. he is widely published. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of auchi. his contact email is: stanwilly@yahoo.ocm peter a. egbe, ph.d holds a ph.d in philosophy from lateran university, rome. he a formator and currently the head of department of philosophy at st. albert the great seminary, abeokuta. his research interests are primarily in phenomenology and metaphysics. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of uromi. his contact email is: revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk francis e. ikhianosime is a formator and lecturer at the seminary of all saints. he teaches philosophy at the department of philosophy at the seminary of all saints. his area of specialization includes epistemology, metaphysics and contemporary philosophy. he is the author of the book on marriage and family life: issues of today, hope for tomorrow (2016). he is a catholic priest of the diocese of auchi. his contact email is: franklmore@yahoo.com hilary o. odenore, ph.d holds a licentiate in institutional communications from the pontifical university of the holy cross, rome, and a ph. d in institutional communications, specialization in ecclesiastical public opinion from the pontifical university of the holy cross, rome. he is an adjunct lecturer at the catholic institute mailto:franklmore@yahoo.com notes on contributors xv of west africa and also an adjunct lecturer at the seminary of all saints , ekpoma. he is the chancellor of the diocese of uromi. his contact email is: osichair@gmail.com john s. odeyemi, ph.d holds a ph.d in systematic theology from dusquene, spiritan university in pittsburghpennsylvania, usa. he currently works as a parochial vicar at the church of the epiphany, uptown pittsburgh and a visiting research fellow at the dominican university, ibadan, nigeria. he is also an independent scholar associated with the department of theology at dusquene university, pittsburg. he is widely published. he is the author of pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations, west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon, (2019). his contact email is: frjay1368@gmail.com gregory e. ogbenika, ph.d holds a ph.d in philosophy from the pontifical urbania university, rome. he is a formator, lecturer and currently the head of department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, ekpoma, edo state. he is widely published and the author of a discourse on democracy: western and african perspective (2019). he specializes in socio-political philosophy and african philosophy. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of auchi. his contact email is: oshokwe67@gmail.com ferdinand n. okafor is a post-graduate student of the department of religious education, duquesne university, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa. he also holds a certification in catechetical apostolate at the franciscan university of steubenville, ohio. he was a vocations director of the diocese of auchi from 2010-2019. his contact email is: ferdggun@yahoo.com.au emmarex e. okhakhu, ph.d holds a ph.d in organizations and management from the capella university, minneapolis, mn, and a ph.d in biblical studies from saint luke evangelical school of mailto:osichair@gmail.com mailto:frjay1368@gmail.com mailto:oshokwe67@gmail.com mailto:ferdggun@yahoo.com.au xvi formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age biblical studies, both located in the us. he currently consults in healthcare leadership and management. his research interests focuses on the voice of the customer, value based strategic planning, organizational turn-around, and the points of intercession between organizational leadership and theology. his contact email is: emmarex@gmail.com michael b. olofinlade, ph.d has a ph.d in dogmatic theology from the pontifical gregorian university, rome, italy. he is a pastoral theologian. he is the secretary-general of the southwest association of nigeria catholic theologians. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of ekiti. his contact email is: molofinlade@yahoo.com anthony o. omodunbi, holds a licentiate in liturgy from st. patrick pontifical college, maynooth, ireland. he is a catholic priest of the diocese of oshogbo. his email contact is: thonyiwa@yahoo.com isaac e. ukpokolo, ph.d is a professor of philosophy, department of philosophy, university of ibadan. he is a specialist in epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics and philosophy of culture. he is widely published both locally and internationally. he is the author of methodology of research and writing in philosophy: a guide. his contact e-mail:ukpokolo.isaac@dlc.ui.edu.ng mailto:emmarex@gmail.com mailto:ukpokolo.isaac@dlc.ui.edu.ng prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 1 c h a p t e r 1 prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly formation: anselm jimoh and the pursuit of genuine knowledge francis eshemomoh ikhianosime introduction the seminal work of miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing1, has become the locus classicus in contemporary discourses in social epistemology for analysing the different ways there can be dysfunctions in our epistemic practices. fricker explores two main ways of dysfunctions in our epistemic practices. the first occurs in testimonial transaction, wherein a speaker can have a deflated credibility from a hearer owing to prejudice on the hearer’s part. a deflated credibility can be due to a “negative-identity-prejudicial stereotype” a hearer has about a speaker. in such a situation, prejudice plays a negative role. in the history of epistemology, the debate of testimony being a source of knowledge is intractable and vexed. although there are vigorous queries on whether testimony is an autonomous source of epistemic authority, it is nevertheless, arguably true that much of what we know is testimonially acquired; from information from books, teachers to what others tell us. but, prejudice plays a facultative role on how we accept or refute the claim of a person or an epistemic agent. for instance, if s has an ill-founded idea that p is a liar, because as at the last time s asked p if he drinks alcohol, he replied in the negative, not knowing that s had asked p, the question to test his sincerity, because 2 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age about two years ago, s had seen p at a function drinking a bottle of beer, but, unknown to s that p had exchanged the contents of the alcohol with a non-alcoholic substance earlier because there were no glass cups around. then, s concluded that p is a liar on that basis. while s has grounds to believe p is telling a lie and so concludes that p is a liar, s’s claim for p is ill-founded. in such a situation, s can become prejudiced to whatever p says. this can be a prejudice that deflates s’s degree of credibility for p. prejudice, therefore, can block the flow of knowledge and weaken the chances for achieving truth. prejudice can manifest itself in varied ways. fricker calls this kind of situation where prejudice shrinks a hearer’s credibility, testimonial injustice. the second dysfunction in epistemic practice is what she calls, hermeneutical injustice. in her precis to the epochal seminal work in question, fricker explains that this occurs “at a prior stage, when someone is trying to make sense of a social experience but is handicapped in this by a certain sort of gap in collective understanding – a hermeneutical lacuna whose existence is owing to the relative powerlessness of a social group to which the subject belongs. such a lacuna renders the collective interpretive resources structurally prejudiced”.2 the dysfunction referred to by fricker as hermeneutic injustice often has a cultural or historical context. for instance, in an environment where smokers are regarded as perverts because of the cultural understanding of smoking, in such a situation, a smoker would be morally deflated or disdained when he talks on some moral matters for instance. this can lead to ‘hermeneutical inequality’. the two forms of injustices identified by fricker abound from wrongs or negative influence of prejudice. nevertheless, the philosophical understanding of prejudice is not necessarily negative. the work of fricker, therefore, has opened up new considerations of harms and wrongs in epistemic practices. her work has become a launchpad for discussing different social environments, how epistemic accounts are formed, and how epistemic transactions are interpreted. this work attempts to discuss how prejudicial dysfunction can either lead to credibility deficit or excess in the formation of priests, taking a seminary as an epistemic community. in the formation of priests, a lot rests on judgments and assessment from different evaluators/formators. these reports ultimately form the prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 3 basis for discernment and judging of the suitability of a candidate for the priesthood. like every testimonial or hermeneutic practice, the goal is understanding or knowledge in the long run. prejudice can either stand in the way as a positive or negative element. this work, therefore, set to establish some ways there can be dysfunctions in an epistemic environment of priestly formation. this work analyses the understanding of prejudice from a philosophical standpoint and further progresses to analyse epistemic practices in priestly formation. granted that the goal of every epistemic practice and epistemology is a holistic vision for knowledge and truth, the last part of this work devotes attention to how anselm jimoh, the silver jubilarian as an academic, has been involved in the pursuit of this agenda in epistemology, taking note of some of his contributions in pursuing the vision for a genuine knowledge in epistemology and also in creating a clearer understanding of what the priestly ministry should be as an epistemic subject in particular. philosophical understanding of prejudice prejudice as a philosophical concept is historical. anja steinbauer argues that the first philosophical musings about the concept ‘prejudice’ (praeiusticium) started during the classical age with cicero. he talks of prejudice as the opposite of the truth, associated with an error. for cicero, prejudice is born out of manipulation.3 he cites the legal context to explain for instance, that once a juror had listened to a particular case over and over, so once a trial happens and a lawyer is citing a version of that case, has little to do to convince them of the veracity of his words. thus, the case in question takes its merit from the understanding of previous accounts listened. during the period of the enlightenment which was marked by the renaissance, the understanding of prejudice as manipulation was abandoned, and rather, the concern was with the problem of prejudice. francis bacon’s doctrine on prejudice was equated with “idols of the mind” (idola) which the intellect must be purified from if it can get knowledge. this understanding of prejudice (idola) which the mind must get rid off continues with the works of descartes. according to descartes, the first act of the new philosophy is to free the mind of prejudice. descartes explains: “i yet apprehend that they cannot be adequately understood by many, both because they are also a little lengthy and dependent the one on other, and principally 4 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age because they demand a mind wholly free of prejudices, and one which can be easily detached from the affairs of the senses”4 with the enlightenment, prejudices takes on a negative connotation as prejudgment. in the light of this thought, voltaire regards prejudice as an opinion without judgment.5 this transfusing understanding of prejudice as a prejudged opinion continued and was also a fashionable term during the french revolution which denoted “all errors of the mind, which, in the worst cases, could only be eradicated by means of the guillotine!”6 the views on prejudice during the enlightenment period sometimes confused the preliminary thought of an individual on an issue for a conclusive claim. hence, the misgiving and labelling of prejudice as errors that blurs understanding. it is against this background that gadamer evolves his philosophy on prejudice which argues for a beneficial and valuable role of prejudice. with gadamer, prejudice as a philosophical concept was immune from his negative garb. gadamer explains the positive validity, the value of the provisional decision as a prejudgment, like that of any precedent”7 cynthia nielsen argues that “gadamer’s focus on the positive value of prejudgment is part of his critique of enlightenment rationalism, which claimed that judgment is legitimate only when methodologically justified. absent such justification, a judgment is rendered baseless. thus, all appeals to tradition and the authority of others – where accepting authoritative voices is misunderstood as relinquishing the use of one’s own reasonare considered invalid and irrational”.8 gadamer argues that prejudice aids understanding. he notes that anyone trying to understand something or a text projects an initial meaning and it is this that guides the actual meaning of the text. gadamer appeals to binary opposition to establish the value of prejudice. the theory of binary opposition is seen as a fundamental organizer of language, culture and human philosophy. in simple terms, this theory explains that we derive the meaning of a thing or concept by an appeal to its opposite. for instance, we can understand darkness more with the concept of light, etc. it is in this sense, gadamer explains that fore-meanings or what is understood as prejudice helps to protect a text from a misunderstanding from the start. in this case, the actual meaning of a text becomes more valuable and meaningful, only with the presence of fore-meanings. with prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 5 prejudice, what is required in openness. the reader must remain open in reading the text. he notes clearly: a person trying to understand something will not resign himself from the start to relying on his own accidental fore-meanings, ignoring as consistently and stubbornly as possible the actual meaning of the text until the latter becomes so persistently audible that it breaks through what the interpreter imagines it to be. rather, a person trying to understand a text is prepared for it to tell him something. that is why a hermeneutically trained consciousness must be, from the start, sensitive to the text’s alterity.9 even with gadamer, prejudice is not a terminus in understanding, it is only a pathway to getting meaning. we must take note of the window he offers for this, and that is “openness”. however, he fails to realize that prejudice can, in fact, be the clog on the wheel of openness. this becomes as he describes it, “the tyranny of hidden prejudices” and this makes us deaf to understanding and actual meaning oftentimes. prejudice, therefore, can either be positive or negative. from the gadamerian understanding of prejudice, the concept can be epistemically neutral as it pertains to forming judgment or knowledge. judgment has its dignity if it has a basis and has a methodological justification.10 prejudice becomes negative if it has no epistemological foundation and lacks adequate methodological justification and it is positive if it acts on the contrary to aid judgment and knowledge. however, gadamer stresses the historical situatedness which shapes our understanding; our language, customs, social and familial ties, etc. these historical situations are what make up the prejudices for him. he writes: “the self-awareness of the individual is only a flickering in the closed circuits of historical life. that is why the prejudices of the individual, far more than his judgments, constitute the historical reality of his being”. our prejudices, therefore, for gadamer, form our historical reality. as nielsen puts it, “our prejudices orient us in a certain direction and direct us to specific concerns and questions”11 gadamer maintains that prejudice could be due to human authority or over hastiness. it is either we have respect for persons 6 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age who hold them and so fall into error or we are overhasty ourselves. authority within the period of enlightenment was a major source of prejudice which was refuted and countered. the enlightenment critique was primarily directed against religious tradition in christianity, where for instance, the bible is treated as a dogmatic literature and not historical and so anything that comes out of it was seen as authoritative and this formed a bedrock for prejudice. the enlightenment rather critiqued much of these as a way to free man from the trammels of prejudice by subjecting every claim to the judgment seat of reason. tradition and authority were, therefore, twin elements that fanned the embers of prejudice. this is what miranda fricker calls social power.12 fricker’s conception of power is at the basis of discussing her notion of prejudice, particularly her notion of “identity prejudices”. prejudices of this kind function as a monocle through which everything the person says or does is refracted. this is a kind of distorting the lens. according to fricker, power which she generally also understands as social power is a capacity we have as social agents to influence how things go in the social world.13 social power understood as a capacity persists through periods even when it is not being realized. thus, power can exist whether operative or inoperative. although, some scholars contest this understanding of power14. furthermore, power can either be agential or structural, that is, it can either be possessed by an individual or a structure or group and it functions principally for control: either positively or negatively. and then, power is socially situated. thus, fricker’s working conception of social power is, “a practically situated capacity to control other’s actions, where this capacity may be exercised (actively or passively) by particular social agents, or alternatively, it may be operated structurally”.15 be that as it may, fricker singles one form of social power which is identity power. whenever there is an operation of power that depends on some significant degree upon such shared imaginative conceptions of social identity, then identity power is at work.16 identity power comes to play on account of a certain position or class a person occupies. it is a form of authority and is a tool of control and sometimes silencing of the lesser other. for instance, identity power can be prominent in a patriarchal culture where women’s voice are diminished. in such a situation, when a woman speaks on an issue, prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 7 her position is not highly reckoned with, but once a man speaks, it is taken as authoritative. in such a situation, identity power can cause stereotypes. in this case, even before the woman speaks, her position is already distorted by this social stereotype as socially inferior or weaker. to conceive of this differently, if in such a situation, a man accuses a woman of something wrong in such a context, there is a primordial bias to accept the position of the man on the basis of his identity category. what is playing out here is identity power. it so happens in other social contexts. identity power, therefore, is an integral part of our testimonial exchanges, and it creates stereotypes in how we evaluate the judgments of those in certain identity or power category. such stereotypes embody prejudices; either creating credibility deficit or credibility excess and this is what fricker calls “prejudicial dysfunction in testimonial practice”17 in testimonial exchanges, fricker notes that prejudice can insinuate itself in a number of ways, but its main entry point is via stereotypes.18 stereotypes are generally neutral. they can have a positive or negative valence based on its context. epistemic practices and the priestly formation the understanding of prejudice from the foregoing explains its preponderance in the epistemic transaction whether positively or negatively. the implication of prejudice in such exchanges is that it influences understanding and judgment either positively or negatively. it generally creates a skewed way of viewing people especially in an epistemologically refracted lens and this causes harms or wrongs in epistemic practices and even sometimes injustice as fricker puts it, both testimonial and hermeneutical. these conversely affect how we form beliefs on people and what we count as knowledge in the long run. epistemic practices are understood to mean the different pathways in generating knowledge. put elaborately, epistemic practices “are the socially organized and interactionally accomplished ways that members of a group propose, communicate, assess, and legitimize knowledge claims”19 epistemic practices are therefore basically interactional in which case it is a construction among people. it is also contextual as it involves norms of a particular social system. it is also intertextual in which case it involves communication through a history of coherent discourse, signs and symbols. it is also 8 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age consequential in which case it both instantiates power and legitimize knowledge.20 karin knorr cetina expatiates on the concept in point by maintaining that epistemic practices are considered to be included in epistemic cultures, ‘the culture of knowledge settings’21, which are linked to and form the basis of a broader contemporary concept, the knowledge society. epistemic practices, therefore, are related to a frame of meaning which regulate people’s lives. it is this knowledge which determines what people do, how they are related to and what constitutes people’s actions. when we talk of epistemic practices in a given social context or background, we are referring to a framework of how knowledge is formed and applied. we also refer to all those pathways for arriving at these, including interpersonal epistemic transactions. therefore, as long as there is a social given, epistemic practices necessarily abound. our concern in epistemic practices in priestly formation is how we form knowledge about others especially with the operation of social power and also how we make sense of our social experiences. our concern also oscillates around how we think about our epistemic relations if they produce epistemic advantage or disadvantage especially within the context of priestly formation. in priestly formation, the seminary is the epistemic community in context. within this epistemic community are students (seminarians); those in training to become priests and formators; those training the students. there are a number of epistemic transactions that take place within this epistemic community; epistemic transaction between fellow students and between formators and students. the latter is of greater importance because in it there is a power play; the formator seen as superior. the epistemic transaction between the formator and student is important, that it ultimately helps in his overall evaluation and how his vocation is eventually discerned. since the factor of evaluation is at stake, the whole epistemic practice must be looked to see how testimonial excess or deficit can play a role in judgment and knowledge formation. one area of concern is how formators listen to their students’ concern and how the students make themselves known to their formators so as to be helped. another area is how the student can provide completely irrelevant information or provide a superfluous assessment of themselves and not allowing themselves to be known and assisted in the formation process. this can create a wrong epistemic relationship for assistance and support. the difficulty that can be created is a complicated prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 9 epistemic relationship sometimes arising from the compromising of information because of a prejudged understanding that such information can be used negatively against him. this kind of situation has a lot of consequences for the student and for the intended outcome of formation altogether.22 the practical implication is that this can jeopardise the opportunities of being properly assisted and eventually, the essence of the formation is in all defeated. another area in the epistemic practice within the seminary as an epistemic community is that there are sporadic cases of communicative failure which can lead to false belief and knowledge formation. this can be due to what i can regard as some gaps in the student-formator relationship. within this relationship, the power relations play a key role in either the widening of the gaps or its closure. once there is no proper management of the balance of power, it can lead to silencing sometimes of the student, leading to wrongs or harm in the epistemic relations. unless there exist an atmosphere of symmetric power relations, sometimes there cannot be openness in the relationship. the epistemic starting point for this discussion is that students (seminarians) can be vulnerable in the epistemic relationship and that prevalent stereotypes and prejudices within the structural framework of the seminary as an epistemic community, some are prejudices they have about the epistemic community which can hamper a holistic and healthy epistemic situation which in turn can hinder proper understanding of the student and eventually influence how he is judged or evaluated. a caveat must be established here that it is not the case that at all times seminarians are epistemically vulnerable or oppressed, but, that they can be susceptible to this based on the imbalance power relation that sometimes exists between the formator and the seminarian. it suffices to begin by identifying stereotype structures and practices that are generated and sustained in the seminary as an epistemic community. stereotypes are sometimes brewed from a warped understanding and belief that those who underperform within the system will not always be promoted for the orders that they are there for, regardless of the context. also, some are within the seminary community with a fixed understanding and stereotype that not all who begin can finish in the program. this creates a darwinian survival mentality; the survival of the fittest. again, since the process of assessment is basically done by formators and so, the students 10 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age sometimes could attempt to play a positive image before them, so a positive impression could be formed and consequently influence positively the judgement of them, without it being their true image and personality. the primary work of a formator is not to pass judgment, but to form. assessment is only part of this process of formation, it is not the principal role. to say that the students think this way, is a structural stereotype from what they have understood and interpreted over time. thus, the system has foisted a negative stereotype which reinforces a negative attitude in them. another stereotype can be that anyone who is found out to consistently manifest a negative or an unapproved behaviour would be dismissed from the community. this is an incomplete picture of the process, because, this runs contrary to what a seminary should be or of its formation program. however, this stereotype affects how the students, therefore, open up in the process. these stereotypes portray a wrong image of the epistemic community and of the epistemic relation between the student and formator. these kinds of stereotypes already create prejudice to the epistemic transaction and interaction. thus, there is epistemic distrust from the beginning of the interaction and this is an epistemic vice. there are other levels of stereotypes arising from the part of the formator to the student, based on certain understanding and experience in the past. this may sometimes be accidental, not habitual. for instance, to think that people from a certain region are poised to behave in a certain way, based on the experience of others from that area. there is also a case of testimonial excess, where a student who is academically sound is perceived as a morally balanced individual. his academic brilliance can create a situation of testimonial excess and a mirror or lens for seeing every other action of his in the light of brilliance. conversely, to think that a person who is not academically sound is not suitable enough in other areas and so judged on the basis of that alone. it suffices to say that stereotype can also be created systemically, wherein, much of what is known about the individual are relied upon by information and accounts about him from others, not necessarily a personal experience of the student. hypothetically speaking, in a situation where all the reports that have been written about the candidates are by people who have had a negative bias against the candidate in question, then, the formator may be relying on such a negatively biased report, unknown prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 11 to him to make an assessment. and so, if there are any pointers to such situations, whether confirmed or not, the formator is likely to admit it a sequence and moral difficulty of the candidate. here, we can find a case where negative bias is perpetuated and judgment formed on the basis of prejudicial dysfunctions. there are also possible situations where judgments about individuals are based on disparaging associations, social groups and one or more objectionable attributes, not just on the basis of an individual situation. when judgments are made on such merits, we sometimes can talk about a version of injustice fricker talks as the basic form of injustice; testimonial injustice.23 this situation as fricker and some commentators on fricker uphold can lead to credibility deficit; that whatever they say is viewed in this light with some prejudice. this can gradually lead to eroding the epistemic confidence of the speaker or group. if this situation endures, it can lead to a crush of their confidence in their epistemic capacities. “a person or group suffering from such a situation will not expect what they say to be heard, and in time might not speak at all, as the constant assault upon their testimonial practices gradually undermines their epistemic and social confidence”.24 this is the kind of situation that can sometimes lead to silencing of the other or speaker with the constant erosion of his epistemic confidence. this can pose some difficulty in the epistemic practice in the seminary. these are possible instantiations of structural stereotypes that build up our prejudices which eventually influence judgment and knowledge formation in the seminary as an epistemic community. one of the consequences of a negative stereotype is that it leads to a deflated level of credibility to the speakers’ word.25 in our case in point, stereotypes can cause either the student to be suspect of what the formator is saying or on the contrary, it can cause the formator to have a deficit of trust in what the student is saying. in any case, stereotypes create a prejudicial dysfunction and this weakens a complete epistemic situation for either a chance for a fair judgment or a balanced and comprehensive understanding of an epistemic transaction. stereotypes as fricker notes are windows for prejudices and the first it does is the impairment of listening. it functions on how we listen to others. for the lecturer, once he has a negative stereotype of a candidate, how he listens to him becomes lopsided or impaired. the same is true about the student, once he forms a prejudice about a 12 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age lecturer, he is always at a loosing end, not paying attention to details, but only listening with the wrong aid of his prejudice. he thinks of all the teacher says in the light of this. so, he becomes perpetually suspect of his contributions. this can be a major form of deflection for a wholesome epistemic interaction. this short-circuited interaction necessarily will lead to communicative failure as there would not be an anticipatory openness as gadamer recommends in dealing with prejudice rather, there would be anticipatory reticence and deflection. this outcome of such epistemic practice can only be incomplete, imbalance and an unproductive epistemic interaction. formation process in this context is skewed and lead to error. negative prejudice takes a progression not only for testimonial deficit, but can also lead to hermeneutical injustice. hermeneutical injustice is the second variant of epistemic injustice outlined by miranda fricker. this is the phenomenon that occurs “when the intelligibility of communicators is unfairly constrained or undermined when their meaning-making capacities encounter unfair obstacles”.26 fricker puts it as “when a gap in collective interpretative resources puts someone at an unfair advantage when it comes to making sense of their social experiences”.27 what is needed in this situation are epistemic practices that lead to openness, epistemic trust and testimonial justice. there is an entirely new way we can evaluate epistemic practices in the seminary as an epistemic community and this can be in the pedagogical exchange; the teaching-learning process. arguably, the formator as a teacher is considered as an epistemically privileged person possessing epistemic authority. the essence of this authority is to facilitate students’ learning. there are, however, ways within this mutual interaction that there are harms and wrongs due to prejudice both on the part of the student and on the part of the formator as a teacher. ben kotzee explains that epistemic harm or injustice could occur in such a relationship “if teachers systematically gave learners less epistemic credit than they deserve due to some negative identity prejudicial stereotype pertaining to learners in a particular setting”.28 epistemic credit, in this case, is understood as the testimonial value attached to a student. when teachers tend to place more value on some or a group of students at the expense of others, this can cause some level of epistemic harm. although this is peculiar to many pedagogical settings, there is a tendency to always give more attention to students who are brighter than others who are less prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 13 academically inclined. malcolm gladwell describes this as the matthew effect29 in his book, outliers.30 kotzee corroborates this point in detailed terms thus: teachers may give more epistemic credit to the views of students from epistemically privileged groups. on the testimonial level, they may believe or praise such students more often due to their identity as members of an epistemically privileged group. on the hermeneutical level, teachers, but more so, the school’s culture, language and ethos may give more credence to such students’ perspectives, engage more naturally with these perspectives and fail to comprehend the perspectives of less privileged students.31 conversely, there is another way that there can be epistemic harm on the part of students to teacher and even causing the student to be at a loss. once a student has a set of stereotypes about a teacher, it forms some negative prejudices against such a teacher and this becomes refraction that impairs his openness to learning because of his bias. this is another form of a detour in the student-formator epistemic transaction. from our analysis of epistemic practices in a seminary as an epistemic community, prejudicial dysfunctions play roles in impairing proper understanding of an epistemic situation and making the most of an epistemic exchange. the concern to have a wholesome epistemic situation is the concern of analytic epistemology. this leads us to the third part of our conversation, the contributions of anselm jimoh to the pursuit of genuine knowledge anselm jimoh and the pursuit of genuine knowledge the growing breakdown in epistemic practices reflects an increased need and relevance for the pursuit of genuine knowledge which is the goal of epistemology. the term, ‘genuine knowledge’ is specialized. in the analysis of knowledge, epistemologists talk of legitimate or genuine knowledge to differentiate it from unsubstantiated claims or knowledge that is not warranted. thus, “genuine”, “legitimate”, “warrant” are designates to protect the process that leads to knowledge formation. genuine knowledge is one that is free from the encumbrances of prejudice for instance and scepticism. this explains 14 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the role of justification as a condition for knowledge. efforts in understanding the justification condition have made some scholars talk about epistemology as a theory of justification. jimoh anselm is one scholar who has made substantial contributions to the subject matter of justification in epistemology. he maintains that epistemic justification describes when a person’s belief is in right standing with knowledge32. jimoh notes that epistemic justification clarifies or reduces doubt about the genuineness of our beliefs33. the question of epistemic justification lends itself to various understandings, interpretations and theories. justification is so central to our knowledge claims, yet, establishing a paradigm is very herculean. regardless of the inconclusiveness on the topic of justification, jimoh anselm subscribes to a context-dependent version of epistemic justification. in his article, “context-dependency of human knowledge: justification of an african epistemology”, he argues “that knowledge is ultimately dependent on some human and social factors, rather than being an objective, impersonal relation between the object known and the knowing subject.”34 the essence of context, consideration of human and social factors are at the heart of overcoming prejudice in our knowledge claims and this is the vision of anselm jimoh’s philosophical theorizing on justification. contextualism as a theory of justification reacts against the incoherency of coherentism and foundationalism as theories of epistemic justification. foundationalism holds that some beliefs are incorrigible and infallible and so do not need to be justified; those beliefs are said to be self-evident or derived from intuition.35 it suffices to say that prejudices act like foundational belief, that the epistemic agent, tend not to seek their justification because they are believed to be self-justifying or intuitive. however, it is precisely for this reason that foundationalism is criticized as an incomplete theory of justification. the most evident albatross for this theory is how some beliefs are infallible. similarly, in seeking justification and freedom from prejudicial dysfunctions, when all our beliefs are interrogated and a warrant is provided for them, then, our knowledge claims can be genuine. this is precisely the advocacy of contextualism as a theory of epistemic justification which anselm jimoh subscribes and promotes. it suffices to say, that jimoh anselm’s devotion in epistemology is for clearer grounds of belief or certitude and prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 15 dismantling grounds for doubt. this is the focus of what can be regarded as opus magnum or one of his most cited work, certitude and doubt: a study guide in epistemology.36 through this work, he treats key themes in epistemology which can aid the acquisition of certitude in our knowledge claims and the diminishing or elimination of doubts in epistemology. it suffices to say that jimoh devotes special attention to african epistemology. african epistemology takes to cognizance the epistemic peculiarities of the african man as an epistemic agent. it, therefore, analyses issues, concepts and perspectives in epistemology from an african perspective. in fact, he advanced in one of his papers, “an african theory of knowledge”. 37 in this work, he reinforces his position advanced by his subscription to the contextualist thesis of justification by further advancing that “our knowledge claims among traditional africans are not validated in objectivist terms, as required by rationalists and empiricists, but with regards to the habits and customs of the people.38 it suffices to cite jimoh in some details: justification in african epistemology is culture-bound and therefore context-dependent. the truth-value or falsity of our epistemic claims is ultimately dependent on factors that are human, social and culture-based. an appraisal of the factors discussed above gives us a clear assessment of rational certainty. african epistemologists should consider the role played by the human person and the society in establishing our knowledge claims. there are no epistemic claims whose justification rests wholly on the prescribed objectivist terms of the rationalist and empiricist as seen in traditional western epistemology. if the justification of our knowledge claims is situated within social practices, we would no longer think of knowledge, truth and rational certainty in abstract terms. therefore, there would be no need to study these concepts independent of the factors alleged as necessary conditions for human knowledge.39 the submission of jimoh with reference to the justification of our knowledge claims is that both the social and cultural parameters must 16 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age be assessed and analysed if we must get at genuine knowledge. this is giving a place to the context in seeking justification. when we have an objective lens with which we want to see or pursue certainly, we cannot but create stereotypes or have set foundations with which each situation is judged. this is what fosters prejudice; making judgements from stereotypes. if we can examine issues and epistemic contents within each given context, as jimoh advances, we certainly would be on a path for a holistic epistemic portrait in our epistemic practices. the contributions of jimoh apart from advancing a picture for our search for certitude has also helped in reconstructing, what he considered as fractured indigenous knowledge systems (iks). by indigenous knowledge system, jimoh explicates is “the system of investigating, understanding, assimilating and attributing african conception of reality that is distinctively african and philosophical.”40 as part of his project in pursuit of genuine knowledge and certainty, jimoh seeks to also reconstruct the fractured epistemological template by which africans evaluate their epistemic experiences. this was a kind of objective lens with which they investigate, interrogate and evaluate knowledge practices. western logic, models and paradigms were the objective epistemological lens african hitherto used. this he believed caused epistemological silencing41, which is also known as epistemic injustice. this epistemic injustice which was caused by the bequest of a monochrome logic of western epistemology as either a lens, foundation or stereotype for evaluating african indigenous knowledge practices fractured our african epistemology. his efforts at a reconstruction of the fractured epistemology were advocacy of taking the african context, culture and circumstances to cognizance. this is a further search of genuine knowledge in african epistemology and the breaking down of the walls of stereotypes and prejudices which impair our vision for a holistic epistemic picture. it suffices to say that jimoh’s quest for genuine knowledge is also evident in his contributions to the priestly formation and vocation. one very notable important contribution to this is in his article, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese”42. he highlights some misgivings in priestly formation today and advanced ways for a correct understanding of what it should be. he notes: ‘redefining the priesthood is not an option. if things are not as they should be, the option is to go back to the roots and make them what prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 17 they ought to be”.43 it is clear that the vision of jimoh over time has been the reconstruction of fracture epistemic templates both for how we arrive at knowledge claims and what the priesthood should be. concluding remarks this paper has discussed common dysfunctions in our epistemic practices and how they lead to prejudice. it has been elaborately stated in this paper that prejudice refracts our understanding and impairs us from achieving a holistic epistemic picture. although prejudice, at least, philosophically speaking is not itself negative, however, when used as an end, a judgment in itself, it always brings about an incomplete or partial understanding. stereotypes reinforce prejudice and until we get rid of stereotypes, our understanding will keep being impaired by prejudice, what francis bacon calls the “idols of the mind”. taking a seminary as an epistemic community as this work has established, both stereotypes and prejudice can refract a balanced view of things and the consequence is harms and wrongs done at certain levels. apart from various harms and wrongs certainty or genuine knowledge also becomes scarce. the pursuit for knowledge that is warranted has become exigent in contemporary analytic epistemology since the epochal challenge by edmund gettier44 that the tripartite traditional conditions for knowledge, namely, “belief”, “truth” and “justification” although individually and jointly necessary, are not always jointly sufficient for knowledge. with gettier’s hypothetical interrogation of the traditional understanding of knowledge, it has become expedient to tighten the grounds for our knowledge claims. this is the concern for “genuine knowledge”. prejudice can sometimes lead to knowledge but one that is not warranted. hence, the focus in contemporary analytic epistemology for genuine knowledge. anselm jimoh, the silver jubilarian is a consummate epistemologist who has pursued the vision for genuine knowledge in epistemology as an intellectual focus in general and in different epistemic contexts in particular. with his advocacy of epistemic contextualism, he has made clearer the vision for genuine knowledge as an epistemic possibility. through his works, he has pursued activism against the objectification of means for knowledge. he further has self-engaged in a reconstruction of fractured epistemic portraits of different epistemic pictures, including those fractured by 18 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age stereotypes and prejudice. his epistemic template of contextualdependency for justification of our knowledge is what this work has advanced for a reconstruction of the fractured epistemic situations in priestly formation. in synopsis, therefore, in priestly formation, the taking of an individual context, background and situations are important if we must get the best from the formation process. in our epistemic transactions in priestly formation, if we undermine context, there would be different harms, wrongs and deficits that would be incurred in the process. therefore, each epistemic interaction must be subject to individual contextual clarification, interrogation and justification. if we keep having beliefs that are foundational or incorrigible, then we cannot make the most from our epistemic exchanges. but, if we subscribe to the advocacy of anselm jimoh for context-based interaction and justification in our epistemic practices, then, even if we cannot get a complete or holistic epistemic picture or certitude, we are sure to have diminished the embers of errors and wrongs in our epistemic exchange. the resultant outcome would be a healthy outlook and basis for discussing other issues in priestly formation. endnotes 1 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, oxford: oxford university press, 2007. 2 mirander fricker, “precisepistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing” in theoria, 61, 2008: 69-71 3 anja steinbauer, “the false mirror: a brief history of prejudice” in philosophy now, issue 123, december 2017/january 2018, retrieved on october 13, 2019 https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/the_false_mirror_a_brief_history_of_p rejudice 4 rené descartes, meditations on first philosophy, ed. stanley tweyman, new york: routlegde, 1993, p. 36, translated by elisabeth s haldane and g.r.t ross). 5 voltaire on prejudice as cited in “prejudice, philosophies and language: spinoza and his strategy of liberation”, conference proceedings in nordicummediterraneum, icelandic e-journal of nordic and meditterranean studies https://nome.unak.is/wordpress/volume-12-no-3-2017/conference-proceedingvolume-12-no-3-2017/prejudices-philosophies-language-spinoza-strategiesliberation/#_edn2 https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/the_false_mirror_a_brief_history_of_prejudice https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/the_false_mirror_a_brief_history_of_prejudice prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 19 6 anja steinbauer, “the false mirror: a brief history of prejudice” ibid. 7 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, second, revised edition, london: continuum, 1975. p. 270 8 cynthia r. nielsen, “gadamer and fricker on prejudice and testimonial injustice” in https://www.academia.edu/40149778/gadamer_and_fricker_on_prejudice_and _testimonial_injustice 9 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, 271 10 hans-georg gadamer, truth and method, 273 11 cynthia r. nielsen, “gadamer and fricker on prejudice and testimonial injustice” ibid. 12 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 9-17 13 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 9 14 michael foucault contests this understanding of power as operative even when not put into use. foucault generally holds that power exists only when put into action. see, michael foulcault, beyond structuralism and hermeneutics, hemel hempstead: haverster press, 1982. 15 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 13 16 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 17 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 18 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 14 19 gregory j kelly and peter licona, “epistemic practices and science education” in michael r. matt history, philosophy and science education, dordrecht: springer international publishing, 2018. 139-165. 20 gregory j. kelly and peter licon, “epistemic practices and science education” ibid. 21 knorr cetina, k. “knowledge cultures” in m. jacobs and n weiss hanrahan (eds), the blackwell companion to the sociology, oxford: blackwell, 2005. 65-79. see also, inger eriksson and viveca lindberg, “enriching ‘learning activy with ‘epistemic practices’enhancing students’ epistemicy agency” in nordic journal of studies in educational policy, 2016, 1, doi:10.3402/nstep.v2.32432 22 ian james kidd and havi carel dissussed this kind of situation happening in conditions of illness or healthcare and medicine. this is discussed in at least two of their papers, namely, ian james kidd and havi carel “epistemic injustice and illness” in david coady and miranda fricker (eds.), applied epistemology, a special issue of the journal of applied philosophy, 33 (4), 2016, 172-190. also, havi carel and ian james kidd, “epistemic injustice in medicine and healthcare, in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, (eds.) the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, new york: taylor and francis group, 2017, 336-346. 23 miranda fricker, epistemic injustic: power and the ethics of knowing, 35 20 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 24 ian james kidd and havi carel, “epistemic injustice and illness” in david coady and miranda fricker (ed), ibid, 177. see also, miranda fricker, epistemic injustic: power and the ethics of knowing, 47-48. 25 see, miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 17 26 jose medina, “ varieties of hermeneutical injustice” in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, ibid. 41. 27 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 1 28 ben kotzee, “education and epistemic injustice” in in ian james kidd, jose medina and gaile pohlhaus, the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice, ibid. 326 29 the matthew effect is based on the biblical principle of st. matthew “for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”—matthew 25:29 30 malcolm gladwell, outliers: the story of success, new york: little, brown and company, 2008, 15-34 31 ben kotzee, “ education and epistemic injustice”, 327 32jimoh anselm, “on the question of justification in knowledge enquiry” in nasara journal of philosophy (najop), 2.1, 2017, 9-25 33 jimoh anselm, “on the question of justification in knowledge enquiry” 10 34 jimoh anselm, “context-dependency of human knowledge: justification of an african epistemology” in west african journal of philosophical studies, vol. 2, 1999, 18-37 35 kolawole owolabi, “the nature of epistemology” in issues and problems in philosophy, kolawole owolabi (ed.), ibadan: grovacs network, 2000, 64. 36 jimoh anselm, certitude and doubt: a guide in epistemology, ibadan: ebony books and kreations, 2013. this text has been revised and expanded in its second edition, jimoh anselm, certitude and doubt: a guide in epistemology, benin: floreat systems, 2017.. 37 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge” in themes, issues and problems in african philosophy, isaac ukpokolo (ed), switzerland: palgrave macmilliam, 2017, 121-136. 38 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge”, 135. 39 jimoh anselm, “an african theory of knowledge”, 138 40 jimoh anselm, “reconstructing a fractured indigeneous knowledge system” in synthesis philosophica, 65 .1, 2018. 5–22 41 jimoh anselm, “reconstructing a fractured indigeneous knowledge system” ibid, 5 42 jimoh anselm, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese” in j. a. onimhawo and f. e. ikhianosime (eds), diocese of auchi at ten: history, growth and perspectives, ibadan: safmos publishers, 2013. 31-53. prejudicial dysfunctions, epistemic practices and priestly… 21 43 jimoh anselm, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria…”, 53 44 edmund gettier, "is justified true belief knowledge?" analysis 23. 6 (1963): 121-123 22 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 2 philosophy and priestly formation isaac ehaleoye ukpokolo ought not a minister to have, first a good understanding, a clear apprehension, a sound judgment, and a capacity of reasoning with some closeness…. is not some acquaintance with what has been termed the second part of logic, (metaphysics), if not so necessary as [logic itself], yet highly expedient? should not a minister be acquainted with at least the general grounds of natural philosophy? john wesley, address to the clergy1 introduction i consider it simply appropriate to bring into a discourse titled ‘formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age’, some candid reflections on the place of philosophy in priestly formation, particularly as attempts have been made in some quarters to represent certain aversion to reason when matters of faith come up. this is known to manifest not only in popular arguments and street conversations but even among pastors, preachers and teachers at bible schools and christian communities as noted above by john wesley. from manifest experience, to embrace faith without reason would either produce a fundamentalist mindset or a fanatical disposition, while of course, reason without faith would either lead to agnosticism or atheism. after all, an act of faith is an intelligent act.2 and in catechism of the catholic church (ccc 155) we are admonished that philosophy and priestly formation 23 “in faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by god through grace. and, i take it to be a privilege to be invited to do an essay in this regard, particularly in honour of a renowned philosopher, teacher and preacher of our time. for me, that an essay on philosophy and priesthood is relevant in contemporary times, stands evident in the light of a number of encounters i have personally had. i would mention just two of many occasions. first, many years ago, i was introduced by a professor of medicine at the university college hospital (u.c.h) ibadan to a woman who was introduced to me as the wife of the founder of “faith clinic,” a worship centre at ibadan city. hearing that i am a philosopher she exclaimed: “so, you don’t believe in god?” yet, i could not readily relate my identity as a philosopher with atheism. i took the time to explain to her and allay her fears. well, i hope i succeeded. the second instance occurred in israel, while on a pilgrimage to the holy land, leading a group of catholic charismatic renewal members, where i was serving as national president of the group and co-ordinator of anglophone west africa. the tour guide could not hide his astonishment when i disclosed to him that i am a teacher of philosophy, not only in a university but also in a catholic major seminary in nigeria. his question was, “how do you manage the marriage between philosophy and catholic charismatic spirituality?” my response was simple, “philosophy and catholic charismatic spirituality are faithful spouses in me; complimenting and mutually assisting”. “philosophy endowed me with reasoning capacity, leading me to the reasonableness of faith”. catholic charismatic spirituality, on the other hand, intervenes in my encounter with reality, with truths, and the good when reason becomes impotent and unable to lead me on. for instance, we say seeing is believing, but i dare to say, it is not. we must believe that a thing is possible before we should believe it even though we saw it (john 20:29)3. and so, in this essay, i attempt to highlight the place of philosophy in priestly formation. for the avoidance of doubt, it is not possible to establish in one essay of less than five thousand (5,000) words, all that philosophy has to do in priestly formation. i would just attempt to identify specific areas in philosophy, and how these areas stand relevant to the training of priest for the church. thus, i do not intend to go into the history of the relationship between 24 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age philosophy and priestly formation, or how and when it started, i would rather attempt some highlight in the relationship. i begin with the question of methodology, wherein critical thinking and sceptical attitude are brought in as philosophical ideals. i then go further to represent certain epistemic modes required for dealing with the surrounding reality. next is an attempt to establish the need for a given metaphysics at every point in our daily experience. the essay goes further to examine some ethical stances in relating with others. finally, i present in a nutshell, that philosophy in its appeal to reason, does not deny the application of faith in our daily experiences, and vice versa. all these, stand necessary not only as points of direction for pastoral ministries outside the catholic church but even in the catholic church that is usually seen as the church wherein the ideal church subsist. priestly formation project the entire training of students (at priestly formation) should be oriented to the formation of true shepherds of souls after the model of our lord jesus christ, teacher, priest and shepherd. they are therefore to be prepared for the ministry of the word: that they might understand ever more perfectly the revealed word of god; that, meditating on it they might possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and in example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that through their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they might perfect the work of salvation through the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make christ present to men, him who did not “come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (mark 10:45;cf. john 13:12-17), and that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more (cf. 1 cor. 9:19). therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards this pastoral end.4 philosophy and priestly formation 25 perhaps, a rather succinct statement of the above representation of the project of priestly formation is that, the entire training is meant to produce men of proven integrity, strength of character and wisdom of the ancients as espoused in the scripture as well as in the teaching authority of the church dedicated to the service of god and his people. it is however very pertinent to note that such candidates are taken from among men – from specific human contexts, which inevitably influenced them; and to these same contexts, the priests are sent for the service of the people.5 yet, the life and ministry of these men must adapt to every era and circumstance of life.6 such is the ground, as well as the goal of priestly education to bring forth the ‘seed’ of god in the person. the term ‘education’ to be sure, derives from the latin word educare or educo ere, which means ‘to bring out’. and so, to educate a person is to bring forth a reality that lies latent in the being. thus understood, the idea of education invokes a certain kind of platonic innatism assisted through effective instruction and learning to be brought forth to manifest in words, thoughts and actions. it could be added here, that, the term education derives from the same root as ‘exodus’ implying a sort of liberation. the foregoing conception of education as a process is brought to bear on the candidate for priesthood in the seminary. as generally understood, the word ‘seminary’ derives from the latin semine which means ‘seed’. the seminary is thus the ground – the nursery – wherein the seeds are sown: the seminarians as it were are seeds, nurtured and carefully bred through watering, pruning, fertilizing, weeding and even grafting until they bloom with the best of values both in faith and reason. the place of philosophy according to bertrand russell, the conceptions of life, and the world, we call “philosophical” are a product of two factors: one, inherited religious and ethical conception; the other, the sort of investigation which may be called “scientific”.7 individual philosophers have differed widely in regard to the proportions in which these two factors entered into their systems, but it is the presence of both, to some degree, that characterizes philosophy.8 the point here is that faith and reason are not necessarily mutually exclusive as it is believed in certain quarters of human culture. philosophy is something overlapping between theology and science.9 like theology, it consists 26 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable: but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation.10 thus understood, definite knowledge belongs to science, while all dogmas as to what surpasses definite knowledge belong to theology. yet, interpenetrating the spaces of science and theology is philosophy. for the purpose of clarity, philosophy by its etymology is the love of wisdom. but this is not the same thing as love of knowledge, in the sense in which an inquisitive man may be said to love knowledge; “vulgar curiosity does not make a philosopher.” and so, properly defined, philosophy is the love of the ‘vision of truth’. and here lies the meeting point of faith and reason. in the light of reason, philosophy employs the aid of critical thinking, endowing the human person with the power of disciplined thought life, an important fruit of college education. critical thinking fosters high-order active, intelligent evaluation of ideas and information. more precisely, it is the general term given to a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual disposition needed to effectively identify, analyse and evaluate beliefs and truth claims; to discover and overcome personal preconception and biases; to formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusion, and to make reasonable, intelligent decision about what to believe and what to do.11 put somewhat differently, “critical thinking is governed by certain intellectual standards such as; clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness and fairness.”12 all these, present philosophy as an activity – a critical, rational reflection on already existing beliefs employing the tools of logic, language and rigour. by these we get easily acquainted with ideas as friedrich von schelling would say: the fear of speculation, the ostensible rush from the theoretical to the practical, brings about the same shallowness in action that it does in knowledge. it is by studying a strictly theoretical philosophy that we become most immediately acquainted with ideas, and only ideas provide action with energy and ethical significance.13 philosophy and priestly formation 27 from the above, those ideas that provide human actions with energy and ethical significance are arrived at through theoretical philosophising employing the tools of critical thinking. in addition to critical thinking as a mindset, is the closely related disposition of scepticism. this is perhaps one of the reasons why it is assumed that philosophy or reason is averse to faith. however, it is important to stress here that, the sceptical attitude referred to here is not the reckless rejection of absolute deity by the atheist, neither is it the methodic doubt of rene descartes, who derives the existence of the absolute deity from the ego rather than the ego from the existence of the absolute deity. this scepticism of philosophical prescription is not the scepticism of david hume who in attempt to take empiricism to its logical conclusion rejected the essence of causality, the practice of induction and the projection that the future could resemble the past, thereby creating a problematic at the very foundation of scientific knowledge. of course, it is not the scepticism of the sophist indicating some reckless current of relativism and its related tyranny. the scepticism here referred to in philosophical prescription is the scepticism of george santayana. his words: scepticism is an exercise, not a life; it is a discipline fit to purify the mind of prejudice and render it all the more apt, when the time comes, to believe and to act wisely; and meantime the pure sceptic need take no offence at the multiplicity of images that crowd upon him, if he is scrupulous not to trust them and to assert nothing at their prompting. scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through a long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness.14 from the above, philosophy prepares a mind to engage its reality – material, social, spiritual-, with care and caution, fairness and modesty, firmness and rigour, and yet, a readiness to consider what is before it. in other words, the mind encounters the environment with a certain epistemic mode characterized by respect for ‘the other’. what 28 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this means is that philosophy equips the candidate undergoing priestly training and formation with certain methodological skills, cognitive mode, metaphysical grounding and moral attitude. this is the contribution of philosophy to the wholistic development and formation of the priest. having highlighted the nature of the methodological skills (critical thinking and sceptical attitude) in the preceding paragraphs, it is now time to examine the cognitive or epistemic mode onto which the candidate is introduced. here the question is that of ‘epistemology’, or ‘theory of knowledge’. and, the history of epistemology reconstructed as a judicial hearing would be deciding one singular question: how is reliable knowledge possible? and by extension, how are we to differentiate knowledge (episteme) from mere opinion (doxa) as we are more rationally right to depend on knowledge rather than opinion. the one who possesses the knowledge, possesses knowledge of something, that is to say, of something that exists, as what does not exist is nothing.15 to be sure, knowledge or ‘episteme’ is always true and is infallible, as it is logically impossible for it to be mistaken. however, opinion or ‘doxa’ can be mistaken. opinion cannot be of what is not, for that is impossible; nor of what is, for then it would be knowledge.16 if this is so, an opinion must be of what both is and is not. but how is this possible? bertrand russell responds: particular things always partake of opposite characters: what is beautiful is also, in some respects, ugly; what is just is, in some respects, unjust; and so on. all particular sensible objects, so plato contends, have this contradictory characters, they are thus intermediate between being and not-being, and are suitable as objects of opinion, but not of knowledge. “but those who see the absolute and eternal and immutable may be said to know, and not to have opinion only. thus we arrive at the conclusion that opinion is of the world presented to the senses, whereas knowledge is of super-sensible eternal world; for instance, opinion is concerned with particular beautiful things, but knowledge is concerned with beauty in itself.17 philosophy and priestly formation 29 to this extent, philosophy arms the human mind with the capacity to transcend particular, sensible, transient, context-dependent objects and phenomena to locate the pure, eternal immutable reality. in the light of this epistemic mode, the mind is able to engage the vision of truth which is the task of philosophy. the foregoing present a strong link between epistemology and metaphysics or ontology which has to do with the nature of reality in itself or the study of being. ontology, for instance, has been characterized as the study of the most general kinds that exist in the universe. usually, the emphasis has been on demarcation: which candidate for existence really does exist. aristotle and plato disagreed in their answers, and philosophers have gone on disagreeing ever since. think of w. v. o. quine’s ontological aphorism, “to be is to be the value of a variable.”18 ontology in itself is an aspect of metaphysics, that branch of philosophy that inquires into the general fundamental normative principles of reality, and how this can be distinguished from appearance. the conception of the reality we have is very functional in the way we relate with the world and our environment in general. it is my belief that every position held and maintained rests on a given metaphysics be it personal, social, political, intellectual, moral or relational, all must rest on some metaphysics, although one may not know this. thus, it is very important to have epistemic consciousness of one’s guiding metaphysics.19 in examining the nature of reality, we do not aim at a detailed knowledge of particular things, such as the special sciences might give, but rather at an outline conception of reality within which all knowledge of particular things must fall, and by which such knowledge must be judged. there are certain general conceptions which make up at once the framework of knowledge at the framework of existence. such are the categories of being and cause, change and identity, space and time: and our knowledge of particular things would depend on the conception we form of these basic categories. on its part, epistemology has shown them to be principles of thought while metaphysics on its part inquires into their real significance. metaphysics as an area of discourse consist in a study of the ontological meaning of the categories, either in themselves or in their specification, thereby marking off its field of concern from that of the special sciences.20 30 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age part of the reality encountered by our minds is human. and so, philosophy projects that branch of discourse that aids the human person to relate with other human persons. this is the area of ethics or moral philosophy concerned with bringing to the fore, those general fundamental normative, immutable principles of behaviour, distinguishing right from wrong, just from unjust, good from evil as we relate with one another. of course, it has been argued in some quarters, that the moral life did not begin by laying down general principles or conduct, but by forming codes of concrete duties. duties to parents, children, neighbours, and nations. these were the concrete forms in which the moral nature first manifested itself, and in which also is still finds its chief expression. in this respect, it is argued, the moral life is analogous to the mental life, which does not begin with abstract speculative principles, or with theories of knowledge, but with specific acts of knowing. in both alike, the knowledge of principles was second and not first; and in both alike principles were implicit from the beginning.21 and so, it is suggested here that, these implicit nature or principles from the beginning makes the search for some overarching ground totalizing framework of reference for moral actions not only necessary but innate in us. and such is the object of focus of the human mind to which a seminarian is exposed. these are normative, axiomatic and fundamental assumptions, precepts, theories and procedures of right action. three of the leading moral ideas are: the good, duty, and virtue. each of these is essential in a system which is to express the complete moral consciousness of a people. where there is no good to be reached by action, there can be no rational duty, and without the notion of duty, the idea of virtue vanishes. furthermore, where there is no sense of duty, but only a calculation of consequences, we would have merely a system of prudence. this may be good enough in a way but lacks moral quality. such conduct may be natural and allowed but it is not virtuous. for in such conduct, we miss the reference to a moral agent. it is a matter of wit and shrewdness only and is not a manifestation of virtuous character.22 these later attitudes and dispositions the seminarians are trained to approach with leprosorial disdain. philosophy and priestly formation 31 faith and science the life of the catholic christian and indeed, the life of a priest in the catholic church is a life of faith. it is a form of life in which the individual agent understands himself first as a contingent being whose existence and those of other beings (human and non-human) proceeds from the being of the supreme god who originates and sustains the entirety of reality. since the priest more specifically receives a vocation to propagate this faith in the providence of god who sustains all things in the universe; one who aspires to be a priest, therefore, must as a matter of necessity be an exemplar of faith in god. yet, the man of faith also lives in a contemporary world that is also driven by the advancements of science. by science, reference is made here to the totality of knowledge which comes to us through the deployment of ratio – reason. here, a distinction is therefore made between matters of faith and science. given the differing methods of faith and science (reason) the debate about the compatibility (if any) of the both has continued even unto contemporary times. we are better off when we conceive of faith and science has being endowments given to the human person by god. hence, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. since the same god who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, god cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. in this connection, pope (st.) john paul ii in the opening of his encyclical letter, fides et ratio stated that “faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.”23 reason here is not restricted only to the activities of the natural sciences; it rather includes the logical ratiocinations that are typically characteristic of philosophical inquiries into ultimate reality. insight from the catechism of the catholic church is apt in this regard: methodical research in all branches of knowledge provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith are derived from the same god. the humble and preserving investigator of the secrets of 32 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of god in spite of himself, for it is god, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.24 the seminarian, therefore, is not formed only to perform parochial duties without the use of reason. i dare to say here that the entirety of the mission of a priest is short-circuited if his activities are not moderated by the use of reason which itself is god’s own gift. the onus is therefore on formators to underscore this important aspect of a holistic formation of priests which combines faith in god with the rational faculties which the same god has bequeathed to humanity. the one in formation too must gradually develop an understanding of the complementarity of the gifts of faith and reason and the importance of both gifts for the nurturing of a divine vocation. concluding remarks it would be rather odd to end this reflection without pointing out some practical signposts by which philosophy is identified in the training of priests. first of such is that the activity of philosophising aids us in the task of apologetics25 – the task of giving a reasoned defence of christian theism in the light of objections raised against it and offering positive evidence on its behalf (1 pet. 3:15). this has to do with making a reasoned articulation of the faith and be ready to disarm any attacks mounted against it. second, philosophy also is meant to aid us in the task of polemics. whereas apologetics involves the defence of christian faith, polemics is the task of criticizing and refuting alternative views of the world.26 third, philosophy is very central to an expression of the image of god in us. this image refers to god as a rational being.27 fourth, philosophy in priestly training curriculum permeates systematic theology and serves as its hand made in several ways. it helps to add clarity to the concepts of systematic theology.28 a fifth consideration is that the discipline of philosophy facilitates the spiritual discipline of study. study is itself a spiritual discipline, and the very act of study can change the self.29 anyone who undergoes the discipline of study lives through certain types of experiences where certain skills are developed through habitual study: framing an issue, solving problems, learning how to weigh a piece of evidence and eliminate irrelevant factors, cultivate the ability to see important distinctions instead of blurring them, and so on. the discipline of philosophy and priestly formation 33 philosophy also aids in the development of certain virtues and values. sixth, philosophy can enhance the boldness and self-image of the christian community in general.30 finally, discipline is most essential for the task of integration to blend or form into a whole. in this sense, integration occurs when one’s belief, primarily rooted in scripture, are blended and unified with propositions judged as rational from other sources into a coherent intellectually adequate christian world views.31 i have in this essay attempted to show that the various elements of critical thinking, which itself generates a positive form of scepticism, and the need to understand the importance of ontology in the grounding of reality, are all crucial to the development of a culture of philosophising which in itself is always at the service of the christian gospel and its ministers. the necessary connection between ethics and human relation was also briefly drawn in view of the nature of the ministry of priests to which seminarians aspire to embrace. i have insisted here on the complementarity of faith and reason in the human quest for truth and meaning. these various elements highlight the importance of philosophical reasoning to priestly formation. indeed, these various elements are means to a wholistic formation of priests. i like to restate that priestly formation is always a continuum which does not cease at ordination to the priesthood but continues through a lifetime. just like the church that is always being reformed, the priest too continues to be reformed by applying himself to the demands of faith and reason as the times demand. the result of such continuous reformation is always a christian community whose roots grow deeper in the soil while bearing a variety of good fruits for the wellbeing of god’s creation. endnotes 1 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 11 2 anthony a. akinwale ‘on the relationship between faith and reason’, in academia.edu. ibadan 3 oswald chambers making all things new (hants: oswald chambers publications association & marshall moegan and scott) pp. 34 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 4 pope paul vi ‘decree on priestly training optatam totius’ proclaimed by his holiness, (1965), no.4 5 pastores dabo vobis ‘pastoral exhortation of john paul ii’ no. 5 6 pastores dabo vobis ‘pastoral exhortation of john paul ii’ no. 5 7 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy (new york: simon & schuster, 1945), 10 8 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 9 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 10 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy“ 10 11 gregory bassham, william irwin, henry nardone, james m. wallace critical thinking a student’s introduction (new york: mcgraw hill companies, 2013), 1 12 richard paul, critical thinking: what every person needs to survive in a rapidly changing world (rohnert park, ca: centre for critical thinking and moral critique, 1990), 51-52 13 friedrich w. j. von schelling, werke, ed. manfred schroter (munich: beck, 1958 -59), 3:299 14 george santayana scepticism and animal faith introduction to a system of philosophy (new york: dover publication, 1955), 69-70 15 bertrand resells a history of western philosophy (new york: simon & schuster, 1945), 10 16 bertrand resell “a history of western philosophy“ 11 17 bertrand russell “a history of western philosophy“ 11 18 ian hacking, historical ontology (london: harvard university press, 2002), 1-2 19 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),1 20 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),2 21 borden parker bowne, metaphysics (new york: american book co., 1910),2 22 borden parker bowne, principles of ethics (new york: american book co., 1892), 1-2 23 john paul ii, fides et ratio: on the relationship between faith and reason, (1998), no. 1 24 catechism of the catholic church , no. 159 25 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 14 26 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 14 27 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 14 28 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 14-15 29 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 15 30 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, “philosophical foundation” 15 31 moreland j. p. and william lane craig, philosophical foundation for a christian worldview (illinois: intervarsity press, 2003), 15 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 35 c h a p t e r 3 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science: priestly formation and the praxis of eruditio1 stan-william oshiozekhai ede human formation ought to have as its aim the fuller development of priests’ humanity so that their humanity can be a “bridge” for communicating jesus christ to men and women today … human formation entails contact with the culture: the arts, sciences, and politics of human life. these studies and involvements keep priests in touch with their own lives and the lives of those whom they serve.2 introduction the myriads of contrasting opinions that have trailed the agelong questions of existence and essence inevitably engender endless arguments regarding the fons et origo, hypostasis and goal of nature. the argumentative enterprise thereof has for many centuries been borne on the wings of dialectics between faith and reason, a core ground for the infinite catalogues of diverse and divisive views about the universe and our place in it. the calls for a separation between the two categories of faith and reason have been well-matched or sometimes even outmatched by the quest to strike a healthy balance or lasting accord between them. such a quest which is believed to be a potential icebreaker for the unity of ideas and universal harmony has been one of the most challenging tasks of humankind. 36 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in contemporary times, the scientific, technological and internet revolutions have taken the challenge beyond the intellectual realm, situating it within the very core of our day-to-day existence. attempts to create a chasm between religious truths and scientific truths is changing the world, evident not in the gradual loss of the sense of the sacred but also in the befuddled clime that currently besets the human sense of morality. this will get worse if we do not confront the general misconceptions that reason and faith on the one hand, and religion and science, on the other hand, are contraries on bipolar ends of the spectrum respectively, and incapable of meeting without conflict. what is frequently lost in all these misconceptions, however, is that both the history of philosophy and the history of science are rich with christian thinkers and scholars, and at the same time the progress of both disciplines have been facilitated and enriched through the centuries by christian thinkers and scholars. as a matter of fact, from the early history of christianity till date, christian scholars have been at the forefront, made remarkable breakthroughs, and registered indelible impacts in the disciplines of philosophy and science. while great christian philosophers and thinkers like st. augustine, st. anselm and a host of others are very well known, there is incontrovertible evidence that christianity provided the ideal culture for the origin of modern science. this paper will discuss a few christian philosophers and scholars whose works made a leading impact in the discipline of philosophy, and some of the top scientists who happen to be christians whose works also revolutionized modern science. the aim is not only to show that christianity has been, and is still, at the forefront of philosophy and science, but to sound a wake-up call to today’s generation of seminarians and priests who have been trained in philosophy and various other disciplines, to engage in active eruditio, so as to perpetuate the trend and to imprint positive impacts upon the changing world for the overall betterment of humankind. that is to say, besides the religious functions of saving souls, we can commit the fruits of our training to active scholarship and scholarly productions, tirelessly until those efforts combine into a supernova force that is strong enough to rewrite the world’s changing narrative and restructure the world on the prop of a healthy faith albeit human and technological progress. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 37 1. the biblical-christian perspective on philosophy and science for a christian, the logic and assumptions of philosophy, as well as the characteristics and assumptions of science are founded on the belief that the universe was created by the almighty god who is faithful and consistent. the creation of the universe by the all-powerful, intelligent god (cf. gen 1:1-2:4¸wis 13:2-9) explains why the universe is so intelligible and open to our scientific investigation. in addition to the belief that the universe was created by god, both the old testament and the new testament of the bible are so rich in ‘cosmology’ and ‘cosmological’ motifs that serve to explain the world and the real effects behind the natural order of things. in the old testament, motifs drawn from astral reflection are almost certainly present in places like isaiah 14 and ezekiel 28. although the worship of heavenly bodies are regularly condemned, yet the foundational text of gen 1:14 leaves room for positive engagement with ancient astronomy, which could, of course, stretch easily into more astrological speculations based on the ‘threeheavens’ scheme of creation. the first heaven is the firmament, the part closest to the earth (cf. gen 1:8), the second heaven is the home of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars (cf. deut 4:19), and the third heaven is where god the most high dwells (cf. isa 14:13; also 2 cor 12:2). the supremacy of yhwh meanwhile, could be effectively demonstrated by noting that he is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who calls the stars by name, the lord of the heavenly host.3 drawing upon the old testament foundation, the new testament carries the cosmological reflection even further. in the prayer of the community, the creation is chanted as one of the magnalia dei (acts 4:24; cf. rev 4:11; 10:6; 14:7),4 with a plan for the fullness of time in which god will unite all things, both in heaven and on earth, in christ (eph 1:10). when perspectives from both the old testament and the new testament are brought together, one would imagine that the holy grail of biblical cosmology was the precise determination of the number of ‘layers’ or ‘tiers’ of the cosmos, with early theological debates raging between two, three, four, seven, nine or more layers. this provided a fundamental setting upon which future philosophers and scientists would research and 38 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age propound theories regarding the nature of the universe, and the principles governing the manifestation of things in nature. it is important to note that the cosmological reflections of early christians thinkers and writers fit analogically into modern cosmological theories. the ‘three heavens’ scheme, for instance, has been variously interpreted. concomitant with the aforementioned categorization is the view that they refer to the regions below the moon, above the moon and above the sun – or might be a tripartite division of the night sky, with the milky way at the apex, with other regions dropping into the north and south. st. paul, for instance, used this particular schema in 2 cor. 12, just as one can explore the use of huperouranos, ‘the heaven above’, and duly compare it with plato’s self-consciously fictionalized depiction of the ascent of the soul in the phaedrus.5 generally, the cosmology of the new testament writers provides a solid basis for the philosophical and scientific reflections for so many who came after them, many of whom would eventually become leading figures in the fields of philosophy and science. 2. christian scholars in the history of philosophy and science many christian scholars and catholic clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to philosophy and science. the catholic church, in particular, has produced many philosophers, scientists and mathematicians, from among clerics, religious brothers and the lay faithful. there have been many others as well from other christian denominations, and so we group all of them together using the broad categories, such as “christian philosophers” and “christian scientists”. some notable christian philosophers and scientists include such illustrious names as paul of tarsus, st. augustine, st. anselm, st. thomas aquinas, st. albert, nicolaus copernicus, gregor mendel, georges lemaître, albertus magnus, roger bacon, rene descartes, pierre gassendi, roger joseph boscovich, marin mersenne, bernard bolzano, , robert grosseteste, christopher clavius, nicolas steno, athanasius kircher, giovanni battista riccioli, william of ockham, s. l. jaki. we must also not fail to mention the catholic church herself and some of her groups and associations from the medieval times to the present, amongst which are religious orders such as the jesuits (esp. in philosophy and science), the dominicans (philosophy and christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 39 science) the opus dei (esp. philosophy and communication), the salesians (esp. classics and communications), the legionaries of christ (esp. philosophy, bioethics and science vis-à-vis neuroscience). we shall briefly discuss a few of the scholars and one of the religious orders mentioned above. (a.) paul of tarsus (died 67 ad) over the centuries in the history of thought and scholarship, there have been scores of philosophical thoughts, discourses and treatises from renowned theologians who were also distinguished philosophers. we have the examples of st. augustine, st. bonaventure, st. thomas aquinas, teilhard de chardin, paul tillich, etc. no serious mention is usually made of st. paul when philosophers are being counted or cited because he has always been regarded as a theologian, one of the finest the world has ever produced, and the greatest christian evangelizer of all time. recently, there is a growing trend in which scholars have begun to identify standard philosophical principles and theories in the writing of st. paul, and more people are beginning to appreciate the great philosophical resorts inherent in the thoughts, teachings and writings of st. paul who hitherto, was viewed and studied mainly within the theological endeavour. 6 earlier, we have hinted on paul’s contribution to science through his cosmological theories. within the same framework, paul contributes enormously to philosophy, but it suffices to say that his views and contributions to philosophy and science are intertwined. much of the philosophy of paul is centred on the “concept of truth”, on which he based various other reflections on the meaning and purpose of life. for st. paul, there was always “truth in order to goodness”. goodness has its perfection in god, and the real truth is the perfection of certainty realized in god, and knowing god as the ultimate being who created and rules over the universe.7 a careful study of paul would reveal that paul has both idealist and realist views of truth. from the realist perspective, paul’s concept of truth has some bearing with the philosophy of aristotle as interpreted by st. thomas aquinas. realists argue, in line with common sense, that truth is the conformity of mental images and ideas with what is “out there”. if two people see a dog, one might say, 40 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age “that is a dog”, while the other says, “that is a fox”. the first statement is true because it conforms to reality; the other is false because it does not. this is more or less in a logical tune with the “adequatio intellectus et re”, that is, the correspondence theory of truth, wherein what is in the mind or what is stated corresponds to what the case is in reality.8 also for st. paul, besides observing and reasoning about the physical world, one can attain truth by reasoning from abstract principles, via a committed procession from the depth of faith, rising through the gradation of love unto its highest expression, realized only in the almighty and infinite god, the creator of the universe and lord of time and history. faith constitutes the abounding ground for the abstract principles upon which the reasoning progresses, as well as for making the perception real, because “faith” paul says, “is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”, and “for those who have faith or believe, all things work together unto good” (cf. rom. 4:16; 5:2; cf. heb. 11:1; 12:2).9 that is actually his main standpoint on truth – the idealist intent. in this, st. paul resembles plato. plato believes that the human mind could arrive at the truth only by apprehending certain ideas existing in a realm apart from everyday reality.10 a synthesis of the pauline thought, therefore, is that everyday reality owes its existence and meaningfulness to the one, infinite and omnipotent, god, the author of the universe, “in eo vivimus, movemur et sumus” (“in whom we live and move and have our being” (cf. acts 17:28). following from this, every human person who exists is baseless and empty until he discovers the truth and lives in it; to discover the truth is to know god and serve him with an abiding faith (cf. rom 3-5). (b.) st. thomas aquinas (1224-1274) thomas aquinas was a catholic priest of the dominican order, theologian and philosopher, one who is said to have had the greatest influence on both philosophy and theology in all of history. the mainstay of aquinas’ philosophy is a rethinking of aristotelianism, with significant influences from stoicism, neoplatonism, augustinianism, and boethianism. it also reflects some of the thinking of the greek commentators on aristotle, and of cicero, avicenna, averröes, ibn-gabirol, and maimonides. this may christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 41 suggest that we are dealing with an eclectic philosophy, but actually, aquinas reworked the speculative and practical philosophies of his predecessors into a coherent view of the subject which shows the stamp of his own intelligence.11 the impact of his effort will, however, be far-reaching covering all the various aspects and branches of philosophy, even through centuries after his life. one of the significant hallmarks of aquinas’ work in philosophy is the conscious tendency to seek the middle ground on questions that have been given a wide range of answers. this spirit of moderation is best illustrated in his solution to the problem of universals. for centuries, philosophers had debated whether genera and species are realities in themselves (e.g. plato, boethius, william of champeaux) or mere mental constructs (roscelin, peter aberlard). what made this odd discussion important was aquinas’ conviction that these universals, such as ‘humanity’, ‘justice’, ‘whiteness’, ‘dogness’, are primary objects of human understanding.12 thomas’ spirit of compromise as a philosopher was balanced by another tendency, that of innovation. his original latin biographers all stress this feature of his work. thomas introduced new ways of reasoning about problems and new sources of information, and he handled his teaching in a new way, and thus stood in advance of his contemporaries in the philosophical endeavour. (c.) nicholas copernicus (1473-1543) nicholas copernicus was a brilliant renaissance man in every sense of the title, a mathematician, astronomer, physician, artist, translator, scholar, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat, economist and a third order dominican. he attended various european universities and became a canon in the catholic church in 1497.13 he was the first astronomer to formulate a heliocentric suncentred model of the solar system, i.e. the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun. he demonstrated in the book on the revolutions of the celestial spheres, published just before his death, that the motions of the planets could be explained without presuming the earth was the centre of the system. his uncle was the bishop of warmia, to whom copernicus served as secretary and in whose castle he lived and began work on his heliocentric model. 42 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age his new system was actually first presented in the vatican gardens in 1533 before pope clement vii who approved and urged copernicus to publish it around this time. (d.) galileo galilei (1564-1642) described as the “father of modern physics”, the “father of modern science” and the “father of modern observational astronomy”, galileo di vincenzo bonaiuti de’ galilei was a pious catholic, who travelled to the jesuit college in rome in 1611 to argue his support of a copernican sun-centered universe (galaxies and stars as other suns were unknown in galileo's time), even though the church favoured the ptolemaic and aristotelian earth-centred theories. he took his telescope with him to rome so that the philosophers and mathematicians could view jupiter's moons for themselves, which he considered strong support for heliocentrism. the next year the clergy denounced his views and he was forbidden to advocate or teach copernican astronomy. galileo's writings on astronomy proved to be invaluable in the study of the earth and stars, challenging a past system of backward science that leapt from disorganized speculation drawn from a set of already established outcomes. these writings on astronomy attempted to draw conclusions about the earth and the heavens based on lengthy, meticulous recordings of his observations and subsequent data gathered from his findings. his work in the field of astronomy is certainly suggestive of galileo's "modern" approach to science as a whole. prior to galileo's time, the milky way was believed to be nebulous. galileo studied it and found it to be a multitude of stars packed so densely that they appear from the earth-like cloud. he noticed and located many other stars lots of distance away and impossible to be seen with the naked eyes. among the stars he observed is the double star mizar in ursa major in 1617. his most important works were experiments and investigations in the realms of physics. during those eighteen years, he changed the foundations of traditional physics – or, as others see it, established an entirely new science. however, remarkably few people outside padua realised this. for various reasons, he did not make his results public until well into old age, and when he did finally become famous all over europe, it was for quite different things.14 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 43 the formulation of the concept of inertia has been described as galileo’s greatest contribution to physics. the concept states that: an object in a state of motion possesses an “inertia” that causes it to remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it. in order to arrive at this conclusion, galileo had to abstract from what he, and everyone else, saw. with regards to objects and their state of motion, aristotle held that objects at rest remained at rest unless a force acted on them, but that objects in motion did not remain in motion unless a force acted constantly on them. galileo carried out a catalogue of experiments and came to the conclusion that aristotle’s theory was inconclusive, perhaps incorrect, because the frictional force between surfaces of inclined planes and the object objects sliding down these planes (hidden force) is not properly accounted for. in galileo's observation, when an object is pushed across a surface, two opposing forces act on each other, the force associated with the push and the force that is associated with the friction that acts in the opposite direction.15 galileo also made a number of contributions to technology. between 1595 and 1598, galileo devised and improved a geometric and military compass suitable for use by gunners and surveyors for gunners, it offered, in addition to a new and safer way of elevating cannons accurately, a way of quickly computing the charge of gunpowder for cannonballs of different sizes and materials. as a geometric instrument, it enabled the construction of any regular polygon, computation of the area of any polygon or circular sector, and a variety of other calculations. under galileo's direction, instrument maker marc’antonio mazzoleni produced more than 100 of these compasses. in 1593, galileo constructed a thermometer, using the expansion and contraction of air in a bulb to move water in an attached tube.16 in 1630 galileo returned to rome seeking approval to publish his dialogue concerning the two chief world systems, which was published in florence in 1632. he was ordered to appear before the holy office for papal trial. he was confined to house arrest for the rest of his life. in 1992 that pope john paul ii apologized for the galileo affair, affirming that the earth is not stationary or the centre of the universe or even the solar system. 44 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age (e.) rene descartes (1596-1650) descartes was a french mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the “father of modern philosophy”. his school studies made him dissatisfied with previous philosophy: he had a deep religious faith as a roman catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth. at the age of 24, he had a dream and felt the vocational call to seek to bring knowledge together in one system of thought. his system began by asking what could be known if all else were doubted, suggesting the famous “cogito ergo sum” (i think therefore i am). actually, it is often forgotten that the next step for descartes was to establish the near certainty of the existence of god for only if god both exists and would not want us to be deceived by our experiences can we trust our senses and logical thought processes. god is, therefore, central to his whole philosophy and mathematical principles. what he really wanted to see was that his thoughts be adopted as standard roman catholic teaching. in essence, rene descartes and francis bacon (1561-1626) are generally regarded as the key figures in the development of scientific methodology. both had systems in which god was important, and both seem more devout than the average for their era. (f.) blaise pascal (1623-1662) pascal was a french mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and theologian. in mathematics, he published a treatise on the subject of projective geometry and established the foundation for probability theory. pascal invented a mechanical calculator and established the principles of vacuums and the pressure of air. he was raised a roman catholic, and in 1654 he had a religious vision of god, which turned the direction of his study from science to theology. pascal began publishing a theological work, lettres provinciales, in 1656. his most influential theological work, the pensées ("thoughts"), was a defence of christianity, which was published after his death. (g.) gregor mendel (1822-1884) mendel who was a monk, and later elected abbot of his monastery, was the first to lay the mathematical foundations of genetics, in what came to be called “mendelianism”. he began his research in 1856 christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 45 (three years before darwin published his origin of species) in the garden of the monastery. our modern understanding of how traits may be inherited through generations comes from the principles proposed by gregor mendel in 1865. however, mendel didn't discover these foundational principles of inheritance by studying human beings, but rather by studying pisum sativum, or the common pea plant. indeed, after eight years of tedious experiments with these plants, and – by his own admission – “some courage” to persist with them, mendel proposed three foundational principles of inheritance. these principles eventually assisted clinicians in human disease research; for example, within just a couple of years of the rediscovery of mendel's work, archibald applied mendel’s principles to his study of alkaptonuria. today, whether you are talking about pea plants or human beings, genetic traits that follow the rules of inheritance that mendel proposed are called mendelian.17 on the cell theory, mendel was indebted to unger’s work on the role and behaviour of cells in pollination, and his observation of the production of new varieties through crossfertilization, in particular, the notion that his involved the union of just two cells. through his experiment with pea plants, mendel further explored the question of how the union of two cells produced a new organism, the enigma of generation. he concentrated on what, until then, had remained overlooked: the importance of considering pairs of observable characters and the statistical law governing the pattern of their reappearance in the off-springs. the impact of the genetic theory is no longer questioned in anyone's mind. many diseases are known to be inherited, and pedigrees are typically traced to determine the probability of passing along a hereditary disease. plants are now designed in laboratories to exhibit desired characteristics. the practical result of mendel's research is that it not only changed the way we perceive the world but also the way we live in it.18 (h.) georges lemaître (1894-1966) georges lemaître was a catholic cleric, who earlier in life had discerned his call to both the priesthood and the life of the mind as a research scientist around the time of his high school graduation. in july of 1913, georges lemaître earned his bachelor's degree in 46 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age mechanical engineering and began work as a mining engineer.19 he studied theoretical physics, and in 1923 was ordained as an abbé. the following year, he pursued his scientific studies with the distinguished english astronomer arthur eddington, who regarded him as “a very brilliant student, wonderfully quick and clear-sighted, and of great mathematical ability.” lemaître then went on to america, where he visited most of the major centres of astronomical research. later, he received his phd in physics from the massachusetts institute of technology.20 georges lemaitre was born in charleroi, belgium at a time when most scientists thought that the universe was infinite in age and constant in its general appearance. some theories, such as those by isaac newton and james c. maxwell suggested an eternal universe. indeed, when albert einstein first published his theory of relativity in 1916, it seemed to confirm that the universe had gone on forever, stable and unchanging. lemaitre reviewed the general theory of relativity. as with einstein's calculations ten years earlier, lemaitre's calculations showed that the universe had to be either shrinking or expanding. but while einstein imagined an unknown force – a cosmological constant – which kept the world stable, lemaitre decided that the universe was expanding. he came to this conclusion after observing the reddish glow, known as a redshift, surrounding objects outside of our galaxy. if interpreted as a doppler effect, this shift in colour meant that the galaxies were moving away from us. lemaitre published his calculations and his reasoning in annales de la societe scientifique de bruxelles in 1927. few people took notice, however. it could actually be said from the foregoing that lemaitre was the first person to propose the theory of the expansion of the universe, which is now popularly misattributed to edwin hubble. what is known as hubble’s law actually was derived by him and he made the first estimation too of what is now called the hubble constant, which he published in 1927, two years before hubble’s article. he founded the big-bang theory of the origin of the universe which is today called the “hypothesis of the primaeval atom”.21 among the many things that can be said of lemaître legacy, is a statement in 1933, by rev. vecchierello, o.f.m. which is still valid today: christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 47 it is a point of great interest nowadays when there are so much loose thinking and still looser writing and talking about the non-existence of god … to see a man who is both a priest and a scientist fraternizing on the most intimate terms with the world's most illustrious scientific geniuses. he not only associates with them, but he is their peer, and in that is the lie given to the old and empty charge that the study of science means the loss of belief in religion. lemaître, of course, is usually an object of great curiosity — not so much to his coreligionists as to many not of the faith who marvel at the "phenomenon" of a catholic priest being a scientist, yes, not only a scientist of the regular run, but a genius whose theories are most daring.22 perhaps lemaître’s greatest gift to the world is a religionscience/faith-reason intellectual framework. in addition to its logical, practical benefits compared to an openly hostile sciencereligion approach, it also is filled with optimism and hope.23 (i.) teilhard de chardin (1881-1955) teilhard de chardin was a french idealist philosopher, palaeontologist, geologist and jesuit priest. he did a lot of work in the aspect of creation and evolution, advancing arguments to prove creation in the midst of scientific facts, and he settled for ‘evolutive creation’. god is the creator and preserver, the active centre of centres upon which the evolutionary process derives motion for action and sustenance.24 his life-long search was for synthesis: of reason and authority, of matter and spirit, between past and future, between body and soul.25 teilhard’s basic premise is that all of reality, the whole of the cosmic order is in movement (evolution), by the very fact that god who is almighty creator “makes things make themselves”. evolution as he saw it is a process in space and time that generates new levels of a more complex organization. all observable phenomena of the universe are involved in this process, particularly the phenomenon of man. but evolution is not only a process in which the material or 48 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age quantified aspects of the matter have moved from the simple to the more complex; it is also a process in which primitive psychism has moved to more intense consciousness. man presently climaxes the process of evolution as the most complex expression of cellular structures and the most intensely conscious.26 in his characteristic way of further explicating his ideas, teilhard explains the situation thus: the whole of the cosmic order is moving towards a goal (the omega point), gradually progressing from one stage of development to another, each one more unified than the preceding. the highest stage of material development is life. the highest stage in the development of life is human life. with human life, consciousness achieves a level of self-reflection. we not only know, we know that we know. human existence, therefore, represents a new and unique order of being.27 teilhard’s perspective on omega point takes account of a personal, transcendent centre to the creative-evolutionary process. this centre is outside and above the process – or to use more traditional language, is transcendent to it. omega point is active in history, not only through the provision of motive for action but principally through its own personal effectiveness. teilhard names this active “centre of centres”, god.28 (j.) stanley l. jaki (1924-2009) stanley l. jaki, a hungarian-born catholic priest of the benedictine order, was distinguished professor at seton hall university, south orange, new jersey. with doctorates in theology and physics, for more than forty years he specialized in the history and philosophy of science. the author of over fifty books and over four hundred articles, he served as gifford lecturer at the university of edinburgh and as fremantle lecturer at balliol college, oxford. he lectured at major universities in the united states, europe, and australia. he was an honorary member of the pontifical academy of science, membre correspondant of the académie nationale des sciences, belleslettres et arts of bordeaux, and the recipient of the lecomte du noüy prize for 1970 and of the templeton prize for 1987. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 49 jaki was profound and persuasive in upholding the view that thinkers and writers of the enlightenment period up to the present have been mistaken about christianity and science. he refuted their submissions that christianity was opposed to, and even oppressed, science. instead, he argued that christianity has made a great positive impact on science. in the savior of science (2000), jaki revealed the christian foundations of modern science. according to him, christian monotheism alone provided epistemological underpinnings for the scientific endeavour, where other ancient cultures of greece, china, india, and the early muslim empire failed to make an impact.29 following jaki’s four-point reasons for the unique birth of modern science in christian western europe, explicated in the book christ and science,30 the noted conservative thinker russell kirk has this to say: “modern science, father jaki points out, rose from the natural theology of medieval christian learning—a fact that philosophes and positivists sedulously ignore.”31 father jaki was sturdy in defending the view that catholicism has been and is still a blessing to science, not an obstacle, as many erroneously claim.32 through the rest of his life, jaki spearheaded the move aimed at establishing a friendly relationship between science and religion. he wrote more than two dozen books on the subject, expressing the notable theory that modern scientific inquiry can only exist alongside christianity because modern science arose from within a christian society, a society which alone afforded it the opportunity to thrive. for this, he was awarded the templeton award, which is given to those who do outstanding work in affirming a spiritual dimension to reality.33 after rising to be one of the most significant scientific minds in modern times, s. l. jaki died in madrid on april 7, 2009. conclusion belief in god has a much longer history than does the practice of philosophy or the ‘scientification’ of science. these christian thinkers and scholars we have discussed above, many of whom were catholic priests and who were products of their age, serve as models for our own age when the scientific study of the universe, technological revolution and contrasting standards of morality have become real issues within the gamut of our collective existence, 50 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age posing serious challenges to people’s faith in the one true god as the creator and sustainer of the universe and the process of the natural order. our model christian scholars familiarized themselves with the philosophical and scientific theories of their day and did not hesitate to appropriate them into their theological reflections, even giving them pastoral applications. they professed god to be the creator and sovereign of the heavens and the earth, through intellectually active engagement with the world and its objects. as the contemporary world continues to drift on the slopes of manifold crises – the crisis of faith, crisis of values, crisis of morality – and a host of other maladies, it behoves today’s generation of clerics who have been trained in philosophy and various other disciplines to follow the lead of the likes of those discussed in this paper by putting our training into active use for the service of the global community. we should not be afraid to actively and critically engage the philosophical and scientific systems of thoughts in today’s world with an eye to building a better world in which universal progress can be sustained. endnotes 1 this paper is dedicated to my formator, vocations’ director and lecturer in logic, epistemology and analytic philosophy during the period of my seminary formation, rev. fr. prof. anselm jimoh, as he marks the silver jubilee of his priestly ordination. 2 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 43; us catholic bishops, the basic plan for the ongoing formation of priests (2001). 3 s. m. mcdonough – j. t. pennington, (eds.), cosmology and the new testament (london: t & t clark int., 2008) 2. 4 p. smulders, “creation: theology”, in: k. rahner (ed.), encyclopedia of theology: a concise sacramentum mundi, london: burns & oates, 1975, pp. 313-319. 5 cf. e. adam, constructing the world: a study in paul’s cosmological language (edinburgh: t & t clarke, 2000) 3ff. 6 a. m. hunter, the gospel according to paul, (philadelphia: the westminster press, 1966) 1ff. 7 a. m. hunter, the gospel according to paul, 43. 8 j. omoregbe, epistemology: a systematic and historical study, (lagos: joja publishers, 1998) 43. christianity at the forefront of philosophy and science... 51 9 cf. the letters of st. paul to the romans 4:16; 5:2; cf. the letter to the hebrews 11:1; 12:2. although it remains a major question in biblical scholarship who the author of the letter to the hebrews is, the view by some that its has some connection with the pauline school of disciples, rings a bell that brings a worthwhile intertextual connections between the quoted text and related texts in paul’s letters. 10 j. m. cooper – d. s. hutschinson, plato: the complete works, (indianopolis, in: hackett publishing company, 1997). 11 v. j. bourke, “thomas aquinas, st.” in p. edwards et al. (eds.), the encyclopedia of philosophy (new york: macmillan publishing co, 1967) 105116. 12 v. j. bourke, “thomas aquinas, st.”, 105. 13 although copernicus was highly engaged in ecclesiastical life, there are not extant documents to show that he he was ever ordained a priest. the fact that he was one of the four candidates to the assume the episcopal seat of warmia in 1527 gives credibility to the supposition that he was ordained a priest. cf. “nicolaus copernicus”, in new advent catholic encyclopedia [available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm (accessed 21 august 2019)]. 14 a. naess, galileo galilei: when the world stood still. trans by james anderson (springer, berlin 2005) 33. 15 g. galilei, dialogues concerning two new sciences. trans by h. crew – a. de salvio (william andrew pub, new york 2001). 16 cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/galileo_galilei 17 i. miko, “gregor mendel and the principles of inheritance” in nature education 1(1):134, 2008. 18 e. mayr, the growth of biological thought, the belknap press of harvard university, 1982, 720-740. 19 a. berger (ed.), the big bang and georges lemaître d. reidel publishing, new york, 1984, 365. 20 s. soter – n. tyson, cosmic horizons: astronomy at the cutting edge, a publication of the new press. © 2000 american museum of natural history. [available at : http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitr e.html (accessed: 14 august 2019)]. 21 wikipedia online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/georges_lema%c3%aetre 22 h. veccierello, einstein and relativity. lemaître and the expanding universe, st. anthony guild press, paterson 1934, 23. 23j. r. laracy, “the faith and reason of father george lemaitre” in homiletic and pastoral review, ignatian press, san francisco, ca 2009, 50-59. 24 t. de chardin, the appearance of man, (trans. by j. m. cohen) (new york: harper and row publishers, 1956). 25 d. carroll, “creation”, 183. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/georges_lema%c3%aetre 52 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 26 t. de chardin, the appearance of man. 27 t. de chardin, the phenomenon of man, (trans by bernard wall) (new york: harper and row publishers, 1959) 77-183. 28 d. carroll, “creation”, 252-253. 29 s. l. jaki, the savior of science, william. b. eerdmans, grand rapids, mi 2000. 30 s. l. jaki, christ and science, real view books, royal oak, mi 2000, 23. 31 r. kirk, “the rediscovery of creation”, national review 35 (10) (27 may 1983), pp. 640-41. 32 t. d. watts, “cosmology and the history of science” in social justice review (st louis, mo), vol. 100, no. 7-8, july-august 2009. 33 tyler huckabee, “nine groundbreaking scientists who happened to be christians” [available at: https://relevantmagazine.com/god/9-groundbreakingscientists-who-happened-be-christians/ (accessed on: 26 august 2019)]. https://relevantmagazine.com/god/9-groundbreaking-scientists-who-happened-be-christians/ https://relevantmagazine.com/god/9-groundbreaking-scientists-who-happened-be-christians/ the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 53 c h a p t e r 4 the vocations director and the discernment of vocations: some considerations for priestly formation ferdinand nwanagu okafor introduction the twenty-first century is associated with advancement in information and communication technology (ict), like the fourteenth century which came with the renaissance that was associated with new knowledge and the scientific method which revolutionized virtually all sectors of life including the church and priestly vocation. the discernment of priestly vocations has become a herculean task for all those who are engaged in the discernment and formation of vocations to the catholic priesthood. with the challenges that are rocking the priesthood today ranging from sexual abuse, protestantism, materialism and secularism, the question: “how vocation directors and formators in the seminaries discern genuine vocation or discover candidates with genuine vocations” has become a front-burner question. this is the aim of this essay. this paper, therefore, attempts to discuss this topic issue with theoretical and practical insights and further make some proposals, that is believed would enhance the discernment process. without being overly presumptuous, it suffices to clarify some of the key concepts in this discourse. 54 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the concepts of vocation, vocations director and discernment denotatively, the term, “vocation is from the latin word vocātiō which means a call or summons. it is an occupation to which a person is specially drawn to, or for which they are suited, trained, or qualified.”1 in the 15th century, the term was first attributed to a spiritual calling.2 it was used in reference to those in the clerical order. it was martin luther who arguably later broadened the understanding of the term to mean all christian calling and every state of life. thereafter, john calvin gave it the notion of industry and commerce. it was the english puritans in the seventeenth century who eventually stretched the meaning of vocation to include any job or trade.3 in ecclesiological understanding, vocation is associated with “divine call addressed directly to a man’s soul, inviting him by means of a secret divine voice, to enter the clerical state.”4 on the other hand, when the term vocations director is employed, what easily comes to mind is any priest who has been given the mandate to recruit and present candidates for priestly ordination. in reality, this is a shortfall from the true meaning and task of who a vocations director is. the principal task of directing vocations rests on the bishop. he is the first representative of christ in priestly formation.5 however, just as candidates are ordained to share in the priesthood of jesus christ, so as to assist the bishop in his priestly functions; a priest who is chosen and assigned the responsibility of directing vocations is, in reality, assisting the bishop. therefore, a vocations director is a priest who has been assigned to recruit, direct and guide and evaluate the suitability of the candidates to the sacred catholic priesthood. the role of a vocations director is to direct and guide young boys or young men who express the desire to become priests, as well as future priests (seminarians) so that they may discover their calling to the priesthood as well as the nature of the calling. as the name implies, the vocations director has the obligation of directing. however, his function is not only to direct but also to inspire vocations in young boys; as well as to form and lead by word of advice, encouragement, explanation and example of life, those who express the desire to serve in the clerical orders as deacons or priests; and where one is discovered not to be a suitable candidate or have the ability to serve in the clerical order, he sincerely advises the candidate to withdraw and embrace another state of life. the function of a vocations director and formators is not about telling candidates what they need the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 55 to do, rather it is much more of modelling and encouraging vocations to the priesthood. to be able to function properly, it is important that they are exposed to some years of pastoral experience and formation course or seminars periodically. the vocations’ directors and formators should endeavour to rid themselves of personal biases, tribalism, injustice, emotions that may prevent them from truly evaluating the qualities that a candidate exhibits. st. francis de la sales emphasised the need for a guide for those who would enter upon and advance in the devout life. he referred to the spiritual guide as a heaven-sent angel, like the angel who guided tobias on his journey.6 the role of a vocation director is not in any way short of the task of guiding and accompanying candidates to the priesthood. this kind of journey together must be characterised by genuine love, mutual trust, prayerfulness, openness and sincerity to one another, and docility to the promptings of the holy spirit. although in every diocese or religious congregation, the task of directing of vocations is primarily assigned to a particular priest, nevertheless, every priest is in a certain sense, a vocations director. therefore, every priest must inspire vocations to clerical life and provide exemplary leadership and influence, as well as guide and direct every candidate who aspires to the catholic priesthood. all the priests are united with the bishop and share his responsibility in seeking and fostering priestly vocations. together with the bishop, they are agents of formation.7 be that as it may, since the earliest christian teachings, there has been a strong nexus between the human relationship with god and his ability to truly discern reality.8 as far back as the earliest days of the israelites, the notion of discernment was already invoked. the criteria for discerning a true prophet from a false prophet was already expressed, which were: leading the people to god and fulfilment of prophecy (see, deut 13:1-5; 18:21). in the early days of the church, st. john also warned the christians of his community against false spirits. he admonished them to test the spirits whether they are from god (1 jn 4:1-6). this process of testing of spirit is called discernment. discernment as an english word was borrowed from an old french word discerner. discerner was from two latin words “dis” meaning apart, and “cernere” meaning to separate. discerner in its old french original, meant “to separate, divide, distinguish or discern.”9 56 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discernment can be employed both in the secular as well as in ecclesiological sense. in this secular sense, it refers to the act of evaluating or judging or reviewing a decision. in an ecclesiological sense, it is the act of prayerfully evaluating or judging a decision through the guidance of the holy spirit. the concept when employed in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, refers, therefore, to the act of prayerfully evaluating or judging the suitability, motive, behaviours, the ability, as well as the natural and supernatural qualities of a prospective candidate to priesthood using both human reasoning and divine enlightenment. mcintosh (2004), outlined faith, impulses, discretion, divine will and illumination as the elements of discernment.10 the purpose of discernment is to know god’s will. according to mcintosh (2004), “human relationship with god was distorted, and the ability of human persons to see god’s ways in the world was drastically impaired-they could no longer recognise god’s truth shining forth in creation because they were no longer rightly acquainted with god.”11 discernment of vocations and evaluating the suitability of candidates priestly formation refers to the art and process of providing orientation, guidance, and training regarding priestly life to a candidate who aspires to the clerical order. priestly formation is an essential aspect of the priestly vocation. in view of the crises rocking the catholic priesthood and taking into consideration the challenges posed by the world of information communication and technology, it has become expedient to evolve new methods or techniques in formation. the task of formation and the selection of formators should be taken more seriously than ever before. vocations directors and formators should be truly formators and not just lecturers or chosen to fill up the gap. often times in the selection and formation of candidates, one is tempted to judge whether a candidate is called instead of judging the suitability of the candidate. this has often led to a serious error in the selection of candidates for the priesthood. it is a dangerous venture to create a dichotomy between discernment of call and deciding the suitability of candidates. deciding the suitability of candidates is in itself a process of discernment. using the words of blowick (1932), “the true doctrine of vocation is so straightforward and so simple that the question of ‘deciding a boy’s vocation’ is reduced to the exercise the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 57 of prudent judgement and sound common sense.”12 it is important that vocations directors and formators in the seminary know the nature and meaning of sacred calling in view of pastoral ministry, so as to be able to play their role well. the selection and evaluation of a candidate for the priesthood will be more difficult for vocations directors and formators if the essence of priestly ministry is not put into consideration. in evaluating the suitability of a candidate, basic virtues that candidates are expected to cultivate as well the current challenges in priestly ministry should be brought to the fore at the point of evaluation. right from the early centuries of the church to the seventeenth centuries, as far as the issue of raising men to the status of pastoral leadership is concerned, the emphasis of the church was always on the suitability of a candidate. this is what st paul emphasised in his letters to timothy and titus regarding the choice of overseers, deacons and women who rendered special services in the early church (1 tim 3:1-13; 5:22; titus 1:510). in recent times, the church has also emphasised this suitability of candidates in her documents on the formation of future priests. however, it seems some vocations directors and formators have shifted their focus from this trend of determining the suitability of a candidate to the clerical state, and have given room to bias and personal feelings. in matters of the priestly vocation, there are already basic requirements which are available in the various documents on formation to the priestly ministry. vocations directors and formators should, therefore, acquaint themselves with these documents. the task of directing vocations and formation of the candidate is to determine whether given the behaviour manifested by a candidate and evaluating such in the light of the gospel and the teachings of the church if such an individual will be able to fulfil the priestly functions. basically, in the discernment of vocation, the central issues are the mission of christ and the good of the church, faith and community building, and the salvation of souls of the christian community. these issues revolve around pastoral leadership. the process of discernment is to determine if the candidate has the human, physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, psychological, moral and pastoral ability to fulfil the role of a pastoral leader and make disciples for christ. the suitability of a candidate is evaluated and determined based on the observable human phenomenon, while the calling is the function of the 58 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age church through an appropriate authority (the bishop). here, the role of the vocations director and the presbyterium can never be underestimated. no doubt, “the vocation to the priesthood is a divine call; it is given by god. but god has empowered certain accredited ecclesiastical officials to issue it in his name. these alone can validly administer divine vocation.”13 in the selection and formation of candidates for the catholic priesthood, nothing should be overlooked. the first stage in the process of formation of candidates for the priesthood is recruitment. the challenge in this recruitment process is often the pressure from priests and the parents of the candidates, who may want to prevail on the vocations director or formators to consider a particular candidate for admission and to continue to ensure his stay in formation, even when he is not suitable for the priesthood. once parents, friends or relatives are the ones fronting the process of admission of a candidate or making an enquiry on behalf of a candidate into the major seminary, that is already in itself a red-alert that should be foreclosed. one who is 18 years old should be able to take basic steps that are necessary for the pursuit of his career or vocation. the first consideration for selection and formation of candidates for the priesthood is the genuine intention and desire to be a priest to serve the christian community. it should not be the intention and desire of the parents, brothers, relatives, friends, or the parish priest or a priest who is a friend to the intending candidate. it should be a personal desire to serve in the clerical state. the true test of one’s love for god is the capacity to live for god and for others. priestly life is one of service, sacrifice and commitment. it is a call to live not for oneself but for god. as jesus christ gave up his life for us all, and st. paul poured out his life as a libation for god (2 tim 4:6), so too, those who aspire to the sacred orders should be ready to sacrifice themselves totally to god, and should be seen manifesting this life of sacrifice already. j. blowick (1932) identified the following: a supernatural attraction for the priesthood, a strong and permanent inclination, good intention, possession of natural and supernatural gifts that will enable a man to properly discharge the sacred duties of the ministry, as signs of an authentic vocation.14 this genuine intention and desire to serve in the clerical order must be expressed throughout the period or years of formation. the work of formators will be most difficult if candidates who already manifest unsuitable behaviour or are known to possess terrible the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 59 behaviours such as stealing, lying, deceit, homosexual tendencies, fornication, materialism, and greed, moneygrubbing, nonchalant attitude towards the holy mass and church devotions, are sent to the seminary for formation. sometimes, it is difficult to identify such candidates once they are already in formation. and when such is discovered later in the penultimate years of formation, sentiments of sympathy begin to wade in. at this point, evaluation becomes a matter of sympathy to the individual and his family, but to the detriment of the church and the souls of those who will be entrusted to his care. if one knows the power or influence in little things to shape or change situations, then one will know that nothing should be undermined. this is not to undermine the possibility of one with such vices to experience conversion. experience has however revealed that candidates with these vices or dispositions can hardly be opened to the process of encountering christ in formation and be purified in the process of formation. the human person is a mystery whose life can be influenced by any situation. there are at least four results of those who are ordained into the priesthood. first, those who from the beginning manifested good behaviour but acted badly after ordination. secondly, there are those who manifested good behaviour as candidates and still remained good priests after ordination. thirdly, there are those who did not manifest sufficient good behaviour but were admitted on trial but in the process of formation were transformed are good priests and fourthly, there are those who gave red-alert as candidates but were admitted with sympathy with the hope of being properly formed, but they found their way into priesthood without getting changed or converted, and their performance in the priesthood was a reflection of the red-alert they manifested. priestly ministry goes beyond cultic and liturgical functions. it entails the proclamation of the gospel, the celebration of the sacraments and pastoral leadership, which is to guide the christian community in the name and in the person of christ.15 p. bernier, summarizes ministry to include five basic tasks: building community, storytelling (proclamation), prophesying, nurturing, and missioning.16 priestly ministry is a call to pastoral charity and leadership, and it is rooted in the vocation to the mission.17 leadership according to r. l. daft, is an influence of relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their 60 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age shared purposes.18 central to this definition is the fact that leadership is an influence relationship. the call to the priesthood apart from being a call to service is also a call to provide exemplary leadership to the faithful. leadership is an essential aspect of the priestly vocation. a candidate to the priesthood should possess leadership qualities that will enable him to influence the faithful with the gospel message. this dimension of the priestly vocation is often not taken into consideration. it is important that prospective candidates understand the power that is inherent in the priestly pastoral role. leadership is a gift and a call to service, and it is an inherent part of the call to the priesthood. not everybody possesses the gift of leadership.19 the focus of priestly vocation is mission, service, and leadership (msl). the challenges in the priestly ministry today revolve around bad leadership. that is, the faithful can no longer find exemplary leadership in some priests. st. paul in order to emphasize the importance of leadership in the early church, admonished timothy thus: “let no one reproach you on account of your youth. be a model to believers in the way you speak and act, in your love, your faith and purity of life. devote yourself to reading, preaching and teaching, until i come” (1 tim 4:12-13). bernier holds the view that the fundamental purpose of the new testament ministry is to preserve the self-identity of the christian community as the community of christ as well as to discover the gospel in the changing circumstances of life.20 those who were appointed elders in the early church were appointed not so much so that they might celebrate the eucharist, but that they might guide and conduct the community and proclaim the gospel. right from the time of moses down to the new testament era when the church was still evolving, all those who were appointed leaders were to essentially lead the people and help them to sustain their faith in god. whoever, therefore, must be admitted to commence the journey to sacred priesthood or promoted to the sacred orders should be seen to manifest authentic vocation and exhibit evidence of his ability to perform the priestly function and lead the faithful in faith. the sacrament of holy orders is not an individual sacrament, like baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance and anointing of the sick, which are received for the benefit of the recipient. like the sacrament of matrimony, the sacrament of holy orders is both individual and social, hence the need to ensure that there are no the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 61 irregularities and impediments, because the recipients will fulfil a social function, which is not primarily for the benefit of the recipient but that of the entire christian community. therefore, good intention alone is not sufficient to assume the office, but certain requirements are necessary and are insisted upon by the recipient. 21 in the early days of the church when celibacy was not regarded as part of the life of presbyters, the consideration for choosing a presbyter basically was the styles of life,22 centuries later, when celibacy became mandatory for those who are admitted into the clerical order, there was a shift from the styles of life to the states of life.23 today, in the selection of candidate the styles of life and the ability to assume the states of life of a priest are elements to be considered in determining the suitability of a candidate. the candidate before being admitted into the seminary, and even while in formation in the seminary and outside of the seminary, should manifest the evidence of his genuine intention and desire to serve in the clerical state in his styles of life, disposition and readiness to embrace the clerical state. intention and desire have a correlation in one’s behaviour and outlook. it is an aberration for one to desire the priesthood, yet adopt worldly mindset and style. it should not in any way be assumed that the candidate will change after ordination. the evaluation of the candidate to determine his suitability should go beyond keeping the seminary rules. his actions and inactions, his behaviours and dispositions should be scrutinised and interpreted in the light of the gospel, the teachings of the church and the challenges of the church and the situation of the world today, and how his actions and inactions and behaviour reflect and promote the gospel message or bear witness to the risen lord. also to be considered is the initial conversion of the candidate as well as openness to ongoing conversion. the initial conversion is evident in the reception of the sacraments of initiation, and the manifestation of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. these manifest in his prayer life, christian devotion and service in the church, as well as his detachment from the world. it is not enough to only be baptised, one must be open to conversion. otherwise, after ordination one may behave worse than a non-christian and do more harm than good to the body of christ, as alexander the coppersmith did to st. paul (2 tim 4:14). initial conversion will help a candidate get rid of such vices like stealing, lying, deceit, homosexual tendencies, 62 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age fornication, materialism, and greed, moneygrubbing, nonchalant attitude towards the holy mass and church devotions. natural and supernatural endowments of the candidates while in formation should be evaluated. the priesthood is a call to pastoral leadership. whoever must assume this status must be seen to possess some leadership qualities and must be free from canonical impediments and irregularities, which include: amentia, psychic illness, apostasy, heresy, schism, attempted marriage, voluntary homicide, procured abortion or cooperated in abortion, self mutilation or mutilated another, attempted suicide, or has performed an act reserved for those in the sacred orders.24 those who practice homosexuality or have deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support “gay-culture,” are not to be admitted into the seminary.25 the post-synodal apostolic exhortation “pastores dabo vobis” enumerates four dimensions of priestly formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation.26 these four aspects are so important that neglecting or undermining any of these dimensions is to do great harm to the entire work of formation and the church at large. the crisis in the priestly ministry today can be linked to an improper formation in these four areas. therefore, only those candidates whose human, moral, spiritual and intellectual gifts, as well as physical and psychological health and right intention, show that they are capable of dedicating themselves permanently to sacred ministries are to be admitted to the seminary.27 the tendency to sometimes downplay the intellectual capacity and formation of the candidate often arises. references are often made to st. john mary vianney, the cure of ars, who was regarded not to be intellectually bright, yet, was a model of holiness and pastoral life. the world we must know is constantly evolving, and the church expresses herself in every age in order to adequately meet the pastoral needs of the world. in the age of the martyrs, martyrdom was seen as a means of proving one’s holiness. after the age of martyrs, monastic life and celibate living became the ultimate way of attaining holiness. we are no longer in the era of john mary vianney when the priestly function was basically the celebration of the sacraments and proclamation of the gospel within the liturgical assembly. with the age of information communication and technology, the world where the church and clerics minister has become more sophisticated. it is no longer enough to celebrate the sacrament and proclaim the gospel within the liturgical the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 63 assembly. the church must move away from the liturgical assembly into the world. the church needs to understand and interpret the mandate of jesus christ in light of the present-day world. “go into the world and preach the gospel” (mk 16:15) must be understood as a call for the church to diversify her apostolate in the world in order to effectively fulfil her mission of bringing christ into the world. to this end, a myopic view of the world and reality will be dangerous to the gospel message. besides, it is only a person with a sound mind and intellect, who is constantly open to learning that can sufficiently present the church’s teaching to answer the questions of the modern-day human being. experience has shown that one with low intelligence suffers low self-esteem and myopic in world view. such a person finds it difficult to forgive and is more tribalistic, and so he excludes those who are not from his tribe or race from benefiting from his goodwill. since the candidate for the priesthood is trained to be a leader, whose life can influence the followers, it is important that the candidate is prudent in his actions. a candidate who is not prudent will be a bad leader and a negative influence. according to thomas reese (jesuit priest), “nothing chases a person out of the catholic church and away from christ faster than a bad priest. the priest does not have to be a child molester. he may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive or just stupid. more people leave the catholic church because of bad priests than because of disagreement over dogma.”28 “a good priest can spend years building a parish community, inspiring active participation in the liturgy, recruiting volunteers for the parish ministries and to help neighbourhood poor. a new pastor can destroy all that works in a few weeks.”29 it is not sufficient for a candidate to be spiritual. he must be devout. sometimes the spiritual life of a candidate is mistaken as a sign of suitability, to the detriment of other requirements. yet, such a candidate is unforgiving, malicious, and does not see the need to tame his emotions. one who has not been able to tame his emotions, no doubt, will be a scandal both in his words and in his attitudes. the task of directing vocation and forming candidates for the priesthood is an onerous one. and those who are appointed to carry out this task should be carefully selected. they should be people with mature minds and sincere in their approach to issues and evaluation of any candidate. these qualities do not necessarily come with years in 64 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the priesthood or biological age. it is much more a personal disposition informed by one’s background or situations in life. priestly vocation apart from being a gift to the recipient, it is also a gift to the church as a whole for the benefit of her mission. the faithful are also agents of the priestly vocation.30 so, in every diocese, there should be a vocation team comprising of priests and lay faithful who carry out the recruitment and evaluation of seminarians. concluding remarks the formation of seminarians today has become much more difficult than ever before. similarly, the role of the vocations director has equally doubled. the vocations director acts as a sentry for the church within his diocese, religious congregation, or society of apostolic life for which he is appointed, and as a guide for the candidate to the priesthood. the vocations director acting as a sentry on behalf of the church ensures that bad elements do not creep into the priesthood. this role has become so important as the devil masquerades to be an angel of light (2 cor 11:14-15). no doubt, he inspires his messengers as candidates to the priesthood, to be his ministers in order to carry out his mission of stealing, killing and destroying the priesthood and the souls of christians who believe in jesus christ (john 10:10). wherever the children of light are gathered, the devil too sends his angels there (job 1:6). clear evidence of inordinate missions abound in the priesthood today, with some young men trying to become priests at all costs. at any level of formation, after careful observance, where a candidate is found to be unsuitable for the clerical orders, he should in love and for the good of the church be advised to withdraw. it does not matter how many years he has spent in formation. he should not be promoted in sympathy. to deny one ordination is neither a denial of life or heaven. however, it is important that vocations directors and formator cultivate the virtue of patience in the formation of candidates. with the challenges facing family life, the task of formation will require greater patience than ever before. the key players in the process of formation are the vocations’ director, the formators in the seminary and the presbyters of the diocese or congregation the seminarian belongs. this is why it is expedient that the vocations’ director knows personally the individual candidate as well as the family background of those being admitted. the vocations director and the discernment of vocations… 65 this can be achieved if there is a synergy between the vocations director and the other priests in the diocese. also, a candidate should be well known in his parish. so no candidate should be recruited who is not well known in his parish. in the early church, elders were chosen from their community and appointed for service in their community. conclusively, the vocation to the priesthood is both divine and human. it is the prerogative of the bishop to ordain young men who have been adequately prepared for the priesthood. in reality, the bishop may not really know, at a direct level the level of suitability of those he ordains. he acts on the reports that are presented to him. the vocations director and the entire presbyterium should work together to ensure that reliable candidates are admitted for formation. endnotes 1 cf. “vocation” in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vocation, accessed september 12, 2019 2 online etymology dictionary 3 hahnenberg, e.p, awakening vocation: a theology of christian call, minnesota: liturgical press, 2010, 3. 4 blowick, j, priestly vocation, dublin: m. h gill and sons ltd, 1932, 1. 5 pastores dabo vobis, n. 65. 6 https://introduction to devout life in catholicity.com, retrieved 19/9/2019. 7 pastores dabo vobis, n. 41. 8 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, newyork:the crossroad publishing company, 2004, 4. 9 see, “discernment” in wiktionary, https://en.m.wiktionary.org 10 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, 5. 11 mcintosh, m. a, discernment and truth, 4. 12 blowick, j, priestly vocation, vii. 13 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 238. 14 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 2 15 pastores dabo vobis, n. 43. 16bernier, p, ministry in the church, (2nd ed), new york: orbis book, 2015, xii-xiii. 17 bernier, p, ministry in the church, ibid, xii 18 daft, r. l, , the leadership experience, ma: cengage learning, 2018, 5 19 bernier, p, ministry in the church, xii. 20 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 38. 21 blowick, j, priestly vocation, 315. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vocation 66 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 22 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 92. 23 bernier, p, ministry in the church, 93 24 code of canon law, canon 1041. 25 congregation for catholic education, instruction concerning the discernment of vocations with regard to persons with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission into the seminary and to the holy orders. 26 pastores dabo vobis, nn 43-57. 27 code of canon law, canon 241. 28 thomas reese, “bad priests, of all kinds, chase people away from christ and the church” in national catholic reporter, https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/bad-priests-all-kindschase-people-away-christ-and-church. retrieved 22/019/2019. 29 thomas reese, ibid. 30 pastores dabo vobis, n. 41. https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/bad-priests-all-kinds-chase-people-away-christ-and-church https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/bad-priests-all-kinds-chase-people-away-christ-and-church forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 67 c h a p t e r 5 forming future catholic priests in a ‘pentecostal world’: challenges and prospects john segun odeyemi introduction modern ecumenism and pentecostalism are two different phenomena which have occurred in the christian world in the last hundred years. even though pentecostalism was criticized initially by the established churches as theologically unsystematic, lacking in doctrine and dogma, yet its appeal and rate of growth remain undeniable, giving birth to a totally new ecclesial community. this growth is now recognized and acknowledged among the world council of churches as perhaps the new ‘pentecost’ of our age. some make the claim that pentecostalism will be the new face of christianity within a few decades and into the next millennium. using nigeria as a template, this essay investigates the relationship between pentecostalism and catholic seminarians in formation. these seminarians will be priests within an existing but fragile ecumenical union. hence, there is the need for a framework by which one can critically explore pentecostalism’s future challenges and prospects vis-à-vis future catholic priests. in the spring of 2016, missio aachen, in germany awarded me some grant to pursue a study of the impact of pentecostalism in west africa with a specific focus on ecumenism. i had grown up in 68 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nigeria, africa’s most populous nation. this country is also the most diverse in terms of language and ethnic affiliations, it happens to be home too for pentecostalism in west africa. growing up within these complexities of ethnic, lingual and multiple religious identities made me query the idea of the production of multiple meanings within christianity. it is necessary to state, that these multiplicities of the production of interpretations cut through traditional missionary founded churches, the african independent churches(aics), the evolution of classical pentecostal churches, the birth of charismatic and neo-pentecostal bodies and currently the newest form of pentecostalism which i refer to as pentecôtistes nouvelle génération; (png).1 let me clarify that pentecostalism in nigeria and in west africa, from my fieldwork across nigeria, ghana, ivory coast and sierra leone has its own peculiarities and distinctiveness from pentecostalism in the global west. at the turn of the twentieth century, pentecostalism in subsaharan africa had become a phenomenon that no serious scholar of religion could ignore. through its evolutionary stages from the 1920s, pentecostalism for various reasons, which we shall explore later, continued to grow and expound thereby impacting the societies it exists in on all fronts; culturally, economically, socially, politically, and religiously. consequently, it is said that “the pentecostal genre of christianity is becoming the dominant form of christianity in contemporary africa.”2 cephas omenyo, reflecting on the genre which in and of itself is not mono but existing in pluriformity, states, “the variety and diversity of african pentecostalism is palpable. it is sometimes suggested that we should speak of ‘african pentecostalisms’ rather than ‘african pentecostalism’ because of the existing complexities of categorization.”3 the diversities spoken of here deserve another script and research, starting from classical to neo-pentecostals of contemporary times. it can be argued that pentecostalism is the fastest-growing religious phenomenon around the globe currently. some call it a revival of traditional christianity, which is said to have grown lukewarm. cardinal walter kasper calls this a “third wave of christian history” or a third phase where the mission is no longer ‘ad gentes’ – to the nations/peoples of the world, but ‘inter gentes’ – between peoples of same religious commitment.4 this growth is adduced to evangelical movements, pentecostal churches, and charismatic movements. forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 69 west african pentecostalism may be popular, but it has considerable baggage of problems to deal with. for now, a brief reflection suffices; pentecostalism is a proliferation and further splintering of the christian church that was born out of the 16th century reformation. as young as pentecostalism is within christianity and the history of the southern hemisphere, it continues to suffer multiplications and splintering or breakaway factions. in all of the west african countries i visited, most notorious are ghana and nigeria, where the pentecostal billboards and signposts litter the city skyline. television and radio broadcasts are filled daily with competing pentecostal churches, founders and general overseers jostling for adherents and making promises of deliverance, healings and breakthroughs. particularly, in nigeria, this splintering becomes a battle for bodies and minds of people, every new assembly vying for social relevance and survival. within the raucousness, some of these newly founded and self-appointed church ministers create a fundamentalist following deeply steeped in proselytizing. the jesuit theologian, roger haight sees some of these movements not only individualistic and fundamentalist, but extremely suspicious and exclusivistic of other pentecostal assemblies. haight avers, “… so individualistic is their anthropology and piety that they scrupulously avoid all social involvement except for an extreme conservative type; and so independent and at times hostile to the interests of the mainline churches that they reject any ecumenical cooperation.”5 the various ecclesial communities may be witnessing an explosion in numbers across the continent currently but they risk an implosion in the future due to present inaction. the authenticity of a true christian spirit lies in its witnessing, the power of her truth, her forthrightness in speaking against unjust structures and not the domination of the poor. an appeal to divine authority for a ‘gospel of prosperity’, the collection of tithes, the promise of deliverances, revivals, night vigils etc., may not be a veritable vehicle of truth that builds real and enduring faith. if the church cannot speak this language of freedom and be at the forefront of the liberation of the people, political and economic forces will take the driver’s seat. when a new and progressive era dawns in africa and in nigeria, 70 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age particularly, christianity runs the risk of becoming irrelevant, as it has happened to some other continents. it is important, therefore, that seminarians pay attention to the complexities that will mark ecumenical relationships between pentecostals and orthodox christian faiths. this initial formation prepares future priests to be disposed to ecumenical exchanges, which by now should be seen as inevitable. refusal of ecumenical exchanges denies the unifying action of the holy spirit in the christian community. it is the same holy spirit that vivifies the proclamation of the goodnews. it is this sort of unity that gives the christian message credibility and makes for authentic and lasting conversions. according to killian mcdonnell, at a more pragmatic level, it is exactly the church’s credibility that is called into question, “at the level where most persons experience the church… it is the want of holiness, the lack of fruit, and the manifest disunity which make her efforts at evangelization ineffective and constitutes a threat to the power of the gospel.”6 mcdonnell states further that a real commitment to jesus consists of entering into a community of human persons totally committed to resisting popular values “which see the ultimate goal in an ever-increasing, ever higher, standard of living, of resistance to mindless consumerism, and to social values which sanction racism and the exploitation of the poor.”7 the specificity of nigerian pentecostalism: a staring point for ecumenical formation in the seminaries the first step towards understanding any natural phenomenon is a careful study of its history and growth. for seminarians to be adequately prepared to engage pentecostalism in ecumenism, it is important, given their philosophical, theological and scholastic studies to engage in academic research and when possible fellowship and joint acts of praying or worship. the following is an abridged history that is illustrative of the pentecostal movement in nigeria. western and european scholars tend to locate the origin of the renewal of pentecostalism solely to the azusa street mission of 1906, born out of an african american prayer group in los angeles.8 some other scholars from south america, asia and africa trace a different historical origin different from the azusa mission. for instance, ogbu kalu in his seminal work on pentecostalism clarifies that from the very beginning, “african pentecostalism did not forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 71 originate from azusa street and is not an extension of the american electronic church.”9 for kalu, african pentecostalism was as a result of the response to missionary enterprise by the indigenous african christians (also known and referred to as african independent churches, (aics).10 citing the ethiopian movement as an example, which was an attempt at a recovery of african identity through religion; kalu makes the claim “ethiopianism was a muscular movement that operated with a certain theodicy claiming that god has not deserted africans to their humiliation but has raised a people to restore africa’s lost glory.”11 this, kalu perceived to be an african spirituality that will be anti-structure, anti-colonialism which will give birth to a vibrant nationalism. it will empower and energize african pentecostalism post-independence. so, the first question to be asked is, how will seminarians understand and perceive african spirituality in relating to their own scholastic and format theological training? despite the foregoing, there is a clear distinction between the pentecostal movements through the decades, which makes contextualizing a necessity but labelling difficult and unnecessary. in proper context, therefore, one can historically begin to see the emergence of african pentecostalism, revivals and identity from 1900 to 1960. various indigenous ‘prophets’ were already crisscrossing different parts of africa from 1910 when european missionaries were gathered in edinburgh to discuss further mission work in africa. kalu sums up this all-important clarification as follows, from the historical discourse, it can be demonstrated that the movement in africa did not start from azusa street… i conclude that a charismatic wind blew through the african continent in the post-independent period that first hit the youth and women, and later overawed the resistance of the mainline churches. in each country, certain socioeconomic and political factors determined the pattern of the early concerns. but various strands connected across national boundaries.12 this argument does not exclude a variety of missionary influences. what remains clear according to kalu is that the emergence of 72 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age missionary evangelical pentecostalism came to africa to find these religious impulses already in existence. while they initially coexisted, various factors forced a separation. african pentecostalism took its roots from the indigenous impulses.13 it would be difficult to argue successfully that it has remained the same ever since. with the emergence of this new face of pentecostalism, a topological distinction is made between the aics, the first wave of neo-pentecostalism and the current mega auditoriums, and jet-flying pentecostalism. the development and timeline seem to be one and the same along the west african coast and in africa generally.14 brigit meyer concludes that given the current state of african pentecostalism and its classifications and categories it can give way to, “albeit contested, processes of de-essentializing such notions as african, authentic, or local, de-temporalizing tradition, deconstructing modernity, blurring the boundary between religion and politics, and even de-universalizing religion.”15 whatever the case might be, pentecostalism, especially of nigerian persuasion continues to expound and enlarge. for instance, j.d.y. peel notes, “the yoruba16 have exported their brand of neo-pentecostalism all over sub-saharan africa, especially to major cities like nairobi and johannesburg. and in europe too, whether to serve mainly their own in the diaspora or to light the pentecostal fire in a native white population (as with the embassy of god in ukraine.)”17 all over europe and america, pentecostals offer a chaplaincy of welcome and safe haven for the throngs of african migrants. the contention of the relationship between future priests, who are now seminarians takes on another extension worthy of consideration; as we begin to experience a ‘reverse re-evangelization’ of the west by african priests, pastors and preachers, it is important to pay attention to ecumenical relationships in the diaspora. the pentecostals believe there is a trend which constitutes a “major paradigmatic change in the christian mission, popularly labelled a ‘reverse mission.’ african pentecostals are convinced that god’s mandate to them is to reach out to the entire world. this conviction is captured by their including words such as ‘global’, ‘international,’ and ‘world’ in their nomenclature.”18 and the history of european missionaries’ relationships in the evangelization of nigeria is well documented and not much of it reflects ecumenical embrace or friendship. in the united states, catholics, evangelicals and african forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 73 pentecostals are already experiencing tensions based on proselytization. there is much work to be done in this area so as to bridge the existing widening gap between christians in the diaspora. from my personal experience, most africans who arrive in europe and america and who practice the older forms of christianity usually have problems with ‘sombre and solemn’ liturgies they encounter in their new homes. unlike the celebratory and lively worship back home, the migrants encounter a cold and impersonal style. in some instance, their white hosts fail to extend a hand of welcome and sure enough, they begin to “shop” around. once they find the pentecostal communities, they immediately feel at home. they network and are helped to settle down, get accommodation, jobs, social security cards and even for the illegal immigrant, he or she finds welcome and fellowship. pentecostals in the diaspora fulfil a role the older generational churches are unable to fill. gradually, pentecostalism is beginning to impact the host european and american communities. perhaps the pentecostals will be at the forefront of the re-evangelization of the global west. here, the challenge for training future catholic priests in the new evangelization of the next century becomes a paramount task to be fulfilled. a pentecostal perspective on ecumenism nigerian pentecostals generally seems ambivalent when it comes to the question of ecumenism. neo –pentecostals in the west who are beginning to build a viable theological base are willing to engage in ecumenical encounters better than evangelical and neo-pentecostals found mostly in the southern hemisphere. based on my fieldwork and research findings, pentecostals in west africa think that ecumenism is important, but in reality, i did not find many instances of ecumenical associations between pentecostals, catholics and other denominations. there are a few instances where pentecostals had to work with other denominations borne out of immediate expediency. for instance, in sierra leone, immediately after the civil war and the aftermath of the ebola decimation, a coalition between churches was formed to try and respond to the humanitarian needs at the time. 74 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this sort of situation found in sierra leone is one of the examples that show the state of christianity in its supposed glorious upsurge on the face of the continent. interestingly, frank macchia calls attention to ‘the tongues of pentecost.’ macchia avers, “the tongues of pentecost may provide a pregnant metaphor for a distinctly pentecostal reflection on ecumenical exchange with roman catholics.”19 macchia clarifies further, “the tongues event of pentecost exposes the scandal of both a complacent sectarianism that offers no need to strive for unity and a complacent catholicism that is convinced such unity already exists.”20 because the pentecostals lay claim to the centrality of ‘tongues’ as it was given on pentecost day, pentecostalism cannot be sectarian, therefore must be ecumenical. macchia goes further to state, the event of pentecost by nature resists domestication as a metaphor that inspires the narratives of just one movement or segment of the people of god. pentecost is an ecumenical event. it should make pentecostals feel uneasy and insecure within the closet of pentecostal piety. it urges them to come out of that closet and to discover ‘pentecostalism’ in communions other than their own, especially in ways unfamiliar to them. it reminds them that being pentecostal in the full sense of the word means transcending the boundaries of the pentecostal movement in directions unexpected and quite dramatic. it means, in part, facing the ecumenical promise and challenge implied in the presence of the roman catholic church.21 to focus on the mystery and transcendence of tongue-speech, according to macchia is an important theological foundation for understanding and affirming diversity among the various christian traditions. language, culture and doctrinal traditions are relative to the mystery of god who is present in these diversities of traditions where diversity stands for the communion of free humanity with a free self-revealing god. macchia, therefore, concludes that “such diverse communions can fellowship and work together as equal partners as they dialogue across ecclesiastical lines. tongues as a prodigium that breaks in upon us from god’s spirit functions on one level as a kind of ‘anti-language’ that reveals the utter futility of any effort to attribute status to anyone language of faith.” 22 forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 75 allan h. anderson, one of the most acknowledged theologians to have carried out thorough research on pentecostalism views the connection between ecumenical work and contemporary pentecostalism as almost void. anderson posits that despite the belief of evangelicals and pentecostals dating back to azusa street, it was presumed that this new surge of the spirit will become an apostolic faith. this idea, that the pentecostal movement will sweep over the known christian church holds sway till date, and more so in the nerve centre of neo-pentecostalism of the southern hemisphere. anderson asserts that pentecostals saw unity in a spiritual sense, but not unity in creed or doctrine. anderson alludes to one area in which ecumenism seems to function even if not profoundly taken to heart; the interaction between pentecostals and charismatic renewals in the older christian traditions. anderson argues, “at the grassroots level, the charismatic movement brought people together from many different denominations in an unprecedented way… ‘a sense of unity was generated through the sharing of the divine experiences in the spirit which washed away denomination barriers at the grassroots level’…”23 anderson concludes that the greatest weakness of modern pentecostals is their inability to embrace their potentials for ecumenical diversities and unity. the task of ecumenism today: roman catholics, aics, pentecostals relationships our theological ‘elders’ forewarned us when in 1986 they gathered in mexico for the ecumenical association of third world theologians (eatwot) that the task of africa’s theology must be ecclesial, cultural, political and liberating. they posit the following wise words, …. we begin our common methodology of theologizing as people who feel in our bodies not just our own hearts but the pain of others. we theologize together and individually from our suffering and humiliation. we stand by our prior agreements to do theology and live our faith from the energy that flows from ecumenism and to which we pray our theology should make a contribution. together we define 76 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age poverty, in the comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, as whatever robs human beings and groups of peoples of their humanity. all who are impoverished because the culture they created has been trampled upon by others, all who’s right to be human is challenged by socio-political, economic, and religious structures and demands that humiliate, all who have to struggle to have their humanity recognized and respected – all these are poor.24 it is to these poor that the goodnews about the kingdom of god must be preached. it is to them that the christian church must serve, and not dominate, plunder or subjugate further than where they have already been marginalized by the corruption of governments and multi-million dollar corporations. from my experience and fieldwork in west africa, the relationship between catholics, african independent churches and the pentecostals in ecumenical work is not easily navigated. it is different from one socio-cultural milieu to another. in most situations, these relationships are based on mutual suspicion and disregard. while catholics are accused of worshipping images and idolizing mary, the indigenous african churches are accused of syncretism and the pentecostals are perceived to be proselytizers and con artists. at best their relationship can mostly be described as a mutual tolerance or intolerance. the possible avenue by which these christian traditions can ever come together is usually under the auspices of the association of christian churches in each particular church or region as the case might be. in nigeria for instance, (and this nigerian example is almost the exact template of the same situation along with the governments and peoples of the coastline of west africa), christians come together under the auspices of the christian association of nigeria, (can). before can, the nigerian anglican/roman catholic commission (narcc) had existed as an ecumenical body, wherein joint days of prayers for unity are held, and theological discussions ensued. upon the arrival of the pentecostals and in the light of the unstable economic and political situation in the country, it was imperative for the various christian blocs under can to have a common voice facing the new political realities in the nation. there forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 77 have been calls to prayers nationwide and several communiques and papers presented commonly from can in response to burning social issues at different times. most researchers who have made significant contributions to the study of neo-pentecostalism usually do not make concise connections between ecumenism, the christian church, pentecostalism, politics and social impact. it is true that many government officials along the west african coastline are known to frequent prayer camps and pastors. according to john mansford prior, pentecostalism is yet to understand “the imperative of channelling its formidable power into the needs of the temporal world, towards the gospel call to transforming the social order according to the plan of god.”25 john prior asserts that pentecostalism “has confined itself to a spirituality of conversion, of holiness and fellowship, failing to galvanize its adherents into a force of advocacy and action against the structures of sin.”26 pentecostalism with its numbers is naturally expected to collaborate in ecumenical efforts particularly when it speaks to social justice issues; on paper, west african pentecostals (pastors and adherents) agree that ecumenism which pays attention to social justice issues is essential. however, in reality, this is not true. this question can also be asked of the older christian traditions. it can be asked of those who design the curriculum for seminaries in the training of future priests. the preaching of the gospel can no longer be without its political and liberational dimensions. future priests, ecumenism and pentecostalism: prospects and challenges. there is a complexity in approaching the question of anything in the future since no one knows the future. we can try to predict possibilities in the future, but there are too many factors at play beyond human control that can reshape the future. the future of catholic priests and pentecostals at home and abroad, engaging in ecumenical work is bleak. the reality is that both sides view each other with suspicion. the future as far as it can be perceived puts a great challenge on the part of the priests of the next generation. again, there is an urgent need to review the curriculum in the seminaries especially as it affects homiletics, evangelization and 78 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age managing ecumenical outreach. awareness is essential as the future of catholicism in the global west may now be the missionary responsibility of the next generation of catholic priests. the following points are the essentials that i consider a necessity for preparing men who will bear witness to our catholic and apostolic faith in the very near future.  pentecostalism is a reality of the christian church today. we have all to learn to live together as we lay claim to proclaiming christ to the world. pentecostalism in nigeria and on the west african landscape is still very amorphous in nature to be approached in an ecclesial setting. the onus is on the existing older traditions to continue to extend the hands of fellowship to those in the pentecostal assemblies willing to work with others in an ecumenical setting.  there is an urgent need for our seminaries to undertake a theological and ecclesiological understanding of pentecostal teachings, to review its hierarchical/governmental structures. to understand pentecostalism in its various forms is a step forward in building a relationship, that lessens the existing tension and mutual suspicion.  for the christian message to endure on the continent, the pentecostals cannot afford to make the same mistakes their older brothers of the older traditions have made in the past; the idea that it is cosy and safe within their own assemblies, thereby becoming exclusive and not desirous of interacting with other christian churches. the christian church in subsahara africa faces a silent but potent threat from globalization and extreme liberalism. as cultures collide and penetrate each other through technology and the new wave of the internet and electronic media, a common front and ecumenical handshake across the divide is a necessity for the pentecostals and other christians.  in the west african region what makes ecumenical work, a must is the unrelenting insurgency of extreme and radical islam. in nigeria, the hotbed of boko haram insurgency, and in ghana and sierra leone, skirmishes have been recorded between radical islamic jihadists against christians and sometimes against moderate muslims. in nigeria for instance, there are public statements, unrefuted by the federal forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 79 government that there is an agenda to islamize the entire country by jihad. in this volatile situation, presenting a common ecumenical front in protecting the christian population is a necessity.  it seems the future of christianity lies in the soil, sons and daughters of africa, yet the issues, which disunite us, are more than the issues that unite us. ecumenical work, especially in constant dialogue, is the only way forward if the new pentecost breathing in the panting heart of africa will reverberate and will engage in the new evangelization of lands previously home of christianity, out of which the good news came to us.  catholic seminaries hold a wealth of spiritual and intellectual traditions in the training of future priests. this process must now be updated to include methods and approaches by which the priest to be is equipped in religious dialogue broadly. the interaction of traditional christianity with the new face of pentecostalism is only one stage in the dialogical process. there are muslims and traditional religions to encounter and embrace, especially in regions such as ours so deeply polarized and divided. catholic seminaries must begin to produce priests for the future who will take leadership roles in these dialogues.27 conclusion a seeming lack of interest on the part of pentecostals in questions of political engagement, the struggle for liberation and freedom from political oppression and social justice, widens the gap and makes ecumenical work more difficult. in nigeria, one gets a sense of a disconnect between social involvement and evangelism in the christian churches generally. while the pentecostals fill up auditoriums and stadiums for revivals and crusades, most of them are unable to put programs in place which supports social services.28 both pentecostals and the older christian traditions are guilty of building social services like schools and hospitals, which most of their congregants cannot afford monetarily to use. this is very prevalent across the board on the west african coast. it is easily 80 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age noticeable in private secondary schools, polytechnics and universities owned by pentecostal pastors or general overseers (gos). this extreme lack of social consciousness builds a wall that wedges any kind of effort at an ecumenical embrace. according to anderson, for the pentecostals, “there has not been a clearly articulated theological foundation for social ministry.”29 contrarily, they seem to focus on what anderson refers to as an ‘otherworldly’ spirituality that avoids ‘worldly’ issues. most prominent and at the forefront of pentecostal evangelism is material wealth, suppression of demonic forces, healings and miracles, and speaking in tongues – all of which will not feature on the agenda of an ecumenical meeting. in this work, i examined the possible connections between catholic seminarians, who will become future priests, contemporary pentecostalism and the notion of a possible ecumenical engagement towards social, political and religious reconstruction. while acknowledging nigerian pentecostalism and its phenomenal growth over the last few decades, it could well be said that it is the future face and phase of african christianity. however, there is the distressing news; nigerian brand of pentecostalism lack a coherent ecclesiology especially as it focuses mostly on "health and wealth" doctrines. if nigerian pentecostalism would thrive, it must connect and reach out ecumenically, by committing itself to social justice issues. it is also clear that there is work to be done to adequately equip young seminarians ordained into catholic ministry in the coming decades as they encounter their brothers and sisters of the pentecostal persuasion. we all know where we are today, but where we shall be tomorrow is in the hands of god. we can only pray and work assiduously, and together so that “his kingdom may come.” end notes 1 john segun odeyemi. pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon. (eugene, oregon: wipf & stock publishers, 2019), 52 2 cephas n. omenyo. 2014. “african pentecostalism” in cecil m. robeck jr and amos yong (eds). the cambridge companion to pentecostalism. (ny: cambridge university press), 132 3 ibid. forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 81 4 johannes muller & karl gabriel (eds.) 2015. evangelicals, pentecostal churches, charismatics: new religious movements as a challenge for the catholic church. (quezon, philippines: claretian publications), 9-10 5 roger haight, sj. “responding to fundamentalism in africa: three questions for the mainline churches. “ in the new theology review: an american catholic journal for ministry. vol 7, no.1, feb. 1994, 60 6 killian mcdonnell. 1978. the charismatic renewal and ecumenism. (ny: paulist press), 16-7 7 ibid., 18 8 this also is debated by some other scholars who give credence to the missionary work of charles parham in texas where pentecostal charisms had already been experienced before the azusa street prayer meeting. of the azusa street ministry, thomas rausch writes, “it was extraordinary in a number of ways. first, those coming to the mission rejoiced in extraordinary gifts of the holy spirit, including an ecstatic form of worship. second, though it originated in an african american prayer meeting in a still segregated los angeles, the congregation was soon interracial, with blacks and whites praying and singing together. third, from its beginnings the movement spread like wildfire. within six months, members and others interested in the azusa mission had founded several new congregations in los angeles and its environs. its participants held meetings in neighboring communities, often in tents or rented storefronts. by september, its evangelists had traveled from san diego to seattle, by december they were active across the country, and at least 13 missionaries had been sent to africa. in the next two years the movement spread to mexico, canada, europe, africa, even to northern russia. cf. thomas p. rausch. "catholics and pentecostals: troubled history, new initiatives." theological studies 71, no. 4, 2010, 928 9 ogbu kalu. african pentecostalism: an introduction. 2008 (new york: oxford university press), viii 10 other designations for the aics include african initiated churches, african indigenous churches, and african independent churches. 11 ibid. 12 ibid. 13 kalu surmises the situation at the time in the following succinct words, “classical pentecostals appeared early in the african religious landscape and operated with a muscular indigenous agency to charismatize africa … the crucial point is that none of the classical forms of pentecostalism became important in the religious landscape until they benefitted from the spiritual renewal of the 1970s…. and certainly counter the impression that ‘new crusaders’ recently forayed into africa bearing the insignia of fundamentalism. 82 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age pentecostalism emerged from the indigenous response of africans to the missionary message; the missionary input from evangelical ministries such as scripture union, campus crusade, and such; from the increasing missionary forays of pentecostals from the holiness tradition and pentecostal denominations from various countries who utilized the labors of african agents; and from interdenominational parachurches, bolstered by the educational institutions of many american bible colleges and many evangelical evangelizing outreaches. cf, 64 14 meyer expounds on the all too common features of the new pentecostal leadership in the following way, “many pccs present themselves as ultimate embodiments of modernity. building huge churches to accommodate thousands of believers, making use of elaborate technology to organize mass-scale sermons and appearances on tv and radio, organizing spectacular crusades throughout the country-often parading foreign speakers – so as to convert nominal christians, muslims, and supporters of traditional religions, creating possibilities for high-quality gospel music, and instigating trend-setting modes of dress all create an image of successful mastery of the modern world. meyer,birgit. “christianity in africa: from african independent to pentecostal-charismatic churches.” annual review of anthropology. 33, no.1,2004, 459 15 ibid, 467 16 the yoruba nation is the most dispersed ethnic group in nigeria through the trans-atlantic slave trade. they inhabit the south western part of nigeria. among the yorubas, the first impulse of charismaticprophetism and indigenous forms of christianity was born in nigeria. 17 j.d.y. peel. christianity, islam, and oriṣ a religion: three traditions in comparison and interaction. 2016. (california: university of california press), 214 18 cephas omenyo. “african pentecostalism” in cecil m. robeck jr and amos yong (eds). the cambridge companion to pentecostalism. ibid,144 19 frank d. macchia. “the tongues of pentecost: a pentecostal perspective on the promise and challenge of pentecostal/roman catholic dialogue.” journal of ecumenical studies, december 1, 1998, vol.35, issue 1. 20 ibid. 21 ibid., 2 22 frank d. macchia. ibid., 8 23 allan heaton anderson.. an introduction to pentecostalism (2nd ed.) (cambridge, uk: cambridge university press, 2014), 252 24 k.c. abraham (ed.) “third world theologies: commonalities and divergences.” mercy amba oduyoye, contributor, commonalities: an african perspective. (maryknoll, ny: orbis books, 1990.), 103 25 john mansford prior (maumere-flores). “how does the catholic church deal with the new religious movements in a constructive way? (focus on asia)” in forming future catholic priests in a pentecostal world... 83 johannes muller & karl gabriel (eds.) evangelicals, pentecostal churches, charismatics: new religious movements as a challenge for the catholic church. op.cit, 255 26 ibid. 27 most of this section can be found in my book earlier cited, john segun odeyemi. pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon. op. cit. 28 while one must not make a blanket statement or over generalize on this matter, it must be stated that there are in the more established pentecostal churches, some who have some welfare plans for economically disadvantaged members. for instance in nigeria and ghana, there are clear evidences to show that some needy pentecostal members are provided raw food, they are given financial support to pay hospital bills, school fees or in some instances some amount to start a personal small scale business. the problem lies with when you look at the wider picture. 29 ibid. allan heaton anderson, 278 84 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 6 the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria: context and content paul ọlátúbọ̀sún àdajà introduction a priest must be convinced of two things. the first is the faith. faith in this sense means that his primary orientation must always be towards god. this is very similar to the understanding of joseph ratzinger when he avers that faith is “taking up a position, as taking a stand trustfully on the ground of the word of god.1 essentially, faith will, therefore, mean one “entrusting oneself to that which has not been made by oneself and never could be made and which precisely in this way supports and makes possible all our making.”2 the second is his vocation. vocation must also be understood in the sense of its etymology which means “to call, to name, to summon.”3 at the background, a call is a tensive dynamic. one is always called from something or somewhere. one is also especially in the christian sense of vocation called for something. there is, therefore, a call from something and a call for something. dietrich bonhoeffer’s statement that when “christ calls a man; he bids him to come and die” should, therefore, be understood not in the sense of annihilation but a death to something that makes living for something else possible.4 the certainty of a priest’s faith and vocation is not of a static dimension. it is a certainty that abides in a spectrum. it is a tensive certainty. a certainty that is subject to doubt. however, the permanent the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 85 character of this doubt is that one’s orientation of always towards god. in the words of the anonymous writer of the cloud of unknowing. you must also know that this darkness and this cloud will always be between you and your god, whatever you do. they will always keep you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your intellect and will block you from feeling him fully in the sweetness of love in your emotions. so, be sure you make your home in this darkness. stay there as long as you can, crying out to him over and over again because you love him. it is the closest you can get to god here on earth, by waiting in this darkness and in this cloud.5 this jarring subjection of a priest’s certainty to doubt has been captured best in the words of cyran that “faith consists of a series of contradictions held together by grace.”6 this certainty of faith and vocation in the life of a priest was what i saw some twenty years ago when i got to all saints’ major seminary, uhiele-ekpoma for my priestly formation. that was where i met fr anselm jimoh. the relationship has been one of respect of a brilliant scholar and of considerable distance since he was my formator and will always be. i do hope that the following pages i write will be a respectable testimony of what i have learned from fr. anselm jimoh. my aim in this paper is to argue that it is upholding the primacy of the logos in the context and content of priestly formation guarantees the faith and vocation of the formandi. what this paper will not do is to argue that the present priestly formation efforts in nigeria (of which i am a grateful beneficiary) is outdated or unproductive. my aim is to highlight our present remarkable efforts and argue that we can make them more productive with a better understanding of our context. the nigerian context and content the nigerian context today is that of a schizoid anthropological crisis. the average nigerian is today locked in two worlds. we live in our own world, but our lives are characterized by continuous contact and interaction with the west. this contact was and has never been of equal partners and yet the inequality of that contact is both the source of repulsion and attraction in this relationship. the most enduring effect of this contact has been a confusing picture of the human person that subsists afterwards.7 we are neither here nor there. we are neither fully 86 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nigerian nor western. with us, “nothing is purely local, nothing is purely foreign, everything is remotely global.”8 our orientation is to the west for an idea of humanity, but the western idea of humanity is also sufficiently diseased. the crucial reality that determines the fate of so many is that we are more than ever submerged by ‘white material,’ but still, have only limited access to its trade secrets.9 our bodies live in the land on the niger yet our souls are all over the world. our source of pride lies mostly on setting our feet outside our shores. home is never enough, not just for the young (which is normal) but also for the old. that we have even thrived at all in the midst of this is nothing short of a miracle. our desires as nigerians seem to have an anthropological disorder that is not only painful but crisis-ridden. unfortunately, it is a problem that ravages the african continent. the human person has never been so poor and yet our understanding of the human person has never been so impoverished. benedict xvi describes this anthropological crisis by saying that like the rest of the world, africa is experiencing a culture shock which strikes at the age-old foundations of social life, and sometimes makes it hard to comes to terms with modernity.10 i must note here that though both the west and africa are facing an anthropological crisis, they are of different kinds. everywhere the modern person, after all, suffocates in a world that offers everything except answers to the deeper ‘why ‘questions.’11 in the west, this crisis is borne out of a large-scale rejection of values that have mainly held the west together. ratzinger notes that “in this central question of man which still remains of the greatest importance, all the human problems of our time converge.”12 however, in africa, the anthropological crisis started as a result of the ‘violent’ disruption of life as it was known before the contact with the west. since this contact is still ongoing and will be ongoing for a while, it is the most significant background that shapes this anthropological crisis. this does not mean this contact is directly responsible for everything in nigeria presently, it simply means that our presently anthropological crisis is simply incomprehensible without the context of this contact. ela captures the reality of this contact when he states that: the problem is further complicated by the fact that the current generation does not necessarily look to african cultural traditions for answers to all its questions. because the young people of today have emerged from the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 87 school systems conveying alienating messages and few have experienced initiation rites, the totality of the african universe is not open to them, and they cannot draw on the knowledge transmitted by the great masters of oral tradition.13 every african (nigeria inclusive) value that has held for centuries can no longer be taken for granted. our value of family life is so overrated and exaggerated nowadays that we are often ashamed to admit it. how do we explain our respect for life amid the bodies lying in many parts of africa? suicides which in the past was a rarity and mostly occurs in the case of honor is now not only common but also has roots in the depression holding sway in many african societies.14 how do we understand the richness of the ubuntu philosophy with the xenophobia in south africa? how about many of our inter-tribal conflicts which now have a dimension that we could never have imagined. the context of the western contact has also transformed our capacity for conflict. for instance, a conflict between a citizen of nigeria and south african would have been unimaginable 200 years ago. we also deal today with the crisis of advanced fee fraud in which nigerian scammers are the role models who even have biblical links.15 how do we fit our increased level of poverty, human trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution into our understanding of the human person? what has happened to our ideals of orúkọ rere dára ju wúrà òun fàdákà?16 one of the saddest realities that mirror the anthropological crises in nigeria and across africa is child soldiers. how did we really get so low in our idea of the human person? a further appreciation of this contact between the west and nigeria has also introduced some ideas which could not have been imagined without this contact. the value of western medicine which has helped us understand more some of our common ailments like malaria cannot be overestimated. the fear and killing of twins were also a scourge which came to end with this contact. this contact has also transformed our world in terms of art. our array of the musical instruments has also been expanded, thanks to this contact. also, the rise of soccer in the continent especially nigeria is unimaginable without contact with the west. for the most part, in nigeria, this game keeps us united. in some cases, this contact has been for good and in some cases, it has left us for the worst. however, the worst outcome of 88 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this contact is the anthropological crisis our country suffers from today. yet, i am not sure we can resolve this crisis outside the context of this contact. while the context of nigeria today is the anthropological crisis, the content of that crisis is pentecostal. while pentecostal is immediately thought of a religious phenomenon, my understanding of this phenomenon extends beyond the religious connotations. it is a national phenomenon, especially in nigeria. however, this nonreligious aspect of this phenomenon can be well understood if we put attention to its religious manifestation. nigeria has some of the biggest pentecostal churches in africa if not in the world. the pentecostal presence in nigeria is not limited to the religious space. it has spilt into politics, organized crime, and education. a good number of private universities are owned by pentecostal churches (or more accurately pastors).17 anthonio spadaro describes pentecostalism as “the belief that god wants his followers to have a prosperous life, that is, to be rich, healthy and happy. this type of christianity places the well being of the believer at the center of prayer, and turns god the creator into someone who makes the thoughts and desires of believers come true.”18 spadaro makes an obvious link between the prosperity gospel and the american dream. this trend is not absent in nigerian brand of pentecostalism like john odeyemi argues that most prominent and at the forefront of pentecostal evangelism is material wealth, suppression of demonic forces, healings and miracles, and speaking in tongues.19 in a sense, material prosperity. hence the main prayers here are for “financial breakthrough, success in business or advancement by promotion at jobs, opening and begetting the “fruit of the womb,” success in exams, securing a life partner, and even the securing of travelling visa documents.”20 many scholars argue that the rise of pentecostalism can be linked to both factors of indigenous traditions and the social-economic conditions in africa. ebenezer obadare in, pentecostal republic avers that “not only does the pentecostal worldview draw directly from indigenous traditions of witchcraft, but pentecostalism also presents a unique blend of more traditional and modern perspectives.”21 odeyemi also thinks that “one of the earliest things that made pentecostalism appeal to a wide range of people is its experiential african world view of mystical and diabolical causalities. the african mind is always alive and aware of these realities.”22 he also thinks the socio-economic the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 89 realities have a part to play in this case since this form of christianity thrives because it provides a creative response to many destabilizing aftereffects of failing or failed political systems.23 the present socioeconomic as a result of these failed political systems include a plethora of problems like ethnicism, poverty, illiteracy, irresponsible and corrupt governments.”24 the idea that the problems that confront africans are sociological and a result of our socio-economic realities has led to african theologians arguing that theologizing in africa must always carry a political character. emmanuel katongole for instances argues that “the faith crises in africa is neither primarily nor predominantly cultural but political.”25 my concern is that seeing african problems as largely political is playing directly into the hands of the pentecostal orientation. one way it does that is to see religion as primarily as a message of socio-political redemption and hence lead to an exaggerated concentration on a form of liberation theology on the continent that neither liberative nor touches the question of the human person. this is evident as one scholar noted that “third world theologians are agreed that theology must be liberative and has to be a critique of “injustice, inequality, corruption, and authoritarianism.”26 éla also notes that “at a time when africans, like other peoples, are facing the shock of technological and cultural modernity, liberation of oppressed must be the primary condition for any authentic inculturation of the message.27 while it will be foolhardy to deny the socio-economic realities in nigeria, i want to argue that the origin of these problems is not sociological but anthropological. in fact, the argument that our challenges are sociological in character is to play directly into the hands of the pentecostal context of nigerian life. while i am not against a theology that critiques the power structures in africa, we must always acknowledge that the fact that politics is related to human salvation, does not mean that human salvation can be realized through politics.28 this is because a christianity that defines itself essentially in terms of social ‘involvement’ has contours that are too blurred and ignores a lot about the human person.29 such a christianity has attempted to bring god down to the level of a deus ex machina who becomes superfluous through the advance in man’s own capacity.30 i also think that more importantly, it is all scratching the problems on the surface. this is because our challenges are deeper than the social and political 90 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age dimensions, though, that is the more visible symptoms that we can observe. we are dealing more with a human person that is broken at the level of the understanding of the human self. a closer look at the modus operandi of pentecostalism in nigeria abundantly reflects an anthropological crisis. odeyemi notes that these new-age pastors are a crossbreed between motivational speakers, marriage counsellors, life coaches—even boot camp instructors and preachers.31 these pastors acting on an idea of how a human being should be and wants to create a new person in the shape of their ideas. interestingly, they are getting successful. smith, notes the individualistic mentality of pentecostalism, as many of these bornagain christians are more individualistic than their parents but less isolated than their counterparts in the west.32 odeyemi avers that “while in the older traditions, prayers seek a connection with the divine in the self, amongst the pentecostals, it seeks it in an explosion outside of the self.33 it shows we are really dealing with a problem of the idea of the human person. hence, our social under-development should be seen in its naked reality as representing a fundamental aspect of the anthropological pauperization of the african person.34 it is easy to dismiss rampant kidnappings, persistent corruption, child soldiers, bribery, examination practices and other punishing circumstances as indices of social realities but what does it tell us about the idea of the human person we now hold as a people. our orientation of the human person seems to be warped for the most past. we have in essence a restless human person whose main yearnings are both disordered, irrational and unfortunately unknown to him/her. i term this content of this crisis as pentecostal because the pentecostal spirit is the most pervasive spirit in nigeria today. the lure of pentecostalism for the nigerian christian is so much that pentecostal ideas have filtered into the mainline churches.35 politically odeyemi and obadare argue correctly in their works that, the pentecostals churches are rarely against the government because they are really thriving with the status quo. there are even catholic priests who are publicly linked to government officials. interestingly, these catholic priests’ modus operandi in worship and sermon is overtly laden with pentecostal themes. that is why i think the pervasiveness of the pentecostal spirit is more widespread, non-religious and more secular than we imagine. this strengthens my argument that we are dealing with an anthropological crisis. we use language like ‘it is well’ the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 91 profusely even when it is not well. some even say, ‘it is well even inside the well’. there is an unmitigated yearning for success that has no respect for the other person. interestingly, the idea of success is largely defined within the context of this continuous encounter (contact) with the west. we deceptively look as if we are oriented towards god but actually, we are not. we are oriented towards the west and its diseased idea of life and the human person. and how does this relate to the priestly formation? i think two ways. one is the fact that every seminarian today is a product of this anthropological crisis which has pentecostalism as its content. it is the world in which we move, live and have our being.36 some are even in the seminary and have as role models some of these pentecostal pastors. we may therefore not agree with the pentecostal content out there, but we cannot ignore it. secondly, this is the content they are being called out from and for. it is a very difficult situation when you combine this context and content. if we do not take time to think about this crisis now, there is a great danger ahead. to combat this situation, i propose the primacy of the logos the primacy of the logos. logos as a word has a significant wide range in the ancient world ranging from every day to philosophical usage. the root λεγ represents a comprehensive and overarching unity of meanings. these include gather, collect, select, report and speak.37 as a concept, logos was introduced into greek philosophy by heraclitus of ephesus (circa 6th century bce).38 the fluidity of the interpretation of logos is attested by the fact that over time, it acquired a variety of meanings and these include word, speech, language, narrative, statement, pronouncement, question, report, account, sermon, teaching, call, sense.39 an interesting usage of this term was by the stoics who saw in logos the universal divine reason inherent in the cosmos.40 hence logos moved from a particular understanding to the universal principle of rationality. this means we can now translate this ubiquitous word as wisdom, reason, speech or rationality. while, the septuagint translates the common hebrew word dbr (word, report, command, thing, matter, affair) especially in the pentateuch, the connection between wisdom and logos was made explicit in the wisdom of solomon around first century bce.41 92 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age thomas h. tobin notes that logos is an important concept in hellenistic judaism with a complex and long history starting from second century bce with the jewish writer aristobulus.42 however, it was in philo that this concept reached its full flowering in jewish literature. philo relying on the stoic idea of logos as the principle of rationality interpreted it to be the intermediate reality between god who was essentially transcendent, and the universe.43 in some instances, philo’s idea of logos has been translated to be a metaphor for god’s action in the world.44 however, tobin’s position on philo’s idea of the logos is worth quoting in full. for philo, the logos served as the intermediate metaphysical reality through which the universe was originally ordered and by which it continues to be sustained in an orderly state. it was not simply a metaphor; it was a real aspect of divine reality through which god was related, although indirectly, to the universe. although a derivative reality, the logos was not created as was the rest of the universe. in much the same way, the logos cannot aptly be characterized as either personal or impersonal. rather it was the source of intelligibility of the universe and so was itself intelligent in a way that transcended the universe and, in that sense also went beyond the categories either of personal or impersonal.45 logos made a significant presence in the new testament, occurring 330 times but it was in the johannine literature that its presence is most remarkable. logos was understood in the johannine prologue in the sense of the historical appearance of jesus, the eternal and divine giver of life on earth.46 thus, the logos of middle platonists (including philo) enters into history. tobin argues that identification of the logos with a particular human being was indicative of the author of the johannine prologue though keeping with the speculative character of hellenistic judaism but moving the conversation in a new and quite different direction.47 joseph ratzinger notes that john takes up again here a paradigm of theological thought that is extremely widespread in both the greek and the jewish intellectual world and naturally adopts a series of connotations that are already developed the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 93 within it, so as to apply them to christ. perhaps one could maintain, however, that the new element that he imparted the logos concept lies significantly in the fact that was decisive to him was not the idea of an eternal rationality—as the greeks supposed—or whatever other speculations there might have been previously, but rather the relativity of the existence that is inherence in the concept of the logos.48 as a result of this, ratzinger sees the christian faith, not as a renunciation of reason, but rather, is the acceptance of the extreme depth of divine reason.49 whether in the sense of the word or in the sense of a person, christianity must never oversee an amputation of reason.50 neither must it entertain within its ranks, a diremption of faith and reason. faith is not to be placed in opposition to reason since it has always been clear from its very structure that christian faith is not to be divorced from reason.”51 faith is also not the resignation of reason in view of the limits of our knowledge or even circumstances.52 faith “grasps reason in its whole breadth and depth and protects it.53 when the christian faith submits to any form of irrationality, not only is religion threatened, reason too is at risk.54 in its missionary activity in africa, western missionaries failed in many aspects but not in the reasonableness of faith. this is evidenced in the fact the investment the missionaries made into education in africa. today, the pentecostal content of our anthropological crisis attempts to view religious experiences outside the realm and sometimes against the realm of reason as the new way of approaching the divine. to be against the reasonable is the new definition of religious experience.55 i take as an example, the approach to human health. elnathan notes satirically that the nigerian god cures everything from hiv to high blood pressure.56 this is not only an attack on reason, but there is also little reason to develop our health sector if a majority of us have that understanding of god and humanity. our health sector was almost better when the missionaries were among us because they have an understanding of what humanity needs to do in terms of health; that is exactly where the pentecostal overlords want us. this phenomenon has become a challenge for priests of the 21st century since unfortunately, we have in our midst today priests who either intentionally or unconsciously oversee this diremption of faith and logos. we also live among people who daily do this. this reality 94 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age becomes absurd when one finds cases in which either priests or laypersons who oversee some liturgical events often pass off this diremption as the “new reason” creating an epistemological crisis.57 at the heart of our pentecostal content is the separation of faith and reason. this is so much evident in not only in the teachings but in many of the pentecostal attitudes that subsist in nigeria. when we separate faith and reason, what we have is this anthropological crisis in which ‘gods’ become a tool in the hands of man. that way not only is religion threatened, reason too is at risk.58 we have a marriage between faith and any other things ‘out there.’ and god has never stopped calling people from ‘out there’ the way forward my suggestion is that we need to devote a lot of resources in studying the idea of the man that has resulted in nigeria in the face of this continuous contact with the west. we should risk studying what sort of humanity we now have today. having this idea of what sort of humanity is prevalent in nigeria will also help know which ideas we need to hold on in this contact and which one we need to jettison. our philosophy classes in the seminary should have a course on the various ideas of the human person that subsists in nigeria today. as ratzinger states: “one must know oneself as one really is if one is to know god. the real medium, the primordial experience of all experiences, is that man himself is the place in which and through which he experiences god.”59 we can do this most by paying attention to works of fiction that come out of africa today. many of these works, aptly express desires or dreams than philosophical sobriety can.60 fortunately, we have an abundance of them nowadays, and they also have been gathering international awards (again the continuous contact).61 we also must pay attention to the music that trends nowadays. some of these songs not only reveal the influence of the west but also conceals some of the persistent african ideas.62 i think we need in our seminaries courses on contemporary african literature. future priests sitting down and analyzing the ideas of the human persons we have in this novel will equip them with a good knowledge of the context that they will work in. it will also give them an idea of themselves and how much of these ideas show up in their own thinking. it is a tremendous epistemological and metaphysical task that is necessary. if it is not done, we are going the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 95 nowhere. it is easy to think we can change our structures or politicians but if we still have the same thinking about the human person, every change will be an illusion. after we have studied the humanity that has emerged out of this contact, we must hold this humanity against the standard of the logos both in terms of rationality and in his person, jesus christ. this is because, “christ is like a signpost indicating where humanity is tending”63 this is the only way we can have in the words of ela “another history, another society, another humanity, another system of production, another style of living together.”64 what jesus actually wants is not for us to change our bad water/poor water into a cleaner one which is what the sociological interpretation of our condition will do. what is required by our philosophical and theological investigations into our understanding of man in africa is to change our water, whether poor, dirty or clean into wine.65 as sarah oakley notes theology involves not merely the metaphysical task of adumbrating a vision of god, the world, and humanity, but simultaneously the epistemological task of cleansing, reordering, and redirecting the apparatuses of one’s own thinking, desiring, and seeing.66 this may be difficult to even start to think about but as rumi once wrote “if the nut of the mystery can’t be held, at least let me touch the shell.67 conclusion with that, we return to the question of faith and vocation as certainties. our faith should be rooted in the person of jesus christ, the second adam, from whom alone the christian picture of man can be correctly developed.”68 however our vocation is a calling from a pentecostal reality which has a distorted vision of man to proclaim a vision of man ‘most human of man’69 we, therefore, need men in our seminaries who have their eyes fixed straight on god, and who learn from him what true humanity is because god returns among men only through men who are touched by god.70 this reiterates the position that being christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction71 96 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 joseph cardinal ratzinger introduction to christianity, (trans. j.r. foster. with a new preface trans. michael j. miller, san francisco: ignatius press, 2004), 69. 2 ratzinger introduction, 70. 3 see vocare in john c. traupman, the bantam new college latin & english dictionary, (3d ed., new york: bantam dell, 2007), 453. 4 dietrich bonhoeffer the cost of discipleship (new york: simon & schuster, 1959), 89. 5 the cloud of unknowing with the book of privy counsel: a new translation by carmen acevedo butcher, (boulder: shambhala, 2009), 12. 6 saint cyran as quoted by joseph ratzinger, introduction to christianity, 173 7 while i am of the opinion that colonialism holds a prime place in the disruption of life as africans as we know it (a disruption in which they have little or no say), it is only but the beginning of a contact that continues till date. that is why my focus will be on contact which for me is imperfective in character and not aoristic. cf. sandra r. shimoff, “banquets: the limits of hellenization,” journal for the study of judaism, xxvii, 4. (1996): 440-452. shimoff notes that “when two cultures compete for allegiance of a single people, the politically weaker culture has three options: assimilation, rejection or accommodation… accommodation to the dominant culture while maintaining cultural identity and integrity may be the only option that allows for survival.” 8 stephen smith, the scramble for europe: young africa on its way to the old continent (cambridge, polity, 2019), 33. 9 stephen smith, the scramble for europe, 79 10 benedict xvi africae munus (http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africaemunus.html) no11. 11 lieven boeve, “christ, humanity and salvation” the ratzinger reader: mapping a theological journey (ed. lieven boeve and gerard mannion, (new york: t&t clark, 2010), 51-79. 12 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” in h. vorgimler (ed.) commentary on the documents of the documents of vatican ii: pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world (vol 5, new york: herder and herder, 1969), 115-163. 13 jean-marc éla my faith as an african (trans. john pairman brown and susan perry, eugene, oregon: wipf & stock, 2009), xv. 14 iku ya ju esin is a yoruba proverb which loosely translates “death is better than shame.” 15 cf. “letter from africa: why nigeria’s internet scammers are ‘role models’ “ , september 23, 2019 in https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49759392 16 a good name is better than gold and silver. (cf. proverbs 22.1). though a biblical proverb, it has a home even before the biblical in many languages/ethnic groups with an emphasis on honesty as the best policy. http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africae-munus.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africae-munus.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20111119_africae-munus.html https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49759392 the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 97 17 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations: west africa as a case study for a global phenomenon (eugene, oregon, wipf & stock, 2019), 55. 18 anthonio spadaro, “the prosperity gospel: dangerous and different.” (https://lacivitacattolica.com/free-articles/) published date: 18 july 2018. 19 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations, 32. 20 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nations, 13 21 ebenezer obadare pentecostal republic: religion and the struggle for state power in nigeria, (london: zed books, 2018), 22. 22 john segun odeyemi pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 55. 23 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 51. 24 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation,33 25 emmanuel katongole, “the gospel as politics in africa” theological studies 77:3 (2016): 704-720. 26 mercy amba oduyoye “commonalities: an african perspective” in the world theologies: commonalities and divergences: papers and reflections from the second general assembly of the ecumenical association of third world theologians, december 1986, oaxtepec, mexico (ed. k.c abraham, maryknoll, new york: orbis books, 1990): 100-104. 27 jean-marc éla my faith as an african, xvi. 28 lieven boeve, “christian faith, church and the world” the ratzinger reader: mapping a theological journey (ed. lieven boeve and gerard mannion, (new york: t&t clark, 2010): 119-138. 29 joseph ratzinger as quoted in the ratzinger reader 169 30 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” 157 31 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 52. 32 stephen smith, the scramble for europe, 62 33 odeyemi, pentecostalism and catholic ecumenism in developing nation, 15 34 the world theologies: commonalities and divergences, 35 35 obadare pentecostal republic,30. 36 acts 17:28 37 horst robert balz and gerhard schneider exegetical dictionary of the new testament, (1990), 2, 357. 38 joseph komonchak, mary collins and dermot a. lane, the new dictionary of theology (2000), 601. 39 balz and schneider, 357. 40 komonchak, 601. 41 thomas h. tobin, “the prologue of john and hellenistic jewish speculation” catholic biblical quarterly 52 (1990):252-269. 42 thomas h. tobin, “the prologue of john” 256 43 tobin, “prologue of john” 257. 44 tobin, “prologue of john” 266 https://lacivitacattolica.com/free-articles/ 98 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 45 tobin, “prologue of john” 266. 46 balz and schnedider,357. 47 tobin, “prologue of john” 267-268. 48 joseph ratzinger dogma and preaching: applying christian doctrine for daily life, (trans. michael j. miller and matthew j.o. o’connell, edited by michael j. miller, san francisco: ignatius press, 2005), 188. 49 elio guerriero benedict xvi: his life and thought (trans william j. melcher, san francisco: ignatius, 2018), 367. 50 joseph cardinal ratzinger introduction to christianity, 139. 51 joseph cardinal ratzinger, principles of catholic theology: building stones for a fundamental theology, (trans sister mary frances mccarthy, s.n.d. san francisco: ignatius press, 1987), 325. my idea of the primacy of the logos is from here. 52 joseph ratzinger, a turning point for europe? the church in the modern world: assessment and forecast (2nd ed. trans. brian mcneil, c.r.v, foreword. james v. schall, s.j. san francisco: ignatius press, 1994),110 53 joseph ratzinger, a turning point, 112. 54 elio guerriero benedict xvi, 432 55 interestingly, this is also a trend in the western world where there is now an established distinction between being religious and spiritual. there is also an increase belief (misguided i think) that psychedelics can induce religious-like experience. this argument holds that at best psychedelics can replace religion or at worst become its substitute/alternative. this is the position of michael pollan “seems to me the great gift of the psychedelic journey, especially to the dying: its power to imbue everything in our flied of experience one heightened sense of purpose and consequence. depending on one’s orientation, this can be understood either in humanistic or in spiritual terms—for what is the sacred but a capitalized version of significance?... religion has always understood this wager, but why should religion enjoy a monopoly?” how to change your mind: what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence (new york: penguin, 2018), 355. it is obvious that the notion of religion as argued in pollan’s work does not capture christianity as i have argued so far. this is not to say christianity has not overseen some absurd and irrational events. i am arguing that such moments have been corruption of the christianity. 56 elnathan john, be(com) ing nigerian: a guide, (abuja: cassava republic, 2019), 12. 57 one of the classes i took with fr jimoh is epistemology. 58 elio guerriero benedict xvi, 432 59 ratzinger, principles of catholic theology, 354 60 rémi brague the kingdom of man: genesis and failure of the modern project, (trans. paul seaton, notre dame, indiana: university of notre dame press, 2018). xiv 61 chigozie obioma, an orchestra of minorities new york: little brown and company, 2019. ayobami adebayo stay with me (new york: vintage books, the primacy of logos and priestly formation in nigeria… 99 2018); akwaeke emezi, freshwater (new york: grove press, 2018). one must also mention a writer like chimamanda ngozi adichie who has published some bestsellers like purple hibiscus, half of a yellow sun and americanah. 62 i find interesting a podcast jesus and jollof by ‘two proudly nigerian women’ talking about the things they love, their stories and life in general. the interesting part is that while they are first generation immigrants in america, they exhibit in their show persistent nigerian values. 63joseph ratzinger dogma and preaching 194 64 jean-marc éla my faith as an african, 84 65 ratzinger, principles of catholic theology, 324. 66 sarah oakley as quoted in lauren f. winner the dangers of christian practice: on wayward gifts, characteristic damage, and sin. (new haven: yale university press 2018), 179. 67 the essential rumi, (trans. coleman barks, new york: harperone, 2004), 65. 68 joseph ratzinger, “the dignity of the human person” 120 69 aidan nichols, the thought of benedict xvi: an introduction to the theology of joseph ratzinger, (new ed. new york: burn and oates, 2007), 87. 70 joseph ratzinger as quoted in the ratzinger reader, 132-33 71 benedict xvi deus caritas est no 1 100 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 7 liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from lex orandi, lex credendi anthony olumuyiwa omodunbi introduction few weeks after my ordination to the catholic priesthood, the diocese of my incardination (osogbo diocese) organised an orientation program for all the new priests to be involved in pastoral engagement within the diocese. the priest who anchored the liturgy session opened by saying: “you have to put aside what you have been taught in the seminary and learn how we do things in the diocese.” my first intuitive reaction was, why then do we have to spend nine years in the seminary if it is only to be ordained and put aside what we have learnt? he went further to say, “you have learnt theory in seminary and now you will be involved in the practical life of the liturgy.” i was a bit settled at that and was disposed to go through the orientation exercise which was however highly beneficial for my integration into the pastoral life in the diocese. however, after ten years of pastoral ministry and deeper studies in the liturgy, the question continues to pop up querying why the gap between theory and practice in seminary formation? why what should was learned in seminary not adequately and sufficiently introduce the newly ordained into the ministry? or in this particular case, why should what was learnt in seminary not be the ‘moulding of a liturgical minister?’ while i do not want to engage in the argument whether priestly formation, especially in nigeria, is achieving the goal of moulding liturgical minister to meet the present-day challenges or not, this reflection seeks to emphasise that all that is being taught and done liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 101 in seminary, especially in the areas of moral, spiritual and intellectual/academic formation, should at the same time have a liturgical focus. while this does not imply that formation should be reduced to liturgy, this reflection argues that prioritizing the liturgical dimension of priestly formation is one of the major ways of bridging the supposed gap between theory and practice. after all, ‘the liturgy is the summit towards which the activity of the church is directed; it is also the source from which all its power flows.1 it is through the liturgy that the work of our redemption takes place;2 it is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of jesus christ and therefore, ‘no other action of the church equals its effectiveness by the same title nor to the same degree.’3 thus, having seminary formation with a liturgical focus can never be overemphasised. to justify the position of this reflection, i will consider the meaning of the age-old maxim lex orandi, lex credendi as it pertains to the indispensable role of liturgy in the life and faith of the church, and how it could effectively bridge the gap between worship and doctrine, theology and liturgy, and theory and practice. lex orandi, lex credendi: a maxim in context the late 20th-century discussion on the emergence of what is today called liturgical theology, brought with it a new look at the age-old latin maxim, lex orandi, lex credendi. the discussion which centres around the relationship between liturgy and theology reopened the understanding of the maxim lex orandi, lex credendi as it sheds light on the interplay between praying and believing, between christian worship and doctrine.4 major scholars in the discussion affirm the importance of liturgy in the understanding of the belief of the church since she prays as she believes. this, however, does not mean that what the church believes does not affect how the church prays, as it is evident in the periods of reforms. the proper understanding of the context in which the maxim first appeared is therefore instructive on how it should be correctly understood and used. the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi is the binominal for the phrase ‘ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi’ that is ‘so that the law of prayer may establish a law for belief.’ the phrase has its root 102 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in the response attributed to a lay monk, prosper of aquitaine (a disciple of augustine), to semi-pelagians.5 like augustine, prosper of aquitaine argues in favour of the need of god’s grace for the salvation of human beings. for prosper, the grace of god is needed at different instances and in different degrees in one’s life. to justify his position, prosper argues from the scripture, church tradition and the liturgy of the church: in inviolable decrees of the blessed apostolic see, our fathers have cast down the pride of the pestiferous novelty and taught us to ascribe to the grace of christ the very beginning of goodwill, the growth of the noble efforts, and the perseverance in them to the end. in addition, let us look at the sacred testimony of priestly intercessions which have been transmitted from apostles and which are uniformly celebrated throughout the world and in every catholic church; so that the law of prayer may establish a law for belief. for when the president of the holy congregations perform their duties, they plead the cause of the human race before the divine clemency and, joined in the sighs of the whole church, they beg and pray that grace may be given to unbelievers; that idolaters may be freed from the errors of their impiety; that the jews may have the veiled removed from their hearts and that the light of truth may shine on them; that heretics may recover through acceptance of the faith; that schismatics may receive afresh the spirit of charity; that the lapsed may be granted remedy of penitence; and finally that the catechumens may be brought to the sacrament of regeneration and have the court of the heavenly mercy opened to them. that these things are not asked of the lord lightly or uselessly is shown by the outcome. for god is pleased to draw many out of every kind of error, liberating them from the power of darkness and placing them in the kingdom of his beloved son, turning them from the vessel of wrath to vessels of mercy. this is felt to be so completely the work of god that the god who achieves it is always given liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 103 thanks and praise for bringing such people to the light or truth.6 there is need to underscore some points from this citation in order to get its relevance to this reflection. first, what prosper refers to as the practice of prayer covers for all of the liturgy and not just a reference to liturgical texts. in the following chapters of his work, he advanced the same argument in relation to ritual actions like pre-baptismal exorcism and exsufflation (symbolic action of blowing out the spirit) to argue that they are actions referring to the fact that there is need for the grace of god even for infants who are brought forward for baptism. second, prosper acknowledges that liturgy is not the only doctrinal source, nor lays claim that it is the primary source.7 on the contrary, liturgy, together with the magisterium and scriptures are sources for doctrine. hence, he used the words ‘in addition.’ in the mind of prosper, none is considered as receiving its authority from the other. rather, they all corroborate one another. at best, what we can say is that the agreement between the sources further fosters their authority. in fact, in its context, prosper in his mind simply implies that ‘one may have recourse to the prayers of the church in order to resolve the controversy on grace because they correspond to a biblical mandate (1 tim 2:1-2), and are the expressions of the living tradition of the church.’8 in other words, ‘church’s engagement in rites grounds the articulation of church’s belief’9 in as much as it aligns with the scriptures and magisterium. third, the writing of prosper affirms the authority of the liturgy in the facts that it is a universal prayer, the same everywhere and followed by all catholics all over the world. they are credible because, they are actions of the holy congregation in the presence of god, and the fact that god answers the prayers attests to its authority. lex orandi, lex credendi: a principle in practice though the adage, ‘ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi’ often reduced to lex orandi, lex credendi is attributed to prosper of aquitaine, the fundamental principle underlying the adage predates prosper’s formulation. the principle is evident in many new 104 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age testament writings and was carried on by the apostolic fathers. as an example, the prayers addressed to jesus in the new testament christological hymn (philippians 2: 5-11), confessing jesus as the lord – sharing the divine name kyrios used for yhwh – contribute immensely to the doctrine of the divinity of jesus. in the same way, the trinitarian baptismal practice in the matthean community reflected in matthew 28:19 reflects an instance where the practice of the church is already constituting in a way the belief of the church in the trinity. many of the early church fathers constantly had recourse to the liturgy in the explanation of the faith of the church.10 ignatius of antioch drew from the eucharistic liturgy to argue against the docetists (who claim that the human body of jesus is unreal but a phantasm, and therefore cannot really experience suffering). thus, ignatius refutes the docetists that their teaching negates the truth of the eucharist as the flesh of the jesus christ our saviour who suffered for our sins and was raised from the dead.11 through several references to the liturgy of baptism, early church writers argue for what developed to the different doctrines related to baptism. for instance, in the argument against julian eclanum, who teaches that children are born without original sin, augustine argues from the implication of exorcism and exsufflation which are carried out during the baptism of children. for augustine, the two rites – exorcism and exsufflation – are done to release the children from the power of the devil. and that it is because there is an ailment that we have recourse to the remedy. this same approach of appealing to the liturgy to understand the belief of the church about baptism is also evident in the post-baptismal mystagogical catechesis of ambrose of milan, cyril of jerusalem and theodore of mopsuestia.12 these bishops taught the neophytes what they are to believe based on what was celebrated. in the sixteenth century, the axiom witnessed a modification in its application. during the period of the reformation, the disputes in the understanding of christian doctrines led to the reformulation of liturgical texts and practices. for the reformers, what is believed is what should reflect in worship. believing now modifies and establishes praying. it should be noted that this move is not a denial, but a reversal, of the maxim. the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 105 was not absent but understood in a different way. a way that affirms the dual movement of the influence of one on the other. the reversal approach to the principle is also well favoured in the reform of the roman catholic liturgy. in his encyclical on the liturgy, mediator dei, pope pius xii modified the meaning of the maxim in this succinct statement: during the discussion of a doubtful or controversial truth, the church and the holy fathers have not failed to look to the age-old and age-honored sacred rites for enlightenment. hence the well-known and venerable maxim, "legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi" let the rule for prayer determine the rule of belief. the sacred liturgy, consequently, does not decide or determine independently and of itself what is of catholic faith. more properly, since the liturgy is also a profession of eternal truths, and subject, as such, to the supreme teaching authority of the church, it can supply proofs and testimony, quite clearly, of no little value, towards the determination of a particular point of christian doctrine. but if one desires to differentiate and describe the relationship between faith and the sacred liturgy in absolute and general terms, it is perfectly correct to say, "lex credendi legem statuat supplicandi" let the rule of belief determine the rule of prayer.13 pope pius xii acknowledges the symbiotic interplay between faith and liturgy and throws more weight behind the rule of faith determining the rule of prayer. he justifies this claim on the ground that the ecclesiastical authority has the responsibility of organizing and regulating divine worship, ‘enriching it constantly with new splendour and beauty, to the glory of god and the spiritual profit of christians’ (md no.49). the ecclesiastical authority carries out this responsibility by modifying the human elements of the liturgy as the needs of the age, circumstance and the good of souls may require, and as the ecclesiastical hierarchy, under the guidance of the holy spirit, may 106 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age have authorized (md no.50). while the reasons are laudable and appealing, it does not necessarily warrant the reversal of the meaning of the maxim.14 in a nutshell, either understood in its original context or in the application of the reversal, the axiom, lex orandi, lex credendi expresses a deep and mutual relationship between liturgy and the faith of the church. the liturgy celebrates the faith of the church. this is where the maxim is relevant to the core of this reflection. the relevance is that if all that is learned in the seminary is to aid in the understanding of the faith and life of the church, and for the future priest to be equipped for the ministry, what is learned invariably affects how future priests would understand and relate with the liturgy, which is the source and summit of the life of the church. therefore, for seminary formation in faith and ministry to achieve its goal, the approach to liturgical formation is key. reconsidering the liturgical formation in seminaries the vatican ii decree on the training of priests, optatam totius (ot) recognizes that the training of priests should ultimately have a liturgical focus. making the clarion call towards this recognition, the conciliar fathers requested that the entire formation of major seminarians should aim at enabling students to be formed as pastors of souls, following the example of jesus our teacher, priest and shepherd. (ot no.4). such formation is described as having a liturgical focus when the conciliar fathers say that ‘the students are to be trained for the ministry of the word... for the ministry of worship and sanctification so that by prayer and sharing in the liturgical celebrations, they may carry on the work of salvation’ (ot no.4). while the document makes the suggestion of the various necessary courses to be undertaken in the seminary to achieve the goal of the formation, the document made two other salient points relevant for this reflection. firstly, in the revision of the ecclesiastical studies to be undertaken, the primary aim is to coordinate philosophy and theology in such a way that together they open the minds of the students more and more to the mystery of christ, which touches the whole of human history, continually influencing the church, and is particularly at work in the priestly ministry (ot no.14). the mystery of christ which contains, but not limited to, the work of our redemption takes place liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 107 through and in the liturgy (sc no. 2). it is this same celebration of the liturgy that all of the ecclesiastical studies in seminary formation is revised to enhance in the life of seminarians. secondly, when the document ot outlines the various disciplines that should be included and their respective relevance to the formation of seminarians, liturgy was accorded a distinct position not just one of the disciplines but the focus of all. to underscore this position, ot simply says that ‘liturgy which is to be regarded as the first and ever necessary source of true christian spirit, should be taught in the spirit of articles 15 and 16 of the constitution on the sacred liturgy’. (ot 16). it is pertinent at this juncture to look at the content of the articles of sacrosanctum concilium referred to: 15. professors who are appointed to teach liturgy in seminaries, religious houses of studies, and theological faculties must be properly trained for their work in institutes specifically designed for this purpose. 16. sacred liturgy is to be ranked among the compulsory and major causes in seminaries and religious houses of studies. in theological faculties, it is to be one of the principal courses. it is to be taught under the theological, historical, spiritual, pastoral, and juridical aspects. in addition, those who teach other subjects, especially dogmatic theology, sacred scripture, spiritual and pastoral theology, should – while accepting the intrinsic demands of their own disciplines – expound the mystery of christ and the history of salvation in a manner that will make clear the connection between their subjects and the liturgy, and the unity of all priestly training. the request of sc 16 is of great significance which, i strongly believe, its neglect is partly one of the reasons for that gap between theory and practice, what is taught in the seminary and what is practised. all the subjects are expected to shed light, no matter how little, on the understanding and celebrations of the mystery of christ. courses that 108 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age seem highly unrelated in any way to the liturgy in the past has proven to be of great importance in the understanding and appreciation of the mystery being celebrated. for example, different developments in social sciences – sociology, psychology and anthropology have really developed ritual studies which today offers avenues for better understanding of christian worship and specifically sacramental theology and practice. the demands from the teachers of different courses in the seminary further calls for the reassessment of their process of recruitment. pope francis was conscious of this need when he writes that those who teach in the ecclesiastical faculties must be distinguished by a wealth of knowledge, witness to christian and ecclesial life, and sense of responsibility.15 though the intrinsic demands of some of these disciplines may not necessarily involve relating it to christian worship, students are to be prepared in such a way that they have the love of rigorous investigation, observation and demonstration of truth, together with an honest awareness of the limits of human knowledge (ot 15). this will enable them to be better disposed and appropriate whatever is taught in relation to christian worship. moreover, while many of the courses may not directly be related to worship, they could be related to faith and the understanding of human person. in these ways, the courses bolster the preparation of seminarians for liturgy in two ways. on the one hand, since the church celebrates what she believes, relation of courses to faith invariably fosters conviction and understanding in worship. on the other hand, the human person is the primary subject of worship. a better understanding and appreciation of the human person, therefore, enhance the liturgical ministry of the priest. furthermore, to corroborate the importance of liturgy at the core of priestly formation, the conciliar fathers suggested that the spiritual formation of students in seminaries and religious houses should be given a liturgical orientation (sc no.17). this is purposely to aid their understanding of the sacred rites and to assist them to participate in them wholeheartedly. in this same vein, the seminarians are equipped to celebrate sacred mysteries and popular devotion with the spirit of the sacred liturgy (sc no.17). liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 109 forming priests as christ-like leitourgos seminary formation is geared towards making students like christ teacher, priest and shepherd. this expectation of the conciliar fathers is further expressed in the decree on the ministry and life of priest, presbyterorum ordinis (po) that the sacrament of orders make priests in the image of christ (po no.12). this fundamental notion of catholic priesthood has its effect on how priests are formed. the introduction to the ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis expressly stated that ‘the purpose of priestly education/formation is based on the concept of the catholic priesthood.16 while the concept of catholic priesthood may take volumes of writings to exhaust, i will want to discuss it in this reflection in relation to the foregoing argument of the priest being in the likeness of christ. or better put in the light of the understanding of the catholic priest acting in persona christi at liturgy. the new testament highlights the priestly role of jesus in different ways. he is regarded as the great high priest of the order of melchizedek who offers both requests and supplications to god (hebrew 5:5-7). he is our high priest who sits at the right hand of god ministering (leitourgos) in the heavenly sanctuary (heb. 8:1-2). it is pertinent to note here that the author of the letter to the hebrews refers to jesus as our ‘liturgist.’ contrary to the long-held opinion that liturgy is from the two latin words laos (people) and ergon (work) resulting in the definition of liturgy as work of the people, paul marshal rightly corrected17 that it is from the words ergon (work) and leitos (public). therefore, the etymological meaning of liturgy is a public work done on behalf of the people. it is in this light that we can better understand the priest as the minister of the word and the mystery of christ as related in the vatican ii documents earlier cited. seminary formation which intends to mould ministers like christ, our liturgist, invariably aims at forming ‘liturgists.’ it is a disservice to the generations of believers who will be led in worship by him who does not understand what he is doing. in as much as the actions of the priests are to be carried out in the person of christ, anything less than a formation after a christ-like liturgist is a sham. knowing rightly that the liturgy is the exercise of the priestly office of 110 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age jesus christ, his ministers are to be formed with the same ideal in mind. it will never be overemphasised that having a liturgical focus is the real essence of priestly formation. the centrality of liturgy in the formation of a priest does not end at his ordination. the conciliar fathers recommend ongoing liturgical formation for priests. this is intended to deepen their understanding of the mysteries they celebrate and to faithfully live the liturgical life (sc18). this is essential so that remaining alter christus, they at the same time remain a ‘liturgist’ who ministers in the name of christ. conclusion the maxim lex orandi, lex credendi was discussed in this reflection as highlighting the relationship between liturgy and theology, praying and believing, faith and worship. since in the original usage of the maxim, liturgy, in agreement with scripture and tradition, influences what the church believes, it is expedient that the formation of liturgical ministers put into consideration the urgent need of appropriating learning in the seminaries to have a liturgical undertone. the understanding of the maxim in its context affirms that the faith of the church is what the liturgy celebrates. this affirmation guides against two extremes of liturgical archaism (the idea that the way things are done in the past is always and the only ideal way of worship) and of the fluid liturgy (the idea that liturgy must adapt to modern-day ‘beliefs’ and its charismatic expressions). the faith of the church which is celebrated in the liturgy is not a view or an ideology of a movement, no matter how popular within the church. therefore, the envisaged liturgical formation of seminarians prepares against the tendency of bringing different aberrations into worship and at the same time guards against rubricism. perhaps, if what this paper has discussed is faithfully considered, the attitude of ministers to the liturgy may be more positive and their conviction in the power of the rites further strengthened. these will possibly help to bridge the supposed gap between what they are taught in the seminary and what is expected of them at worship. liturgical formation in seminaries: a lesson from... 111 endnotes 1 vatican council ii, constitution on the sacred liturgy, sacrosanctum concilium, no. 10. (henceforth referred to as sc). 2 sacrosanctum concilium, no. 2. 3 sacrosanctum concilium, no. 7. 4 for a detailed discussion on the interplay between theology and liturgy, see michael aune, ‘liturgy and theology: rethinking the relationship,’ worship 81(2007): 46-68, 141-169. 5 pelagianism is the theological position that human beings, are like adam before the fall. they are born innocent, with absolute free will and absolutely capable of obeying god’s commandment and by so doing merit eternal life on their own. it was an extreme position against the gnostic and manichean doctrine. augustine responding to the adherents of pelagianism argues that human will is not free but sick, human nature is mortally wounded by sin and that from the moment of birth, human beings does not have the capacity to choose the good. this led to the development of augustine’s teaching on original sin. for him, it is only the grace of god that can enable human beings to turn to god. without this grace, humanity is condemned. pelagianism was condemned at the synod of carthage in 418 and the council of ephesus in 431. however, there arose a slight modification of the teaching of augustine to further emphasise the fact that god created man good and all about the goodness is not lost in the fall, giving rise to semi-pelagianism. this doctrine holds on to the necessity of divine grace for salvation, but further claims that even the first step to this is dependent on free will. for further readings on pelagianism and semi-pelagianism, see jaroslav pelikan, the christian tradition: a history of the development of doctrine, vol.1: the emergence of catholic tradition (100600) (chicago: university of chicago press, 1971), 278-331. 6 capitula coestini 8. as translated by geoffrey wainwright, doxology: the praise of god in worship, doctrine and life (new york: oxford university press 1980), 225-226. 7 some contemporary theologians however see in the maxim a confirmation of liturgy as the primary theology. aidan kavanagh, for instance, argues that the liturgy is the primary source for theology. see aidan kavanagh, on liturgical theology (new york: pueblo, 1984), 134; aidan kavanagh, ‘response: primary theology and liturgical acts’ worship (1983): 323-324. 8 paul de clerk, “‘lex orandi, lex credendi’: the original sense and historical avaters of an equivocal age,” studia liturgica 24 (1994): 192. 9 kevin w. irwin, “lex orandi, lex credendi – origins and meaning: state of the question” liturgical ministry 11 (2002): 59. 112 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 10 for elaborate discussion on the application of the principle in early christianity, see maxwell e. johnson, praying and believing in early christianity: the interplay between christian worship and doctrine (collegeville: liturgical press, 2013). 11 smyrnaeans 6. translated from ignatius of antioch, letters. in cyril c. richardson, ed & transl, early christian fathers (new york: touchstone, 1996), 114. 12 for the mystagogical catechesis of cyril of jerusalem, ambrose, john chrysostom and theodore of mopsuestia, see edward yarnold, the aweinspiring rites of initiation: the origins of rcia, (collegeville: liturgical press, 1994), 65 -250. 13 pope pius xii, encyclical on the liturgy: mediator dei, (november 20, 1947), no. 48 (henceforth referred to as md). 14see aidan kavanagh, ‘response: primary theology and liturgical acts,’ 342. he argues that ‘with the presence of the verb, statuat, in the sentence, it is impossible to reverse the subject and predicate any more than one can reverse the member of the statement: the foundations support the house. having said that, one cannot really say that the house supports the foundation. one must say something different.’ 15 pope francis, apostolic constitution veritatis gaudium: on ecclesiastical universities and faculties, art. 25 par. 1:1, january 29, 2018. 16 introduction to ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, march 19, 1985. 17 paul marshall, “reconsidering ‘liturgical theology’: is there a lex orandi for all christians?,” studia liturgical 25 (1995): 129-155. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 113 c h a p t e r 8 theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges in contemporary homiletics lawrence ekhayemhe adorolo introduction the use of the concept, liturgical homily has its foundation on the liturgy and the spirit of the liturgy which has its profound meaning in the actual celebration. the word liturgy is from the greek word “leitourgia” and which is from two-component words laos – people and ergon – work. thus, the liturgy was a concept used for the work carried out by the people. it means public work of any kind, particularly in the civil life of the people.1 but as time went on, it became a concept used in the religious services in the temple. following the etymological meaning of the word, liturgy, we can say that liturgy is the public and official worship of the church.”2 in the history of the church, this has been a general understanding of the term liturgy as expressed in the worship and the rites.3 the use of this concept culminated in the papal encyclical of pope pius xii, mediator dei.4 the document states that: “the sacred liturgy is consequently, the public worship which our redeemer as head of the church renders to the father, as well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to its founder, and through him to the heavenly father. it is, in short, the worship rendered by the mystical body of christ in the entirety of its head and 114 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age members.”5 this was the line followed by the constitution of the second vatican council on the sacred liturgy, which consequently emphasized active and conscious participation of the faithful in the spirit of every liturgical celebration. we must note here that christ is always present in the church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. thus, he is present in his word since it is himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read and preached to us in liturgical celebrations.6 it is in the homily that the actual power of the word is made manifest. the term ‘homily’ has a wide range of definitions. for some, it is a biblical sermon; for others, a doctrinal talk, some say its aim is to edify a congregation; others give as its purpose, moral instruction. even among the christian churches, there is a diversity of usage. many protestant still prefer the word “sermon,” even when they refer to preaching that occurs within the liturgy. when they do use the word “homily” they describe it as walking through the text, step by step.”7 roman catholics on the other hand, now widely use “homily” for the renewed form of preaching ushered in by the liturgical reform of vatican council ii; it is that form of preaching which flows from and immediately follows the scriptural readings of the liturgy and which lead to the celebration of the sacraments. in current roman catholic parlance “homily” is distinguished from “sermon” where the latter is a form of preaching that is not necessarily connected to the biblical readings and is heard outside the context of the liturgy; homily, on the other hand, is a popular exposition and application of the scripture. a homily must have the following characteristics: biblical, liturgical, kerygmatic and must be familiar.8 the word “homily” from its etymology is derived from the greek word “homou” (together) and “homilos (a crowd). the word connotes a familiar conversation with a group of people or a pastor conversing with a flock in words and images that they recognize. the crowd is not some haphazard mob of strangers but a gathering of friends, people familiar to the preacher. it is not a conversation of imposition or of persuasion.9 however, for the purpose of this work, the liturgical homily should be understood as an interpretation primarily from the scriptural and liturgical sources to show god’s wonderful action in the history of salvation, particularly as it is related to the specific community being addressed. thus, it is a type of interpretation drawn from the theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 115 scripture to make practical application to the spiritual life of the worshipping assembly.10 this work attempts to discuss the theology of liturgical homily. it seeks first by establishing a clearer understanding of the concept; its nature and theological basis. it further attempts to examine the role of liturgical homily and subsequently to discuss some of the problems in the practice of liturgical homiletics. it highlights some of the common practices today. this paper concludes with some recommendations to advance faithful adherence and practice as a liturgical action in the spirit and mind of the church. the nature of liturgical homily the word ‘homily is not a conversation or persuasion but rather a discussion like the one the two disciples engaged in as they were on their way to emmaus (cf. luk. 24:14). in the discussion, one noticed that the lord’s interpretation of the things that went on in jerusalem “these past days” is different from their own. in every liturgical homily, the preacher shed light on the word of god and makes the heart of the assembly burn. the preacher does not force his preaching upon listeners. the familiar conversation on the road to emmaus shows that homily is more than information; it is the interpretation that leads to recognition of the good news. with a backdrop from the greek etymology of homily which means familiar conversation chibuko sees the nature of liturgical homily as a familiar conversation on the very mysteries of christ.11 he notes that liturgical homily consists of the systematic exposition of the scripture readings or of some particular aspects of them, or of some other texts taken from the ordo or proper of the mass of the day, having regard for the mystery being celebrated or the special needs of those who hear it.12 more so the character of the homily should be biblical. it must be on interpretation of the scriptural texts. this is thus a distinguishing mark of preaching liturgical homilies. the aim or paramount importance of every liturgical homily is the spiritual feeding of the faithful. this would justify why the liturgy of the word could rightly be called the “table of the word” this nourishment prepares the faithful for the nourishment that comes up 116 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age again at the second table at the liturgy of the eucharist, which is the “table of the body and blood”. in a distinct and expository fashion, robert waznark gave some of the characteristics of a homily which are: biblical, liturgical, kerygmatic and familiar.13 by biblical, he means an exposition and interpretation of some sacred texts and that the preaching should have a scriptural basis; by liturgical he meant that the word is made flesh again in the liturgy celebrated; thus, this preaching is done within the liturgical celebration. ‘kerymatic’ on the other hand connotes preaching that has a herald metaphor which is beyond the words of a mere human messenger but the word of god spoken through a messenger. “familiar conversation” talks of a familiar style in the communication of this word, that is a familiar conversation with a group of people or a pastor conversing with a flock in words and images that they recognized.14 despite the developing trends of the meaning of liturgical homily today, the above four characteristic marks still help to define and explore the nature of liturgical homily. however, they can be further nuanced in the light of liturgical praxis and cultural shifts. be that as it may, every homily must be prophetic in nature. meaning it should be able to move from an interpretation of scripture to life, to the interpretation of our daily life to scripture.15 by nature, every homily is first to proclaim the word of god, not our personal irritations or convictions and then preaching about the signs of god in the lives of the people. the homilist should never be the focus of the homily; he should avoid personal references, mixed metaphors, and negative associations. rather, it should be coherent and brief.16 patrick chibuko discussing the nature of liturgical homily says every homily “should be sufficiently biblical, theological in content and rooted in sound doctrine. it should have a tinge of newness to a familiar topic, should be in time with the liturgical season or occasion, be based on the eternal truth of the gospel and the paschal mystery of christ.17 furthermore, the nature of liturgical homily shows that it is not a time the preacher gives his personal views about current theological debates. however, these are useful in the liturgical homily in so far as thy help the preacher to unfold the mystery of faith being celebrated and help the faithful to appreciate the faith that they are celebrating and to profess it stoutly in their lives. it should consist of only the exposition of the word of god as contained in the scriptures in such a way as to bring home its theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 117 saving and liberating truth to the hearers, enabling them to understand that truth in relation to their daily lives in the world which christ came to redeem and which those who are in christ are called to serve. this ministry of preaching must be done articulately and effectively. it is not at such time the preacher learns oratory or exercises personality power, rather it is the holy spirit who uses the word of the minister to bring home to the hearers the truth of the scriptural message for them.18 this does not mean that the preacher need not spend hours of prayer and study in preparation of his homily; although it is god who gives the increase, the labour of planting and watering must be done by the human minister (cf. 1 cor. 3:6). hence, every liturgical homily must be a proclamation with special relevance to the existential situation of those who are addressed. homily by nature is not picking one or the other phrase or idea from a gospel or an epistle and using it as the basis of moralizing which has little or no relation to the rest of the word of god nor any connection with the sacred banquet into which the whole liturgy of the word is supposed to lead the people.19 its character should be that of the proclamation of god’s wonderful work in the history of salvation, the mystery of christ ever made present and active within us. the object of every homily is to draw from the texts the message of salvation, which they contain and to confront the present congregation with it as if they were hearing it for the first time. in other words, no matter what the text may be, it is always the gospel that we preach, or more precisely, what we proclaim. hence we must say that whatever we ourselves may feel about it, to turn aside from this proclamation and to substitute instruction or moral exhortation for the direct preaching of the word in the liturgy is foreign to the very idea of liturgical homily and indeed of preaching itself.20 in a nutshell, the preacher does two things in every liturgical homily: to teach and move; to teach the virtues and vices: the virtues to make them loved, practised and cling to; the vices to have them detested fought and flown. you to have to give light to the reason and warmth to the will. preachers are always to tie their liturgical homily to one of the four fundamentals: faith morals, sacraments and prayer that remain the foundations of the present roman catechism.21 118 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age theological backgroud of liturgical homily my attempt here in providing a theological background to liturgical homily will include a biblical foundation (old and new testaments), the patristic period, the magisterial and some contemporary theologians on liturgical homily. liturgical homily in the old testament: the old testament contains a great deal of liturgical celebration and rites presided over by the elders of the people of israel. the entire bible is borne out of the liturgical celebration of the people and presided over by elders.22 therefore, the tradition of exposition of biblical readings is found in the jewish synagogue. it was a tradition of interpreting and applying the scriptural message to the contemporary situation like other elements of christian liturgy, this particular ecclesial form of preaching which saw an amazing development during the patristic era is rooted in judaism, especially in the synagogue worship of jesus’s time. this consisted essentially of a liturgy of the word, which is composed of four parts: the reading of the torah, reading from the prophets, the homily and prayer. the synagogue homily being a reflection of the entire biblical tradition is completely original with respect to the other cults. it is associated with the word and its special importance for these people, among whom it is constantly reactualized in the face of new events and the demands of fidelity to the covenant. however, two texts give us a very good idea of the function of the synagogue homily and sum up its history. neh. 8:18 tells us how ezra read from the book of the law of god interpreting and explaining its meaning so that everyone could understand the reading. luke 4:21 recounts the words with which jesus, in the synagogue at nazareth, introduces his commentary on the reading of isaiah 6:1-2 “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”23 new testament: the sabbath bible reading custom which had to be followed by clarifying explanation was for our lord the main opportunity for preaching the word of god to receptive hearers and to proclaim his kingdom.24 in the new testament, we find many elements that lead to the christian homily. on the way to emmaus, the two disciples in their words express disappointment. then jesus appears and began to explain to theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 119 them the scripture beginning from the old to the new testament. at the end of the explanation, there was the breaking of bread and they recognized him. through the explanation of the word, their hearts were burning with joy and the joy came to fullness in the breaking of bread.25 this is a wonderful example of what happens at every liturgical celebration where a well prepared and delivered homily precedes the celebration of the sacraments. jesus taught them the full meaning of the scripture. in the feeding of the five thousand people (5000), jesus taught them before giving them something to eat. he, first of all, taught them and then fed them (matt. 14:13-21). also at the last supper, he taught them before the celebration.26 on the same tradition with jesus, the apostles, therefore, examine the old testament for words and events that are fulfilled in the mystery of christ. the first christian communities express their faith awareness that christ is present among them through the word and sacraments of the church. the acts of the apostles constantly gives us a glimpse of paul as he “converses” with his communities assembled in the name of the lord. at antioch in pisidia, paul and barnabas, in similar circumstances were ordered by the rulers of the synagogue to direct “a word of encouragement to the assembly (cf. acts 13:15). one could be right to say that during the apostolic era as we have it in the new testament; the homily was an effort by the apostles to proclaim the good news of jesus through whom god has acted and continued to act in our lives. patristic era: the exposition of scripture continued in the liturgical preaching of the early christian churches. the witness of justin to the preaching of the homily as an established liturgical practice would always remain a credible reference point for subsequent liturgical tradition. his description of a second century liturgy preaching contains one reliable information which is very old about the homily at mass: “on the day called sunday all gather in the same place, whether they live in the city or in the country: the memories of the apostles or the writing of the prophets are read for long as time allows. when the reader has finished, the president delivers a discourse (logos) urging and exhorting us to imitate these good examples …”27 the basic characteristic of the patristic homily is that 120 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age in christian homilies three methods are involved; reading of the sacred text, detailed explanation of what has been read, and contemplation of the mysteries in their realization.28 this was a show of strong desire to proclaim the things of god in human terms. this era was displayed in essence what liturgical homily ought to be, namely an informal conversation by a pastor of souls with his people during a liturgical action based on the biblical texts presented by the liturgy. there was an emphasis on the essential elements of a homily which is derived from the fact that it is given during a liturgical action.29 furthermore, this era through origen strove through allegorical exegesis to adapt the scripture to all levels of the congregation through the homily, to describe the familiar style in which preaching is done. it was a style that is direct and free, a manifestation of mystical exegesis of scripture, practical application and final exhortation, but the tone set is one of familiar conversation.30 also, the systematic reflections in christian preaching by two greatest homilists: st john chrysostom and st. augustine were proud and stimulating during this era.31 this, as it were, is not the place to offer an extended exposition of the patristic fathers’ contribution to the theology of preaching or the relation of preaching to the sacraments. but it suffices to say that their sources and contributions on homiletics provide much valuable information and bedrock for a liturgical homily. the writings of the fathers of the east and west supply much valuable insight in this regard.32 therefore, in general, it can be confidently stated that the patristic fathers of the church commonly teach that god is actively present in the reading of the scripture and the preaching of the word of god in every liturgical celebration. the magisterium: in the church’s magisterium, the ground for the renewed vigour towards the abundant use of the scriptures in the life of christians was softened especially by pope leo xii in his encyclical letter, providentissimus deus (1833), by pope benedict xi in his letter spiritus paraclitus (1920), and by pope pius xii’s divino afflante spiritu (1943). indeed sacred scriptures are of paramount importance in the celebration of the liturgy, especially in the eucharistic celebration,33 for it inspires the other prayers and songs of theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 121 the eucharistic celebration, all the action and signs of liturgy derive their meaning from the scripture.34 with this, it becomes the good wish of the fathers of the second vatican council that easy access to the sacred scripture should be provided for all the christian faithful not only by merely reading the word of the sacred scriptures but above all through exposure to a biblical-based homily. hence, sacrosanctum concilium (sc) states that the sacred scriptures is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy. from it are drawn the lessons which are read and which are explained in the homily.35 furthermore, it says that “by means of the homily, the mystery of faith and the guiding principle of the christian life are expounded from sacred texts during the course of the liturgical year.36 the code of canon law in canon 767 paragraphs three and four went further to recommend that “if a sufficient number of people are present, there should be a homily at weekday masses, also especially during advent and lent or on a feast day or an occasion of grief. it is the responsibility of the parish priest or the rector of a church to ensure that these provisions are carefully observed.”37 in the second typical edition of the 1972 roman missal, paul vi added that homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant.38 the 1981 typical edition of the order of readings of the mass recalls the most important teaching concerning the homily, describing it more briefly as part of the liturgy of the word.39 but it adds some important direction thus: whether the homily explains the biblical word of god proclaimed in the readings or some other texts of the liturgy, it must always lead the community of the faithful to celebrate the eucharist wholeheartedly, so that they may hold fast in their faith. from this living explanation, the word of god proclaimed in the reading and the church’s celebration of the day’s liturgy would have a greater impact. but these demands that the homily is truly the fruit of meditation, carefully, prepared neither too long nor too short and suited to all those present even children and the uneducated. 40 contemporary theologians: in order to correct obvious anomalies in the liturgical celebration, many contemporary theologians have taken pains to educate both the clergy and the laity on the proper 122 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age nature of liturgical homily and how it can be best actualize in our liturgical celebrations. according to robert p. waznak, “every homilist represents its community voicing its concerns, by naming its demons and thus enabling it to gain some understanding and control of the evil which afflicts it. he represents the lord by offering the community another word, a word of healing and pardon, of acceptance of love.41 the primary task of the homilist, therefore, is not to explain but to interpret. he seeks to attend to the present moment as revelatory of god’s past events and future possibilities are seen in the light of present theophanies. waznak concludes by saying that every homily should lead god’s people to recognize a living word of meaning in the eucharist and in the concrete circumstances of their lives.42 for a.g martimort, a homily is a pastoral act because it consists in breaking the bread of the word; it is a truly liturgical act because it continues the effective action of the readings and forms a single whole with these. whether delivered by the chief celebrant himself or by another priest or by a deacon, care must be taken not to weaken the connection of homily with the liturgical action.43 he sees the homily as the most important way of bringing out the “today” of god’s word in the life of christian assembly who had gathered for ecclesial prayers and celebration and will soon scatter again and return to the world. a good homily must be first of all a proclamation of joy for what god has done for us and then it should enlighten the concrete life situations of present-day people, revealing where and how this salvation can be achieved and fulfilled.44 a very well proclaimed word of god and well prepared and delivered homily nourishes the faith of the people in a great deal. it keeps the celebration alive. they are usually very challenging and never boring. therefore, the readings and homily are to be celebrated in the same manner as the words of consecration. just as the word of consecration cannot be altered anyhow, the same applies to the readings and homily.45 hence chibuko says that “every homily must speak of life, passion, death and resurrection of christ, namely the paschal mystery. cross of christ must not be found missing in homilies especially in a materialistic society that seems to be deviating from the cross and going after a cross-less christ. the centrality of the paschal mystery of christ must be sufficiently theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 123 emphasized.46 he furthermore brought out the power behind the word of god in the liturgy when he says: anywhere the word of god is powerfully proclaimed and preached, (behind a powerful microphone or public address system), enriched with nourishing fruits of deep prayerful reflections, local idiomatic expressions, poetic forms, proverbs and wisdom titbits, with good liturgical and cultural music to help in digesting the word and signs, the situation is quite different. attendance at such ceremonies are usually full and the christian life and culture boom. then in response, the people are prepared to take up responsibilities to solve social problems because they are now fully armed with christ and all these, of course, lead to reverence to the word of god and the sacrament being celebrated.47 thus, the homily heightens the awareness of who we are now as well as who god is calling us to become. through it, the people receive in their heart a word of encouragement, correction, wisdom, guidance, hope or deeper insight into their selfish claim on their own lives. consequently whatever we need must be in the homily for those who are expecting to hear it. a liturgical homily must always have a deep personal meaning for those who await it openly.48 homily as a liturgical action the designation of a homily from other forms of preaching implies the fact of one given at a liturgical celebration on a biblical text and by an ordinary minister of homily and by a presiding cleric (cf. sc. 52). since the liturgical reform of the second vatican council, the homily is seen to be an integral part of the liturgy of the word. it may be based not only upon the scriptures proclaimed but also upon any of the liturgical texts and upon the mystery being celebrated. this distinguishes the homily from a sermon, which is a religious, but not a strictly liturgical form of oratory and may have no relation to readings or other liturgical elements of the celebration in which it is delivered. the liturgy of the word is prescribed in all the revised liturgical rites, even in the private celebration of the sacrament of penance. the 124 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age liturgical rites themselves proclaim that the christian community is based on god’s written word and only in the context of hearing the word can we celebrate the various sacramental mysteries. thus whether at mass of during the celebration of one of the liturgical rites, it is always assumed that a proclamation of the word may be followed but at least a brief homily.49 the liturgical homily has achieved its esteemed place in all liturgies. the homily has a place and must not be neglected in the celebration of all the sacraments, at para-liturgies, and in assemblies of the faithful. it will in every case, be a privileged moment for preaching the word of the lord: the homily as a liturgical action leads the assembly to celebrate the liturgy more deeply and more fully, more faithfully and be formed for christian witness in the world. the homily enables the people to respond in faith through liturgical word and gesture. it is in such sense we see the homily as liturgical action. in a further development, while the homily provides a bold and existential proclamation to the stability of the liturgy, the liturgical ritual gives the homily its rooted-ness in the gospel and the church’s tradition of prayer. more so, the stability of the liturgical context safeguards the homily from becoming an instruction, a nongospel speech, and an appeal for personal piety over against the needs of the community. the fact of the homily being structured in a liturgical context prevents it from any frivolity preaching can ever degenerate to. thus, the homilist must know that the exhortation he gives is not any kind but one that should be markedly biblical arousing the faith of the people and based on the particular liturgy being celebrated. we can see a kind of mutual association between the liturgy and homily. while the homily gives the liturgy a structure, the liturgy protects the homily from an aberration. the homily is the meeting point between the word proclaimed and christ’s signs, which converge to accomplish among the faithful the mystery of faith.50 the homily in this sense could be said to be interpretative, interpreting the particular liturgy being celebrated. thus as a liturgical action, homily takes on the features of an actual celebration and draws inspiration from particular rites and ritual. the homily, therefore, as a liturgical action should blend with the overall rhythm of the liturgy celebrated. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 125 today’s problems with liturgical homily: the homily is where there is one of the major liturgical problems in today’s liturgy. the grassroots problem of a liturgical homily is in its preparation and delivery. this problem touches on the purpose of the homily and it is deeply rooted in the question of interpretation. a homily must be able to take the word in its original meaning and translate it into ever-new expressions, courageously using it to confront the most dramatic aspects of our constantly changing culture and crisis in which people find themselves today.51 nowadays, insufficient time and lack of adequate preparation characterize the delivery of liturgical homilies. in most cases, the celebrant (homilist) gives only a few minutes to the homily on sunday or other major liturgical celebrations because of other various parish activities that are taking place within the liturgical celebrations. due to lack of adequate preparation, the problem of showing off in the process of delivering is very common among homilists. this comes in various ways. some take the occasion as an opportunity to show off their oratory. in some great liturgical occasions the homily time is now the time for one of those rhetorical exercise with appropriate gestures and vocal inflection which have always delighted the crowd and which like some works of art, exist for the art’s sake, that is, in this case for the pleasure that good people take, as they say, in listening to a “man who can speak well.52 for some, anything could be spoken of as well and besides the gospel and no allusion is ever made, ordinarily, to the other scriptural texts of the liturgy. moral exhortation, political comments, financial appeals, and sometimes, but less frequently, a sort of catechism lesson for adult had long since taken the place of the homily for others, it is the time to speak about social problems in order to win the peoples approval, and for some still, it is a time to entertain the congregation. the situation becomes more problematic when the homilist because of lack of preparation uses the time for delivering a homily for singing, clapping, dancing and even using funny expressions calculated to invoke laughter and applause.53 furthermore, the practice is now gaining ground in our local churches whereby after the gospel, the choir or the homilist himself intones a chorus, sometimes as long as five minutes or longer in some extreme 126 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age cases, before the homily. the homily as an integral part of the liturgy of the word comes immediately after the gospel reading. thus, it is an unnecessary prolongation of the liturgy to begin a hymn after the gospel which takes a considerable length of time during which many in the congregation do not know whether to keep standing up or to sit down. another practical problem facing liturgical homily in today’s liturgical celebrations is the lack of effective public address system in our parish churches. the use of a public address system is to facilitate communication, but this is not always the case; rather, most of the public address systems in our churches are not functioning well. when they are used, the congregation hardly hears the preacher clearly and distinctly, it irritates and alienates the congregation as well as frustrating the genuine effort of the preacher. hence, the obvious presence of poor public address system in most of our churches militates against the actualization of a good liturgical homily. the consequence of all the identified problems is that the faithful go home after each liturgical celebration with little or nothing to inspire and nourish their christian living. present and common practices today: in a liturgical celebration, the people of god who gather to celebrate await eagerly to hear god speak to them through the mouth of the priest when he preaches. even though we can’t deny the fact that some priests still take this part of the celebration seriously by the way and manner they preach the word of god, some others however, have long lost the sense of the mysteries they celebrate in the way they deliver their homily in the liturgical celebration. this point becomes very true, when we consider the singing, clapping, and dancing we often experience during homily time which often results to sweating and losing concentration and end up not getting any spiritual nourishment from the word of god in such liturgical celebration. the only explanation to this in my own view is a desire by the priest to be acclaimed rather than pass across the good news of christ. also, playing to the gallery, that is attempting to impress the people because of poor knowledge of the scripture. indeed the present situation of some liturgical homilies today show lack of adequate preparation, failure to use simple language, failure to go straight to the point and inability to relate the word of theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 127 god to the lives of the people on the part of the priests. priests should be confident of what they say and preach it with authority, power and conviction and without fear or favour or just merely reading abstract ideals that elicit sleep and distraction on the congregation. the situation now shows that some priests no longer follow the catholic methodology of delivering a homily. rather, the pentecostal influence seems to be more evident in our preaching. hence, one wonders the effect of the courses of homiletics and liturgy taught during the seminary’s formative years. some priests now use the ambo during the time of homily in our liturgical celebration as an opportunity to preach politics, talk about themselves, reel insults on personalities and attack those whom they feel hinders their progress in the parish. in some instances, there is no single reference to the readings of the day, rather it will be a talk from one political issue to another or talk about fundraising in different forms all in the name of church projects. though priests should be current on the issues affecting the society in the pages of national dailies and see how they can use the scriptural readings of the day to address the situation, does not mean that priests should be preaching false miracles and healing as we are currently observing in our celebrations now. this practical application is lacking in our liturgical homily today because some homilies are void of adequate preparation, skilful presentation and many often it is not done behind a good public address system. this is very true when you consider the fact that some of the liturgical homilies we listen to today don’t have a particular topic or theme for the day. hence no precise message but repetitions and thus fail to address the people’s fears and worries, rather what we see is an overly emotional style of shouting and dancing as well as preaching christ without the cross. in some occasions the priests rush their masses; hence they give little time to preaching the word of god because they are rushing to meet up another mass in the other stations or in the same church. the consequence of this is that parishioners of such parish after sunday mass go to other churches where more time is given to the preaching of the word of god. in some of our celebrations, the liturgy of the word is generally poorly celebrated. the lectors are not properly trained to read effectively. taking of photographs, video 128 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age coverage and other movements which are now practices of the day contribute immensely to the poor celebration of the liturgy of the word. for a proper celebration of the word and for the actual nourishment of the people, such actions and movements should be discouraged in our liturgy. nobody can give what he does not have. some priests today are carried away with material things and so are easily distracted. some are always and only concerned with the structural development of the parish. thus, they have little or no time to study the scripture, meditate and reflect on the word of god using the bible and other church documents and commentaries to prepare their homily. proper preparations, it is said, prevents poor performance. however, the obvious truth in the present and common practices in liturgical homily is that some of the liturgical homilies have been pastorally enriching and helpful to the spiritual nourishment of the clergy and lay faithful. on the contrary, some of the liturgical homilies both in content and in style of delivery have been poorly done, and cannot properly elicit faith and inspirations in the spiritual life of the people. recommendations: based on this in-depth study, it is obvious that a thorough and critical view of the subject matter has been dealt with by showing that the church is not only to read the word of god but also to see to it that through the homily the christian life is nurtured, by taking into account the mystery being celebrated and the needs proper to the people of god. hence some recommendations offered here are to serve as a working tool to improve the content and style of preaching the homily in liturgical celebrations. they are meant first and foremost to promote evangelization and also to help both the clergy and the lay faithful in the actualization of every word of god celebrated in the liturgy. from the foregoing, one could notice that the homily within liturgical celebration poses a very vital challenge to both the preacher and listeners. thus, these recommendations will in no small measure help the clergy and the assembly to have a better knowledge of the nature of liturgical homily and how it can nourish their spiritual life, and also help in the appreciation of the celebration of the entire paschal mystery of christ. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 129 (1) liturgical commission: the second vatican council recommends a functional liturgical commission for promoting liturgical apostolate. the role of such commission in the liturgical life of any given local church is indispensable. it will help to regularly assist in the formation and implementation of liturgical guidelines. such guidelines and implementation will help a great deal in controlling some of the ugly situations we observe in the practice of liturgical homily today. (2) on-going liturgical formation of priest: since the homily is a type of preaching generally reserved for the clergy and it is seen as part of the church’s teaching office, there is an urgent need for on-going formation among the clergy which was recommended by the document of the second vatican council on the ministry and life of priests. the ministry of priests involves sanctity and knowledge. just as priests have monthly recollections and annual retreats of at most a week duration for their spiritual growth, something comparable ought to be put in place to address their needs for on-going theological formation. (3) proper liturgical formation for major seminarian: the seminarians of today are priests of tomorrow who will be given the responsibility of preaching homilies. according to a popular adage: “the morning shows the day”. the scripture says “train up a child the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it (prov. 22:5). there is a need for proper formation of major seminarians. since the training of future priests starts from the seminary, there is the need for their curriculum to be updated especially in the area of homiletics. the church insists that in carrying out various ministries in the church, the minister must be properly trained. hence, those to be ordained priests require appropriate formation for the role they are called to play in the church. in homiletics curriculum, the formation can be general and specific. the general formation will take the form of doctrinal and liturgical formation. they should be equipped with more than a passing knowledge of the scripture, sacred 130 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age doctrines, the teachings of the magisterium, liturgical norms and practices etc. specifically, they should be formed liturgically, this formation will give them some basic understanding of the meaning and structure of liturgical celebration in general and also the relationship between the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the eucharist. this formation should also involve technical training of the seminarian on how to prepare, and deliver a liturgical homily. (4) faithfulness to the church’s form of worship: there is a need to put some order and uniformity in the liturgical celebration especially in the liturgy of the word. this should be consistently followed in the celebration of all the sacraments. thus, any attempt by the priest to imitate some of the pentecostal churches in their emotional style of shouting and dancing as well as preaching christ without the cross should be discouraged. the essence of liturgical celebration is total transformation expressed in the sanctification of the people, the edification of the church, the glorification of god and witnessing in christian living. (5) proper preparation: there should be proper preparation by the priest before every homily. in the liturgy, there is no room for improvisation. the homilist should and must not go to the ambo just to say something; rather he should go to the ambo with something to say. a very well prepared and delivered homily will nourish the faith of the assembly a great deal. it will also keep the entire celebration alive and will be appreciated by the assembly. all prepared and delivered homily will be very challenging and never boring. as part of the preparation, the homilist should endeavour to guide against too long or too short homilies. he should be able to strike a balance. a good homilist is one who through his proper preparation sees to it that no more than proportionate time is given to each of the integral parts of the celebration so much so that the actions are kept flowing and performed with dignifying grace. the preacher with proper preparation must approach the ministry of preaching with all seriousness, zeal and utter dependence on the holy spirit. (6) a theme for every homily: in every homily delivered, there should be a theme. a particular topic with a reflection theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 131 on the readings or mystery being celebrated should be delivered with depth, precision and especially with contextual relevance. to go through an entire gospel topic can bear fewer fruits because the preacher, who can dwell only very little on every element, cannot develop them or explain to the congregation what he wants to say. bearing in mind, that the assembly is present and disposed to hear sacred ideas that will influence their lives, the preacher, through his theme and content of his message should be able to present commentary of the readings and an application of same to the concrete situations that make meaning to his listeners. from the theme also, the assembly should be able to draw a connection between the content of the homily and their daily life as christians. conclusion: this study has evaluated in-depth the nature and actual application of liturgical homily in the life of the church. it was able to create the awareness that there is a need for improvement in the style and content of liturgical homily today. from the presentation, it was established that lack of preparation by priests hampers proper liturgical homilies in the liturgical life of the church. from the findings of the study, it is also clear that the church has everything to gain if the clergy understands the nature and importance of homily in our liturgical celebrations. by so doing, they will be acting in full conformity with the bible, the theology of the church, liturgical provisions and the teaching of the magisterium. it is a general call for all to recognize and appreciate the nourishment that every well prepared and delivered homily can bring to the church and her mission of evangelization. it is the belief that this work will to a great extent be able to remove any misunderstanding that some might have heard about the nature of liturgical homily before now. thus, we wish to state that although this work does not claim to be exhaustive of all there is to explore and discuss about the liturgical homily, it still has convincingly spelt out the dynamics and challenges of the clergy in 132 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the preaching of a liturgical homily. however, it can serve as a springboard for further researches in the future. endnotes 1 frank l. cross (ed), the oxford dictionary of christian church, 2nd edition) (london: oxford university press, 1974). 2 gasper leferbre, the spirit of god in the litrugy, (london: burns and oattes, 1959) 12. 3 jovian p. lang, dictionary of the liturgy, (new york: catholic book publishing crop, 1989) 254 – 255. 4 pope pius xii, encylical letter on the sacred liturgy, mediator dei nov. 20, 1947. 5 mediator dei 20. 6 sacrosanctum concilium 7. 7 robert waznak, “homily” in peter fink, ed., the new dictionary of sacramental worship, (dublin: gill and macmillan, 1990) 552-553. 8 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 552-553. 9 lang 254 – 255. 10 lang 254 – 255. 11 patrick chibuko, keeping the liturgy alive – an anglophone west african experience, (london: ikoverlag fur interkulturelle kommunikation, 2003) 124. 12 chibuko, keeping the liturgy alive – an anglophone west african experience, 125. 13 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 553-558. 14 waznak, “homily” in peter fink ed. 555. 15 waznak, an introduction to the homily 26. 16william bausch, story telling – the word homilies and how to write them, (new york: paulist press, 1996) 57. 17 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 38 18 richardson 264. 19 emerie a. lawrence, homilies for the year, (collegeville, minnesota: the liturgical press, 1965) vii. viii. 20 emerie viii 21 martin vivies “the nature and content of preaching” in faith and liturgy: the proceedings of the seventh international colloquium of historical, canonical and theological studies on the roman liturgy, (london: ciel, 2002) 29-30. 22 fink 553. 23 domenico sartore, “the homily” in: ansagar j. chupungco ed handbook for liturgical studies, the eucharist vol.3, (collegeville minnesota: the liturgical press, 1997) 91. theology of liturgical homily: priestly ministry and challenges… 133 24 cf. luke 24:15 – 35 25 ccc 1337 26 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 7 27 sartore 191. 28 sartore 192. 29 fink ed. 553 – 558. 30 sartore 211 – 212. 31 edward j. kilmartin christian liturgy: theology and practice, (kansas city: sheed and ward, 1988) 288. 32 kilmartin 288 – 289. 33 sc 24 34 sartore 194 35 sc 35:2 36 sc 52. 37 the code of canon law, (london collins publication. 1983) 767. 55misale romanum ex decreto sacrosanti occumenici concilii vol. ii instauratum, auctoritate pauli pp promulgatum, ed typical altera. 1975. institution generalis. 42. as cited in: domenico sartore, 195. 39 ordo lectionum missae (olm), 1969, 24. 40 paul vi, “evangeli nuntiandi” evangelization in the modern world. teporis 43, aas58 (1976) 1008 – 125. 41 waznak 558. 42 waznak 558. 43 a.g. martimort ed. the church at prayer vol. i principles of the liturgy, (collegeville, minnesota: the liturgical press. 1987) 139 44 martimort ed. vol. ii: the eucharist 67 – 68. 45 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 30. 46 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 31. 47 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 31 – 32. 48 theodore e. dobson, how the eucharist can transform your life, (indian: paulist press, 1998) 30 and 66. 49 dennis c. smolaski, sacred mysteries: sacramental principles and liturgical practice, (new york: paulist press, 1992) 72. 50 chibuko, liturgical preaching according to the modern liturgy 16. 51 patrick chibuko, paschal mystery of christ: foundation for liturgical inculturation in africa, (new york: peter lang, 1999) 44. 52 alfred p. gibbs, the preacher and his preaching, (lagos: ken maranatha ventures, 1989) 24. 53hilary p.o. okeke, let us celebrate the mystery of faith: a pastoral letter, (onitsha: good mark print production, 2005) 71. 134 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 9 contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge for priestly formation1 simonmary asese aihiokhai introduction priestly anniversaries are times for great celebrations and deep reflections on the part of the entire church. silver jubilees ought to be celebrated with great pride and hope. i rejoice with rev. anselm kole jimoh as he commemorates this special moment in his priestly ministry. many like him continue to be the hope of the church even at times when ugly narratives of priestly sexual abuse have come to distort all that the church stands for in our times. i have been asked to reflect on a topic that demands an honest engagement. on that note, let me transition to the purpose of this work. in this work, i intend to do the following; shed light on some of the trends of the emerging sexual abuse cases; present a critical analysis of the formation styles within nigerian seminaries with the intent to articulate a new vision of priestly formation that will help the nigerian church in particular and other national churches both in africa and other parts of the world to prevent future scandals, while properly training the men who present themselves to be trained for the ordained state. contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 135 trends of current abuses a critical question must be asked, one that demands an honest response. does the church have a sexual ethics problem, one that may be inadvertently contributing to the issues it is faced with today? i am convinced by the multiple evidence available that the response is in the affirmative. the ongoing ideological struggles between experts in the social sciences and pure sciences tasked with investigating the human mind, gender and sexuality on one hand, and church experts and theologians who argue for various theological positions on human sexuality demonstrate the point being made here. the dust seems not to have settled but many in the church’s hierarchy are impatient with the perceived ‘slow’ analysis of the sciences and would rather prefer a particular reading of religious texts along with their own cultural and personal sensibilities. it might be important to offer a quick note of caution; science can be a gatekeeper of truth for the church. when healthy relations are built with the scientific community, the church’s doctrinal positions will be greatly advanced and best address the demands of the signs of the times. science is today teaching us that gender binarism is a limited and sometimes a confusing way to speak of the breadth of our human condition. as noted by judith lorber, any discourse on gender ought to be predicated on cultural knowledge, which sometimes varies from one culture to another. in western societies, “until the eighteenth century, philosophers and scientists taught thought that there was one sex and that women’s internal genitalia were the inverse of men’s external genitalia: the womb and vagina were the penis and scrotum turned inside out.”2 lorber further explicates, while looking closely to how gender identities are given in western societies, that the nuances found in the human person, ranging from chromosomal markers, anomalous genitalia, and other physiological differences tended to be rigidly categorized by the duality of male-female; man – woman; and heterosexual – homosexual.3 how is the church’s theological anthropology responding to this new discovery? is the church’s preference to appeal to biblical texts to buttress a particular type of anthropology or is it to have an open mind to what is being discovered by scientists without making any moral judgement? these are options that lead to quite different and sometimes opposing conclusions. again, gender binarism is being challenged by new scientific discoveries in the area of intersex realities.4 based on scientific 136 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discoveries, it is common knowledge that there are “over 70 sex chromosomal” expressions within the human population.5 thus, even language needs to be adjusted to account for such breadth of sex expressions in the human population. male and female are at best labels of erasure and truncate the pendulum reality science is exposing us to.6 one conclusion can be made from these unfolding knowledge of the human organism; our knowledge of ourselves as humans is the knowledge that is not fixed. it is always progressive knowledge. ignoring all these discoveries and simply upholding what is termed traditional views on gender binarism as was recently done by the vatican dicastery, congregation for catholic education in its recently released document on gender theory is problematic.7 an important question worth asking, when one hears arguments on human sexuality that is based on traditional views, is this: what cultural knowledge heritage is one alluding to and defining as the norm? the document from the vatican dicastery fails to address the fact that christian anthropology is not constructed outside of a cultural locus with all the biases that play out in such a locus. what the document calls “right season” as the defining marker of the church’s position on what it means to be human must be engaged critically for what it is.8 reason is always culturally determined. the argument proposed in the document is to reject any “separation of sex from gender.”9 the jewish and greco-roman cultural influences on how the church reasons and its vision of what it means to be human ought to be acknowledged as such. the church’s position does not exhaust the issue at hand. while the church upholds a greco-roman metaphysical grounding of human sexuality, there are also legitimate arguments to be made based on other ways gender expressions are more fluid that are not grounded in metaphysics. examples of nonmetaphysical views of human sexuality can be found among the “berdache in north america and the fa’afafine in the pacific, and the kathoey in thailand.”10 furthermore, if culture is the place where the divine-human drama is fully experienced, then cultural differences that define gender fluidity as found in different human communities should not be dismissed easily simply because they differ from those that have shaped the church’s views. rather than a rigid vision of what it means to be human, these differences can become the contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 137 possibility for embracing a richer vision of what it means to be human in a culturally diverse world. the cautionary note from the american jesuit theologian, james martin that “the document is mainly a dialogue with philosophers and theologians, and with other church documents; but not with scientists and biologists, not with psychologists, and certainly not with lgbt people, whose experiences are given little if any weight” is something that should make everyone to be very concerned.11 to have an informed opinion on an issue demands a deliberate and holistic engagement with all factors shaping that issue. to simply dismiss an aspect of the process and uphold views that are at best one-sided and/or incomplete should not be the approach to the teaching office of the church should be following. conclusions like these hurt people who are already at the margins of society and the church. perhaps, the following cautionary insight is helpful in shedding light on what is at stake here; “it is important to emphasize that although heterosexuality operates in part through the stabilization of gender norms, gender designates a dense site of significations that contain and exceed the heterosexual matrix. although forms of sexuality do not unilaterally determine gender, a non-causal and nonreductive connection between sexuality and gender is nevertheless crucial to maintain.”12 thanks to the social sciences we are more knowledgeable about how human conditioning plays out even in the most private aspects of our lives, our sexual preferences.13 even though no current study has been done in the context of africa, the churches of africa can also learn from the insights and experiences of those in the western world. it is on that note that i intend to call attention to some insights found in the recent study done on the sex abuse crisis in the united states of america. there are some observable trends found in the john jay report of 2004 by john jay college of criminal justice that was commissioned by the united states conference of catholic bishops (usccb). the report focused its studies of sexual abuse in the church between 1950 and 2002. it found out that there were over 10,000 sexual abuse allegations brought against priests and deacons working in dioceses in the united states. it also showed that the percentage of priests and deacons working in the country (109, 694), 4% (4392) were accused of sexual abuse of minors and adults. i 138 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age should be clear here by stating the obvious; the report was not extensive enough. it did not study the members of the hierarchy and members of lay religious orders. recent revelations have shown that the scandal is not just limited to priests or deacons or even to male members of the church with leadership roles. female religious communities have had their own share of the scandal as well. the sex abuse scandal is one that affects every aspect of the church, ordained and lay. the john jay report offers some interesting profile of the abuses and the abusers that may be of use to those interested in revamping priestly formation in the twenty-first century. grooming tactics were prominent ways the abusers used in carrying out their illicit sexual contacts with their victims. the abusers took time to build a trusting relationship with their victims and then threatening them should they betray their confidence and reveal what abuses were occurring. the age profile of the abusers is also telling. half of those accused of abuse were below the age of 35 when they first carried out their first sex crimes. less than 7% of the abusers were themselves victims of sexual abuse as minors. 19% of them were also dealing with alcoholism. 70% of the abusers were formed in seminaries under pre-vatican ii seminary formation programs.14 what do all these tell us? they point to the fact that there is a very strong case to be made for using insights from the social sciences to address this crisis. these are not just accidental cases that played themselves out without any organic pattern in them. rather, a closer study of these patterns reveals some innate deficiencies in the formative programmes operative during the years these abusers were in seminary and/or in ministry. formation styles and lessons to be learned my work as an educator has taught me the relevance of viewing formation as something that must be holistic; one that ought to engage the different aspects of human life if it is to have any transformative impact on the ones being formed. in 1992, pope john paul ii gave to the roman catholic church a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (i will give you shepherds after my own heart – jer. 3:15). here, john paul ii articulates the need for formators of future priests to take seriously the need to tailor their education to contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 139 meet the needs of our times. he called for a clear understanding of holistic formation that accounted for the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. it is worth pointing out the bold claim made by john paul ii, who argued for human formation as the core of all holistic formation on which the other three aspects of formation hinge. his vision of the human is also very interesting; it is conditioned on what he calls “affective maturity.”15 in his words, “affective maturity presupposes an awareness that love has a central role in human life… we are speaking of a love that involves the entire person, in all his or her aspects physical, psychic and spiritual – and which is expressed in the ‘nuptial meaning’ of the human body…”16 following the release of this document, many houses of formation in the western world and in africa began the much-needed conversation to figure out how to revamp their formation process to allow for a clear understanding and expressions of these four aspects of formation. i recall vividly, efforts made by some religious communities in nigeria who began to explore ways of revamping their formation programme to account for this new guidance on priestly and religious formation. furthermore, to show how much work still needs to be done even by the religious communities that want to make a difference, it is proper to share an incident that occurred some years ago during my undergraduate studies. during my senior year as a philosophy student in the seminary, a course on human sexuality was introduced as an elective. it was going to be taught as two sessions. one was to be taught by a nun and the other by a member of my religious community. i happened to have registered for the latter. during our first week of class meetings, it dawned on me that what was needed was not just a course but a total re-education of all priests and seminarians for our lack of training in the area of human sexuality. the instructor kept referring to origen, the great theologian of the early church, as someone who had cut off his ‘third leg,’ a euphemism for castrating himself. when i pushed further by asking the instructor to explain how humans mutated from having three legs to now having two, i was made to know that such types of questions were not going to be entertained by him. that was it for me. i realized that the issues at stake were deeper than just taking a class on human sexuality. the anthropological vision that has defined how we perceive ourselves as sexual beings, our comfort level with our own sexual conditioning, our linguistic comfort in carrying out such 140 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age discourses all needed to be critiqued deeply and if necessary, transformed radically if the vision of pope john paul ii was to be realized for the church, particularly in the nigerian context. i am not alone in making this observation. another “reason why renewal and transformation are constantly needed is the fact that our knowledge of reality is constantly increasing and changing and this inevitably affects the way we live our lives. for instance, it makes an enormous difference if our understanding of homosexuality changes from regarding those who engage in same-sex behaviour as either deviant or sick ‘heterosexual’ persons to seeing them as persons whose fundamental orientation attracts them to persons of the same sex.”17 no one denies the fact that the establishment of structured priestly formation has yielded some positive results. the intellectual formation has been a great success for priests over the centuries. lovely spiritual practices have been developed through the quasi monastic settings of seminaries. a good sense of community among the future members of the clergy is developed during these formative years. however, with regard to sexual formation, the outcome has been very poor, if we are to be honest with ourselves. since the church is made up of men and women, one wonders what dictates the rationale behind having junior seminaries that house young boys who are excluded from substantive interactions with young girls their age? as part of their priestly formation, ought not these young boys be provided with healthy sex education and ways of appreciating personal boundaries in their interactions with each other and with women and girls? as reputable psychologists would opine, dating is part of holistic human formation. through the dating experience, a young man or a young woman begins to learn how to negotiate appropriate boundaries for themselves and for those they may have feelings for. they learn to appreciate the fact that consent must be clearly given and sustained always, otherwise it is not consent. as these young men and women attain adulthood, their affective maturity aligns itself also with those of the spiritual and intellectual. when one listens carefully to all the traumatic stories of the sex abuse cases involving ordained men in the roman catholic church, one thing is central, these accused have no sense of what healthy affective boundaries entail. even with the level of intellectual education, they have attained in life, their poor social skills, manipulative contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 141 personalities, puerile tricks at luring their victims to enter into a relationship of trust speak to a disconnect between the different levels of their formation. it is as though one of the four integral pillars of formation (affects) is not properly aligned with others. this is not an accidental reality. this distorted alignment is traceable back to the very origins of the founding of seminaries. the establishment of formal structures for priestly formation came from the council of trent’s attempt at curbing ideas it had deemed injurious to orthodoxy.18 men who were to serve the church were to be trained clearly in ways that the radical ideas of the times could be curtailed.19 interestingly, the psychological background for this approach and attitude is intricately linked to a somewhat problematic attitude toward all things that do not fit perfectly well with the stated goals of raison d’etre for seminaries.20 issues dealing with human sexuality would necessarily be seen as suspect, especially in a church with a strong manichaean heritage; one that frowns at the sensual, and considers the sexual as the pathway for tempting and corrupting the purity of the soul. rather than explore the broad nature of human sexuality as an essential condition for priestly formation for men whose ministerial duties will entail relating with other humans through the breadth of their human affects, a form of spiritualizing of the affects has come to replace that which needs to be addressed in a more pragmatic and concrete manner. celibacy and chastity are spoken of using the spiritual motifs of the heavenly bride. theological and spiritual works have flourished over the years in addressing the sexual urges and realities of these candidates for priestly and religious life. a huge mistake on the part of the church is not to take seriously new fields of knowledge, especially in the social sciences, that deal with the human person as a sexualized being. it is on that note that i want to offer some concrete interventions to help articulate a more robust priestly formation programme for the nigerian church and other local and national churches that may be facing similar problems. envisioning a new formation paradigm priestly formation is not for its own sake. it is for the good of the church. those who chose to respond to the call to serve in the ministerial priesthood are chosen from the community of the baptized in churches located in particular cultures and societies. understanding these facts is fundamental in helping to build up a formation 142 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age programme that is relevant for the times. thus, any seminary formation today in the church, be it in nigeria or anywhere in the global north, must take seriously the reading of the signs of the times. the church of the twenty-first century is not going to be similar to that of the twentieth century. we currently live in the age of technology. different types of community are springing up globally that go beyond previous understandings of that term. new notions of ecclesial structures are being formed. a broader understanding of ecclesial leadership is fast becoming the norm. the laity is becoming very educated theologically and sometimes more informed theologically than the ordained as seems to be the case in the western world. nigeria is not immune from these changes occurring. the existential and ultimate questions being asked by the young are conditioned by the totality of their experiences in more globalized and pluralistic contexts. with the above in mind, i offer the first of four interventions to help articulate new formative programmes for the future members of the clergy in nigeria; priestly formation in nigeria today should begin with a serious reflection on the signs of the times in the country. what does it mean to be a church in today’s nigeria, where religious and cultural pluralism are key components of the lived experiences of the people? what and how does it mean to be a church in an era when nigeria is positioned to become the largest economy in africa and may become a prominent player in the global economy? how and in what ways can the church be relevant to a society where women are rightly reclaiming their roles in society? simply reciting old arguments to address new discourses is at best an insult to people’s intelligence. to read the signs of the times is to position the church for its role as an agent of the new evangelization. this new evangelization ought not to be focused solely on making christians out of people. rather, it ought to go beyond that. it must help people appreciate who they are as sexualized beings. today, we live in an era of full selfexpression. this is the era of the #metoo movement. this is the era of #blacklivesmatter movement. the church in nigeria cannot function as though it is isolated from these global social movements and concerns. it should also resist the temptation to want to appeal to catechesis that offers shallow answers to complex issues. human sexuality is a complex matter, one that must not be seen anymore contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 143 from the locus of the problematic. the church in nigeria ought to come up with a holistic human formation that addresses the spectrum of human sexuality as embodied in the lives of candidates for the priesthood. to think and operate formation programmes with the mindset that all persons in the programmes are themselves heterosexual persons may not be doing justice to the needs of persons who do not identify with heterosexuality. a recent poll conducted by the initiative for equal rights (tiers) found out that “39% of nigerians approve of members of the lgbtq+ community having equal access to public healthcare, education, and housing.”21 the church ought to be leading this conversation and promoting inclusive social teachings that address the needs of these persons. the best way to account for this is to have a robust formation programme that speaks to these social issues. making the hermeneutical shift that moves from the problematic to the locus of giftedness can help the church to see possibilities of hope and new knowledge it may not have been capable of seeing previously. stated differently, “a christian theology of creation means that we accept the whole of reality, ourselves included, as given and gift. the task of human freedom is to become who we are and we cannot do that without continually trying to understand better who we are. this is a never-ending process.”22 thus, reading the signs of the times is itself a form of prophetic response to the call of discipleship that is relevant to our era. the church must be seen and must also see itself as an instrument of god’s mercy. pope francis has made his pontificate a reflector of this theological and ministerial stance. there is beauty in such a strategy. for too long, the church has embraced a rigid normative approach to human sexuality that is defined radically by western notions of natural law, which, of it itself, is culturally conditioned. a legitimate question the nigerian church must respond to is this: are there no cultural insights from nigeria that can help the church to embrace a more humanistic, personalistic, and holistic understanding of human sexuality that is not radically limited by the dualism of good and evil or right and wrong that seems to have defined western understandings of sexual identities and expressions? this question calls for nigerian theologians and the members of the church to take seriously their responsibilities as educated members of the church to articulate an afro-nigerian theology on human sexuality that speaks to what it means to be human in the nigerian 144 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age context. without denying the usefulness of the natural law tradition in western societies’ construction of knowledge, be it in their philosophical or theological traditions, i am of the view that an african pragmatic ethics needs to be the modus operandi for the nigerian church. what does this entail? perhaps, the insight of kwame gyekye will help explicate the point i am making here. in his words: on what grounds are some acts (etc.) considered good? the answer is simply that each of them is supposed … to bring about or lead to social wellbeing. within the framework of akan social and humanistic ethics, what is morally good is generally that which promotes social welfare, solidarity, and harmony in human relationships. moral value in the akan system is determined in terms of its consequences for mankind and society. “good” is thus used of actions that promote human interest. the good is identical with the welfare of the society, which is expected to include the welfare of the individual… it is clear that this definition does not at all refer to the will or commands of god. that which is good is decreed not by a supernatural being as such, but by human beings within the framework of their experiences in living in society.23 in a very abbreviated form, natural law tradition makes a metaphysical assumption that imputes moral normativity on persons, objects, and actions irrespective of the nuances brought about by context or social locations of the acting subject. on the other hand, african pragmatic ethics situates the moral content of a being, object, or action within their complex relational interactions operating in a concrete community.24 let me offer a second intervention. christianity’s achilles heel has always been a bias for a dualistic vision of the human person. question three of the penny catechism begins by asking: in whose image and likeness are humans made? the corresponding answer is that it is in god’s image that humans are made. then the next question asks categorically if the likeness of god is “in your [one’s] body or in your [one’s] soul.” the response is telling. “this likeness contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 145 to god is chiefly in my [one’s] soul.”25 for centuries, many christians have recited these lines and have never stopped to question the theological rationale behind such glaring dualistic anthropology. if the soul is what “chiefly” represents the divine likeness in us, one is thus compelled to ask the question, what then does the body represent? christian theology has a rich and yet very sad history in depicting the body and all that it represents as a pathway for temptations and the corruption of the soul. what does this mean in light of sexual ethics today? i would say, everything. the sexual crisis the church faces today can be traced to this disjointed and paradoxical dualism inherent in the church’s theological anthropology. not being able to see the human body with all its embodied affectivity as epiphanic gifts of god’s encounter with creation reduces the church’s capacity to mediate a rich narrative of how god works in and with us in the concreteness of our embodiment. god did not become human “chiefly” in our soul. rather, the incarnation speaks of a god who chose to become fully one with us in all that we are except sin. in the incarnation, all dualistic arguments are rendered invalid. god became not just a human being but a sexualized being. it is important that theologians take this seriously. if i may be as vivid as possible, the sexualized god-human experienced all the emotions attached to sexual selfdiscoveries and these entail all the hormonal realities involved. i recall a conversation i had with a fellow theologian some years ago when i made the comment that the adolescent jesus must have had wet dreams and thought constantly of the persons he had ‘crushes’ on as do typical adolescents who are going through puberty. i could see my colleague almost having a nervous breakdown. he just could not conceive of his jesus as being described in such ‘dirty’ terms. for him, sexuality is a dirty thing and at best sinful. the keyword here is an experience. “though experience is always open to fallible interpretation, the bottom line is that experience is, and always has been, the most reliable source for discerning god’s will.”26 it is not the abstract postulations of reason as though the reason has its own embodiment different from its unity with the body. the church is in urgent need of a holistic approach to human sexuality, one that must move away from beginning the conversation from fallenness, sinfulness, and evil to a starting point that stresses the beauty, sacredness, and fulfilling nature of being a sexualized 146 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age being. there is too much shame in the current theological discourse on human sexuality. the church should move to a locus of pride in addressing what it means to be fully human. this responsibility must begin with the actual formation of future ministers of the church. one wonders how those who are called to mediate the fullness of god’s life to the church and world and who are trained to see a fundamental aspect of that divine-human life as innately sinful can themselves be effective in their callings. are they not being set up to fail even before they begin their ministry? the challenge for seminary formators today is to address the following questions: how comfortable and healthy are the discussions around human sexuality in the curriculum? how matured are the candidates for the priesthood to express who they are as sexual beings, and what concrete ways do they embrace to ensure that their affects are nurtured while also embarking on the formation of the other aspects of their lives? i do not think the church is capable of bringing about this transformative move on its own. this leads me to offer a third intervention that may be helpful to the church as it addresses the lacunae present in its vision of the human person. human collective wisdom has given us many angles from viewing and understanding our world. groundbreaking research continues to be carried out in different fields. disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and many more continue to enrich our collective understanding of what it means to be human in the totality of our embodiment. even the pure sciences have helped us to understand how our affects and decision-making processes continue to be shaped by the chemical makeup of our bodies. all these discoveries are a wealth of knowledge that can help the church continue to grow in its theological articulation of what it means to be human. may i offer a very direct critique of a strand in the theological tradition of our church and maybe it might help us to make the muchneeded shift to help address the current sex abuse crisis. there is a strong natural law tradition in the church. many of the church’s positions on issues dealing with human sexuality, reproductive health, and even the recent document from the congregation for catholic education on gender theory demonstrate a clear bias for a particular way of reading the natural law tradition – one that is rooted in the greco-roman philosophical, theological, and cultural heritage. but one has to ask the critical questions, is this particular reading of contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 147 natural law done in honest dialogue with these other disciplines and their findings or is this reading of natural law based on an insular approach that preferences a specific narrative even when that narrative has no evidential credence? why can’t the church appropriate more than one approach to understanding humans as ethical beings that include both the western natural law tradition and the african pragmatic ethical approach? how can one cultural knowledge exhaust the richness of human knowledge of how god interacts with creation? it is important to note here that at the core of one’s being one experiences one’s own identity as genderized and sexual being. to simply deny the legitimacy of that self-awareness and existential experience may be a dangerous path to follow for the church if it is to fully be a medium of hope and life for many who seek its counsel at moments in their lives when they need the nurturing and supporting guidance of its counsel. i opine strongly that the starting point for the church’s position on human sexuality ought always to be an open dialogue with other disciplines. the marriage of reason and faith is not a marriage of convenience. it ought to be one of authentic dialogue, however difficult that dialogue may be. i am not a psychologist. but i have had the honour of knowing persons who struggle with their sexual orientations and gender identities. these are not experiences that come from a place of abuse of freedom as the recent document on gender theory from the vatican curia seems to suggest. these are existential struggles that sometimes lead to unimaginable trauma that words cannot describe. how ought the church’s vision of human sexuality speak to these realities in ways that holistic embrace of oneself becomes the focus? this is the current challenge that a robust sexual ethics must address. again, seminaries cannot exempt themselves from this process. seminary curricula should have a robust number of courses in the social sciences and the natural sciences that shed light on what it means to be fully human. what is a course in theological anthropology that does not speak to the realities of cultural, social, philosophical, scientific, linguistic anthropologies? what does it mean to be made in god’s image when the embodied human’s social location is not the starting point of any god-human talk? who is jesus christ without his social location as a jewish man living in an occupied land under strict patriarchal system? of what value is jesus christ to an adolescent who is going through 148 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age puberty and struggling with all the hormonal changes in their body if the said jesus is not presented to him/her as one who went through the same experience and came out of it unscathed? our theological discourses in the seminaries must now be as pragmatic and concrete as they can be if we are to have a handle on the sex abuse crisis. our current crisis lies in the strong urge to flee to the utopic state of abstract discourses on what it means to be human. we are not words. we are embodied beings living in the concreteness of the here and now. i want to begin my fourth intervention for a new paradigm for priestly formation that speaks to our realities today with a question. why seminary formation? this question is the key to understanding how and why the church is faced today with the crises of inauthenticity among those ordained and tasked with the responsibility to be the media of god’s mercy to god’s own people. this question comes also from my own experiences as one who had the pleasure of receiving priestly formation from two very different models, one that is aligned to a more traditional model and another more progressive that seems to be taking seriously insights from discoveries from the social sciences. before i proceed, let me state it clearly, in no way am i ranking these two models. rather, i am attempting to see how one can help the other grow even though i am convinced that priestly formation must be contextually shaped to help address the unique needs of the local church. uniqueness does not mean isolationism. a critical observation of priestly formation both in nigeria and in the united states of america validates the following comments: in nigerian priestly formation programmes that i am conversant with, one can conclude that there is a strong focus on weeding-out candidates for the priesthood who are judged to be lacking in virtue or character needed for priestly ministry. one could argue that the very fact that there are so many candidates for priestly formation along with fewer resources to carryout holistic formation may be contributing to this model. but there are grave implications arising from this model. rather than helping candidates open up to the formative process with all candidness and knowing they would not be judged but rather helped to become better persons who through an elaborate discernment process may discover later their other callings contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 149 away from the priesthood or even to the priesthood, a state of paranoia is created in their lives and they end up being inauthentic and secretive about who they are. paying attention to the study cited earlier in this work on the state of sex crisis in the church in the united states of america, one notices that the height of the crisis came during the time when the church was also experiencing some vocation boom and operating a weed-out model of formation. on the other hand, a different model that is currently being practised by a growing number of dioceses in the united states is what i have labelled the full-authenticity model. it entails a formative process where candidates for the priesthood are invited to self-disclose who they are, and that includes their sexual orientation. whatever level one finds oneself in the sexual orientation spectrum is received as gifts that can be used to help the candidate to fully live out their calling to voluntary celibacy that the priesthood calls for. for this goal to be realized, concrete steps are taken to help the candidates in formation to embrace their inner truths as sexual persons. there are series of evaluations throughout the formative process and these include expert opinions from the social sciences. candidates for the priesthood are considered human beings who are on a life journey and that means they need all the professional, formal, and informal support at the different stages in that journey. knowing that one is in formation not to be judged or weeded out but to be helped to discern correctly and acquire the needed skills, talents, and virtues for the ministry ahead allows for these candidates to open themselves up at their core to the process even if that opening up means embracing their own vulnerabilities. there is beauty in such a process when it is done right. lest my readers think that the american model is free from error, let me offer a few comments based on my time in the seminary in the united states and my interactions with seminary formators here in the country as well; american seminary formation today needs to create a culture and climate that appreciates the beauty of intellectual formation. due to the lack of vocations, there is the temptation to want to water-down the intellectual formation of future priests. there isn’t much, if any, philosophical foundation for seminarians before they embark on their theological formation. even when engaged in theological formation, it has become the trend to see seminarians embracing a cafeteria approach to theological formation. they tend to 150 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age reject theologians and their works they have judged for themselves to be unorthodox. also, american seminary programmes need to take seriously the discoveries in the social sciences on social issues like racism, and systems of oppression. throughout my time in the seminary, not a single course was offered on such topics dealing with systemic racism and xenophobia. if at all there is an original sin of american society, it is racism. to educate men for the ordained priesthood who are supposed to be sources of life and hope for god’s people, and not prepare them on how to address the social sins of the society and the church in this part of the world, is to diminish their ability to be agents of positive change. conclusion in this work, i have intentionally moved away from the simplistic conclusions that tend to define the current clergy sex abuse crisis as being perpetuated by a homosexual mafia in the roman catholic priesthood. there is no evidence justifying such a sensational conclusion. i do not want to give a myth the legitimacy it does not deserve. however, there is clear evidence that the church has a sexual abuse crisis amongst its clergy. the crisis seems to be growing as we begin to see that it goes beyond just priests and deacons. the entire clergy has a sex abuse crisis on its hands and it needs to figure out how to address this issue. the recent decision of pope francis instructing how the crisis ought to be addressed by leaving it in the hands of the bishops and roman curia is a good place to start the much-needed reform.27 to now require a metropolitan to take the lead in the investigation of a suffragan bishop under his jurisdiction, as directed by francis in his motu proprio, vos estis lux mundi, calls for some honest discernment process.28 it might be wise for the church to move completely the investigative process of episcopal sexual abuse and priestly sexual abuse to a more neutral body that is comprised of laypeople. this approach will allow for complete transparency that may not always be the case when a bishop is tasked with the responsibility of leading an investigation into the moral/immoral actions of a fellow bishop. it is worth noting that no institution can reform itself internally. it has never happened even in the history of the church. one wonders why and how pope francis thinks this time around it is contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 151 going to be different. yes, i know that the pontiff is canonically bound to act within the juridical tradition of the church where the local church has its own autonomy. however, a greater good is now at stake, the integrity of the church. this greater good calls for a new approach to canon law and its inherent tradition. without reducing other bishops to mere secretaries of the bishop of rome, it might be useful for the church to articulate new canonical regulations that offer to the laity deliberative powers in helping the clergy to be faithful to its commitment to the people of god, especially in matters dealing with monitoring the unfolding sexual abuse crisis among the ranks of the ordained. each diocese ought to have its own deliberative process with each member having equal deliberative powers to arrive at decisions that should include the reduction of the ordained to the lay state. the fact that the baptism of the laity is what decides their rights and duties in the church, the members of such a commission should be able to apply disciplines to those found guilty that are currently reserved to the holy see. this is not going to slip into the ancient struggles between the ordained and the laity. such fears come from a place of power. it is time for the church to abandon narratives and the psychology of power and embrace the psychology of service and humility. the current sex abuse scandal has injured the church at its very core. how it heals from this self-imposed injury will be determined by its ability to embrace its own vulnerabilities. a church that speaks of vulnerability as the gateway of experiencing the divine must now demonstrate to the world and to itself that it does not only speak the words, it also knows how to live them out. endnotes 1 a longer version of this work will be published under the title “priestly formation and sexual abuse in the roman catholic church: in dialogue with the nigerian church,” journal of black catholic theological symposium (2019). 2 judith lorber, “believing is seeing: biology as ideology,” gender and society 7, no. 4 (1993), 568 3 ibid., 569 – 570. 152 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 4 see i. a. hughes, “intersex,” bju international 90, no. 8 (november 2002): 769 – 776. see also, u. s. national library of medicine, “intersex,” medical encyclopedia, accessed june 17, 2019, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001669.htm 5 christine e. gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure. reconstructing christian sexual ethics (cleveland, ohio: the pilgrim press, 1994), 4. 6 lorber, “believing is seeing: biology as ideology,” 571. 7 see congregation for education, “male and female he created them” towards a path of dialogue on the question of gender theory in education, june 10, 2019, https://www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/congregation_for_catho lic_education_en.pdf. 8 ibid., 1. 9 ibid., 8. 10 world health organization, “gender and genetics,” genomic resource centre, accessed august 27, 2019, https://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html 11 as cited by philip pullella, “vatican condemns gender theory as bid to destroy nature,” reuters, june 10, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/usvatican-gender-iduskcn1tb20e 12 judith butler, bodies that matter (london and new york: routledge classics, 2011), 182. 13 gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure, 5. 14 for a detailed review of the report, see, john jay college of criminal justice, the city university of new york, the nature and scope of sexual abuse of minor by catholic priests and deacons in the united states 1950 – 2002 (washington d.c.: united states conference of catholic bishops, 2004). 15 john paul ii, post-synodal apostolic exhortation: pastores dabo vobis, march 25, 1992, 44, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paulii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabovobis.html. 16 ibid. 17 kevin t. kelly, new directions in sexual ethics. moral theology and the challenge of aids (london and washington: geoffrey chapman, 1998), 25. 18 h. j. schroeder, canons and decree of the council of trent. original text with english translation (st. loui, mo/london, 1941), 175 – 179. 19 ibid., 175. 20 ibid. 21 happiness nleweoha, “watch: a recent statistics on lgbt community in nigeria,” the guardian, august 11, 2018, https://guardian.ng/life/watch-arecent-statistics-on-lgbt-community-in-nigeria/ 22 kelly, new directions in sexual ethics, 28. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001669.htm https://www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/congregation_for_catholic_education_en.pdf https://www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/congregation_for_catholic_education_en.pdf https://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-gender-iduskcn1tb20e https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-gender-iduskcn1tb20e http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html https://guardian.ng/life/watch-a-recent-statistics-on-lgbt-community-in-nigeria/ https://guardian.ng/life/watch-a-recent-statistics-on-lgbt-community-in-nigeria/ contemporary sexual crises in the church and the challenge 153 23 kwame gyekye, an essay on african philosophical thought. the akan conceptual scheme. revised edition (philadelphia: temple university press, 1995), 132. 24 for a detailed treatment of this topic, see simonmary a. aihiokhai, “embracing the pragmatic in african indigenous religions: new perspective for interfaith dialogue,” christianity and culture collision: particularities and trends from a global south. eds. cyril orji and joseph ogbonnaya (cambridge, united kingdom: cambridge scholars publishing, 2016): 151 – 163. 25 the penny catechism: a catechism of christian doctrine (charlotte, north carolina: tan books, 2012), 1. 26 gudorf, body, sex, and pleasure, 12. 27 see francis, apostolic letter. on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papafrancesco-motu-proprio-20190326_latutela-deiminori.html. see also, law no. ccxcvii. on the protection of minor and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminorilegge297_20190326_en.html . see also, guidelines for the protection of children and vulnerable persons, march 26, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminorilineeguida_20190326_en.html. 28 see francis, apostolic letter: motu proprio – vos estis, lux mundi, may 7, 2019, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papafrancesco-motu-proprio-20190507_vos-estis-lux-mundi.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20190326_latutela-deiminori.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20190326_latutela-deiminori.html http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminori-legge297_20190326_en.html http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminori-legge297_20190326_en.html http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminori-lineeguida_20190326_en.html http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_protezioneminori-lineeguida_20190326_en.html https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20190507_vos-estis-lux-mundi.html https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20190507_vos-estis-lux-mundi.html 154 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 0 the seminarian and the digital age: implications for authentic formation gregory ebalu ogbenika & anthony ifechukwude akalue introduction in his message for the jubilee year 2000, the holy father, pope john paul ii called for ‘new evangelization’ with new methods in the propagation of the gospel. this pronouncement of the holy father ushers in a wind for the adoption of notable tools for evangelization in the 20th century. the 20th century is said to be a century of digitalization. in the modern wake of science and technology, there seem to be an unparallel form of civilization when compared with the centuries before now. this is due to the adoption of the modalities and methods of science and technology. the digital age began in 1939 with the construction of the first digital computer. in the sixty-five years that have followed, the influence of digitization on our everyday lives has grown steadily and today digital technology has a greater influence on our lives more than at any time since its development1. this is not to say the age before did not have a share of some level of scientific development. in fact, thales, anaxagoras, rene descartes and a host of others had a feel of this reality. however, it is important to note that the media has been bastardized. some persons see it as an avenue for being immoral. this ranges from the awareness of pornography, sextex, plagiarism and so on. the evil about this is that it is with a click of the button. with the the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 155 aid of digitization, scammers and criminals are on the increase. this is why the percentage of cybercrime has gone on the increase in recent years. for this reason, government has brought in different ways to help check and curb its use and excesses. even nongovernmental organizations have waded into helping in savaging the negative effects of digitization. everyone has a right to technology. human rights are those legal and/or moral rights that all persons have, simply as persons. in the current digital age, human rights are increasingly being either fulfilled or violated in the online environment2. the seminarians who are under formation to be catholic priests are also exposed to these right and privileges of technologies. the question now is: will the dangers of the digital age affect the integrity of the church? will it undermine what the church stands for in the formation of candidate for the priesthood? will the church in general, and the seminarians in particular, benefit anything from the gains of science and technology? does digital media pose any threat to authentic formation? our aim in this paper is to identify some of the challenges of seminary formation in the digital age. the method to be employed will be analytic, prescriptive and systematic. the crises of the digital age science and technology are a twin characteristics of the 21st century. this is because the relevance and impact of science and technology in this age has marked tremendous success in the society. the 21st century is almost merged with the digital age. in other words, it is almost impossible to separate the reality of science and technology from the 21st century. digitalization for the sake of clarification is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format, in which the information is organized into bits3. digitization is of crucial importance to data processing, storage and transmission, because it "allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency and also intermingled".4 the age of digitization seeks to move from the analogue way of doing things to a more sophisticated form. this in a way has improved economic cohesion and foster human interaction. this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/digital_data https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bit 156 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age digital transformation and translation is seen and felt in virtually every facet of today’s existence. business moguls and other scientific expatriates excel because of the untiring success of digitization. they all use the potential of digitization to offer humanity smarter and faster services and actively shape their immediate environs with the help of digital transformation5. the digital media affects all sectors of society, in particular economies, religious, education, social, political, cultural sphere. at the same time, it has opened up new networking possibilities, and enables co-operation between different persons from different locations. in fact, with the aid of digitization, the world has now become a ‘global village’. the society of research in making a distinction between the centuries before and the twenty-first century development due to the growth of science and technology states: by the beginning of the (twenty-first) century, the notion of progress was closely linked with technological development, and that linkage intensified in the following decades. the automobile and the airplane changed not only travel but the nature of our cities and towns. radio and then television brought more of the outside world into everyone’s home. knowledge about the causes of diseases brought new treatments and preventive measures. computer appeared, and soon the transistor made them smaller, more powerful, more accessible, and cheaper… organized research and development., which are increasingly international in character, have greatly increased the production of new knowledge. deeper understanding of living organisms is leading toward cures of diseases once thought.6 the point here is that the modern society has benefitted from the gains of science and technology. this benefits range from the invention and management of automobile and aircrafts down to the dissemination of information with the aid of television and radio together with other media forms of communication. even the educational sector is not left out since it has benefited in the way and manner researches are carried out. these researches have helped in no small measure in detecting the causes of some diseases and sickness the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 157 and sought ways to combat them by proffering solutions. no doubt that this will also be of benefit to the political sphere of the state, because a state where all of these are evident is said to be an ideal state. religious leaders will also benefit from it, because they can reach out to so many persons as much as possible from all works of life. the age is also characterized with different mode of social media communication as evident in the presence of the internet. the internet has a major impact when it comes to providing new opportunities that were not previously available in the past centuries. this internet is a channel in constant development, enjoying high attention and being currently used by more than a third of the global population7. giving all of these benefits of modernization in this digital age, there exist some mismanagement of the potency of science and technology. this is evident in the increment of cybercrimes and all forms of media violence in this present age. recent polls have shown by percentage, how crime has grown over time. attacks against information infrastructure and internet services have already taken place. online fraud and hacking attacks are some examples of computerrelated crimes that are committed on a large scale everyday. the financial damage caused by cybercrime is reported to be enormous. in 2003 alone, malicious software caused damages of up to usd 17 billion. by some estimates, revenues from cybercrime exceeded usd 100 billion in 2007, outstripping the illegal trade in drugs for the first time. nearly 60 per cent of businesses in the united states believe that cybercrime is more costly to them than physical crime8. looking at all of these crimes, the document went further to stress on the need to protect one’s information “these estimates clearly demonstrate the importance of protecting information infrastructure”9. the reality of cyber-crime in this modern age has brought in the need for cybersecurity in the society. in fact, the 2010 un general assembly’s resolution on cybersecurity addresses cybercrime as one major challenge. their preoccupation is on the need to collaborate 158 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age with the government of each state to enhance cybersecurity so as to protect critical information for nation’s security and economic wellbeing10. hacking of websites established for the collation of election results is a common language in the conduct of elections in most nations of the world today. the 2016 general elections in the united states and the just concluded general elections in nigeria are still fresh in our memories as instances, where cyber crime and manipulations was perceived to have been adopted in the conduct of the elections by the electoral bodies and even some of the political parties that were involved in these elections. even the reality of engaging in sexually immoral act online is another reality with the digital age. some engage in pornography and other sexual crimes online. looking at all of these crimes, can one say the digital age is beneficial to the human person? since the subject of study is its challenges to seminarians, can one say it is still relevant to the church and seminary formation? a close look at the nature of the church and the urgency of digitalization will help underscore whether or not the digital age is a challenge to those in formation. the church and the digital age the church is the new testament (convenant) people of god united in one faith, one baptism and one lord11. the church as a new testament people has the mission of proclaiming the mercies of god. the church which is a community of the faithful, has a mission to teach and sanctify her members. in doing this, she is called to be open to the reality and challenges of her time. in gaudium et spes, the concillar fathers make bold to state that the church must rise up to the challenges of the present innovations of the society and try to interpret them in the light of the gospel. “the church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the gospel”12. one of the signs of this present age is the reality of science and technology. this is the age in which seminarians of today are formed. it is from this perspective that the church calls for the proper education of the faithful to know how to apply some of the products of science and technology. the document on social communication, aetatis novae says: education and training regarding the internet ought to be part of comprehensive programs of media the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 159 education available to members of the church. as much as possible, pastoral planning for social communications should make provision for this training in the formation of seminarians, priests, religious, and lay pastoral personnel as well as teachers, parents, and students.13 in his message for the world communication sunday of 2010, pope benedict xvi calls on the pastors of the church to embrace the reality of the media in the proclamation of the word of god. he also warns that they are to make responsible use of it. in other words, the use of the media for the proclamation of the word of god must make them efficient, compelling and focused. in his words: all priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of jesus christ, the incarnate word of god, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments … the increased availability of the new technologies demand greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the word, but it also requires them to become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts14. there is no doubt, therefore that the introduction of the media to the proclamation of the word of god is in obedience to the mandate of christ ‘go out make disciples of all nations’. with the aid of the media, the church can reach out to as many as she can in the world; so it is left for the pastors of souls to embrace the missionary zeal of st. paul who said “woe to me if i do not preach the gospel(1cor 9:16). the church sees the rise of science and technology as a product of man’s intelligence and creative skill. it is indeed a new stage of history that must be embraced with bravery and sense of mission. the conciliar fathers assert thus: today, the human race is involved in a new stage of history. profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world. triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and desire, both individual and collective, and upon his 160 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and to people. hence, we can already speak of a true cultural and social transformation, one which has repercussions on man’s religious life as well.15 there is no doubt that the reality of science and technology has changed the face of man’s culture and social interactions, so in order not to allow humanity to be easily swayed by this wind of change, the church has as her responsibility, to nurture the faith of her members in the light of this changing culture of science and technology. any form of neglect in this regard will cause major harm to the flock that has been entrusted to her. it becomes pertinent to state here that if the church fails to utilize this powerful means of evangelization, they might end up feeling guilty in the future as evangeli nuntiandi asserts: the church would feel guilty before the lord if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect. it is through them that she proclaims from the house tops the message of which she is the depository16. this is where the instruction from the code of canon law becomes pertinent: while pride of place must always be given to preaching and catechetical instruction, all the available means of proclaiming christian doctrine are to be used: the exposition of doctrine in schools, in institutes of higher learning, at conference and meetings of all kinds; public declarations by lawful authority on the occasion of certain events; the printed word and other means of social communication.17 so in order not to feel guilty before the lord who has endowed the human person with the knowledge of putting together the technicalities of the media, it is important that the church employ every means necessary for the proclamation of the gospel. this will help the pastoral ministry of the priest and the seminarians under formation. now, a close examination of the different areas of priestly formation will be necessary here. this will help to ascertain the different areas in which technological advancement will affect the formation of the seminarian. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 161 the seminarian and the areas of priestly formation in the light of vatican ii the seminary is an institution where candidates for the priesthood are formed. the institution of the seminary was established by the sixteenth century council of trent. seminaries were charged with the formation of men for the priesthood. the character of seminary education was largely unchanged until the second vatican council (1962–1965).18 the second vatican council has on various occasions dealt with the subject of the life, ministry and formation of priests. the church through the vatican ii document, has done this in a more solemn way during the synods of bishops. already in october 1967, the first general ordinary assembly of the synod devoted five general congregations to the subject of the renewal of seminaries. this work as it were, gave a decisive impulse to the formulation of the document of the congregation for catholic education entitled, “fundamental norms for priestly formation”. the second ordinary general assembly held in 1971 spent half its time on the ministerial priesthood. the result of this synodal discourse were incorporated as recommendations, which were submited to pope paul vi. the recommendations were read at the opening of the 1974 synod. and in their recommendations, certain areas of priestly formation were outlined which include the human, spiritual, intellectual and the pastoral. this is a further proof that the magisterium of the church has always shown interest in the ministry and life of the priests. the seminarian who is a candidate for the priesthood is expected to pass through these four areas of priestly formation. here, an excursus will be made on the four areas of priestly formation. the human formation is seen as the basis of all other areas of priestly formation. this is because it is the human person who will be formed to act in the person of christ. one becomes a priest by first becoming a human being, and if one must become a responsible priest he must first become a responsible human being. this further underscores that the essence of human formation is to make a person acquire and develop certain human qualities in order to relate well with his fellow human beings, so that together they all make out of their relationship one human family.19 162 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the spiritual formation has as its target communion with god and the search for christ. it is a response to the call to holiness of the priest. this demand for personal holiness and other spiritual requirements in the life of priests is obvious. the call to priestly holiness implies the need to constantly look into ourselves so as to be able to discover, the abiding presence of god.20 the priest is called to a life of faith, hope and charity. the essential aspect to be looked into in this quest for holiness include prayer, meditation on the word of god, the love for the eucharist and the blessed virgin mary. the intellectual formation seeks above all man’s intelligent, by which he participates in the light of god’s mind and seeks to acquire a wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards knowing and adhering to god. this is because if we want every christian to be prepared in order to make a defence of the faith and to account for the hope that is in us, then all the more should the candidates for the priesthood and priest have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity.21 all the elements of human, spiritual and intellectual formation, have their cumulative point in pastoral formation. every priest is a priest not only for his own sake but for the sake of god’s people. the formation of the priest must lead him to follow in the footstep of the good shepherd.22 it is to this end that pope john paul ii speaks of pastoral charity which is the summation of the way of thinking and acting proper to jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church.23 this pastoral charity has as its component, the need to be selfless in the service of god’s people as christ did when he laid down his life for his sheep. this task of formation by the church is considered as a continuation of the work of christ as evident in the gospels where he went up a high mountain to call those whom he desired to be with him (mk 3:13-15). this means that the goal of priestly formation is: ‘until christ is formed in you’ (gal 4:19). looking at the above areas of priestly formation, does the reality of the digital age have a challenge to authentic formation? the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 163 the digital age and seminary formation: implications for authentic formation the candidate for the priesthood whose duty is to fulfil the obligation of the pastoral ministry of the church, must rise up to the present challenge of his time. it is the challenge of the reality of digitalization. he must strive to see this tool of the age as a veritable means to fulfil his god given mandate. the use of the media has several implications in the life of the seminarians. junko yamamoto and simeon ananou noted four implications of technology to the life of the human person. these implications are: cognitive, social, ethical and emotional implications24. on our part we will add the spiritual implication since spiritual formation is one of the four areas of priestly formation. however, it should be noted that these implications will be situated on the seminarians in formation 1. the seminarian and his mental state: cognitive implication the use of technology has a way of facilitating our mental state. it makes the mind alert at sending and responding to a message and reacting to issues at large. this is because it is expected that one must think and reflect in order to send or respond to a message. however, it becomes disastrous when one responds to issues via social media when such an individual is absent-minded. this is common when the seminarian is trying to multitask; that is, doing many things at the same time and at that same time typing or sending a message via email, whatsapp, or facebook. multitasking has become a predominant behaviour among technology users. watching tv and listening to music on a portable device while drafting an email and trying to respond to occasional text messages from friends is becoming a common practice. the question one might ask is, “how well the human brain is able to process and assimilate multiple unrelated information and tasks?” after all, the brain can only process approximately seven spans of information in working memory25. this simply means that doing so many things (more than seven spans of information for the brain) while trying to disseminate information via the media can be dangerous. the candidate for the priesthood must guide against this danger. 164 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age the danger becomes more when it is a hurting messages to another person that may affect the person’s psyche. such an atrocious act has a negative impact on the recipient of such a message; and the retraction more often than not makes no difference. junko and simeon says “ (in) electronic communication, it is impossible to take back a comment and have it erased from the person’s memory when the electronic user has not employed the ability to think before sending, posting or sharing content”26. for the seminarian to give a healthy post or message, the mental faculty must be a reflective one knowing fully well that it will be received by someone who may not have the mental strength to understand the intention at which a message is sent to them. 2. the seminarian and socio-pastoral interaction: the social implication there is no doubt that the influence of the media has a way of making one to reach out to numerous persons no matter the distance. through the aid of cell phones, video chats, e-mails and so on, the seminarian on formation is able to reach out to so many persons within a short space of time. this eventually will be a boost to his pastoral aspect of his life. this social cum pastoral interaction in the digital age is not hindered by location, this is because with the click of a button, one can reach out to those who are miles away. however, it becomes worrisome when one prefers this form of interaction to a face-to-face interaction. it becomes bad when the candidate for the priesthood does not feel the need to give that physical touch to people which christ, his model, gave to all those who encountered him. face-toface interaction is necessary at times because it is not every hurt that can be healed online. the point here is that it will be difficult to ascertain or identify the cause of a conflict if one does not engage in a one-on-one conversation with the person or persons involved. this is why junko and simeon say “it is hard to identify the source of conflict when tone of voice, body language, and facial expression are missing”27. one can be easily misunderstood when there is no physical contact with one another. this is why the seminarian must not lose sight of personal physical touch on the people he is called to socially interact with, no matter how enticing the fastness of scientific gadgets are. he must see that his interaction with people is not hindered in anyway. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 165 on his part, he must guide against individualism. this is because the unhealthy use of social media has made people more lonely than ever. 3. the seminarian and his emotional disposition social interaction has a way of influencing the emotional disposition of the individual and the seminarian is not an exemption. the seminarian must be careful of his integrity and reputation because the media can upload stuffs about him that will leave an indelible mark on his integrity; this no doubt will affect his emotional disposition towards the society. “technology allows us to upload embarrassing videos and pictures of others (and yourself) on a public platform such as youtube, instagram and facebook and it can be sent to hundreds of people with a mobile device. moreover, such insults can remain permanent. emotional scars from such humiliation can be extremely severe”28. this point is necessary because the seminarian must note that integrity is like a glass once shattered, can hardly regain its original look. this is so because science and technology has made the world a global village. an offence done in the east coast of the world, for instance, can spread very fast to other part of the world such that it becomes difficult for the seminarian to easily get off such scandal. even sexually inclined messages has a way of influencing the emotional disposition of seminarians. it is important to state that most of the technological gadgets house pornographic sites such that, if one is not careful one begins to act what is seen in that platform. 4. the seminarian and the ethical implication of research works of the four areas of priestly formation, the emphasis on the intellectual formation is very much encouraged. this is because the intellectual formation of the seminarian, will help him see the need to discern the mind of god. it will help him give answers to the prevailing confusion that has rocked the cohesion of the church’s magisterium. the media here will be of utmost assistance because it affords the seminarians the opportunity to visit numerous libraries of high repute online for proper research. it becomes very sad, when the candidate for the priesthood does not see reason to work hard to develop himself academically. it 166 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age becomes very pathetic when the seminarian sees the innovation of science and technology as a means for making hazardous researches. one must guide against the unhealthy use of facebook, answer.com, medlibrary.org, nih.gov, appers.com, encyclopedia and wikipedia as avenue to cheat academically. in other words, it is against the ethics of research for one to use the social media to plagiarize. commenting on this, junko and simeon say “abundant information from the internet makes plagiarism easy. while a small portion of students admit giving into the temptation to copy others’ work and submit it as their own, a large majority of students perceive cyber-plagiarism as a practice that is prevalent among their peers. the degree of separation between perception and reality in cyber-plagiarism exposes the ethical gap that exists in the academic honesty in the digital age”29. plagiarism is an academic fraud that is frowned at all times in the academic arena. since cyberplagiarism is a crime punishable by law, the seminarian must guide against his actions; this is because, it will be scandalous for a candidate for the priesthood to be jailed for plagiarism. 5. the media and the spiritual implication of formation spiritual formation is an important aspect of the formation of the candidate for the priesthood. this is where they are called to be in close union with god who has called them; for cut off from him, they can do nothing (cf. john 15:5). this simply means that the seminarians must constantly seek god’s face; they must constantly seek his will and do it without hesitation. it is in obeying their maker without hesitation, that their soul is guaranteed a place of rest and happiness for their heart is restless until it rests in god. there is no doubt that science and technology can also help in fostering worship and close union with god. this is because the social media gadget has the space for the downloading of bibles verses, the psalms, the liturgy of the hours, prayers of the church, hymns and so on. all of these help to uplift the soul of the seminarian be that as it may, care must be taken so that one does not spend time adopting the spirituality of the media rather than the spirituality of the church. in other words, one must be careful not to be distracted with other capacities of the gadget while one is praying for instance. it will be wrong to see seminarians praying the divine office with an electronic device and at the same time chatting on the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 167 whatsapp, facebook or yahoo messenger. this no doubt will hinder the real nature of effective prayer. on the other hand, some persons are so engrossed with the workings of technologies that they sacrifice the time for spiritual activities. this is evident when one might have succeeded in downloading or installing somewhat ‘interesting’ applications on their phones, computers or ipad for instance. these applications might have ripple effects as the attention of the seminarians may be drawn to it so much so as to forget that time for prayers and other useful spiritual activities have long passed. benedict xvi warns the priest and the candidate for the priesthood thus. “priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to christ. this will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also, will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the ‘web’”30. looking at all of these implications, can one readily say that technological training of seminarians in this digital age is necessary? the immediate response to this will be positive. this is because the seminarian is formed for the 21st century and as such must be ready to apply himself to every resources at his disposal for the proclamation of the gospel. this is where educating the candidate for the priesthood on the use of social gadget becomes indispensable. education is intended to make them more human by stimulating their creativity, cognitive abilities and ethical value31. benedict xvi stresses the important of educating those in formation on how to use the gadgets when he asserts “using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ. they will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the lord”32. as the holy father noted, a proper education on the use of the media is very important this is because when technology is not well co-ordinated, it can distract the process of strengthening humanity. knowledge of a thing will help one know how to use it and how to 168 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age teach others to use it. how can the seminarian teach those of the 21st century the ethics of the use of technologies if he himself is not grounded in it? this is where it is necessary to incorporate the ethics of science and technology in the formation of the candidate for the priesthood so that they may make useful impact to this age. the seminarians can only teach people how to use the media when they know its workability. to be able to meet up with the responsibility of the media in this digital age, there must be proper formation of the “will” in the use of digital gadgets. this will enable the seminarian know how to make good decisions on the use of the media and teach others same. the seminarian must know the ideal place and situation where the use of internet electronic devices are necessary. those in charge of forming candidates for the priesthood must see to it that the norms of cyber ethics are taught so that the seminarian will be more cautious of their use. conclusion accordingly, from the above, let us embrace the use of the media with the right disposition. this is because the media which is a product of the digital age has its deep influence on the church where it will help both her leaders and her members to grasp the reality of life. the church has a lot to benefit from the proper use of modern media as boniface asuzu citing harry skornia says “a noncommunicating church is unthinkable. and to communicate we must use the communication tools of our age not in an half-heated way … but as a primary (tool)”33. so there is no gain demonizing the use of the media on the ground of its negative influence alone; a thorough investigation on its positive aspects must be explored so that the richness of the church will be savoured by everyone most especially the seminarians in formation, who will be the future leaders of the church. this will help him overcome and meet up with the contemporary challenges of the digital age. the seminarian and the digital age: implications… 169 endnotes 1 andrew d. murray & mathais klang. human right in the digital age https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30527170_human_rights_in_the_digit al_age last accessed 28th july,2019. 2 kay mathisen “human right for the digital age” journal of mass media ethics: exploring questions of media morality. vol 29 2014 p.2 3 digitization/digitisation" in collins english dictionary, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/search, accessed 15th of october 2019, 4 cf. mcquail , d mcquail’s mass communication theory (4th edition), sage :london sage, 2000, pp. 16-34 5 daniel schallmo et al “ digital transformation of business modelsbest practice, enabler and roadmap” international journal of innovation management vol. 21 no. 2017 1-17 p.1 6 science, technology, and the federal government: national goals for a near era. washington https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9481/science-technology-and-thefederal-government-national-goals-for-anational academy press 1993 p 9, accessed 28th july 2019 7 alexandra talpau. “social mediaa new way of communication”. buletin of the transvania university of brasov vol. 7 (56) no. 2 2014 p. 45 8 understanding cybercrime: phenomena, challenges and legal response. http://www.itu.int/itud/cyb/cybersecurity/docs/cybercrime%20legislation%20ev6.pdf september 2012, accessed 28th july, 2019. 9 ibid 10 ibid p. 2 11 emmanuel akalue, the true church of christ: a theological discernment of god’s will for his church. onitsha: blue prints ltd. 2006 p.4 12 paul vi. pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world gaudium et spes december 7, 1965 n.4 13 pohn paul ii, pastoral instruction on social communications aetatis novae, on the twentieth anniversary of communion et progression. vatican city 1992 n.28 14 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message: the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 16th may, 2010 15 vatican council ii, gaudium et spes, n.4 16 paul vi, apostolic exhortation evangeli nuntiandi december 8, 1975 n .45 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/digitize https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/search 170 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 17 the code of the canon law. new revised english translation. theological publications, india. 2010 n, 761. 18 david oakley. “seminary education and formation: the challenges and some ideas about future developments” international studies in catholic education. vol. 9 2017 p. 1 19 oredipe, paul. saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today. benincity: floreat systems 2018, p. 25 20 ibid p. 35 21 john paul ii postsynodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis lagos: ambassador publications 1992, n. 51 22 oredipe, saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today p. 54-55 23 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, n. 21 24 junko yamamoto & simeon ananou “humanity in the digital age: cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical implications” in contemporary educational technology, 2015, 6(1), 1-18 p.1 25 ibid pp 3-4 26 ibid p. 3 27 ibid p. 5 28 ibid p 5 29 ibid p. 7 30 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message. the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 31 junko and simeon, “humanity in the digital age: cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical implications”, p.7 32 benedict xvi. 44th world communication day message. the priest and the pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word. 33 boniface asuzu, communications media in the nigerian church today. rome: tipografia ugo detti 1987 p 112 the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 171 c h a p t e r 1 1 the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary changing society michael bunmi olofinlade introduction to respond to the expectations of modern society and co-operate in the vast evangelizing action that involves all christians, we need well-trained and courageous priests who are free from ambition and fear but convinced of the gospel truth, whose chief concern is to proclaim christ and who are prepared to stoop down to suffering humanity in his name, enabling everyone, particularly the poor and all who are in difficulty, to experience the comfort of god’s love and warmth of the ecclesial family1 this thought of benedict xvi is adequate to describe the thrust of my reflection which could be understood in line with the formation of candidates for the priesthood in the contemporary world, particularly, in nigeria. the words, ‘proper’ and ‘adequate’ training of the catholic priest are key concerns that are dear to the fathers of the church ‘ab initio’ till today. this concern is premised on the understanding that the world is a changing place and each era and time has its challenges, and so, formation at any point in time must be 'proper' and 'adequate'. against this backdrop, diverse formative processes are being employed in the training of priests. the formation, therefore, must be dynamic and never static or stereotype. priests, therefore, must adapt themselves in a positive way to the society and preserve an integrity corresponding to their call and vocation. thus, the priest of our contemporary society has a lot of 172 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age moral demands, granted the fast-changing society that we live in. the stakes of formation invariably, therefore, can only become higher. the thrust of this essay is to reflect on the challenges of the formation of priests in order to contribute to the sustainability of priest in addressing issues of this changing society. this is relevant because of the adage that says, (nemo dat quod non habet) "you cannot give what you do not possess". invariably, the question is how would priests be adequately relevant in a world of constant change? it is crystal clear that society is undergoing changes through science and technological developments. this development has continued to revolutionalize life in its entirety including pastoral and spiritual life of the faithful. the socio-cultural and ethical issues are taking a new trend, more and more, traditional values are being contested in the light of new developments and some long-established pastoral principles are gradually being seen as out-modelled. the priest in the face of this is meant to evolve new pathways to resolving the challenges to the signs of modern times. the inability for priests to live above the moral bar and demands of society poses some questions on the quality of formation he has received. the priest, dilemma of a contemporary age and change the priest of today is a product of his age. the contemporary world has become more critical of religious values and principles. there is a rise in secularism and relativism. these twin ideologies have posed more threats to the continued relevance of priest in society. hitherto, the priest enjoyed high-level clericalism and elitism in society. this can be argued to be the spin-off of the ecclesiastical hegemony and religious dominance from the middle ages. while its effects had whittled down in some parts of the world particularly in europe and america, in africa and in nigeria, the priest still enjoys a pride of place. nevertheless, the whirlwind of secularism and relativism is fast thickening that, the priest's moral authority no longer rests on the institution of the church alone, but, that he needs to justify the institution and call he professes by his way of life and pastoral roles. the society is fast changing with the signs of modern times, the priest also is expected to advance new, positive and viable methods in dealing with issues within his ambience. the basic concern is how the priest can know, evaluate understand and manage pastoral challenges evolving as a result of the change in the society. in fact, the long the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 173 standing docile and loyal attitudes of the faithful are increasingly dissolving by the day. it is a truism that the priestly life demands honesty, integrity and heroic self-sacrifice but without proper discernment in the world of change, this might turn out to be a platonic adventure. friedrick nietzsche’s popular phrase that ‘religion makes people docile and timid in the face of suffering and oppression’ is no fast becoming untenable. it is amazing that these challenges extend to the places where vocations to the priesthood are nurtured; the seminary and our parishes. based on this reality, the church is struggling to deal with the increasing rate of change and expectation of the priestly ministry. in the words of benedict xv1, “how much filth there is in the church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!”2 the situation of paradox raises the question of the authenticity of priestly formation in the light of today's changing society. this becomes paramount because a most important and increasingly difficult role is being assigned to priests in the renewal of christ’s church in this temporary changing society.3 this concern for renewal is an age-long desire clearly enounced by the second vatican council fathers. it states: the holy council is fully aware that the desired renewal of the whole church depends to a great extent on a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of christ. it proclaims the supreme importance of priestly formation and affirms some of its primary principles whereby laws tested by the experience of centuries are confirmed and new elements are introduced to correspond with the constitutions and decrees of this council and with the changed conditions of our time.4 we shall try to expound what constitutes the catholic priestly formation as a background to know whether it is proper, adequate and sustainable for the priests to face the challenges of this modern society. the ideological thought of, joseph komonchak, come into a play in this context. the church is a social and historical reality, so it is essential to a systematic understanding of the church to employ tools developed for a systematic understanding of social and historical realities. how 174 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age can one work out a systematic ecclesiology without working out first such terms as ‘individual’ ‘community’ society,’ meaning,’ ‘change,’ structure,’ ‘institution,’ ‘relationship,’ and so on, and the various relationships, that can obtain among these terms?5 to further understand the concerns of this paper, it suffices to examine the concept of change in contemporary society in relation to the catholic church. change as a concept is discussed at different levels in various fields of study due to the fact that nearly everything in existence passes through a process of change. it is on this note that this concept of change is interpreted in different ways but we shall limit the usage in this essay to its description as per its verb which is understood as, ‘to make’ or ‘become different’ or ‘alter’. this change might affect either external features or internal features of a being, or it could affect both the internal and the external of a being concurrently. heraclitus6 describes the cosmos as being in a state of constant flux (state of becoming).7 everything is constantly changing and becoming other things to what it was prior to that state. this is objective philosophical knowledge of the world, which is in consonance with the scientific description of the physical and human realities. the priest being part of nature, reacts and responds to its natural changing environment. mirroring this from the context of incredibly challenging issues in the church, there is a need for skilled and well-formed and informed priests to carry out the mission of the church. perhaps, this was the vision of the fathers of the church who searched for an ecclesiology that would explain issues affecting human existence. so, the impulse to work out a systematic ecclesiology demands an understanding of the social and historical realities within and around the church. this is where the formation of priests must involve a curriculum in ecclesiology that takes to mind these demands and contexts. therefore, if priests must be people who are properly and adequately equipped and formed to minister in a changing society, his formative discipline must be accommodating of these demands. the fathers of the church aver in this light, that formative discipline should include psychology, sociology and pedagogy.8 this understanding opens us to look at priestly formation succinctly. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 175 priestly formation and ecclesiastical studies the second vatican council decree on the training of priests gives insight into the nature of formation put in place for every catholic priest to function adequately in every given circumstance. he is prepared by the seminary to act and take proper steps and decision in whatever contexts he finds himself.9 the document, optatam totius explains that a comprehensive priestly formation concerns human, intellectual, spiritual, pastoral formations which revolve around the character, moral, physical and psychological formations.10 this formation begins in an embryonic state in the minor seminary with the focus on educational, religious and spiritual formations which should methodically and consistently co-ordinate all pastoral action for fostering vocations, and promote it with both discretion and zeal, not neglecting whatever suitable help may be found in the insights of modern psychology and sociology.11 inculcating inter-disciplinary values are taken seriously in the formation of priests because he lives and functions in human society. “priestly formation, by reason of the very unity of the catholic priesthood, is necessary for all priests, diocesan and religious of whatever rite.”12 it is instructive to know that programme of priestly formation shall be established by the episcopal conference, to be reviewed at suitable intervals and approved by the holy see, so that the general rules may be adapted to the special circumstances of time and place, and the formation of priests will always be in keeping with the pastoral needs of the areas in which they minister.13 the fundamental formation begins in the major seminary after completion of the studies in courses in science and humanities which prepare every student of each country for a higher study. in the ecclesiastical studies, philosophy and theology are primary because they open and mould the minds of the students more and more to the mystery of christ, which touches the whole of human history and continuously influences the church, and is at work particularly in priestly ministry.14 the courses of formation make life in the parish in conjunction with evolving challenges less cumbersome in the light of the formation given to priests through these courses. philosophy transforms the whole process of intellectual discernment of every priest as he embarks on his daily activities. philosophy leads students to a solid and coherent knowledge of human nature, the world and god.15 modern philosophical 176 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age developments and sciences help them to dialogue with people of their time and to equip them to grasp the basic principles of the various systems, hold fast to elements proved to be true and recognize and refute the roots of error.16 the decree continues that the actual teaching should arouse in the students a love of rigorous investigation, observation and demonstration of truth, together with an honest awareness of the limits of human knowledge. careful attention should be paid to the close connection between philosophy and the real problems of life as well as to the questions which engage the minds of the students/priests.17 in the same context, theology helps students to draw catholic teaching from divine revelation, enter deeply into its meaning, use it to nourish their spiritual lives and be able to proclaim, explain and defend it in their priestly ministry.18 basically, philosophical and theological formations provide candidates for the priesthood with the nourishments to translate challenges of life to progress. aside, prolific scientific training in sacred sciences and other appropriate subjects are necessary to enhance their apostolate in the changing and current society are recommended in the formative years and even after ordination. the exercise of this formation becomes mandatorily as each priest is required to go through practical experiences in the parishes and ecclesiastical institutes under thorough supervision without neglecting the use of their personal initiative in carrying out their assigned tasks. thus, they should be initiated into pastoral practice by appropriate experiences.19 finally, ongoing formation is emphasized because of the daily demands of priestly life that continue to evolve in the trends in society. it is evidently clear that sustainable formation, personal selforganizing and learning systems are provided for candidates for the priesthood. however, certain elements come into play in this provision in order to bring about positive management of parish daily changing realities. the consideration of nature and nurture is of utmost relevance because personal organization and development play prominence in the handling of the realities of pastoral life. the degree of an interactive dialogue between a person and its environment determines the richness of the responses given to the challenges of life in the priestly ministry. the predisposition of the brain to his environment determines the level of development of human society. be it as it may, environmental influences are keys to the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 177 human living and development but human development and maturity over-rides all factors. challenges of authenticity for priestly formation the 21st century can be regarded as the dawn of the new age which has witnessed new descriptions and definitions of life in many ways different from traditional and orthodoxy understandings. these are expressed in the forms of new doctrines, morality, ethics and values. precisely, we are experiencing new psychology, sociology and pedagogy and these are rooted in the new visions of secularity, an intricate ideology of human origin, existence and meaning, new crusades on freedom from religion, not freedom of religion.20 as it were, these new convoluted ways of seeing the world anew are being propagated by influential and wealthy personalities and institutions that allow a warm appeal to these doctrines and understandings. with such high-profile accent on these new doctrines, there is a towering attack on orthodoxy and traditional teachings of the church. such challenges have had a penetrating influence on priestly ministry. this leaves a major challenge to the vocation. arguably, there is the conflict of seeing the priestly ministry as a profession or occupation rather than a vocation. in the exercise of the priestly ministry today, some trends leave a lot of people to question the authenticity of their vocation, or at least, the authenticity of their priestly formation. some of these trends are highly opposed to what constitute the tenets, the doctrines and the teachings of the church, especially, in the areas of worship, ethics and morality concerning life, marriage, sex and gender. the new trends which raise the questions of authenticity of priestly vocation and formation are enormous that we cannot touch on all of them. nevertheless, major concerns of these oscillate around the celebration of the church's liturgy, preaching the word of god, living priestly life and the practice of true charity and love. the church in africa, particularly, in nigeria as a growing church, is witnessing an increase in the number of vocations to the priesthood. this trend is termed ‘vocation boom’.21 vocation boom poses a serious challenge to the formation of priests in many ways. this includes a shortage of infrastructure, personnel and pedagogical materials. the fear of this challenge was expressed in the year 1995 by the then archbishop of ibadan metropolis, archbishop felix a. job, as ubi multitudo, ibi peccati (there is danger in number). there 178 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age would indeed be a danger if, for instance, there are well over five hundred seminarians with only 15 formators. apart from other infrastructural and provisional constraints, there would be a lack of a personal touch in formation with the seminarians. there is a likely risk of having some people moving through the system anonymously. this problem can be compounded by a situation of godfatherism. this expresses a situation where a seminarian is not fully disposed to the authentic, proper and adequate formation, knowing fully well that a priest/bishop will advertently or inadvertently support him, no matter the case.22 consequently, the student’s formation becomes distorted because he lives in deception both to the formation and his supporter. the students who suffer from such pitiable indisposition to formation and growth in their training, more often than not, end up becoming problems in the priesthood and the church later. we cannot but briefly express some worries on the seeds of relativism and materialism that are well seeded in our society. relativism is a subjective way of approaching, viewing, analyzing, expressing, evaluating and judging things, including the human person. socio-cultural relativism promotes evil personalizing or subjectivizing diverse cases of life because it proposes that each has its unique morality. thus, each culture and person have texts which determine codes of moral behaviour for them. the case of objectivity or general acceptability of moral responsibility is squashed. this deceptive trend tends to promote materialism as the doctrine because of its subjective tendencies. these phenomena again raise questions and query the authenticity of priestly formation in contemporary society. management of challenges of authenticity it is not possible to live without challenges affecting human existence and essence, but the mode of handling and managing them are prominently significant in life. the american philosopher, thomas kuhn expresses similar thoughts, that, “though history is unlikely to record their names, some men have undoubtedly been driven to desert science because of their inability to tolerate crisis. like artists, creative scientists must occasionally be able to live in a world out of joint”.23 in this context, priests must learn to be positively creative in the face of a crisis in order to remain faithful to their life and ministry. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 179 crises should not destroy them, rather should strengthen them. it is on this basis that adequate formation is expedient to prepare them for situations of such. to achieve this objective, the wisdom of the fathers of the church should unreservedly be implemented. taking into account the candidate’s age and development, each candidate’s motivation should be tested, as should his freedom to choose. his spiritual, moral and intellectual stability should be examined, as should his physical and psychological health and any possible hereditary traits. the same goes for his ability to carry the burden of the priesthood and perform his pastoral duties.24 it is in the light of this strict measure and precaution that the challenges in the priestly formation could be addressed in a positive line. since formation becomes indispensable in the life of a priest, i would suggest what psychologists refer to as self-organization and learning, which is an early learning process in animals is to be imbibed. whatever is learnt at this point becomes a reference point for the animal. thus, a priest should continuously refer to what was learnt at the formative stage of his priestly formation. the bestexplored examples of this type of learning have been studied in birds. “young birds learn the songs of their parents, memorize the patterns of their plumage, and later select their mating partner accordingly.”25 this is experience-dependent learning which could be of assistance in the formation of candidates for the priesthood. it is at this juncture, we would delve briefly into the subject of auto-formation. auto-formation speaks volume on the personal responses of the candidate to the formation recommended and given by the ecclesiastical authority. the basic concerns would be: how is the candidate responding to formation? what is the level of the candidate’s response? these responses would determine the degree of development and maturity of each priest to be. taking a leap from the learning-pattern of birds referred to in our earlier discussion, a candidate should be matured enough to learn and navigate his priestly life and ministry from the formation tools provided by the seminary. a constant review of learning could serve as a leverage for ameliorating the challenges to the authenticity of priestly formation. 180 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age this becomes essential because of the wind of change and development in the world. conclusion it is not an exaggerated claim that the church provides ample and adequate materials for priestly formation but then, the situation in the church in nigeria leaves a lot for concern. it is on this note that those concerned with formation should pay adequate attention to those areas of challenges. perhaps, a quota system should be applied to address the issue of over-population in seminary or for the recruitment of formators to enrich the system. in like manner, adequate material provisions should be provided for the training of seminarians. furthermore, care must be taken in the selection of candidates to be sent to the seminaries as formators. it should not just be on the basis of intellectual capability but also of personal disposition, having the grace to mentor, teach and being exemplary should be considered. it is essential to mention that instructive and deliberative statues must be created to review some of the present conditions of formation in the country today to meet with current challenges in society. this can only be a sustainable mechanism to address the challenges to the authenticity of priestly formation today. the positive resultant consequence is that it will create an avenue to preserve and sustain sensus ecclesiae in the area of priestly formation. finally, a proper discernment is required for these steps to be accomplished in the church. endnotes 1 benedict xv1, priests of jesus christ, (oxford: family publication, 2009) 2 benedict xv1, light of the world, the pope, the church, and signs of the times (a conversation with peter seewald), san francisco: ignatius press, 2010, 34. 3 presbyterorum ordinis, (decree on the ministry and life of priests), 1. 4 flannery, a. the basic documents, vatican council ii, constitutions,decrees, declarations, optatam totius (decree on the training of priests), 5 ormerod, n. j, (schultenover, g. d.) vatican 11, did anything happen? (new-york: continuum, 2008), 155. 6 heraclitus is of the pythagorean or italian school of philosophy, 546. the challenges of priestly formation in the contemporary…. 181 7 composta, d. history of ancient philosophy. bangalore: theological publications in india, 1990., 33-44 8 optatam totius, 1. 9 optatam totius, 1 10 the details of these formation are found in the booklet entitled, the gift of the priestly vocation (ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis) published by the congregation for the clergy, 2016. 11 optatam totius, 2. 12 optatam totius, 2 13 optatam totius, 1 14 optatam totius, 13. 15 optatam totius, 13. 16 optatam totius, 13. 17 optatam totius, 13. 18 optatam totius, 13. 19 optatam totius, 21. 20 kresta, a. dangers to the faith, recognizing catholicism’s 21st-century opponents. huntingon: our sunday visitor publishing division, 2013, 13. 21 vocation boom is an unprecedented increase in the incoming number of applicant/candidates to the priesthood. it is opined by some individual that this stream of candidate is anchored on economic and developmental woes of the nations in africa, which suggests a future slim in the flow of number. 22 this becomes a major challenge as some candidates hid under the guidance of individual person to disguise as good candidates to the priesthood. occasionally, things turn around to expose the deceptive traits of such characters. 2323 kuhn, t. s. the structure of scientific revolutions, 3rd ed. (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1996, 78-79. 24 optatam totius, 6. 25 klivington, k. the science of mind. london: the mit press, 1989, 177. 182 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 2 seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light of modern challenges kenneth adewole adesina introduction every organization or community of human beings that have an objective or goal to achieve must as a matter of necessity eschew a programme of formation that will empower its protagonists in the task of attaining the overall goal. this plan must take cognizance of the peculiarities and intricacies that define the identities, collective and individuals, of all the human, material and procedural elements involved in the quest to attain the set goal. it is within this general purview of orientation for goal achievement that we want to look into seminaries and priestly formation, examining their status vis-à-vis the goal and focus of the church as regards the catholic priesthood. how can we situate the catholic priesthood within the mission of christ and his church? what is the relevance of the seminary to this mission and how does it help in ensuring adequate preparation for the challenges and demands of the priesthood. in doing justice to the above puzzles, we shall be highlighting the various aspects of formation in the seminary, paying greater attention to the practical presentation of the contemporary situation in the seminary. similarly, we shall be dwelling on the modern challenges facing priestly formation in the seminaries, with a view to proffering new opportunities for seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 183 enrichment to a system that is poised to maintain efficacy and relevance of its core values in every age and situation. seminaries: relevance to priestly vocation when jesus called his apostles, he already had the plan to entrust his mission to them. at the moment of their call, the apostles were not ready for that mission, so, they spent time with jesus, they listened to him; they were with him on his journeys and witnessed his miracles. all these prepared them for the mission that would be entrusted to them later. similarly, “the priestly vocation is a continuation of the call to the disciples; the lord continues to call out to young men to participate in his salvific mission as priests”1. the seminary becomes a place of encounter between jesus and the disciple he calls. the relationship between them is expressed by the word: “vocation”, a word that is derived from the latin verb vocare, which signifies: “to call”.2 within the context of priestly formation in the seminary, the word “vocation” can be considered from three different perspectives: the calling authority, the person called and the manifestation of that call.3 at the first instance, it is an invitation given by jesus himself; the second instance shows it to be both a positive response and willingness to participate in the life of the one who calls; then the last connotes peculiar and active participation in the mission for which one is called. thus, as a nursery for vocation, the seminary prepares young people to become protagonists of the salvation that christ makes available to the world. achieving this goal will require a formative programme that is cognizant of the intricacies that surround the people, institutions and the peculiarities of the situations involved in the process of bringing the salvation of god to all nations. in the realization that the priestly vocation is “a treasure that god always puts in the heart of some men, whom he has chosen and called to follow him in this special state of life.”4 the seminary becomes not just a place, but also an opportunity, process and means of accompaniment that understands the various elements involved in the mission of the church. it seeks to understand the peculiarities of each individual invited by god to work in his vineyard as priests, and subsequently through 184 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age appropriate means, assists the invited young people not only to realize the values inherent in the priestly vocation, but more importantly, help them to discover and develop the necessary attitude that facilitate the attainment of the goal for which christ instituted the priesthood in the church. in the words of pope francis, seminary formation "is not a unilateral act by which one transmits theological or spiritual notions. jesus did not say to those he called: 'come, i will explain' or 'follow me, i will teach you'; instead the formation christ offered to his disciples was 'come and follow me', 'do as i do', and this is the method that even today the church wants to adopt for her ministers. the formation of which we speak is a 'disciplining’ experience, which draws men close to christ and to conform more and more to him"5 seminaries and contemporary challenges in meeting up with their responsibilities for the formation of priests, seminaries have structures and formative curriculum that facilitate the attainment of the priestly goal. while we shall be adducing more facts in the evaluative treatment of the present situation of seminary formation, it is pertinent to state that our seminaries have always been very loud in the profession of their faithfulness to the four cardinal dimensions of priestly formation – spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human. the various stages of formation are aided by an array of effective agents, who ensure that candidates for the priesthood are aided in the acquisition of the values inherent in these four dimensions of formation as eschewed by pastores dabo vobis and corroborated by other church documents. however, instead of giving a deeper treatment to these already known aspects of formation, this write-up shall be dwelling more on the evaluation of the present situation in our seminaries in order to accentuate necessary points that should be reviewed or reconsidered, abrogated or reinforced. without any particular order of importance, i want to start by examining the style of formation adopted in our seminaries. seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 185 pedagogy in adopting the classic freestanding model of formation where all aspects of formation are conducted in-house, 6 our seminaries attempt to make the seminarians realize that even though they are in the world, they are not of this world. so, spending more time in ‘isolation’ from the world, seminarians are equipped with sufficient spiritual, intellectual and moral strength that will enable them to function well in their mission to bring god’s salvation to all men. while there is no denying the fact that seminarians have enough opportunities for theoretical knowledge of what to do and opportunities to learn on the field during pastoral works; it is pertinent to note that seminaries need to do more in the area of training and workshop that would equip the student with practical skills on how to effectively transform their theoretical knowledge into practical situations of life for pastoral efficacy. in order to avoid the identity crisis that may come from this, the seminary formators and the various agents of formation must ensure that the adopted model of formation does not shy away from the reality of the ‘field’ where the seminarians will later work as priests. it must start inculcating in them, right from the seminary, the reality of the people among whom they are called to minister, and the urgency of getting ready to so mix with the ‘sheep’ they will pastor, so that they themselves may have the odour of the sheep.7 following this, there is a need for a review of the pedagogical approach in most of our seminaries. while there is actually no need to do away with or reduce the seminary’s emphasis on order, structure and discipline, seminary formators must realize, not only that their task actually goes beyond ensuring that candidates are vast and well-grounded in theological truth and priestly spirituality, but also that doctrinal orthodoxy, liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly spirituality do not sufficiently define optimum formation. consequently, it becomes expedient that seminaries get their pedagogical approach right and realize that the project entrusted to them goes beyond ‘training of priest’, and that their real duty is actually the ‘formation of the priest’. more than a mere exercise in semantics, understanding the task ahead of the seminaries as formation of priests, over and above mere training of 186 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age priests, will help seminary formators evaluate their pedagogical approach to see if their students eventually are transformed into ‘disciples’ and not just career pastors. this is a major paradigm change that the new ratio emphasizes and calls for. notwithstanding the models of priestly formation that is chosen in a seminary, the focus must change from ‘training of seminarians’ to ‘formation of seminarians in discipleship’. this is well captured by archbishop eamon martin when he adduces that “it has to be fundamental then, to every model of seminary, that we all – seminarians, rectors and formators, theologians – on the lifelong journey of discipleship, called to follow jesus christ. consequently, the distinctions between the steps (propaedeutic, initial, permanent), between the roles (of bishop, rector, formator, spiritual director), between the dimensions (human, spiritual, pastoral and academic) and between the stages (discipleship, configuration, pastoral) are all somewhat secondary and instrumental to the overall integral formation of each of us as pilgrims along the sequela christi – under the action of the holy spirit and sustained by the grace of god”.8 this emphasis on pedagogical approach carries with it a reappraisal of our general understanding of the priestly vocation as a gift – a treasure – gifted by god. in the words of pope francis, “this treasure, which needs to be discovered and brought to light, is not meant to “enrich” just someone. the one called to the ministry is not the “master” of his vocation, but the administrator of a gift that god has entrusted to him for the good of all people, rather, of all men and women, including those who have distanced themselves from religious practice or do not profess faith in christ. at the same time, the whole of the christian community is the guardian of the treasure of these vocations, destined for his service, and it must be ever more conscious of the duty to promote them, welcome them and accompany them with affection”.9 consequent upon the fact that the priestly vocation is a treasured gift to the entire human race, and that people gifted with such treasure must be assisted to appreciate, value and use it well through a whole process of discipleship, seminary formators must keep in mind that formation does not end in the seminary. as the ratio puts it, “the experience of discipleship of those called to the seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 187 priesthood is never interrupted… the priest not only learns to know christ, but under the action of the holy spirit, he finds himself within a process of gradual and continuous configuration to him, in his being, and his acting, which constantly challenges the person to inner growth”.10 so, while the seminary formator has a lot of roles to play in the discernment of the vocation of others, he must himself realize that his own discipleship is not ended; he must remain open to further guidance from the master; and his own attitude becomes an inspiration to the seminarian to allow themselves to be influenced and nourished by the holy spirit. not only from books, but the seminarians will also learn from the humility of their formators that “the priest can never consider himself to be definitively formed… [he] is certainly not the man who arrives at a parish perfectly packaged, with all the answers. there will often be people who are more qualified than him in facing particular problems, and the new challenges that emerge may well be beyond his seminary formation”.11 the priest, who is a formator, can also learn from the students he forms in various ways. in fact, instead of putting up a show of pseudo perfection because of its undermining effects on discipleship that characterizes seminary formation, formators must take to heart, the admonition of pope benedict xvi that “the faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and god”12 the indispensable role of the formators in ‘mentoring’ seminarians is well stated by pope francis in an address to the congregation for the clergy: “formation is… not a unilateral act by which someone transmits theological or spiritual notions. jesus did not say to those he called: ‘come, let me explain,’ ‘follow me, i will teach you’; no! the formation offered by christ to his disciples came rather as a ‘come, and follow me,’ ‘do as i do,’ and this is the method today too, the church wants to adopt for her ministers.”13 discipleship, both from the side of the seminarians and the formators means a proper understanding that formation is “not about mastering techniques or functional roles, but about following the path of discipleship: internalizing in co-operation with divine grace, the core virtues and ideals of disciples. put simply, one 188 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age cannot be a credible witness, shepherd, healer or proclaimer of the good news to contemporary culture unless one is rooted in a profound relationship with jesus with the zeal and attitude of a disciple that will last a lifetime”.14 so, the seminary, both as a school and process of formation in discipleship for both the formators and the seminarians must ensure a steady form of growth in church leadership; inculcating the leadership values that are christian, opening up to the guiding influence of the holy spirit, and understanding the view expressed by st. john chrysostom that “the most basic task of a church leader is to discern the spiritual gifts of all those under his authority, and to encourage those gifts to be used to the full benefit of all. only a person who can discern the gifts of others and can humbly rejoice at the flourishing of these gifts is fit to lead the church”.15 the challenge of discernment and personality formation while the spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human dimensions of priestly formation are well spelt out; there is an aspect that the present reality of formation demands that we pay closer attention. this aspect has to do with discernment, but i will like to put it as emotional formation. it has to be given greater attention in seminary formation, either as a new dimension of formation on its own or as a well-accentuated and integral part of the human formation. this view is coming, not just because contemporary studies have revealed the importance and significance of emotional quotient and the influence of the management of emotion in personality formation and overall performance of man (which is not within the scope of this write-up), but more importantly because of its centrality in discernment and pastoral efficacy. first and foremost, making choices is really not as easy as it looks, but at various stages of life, we have to make choices. what is the basis of the choices we make? important choices, such as demanded by priestly vocation, are so often accompanied by risks or laden with fear, that one cannot really make them right without courage and sincerity (at the natural level), and without divine assistance (at the supernatural level). thus, considering the whole complexity that revolves around senses, sensibility, emotion, action and sentiment in the whole process of personality seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 189 formation and decision-making, one cannot but ask the important question: how much of attention do we pay to all these in priestly formation? not to talk of the post-seminary experiences of priests and the frequent occurrence of depression (or desolation, to use a less stereotyped expression), the seminary formation needs to do more in assisting seminarians to really ‘understand’ themselves and the intricacies surrounding the decisions they make. like any sound human being, it is necessary that seminarians and priests understand the art of managing emotions (and avoid being managed by emotions), so that when such emotions are seeking transformation into action through sentiments, they are not only in good stead to make right choices that are in accordance to their priestly aspiration and identity, but more importantly, the adequate formation of their emotion will grant them an openness to sincerely engage every element of formation with openness. the seminary formation, even if it cannot pay great attention to it, must put seminarians through the basic steps of emotional formation, which include among other things: being sincere in giving a name to one’s feeling (feel your feeling); discovering the source of one’s feeling (be sincere and intelligent); discerning immediately whether the feeling is good or bad (be attentive and timely); comporting oneself in a coherent mode (be courageous in taking a good decision); paying constant attention to mastering one’s feeling (be vigilant and responsible).16 when this is done, the requirement of the ratio that accompaniment, engagement and discernment should be ensured to put the seminary formative programme into perspective that integrates well into the personality of the seminarian.17 considering the place of fear and hazardous effects of being controlled by one’s emotion and inordinate feelings, we shall appreciate the effect that emotional formation will have on overall priestly formation, especially in the areas of relationship, of trust between seminarians and the various agents of formation; honest assessment of strength and weakness, and disclosure of these to formators; willingness to receive and accept direction, guidance and correction; and building the capacity to live discipleship ad priesthood consistently. 190 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age recommendations and areas of further development in addition to giving adequate considerations to issues already raised above, priestly formation in the contemporary church will be enhanced for greater efficacy if the following points will be treated not only with great attention that they deserved but also given the urgency that will stem the rot that they are creating: i. call for a ratio nationalis for nigeria: as requested by the ratio fundamentalis, the episcopal conference should put up the necessary machinery that must include a deep and collegial co-operation of all our bishops with the lay faithful and experienced men and women in the area of formation, to formulate a ratio nationalis the deep import of this lies in “not only implementing the new ratio in a way that takes account of local traditions, customs and needs, but also courageously moving the whole formation experience beyond past and present methods, so that priests will be suitably prepared to engage and evangelize the secularized contemporary culture”.18 ii. evaluation of current admission standard and procedures: while the practice of lowering the standard of admission in areas of low vocation is not the best, we should also be wearied of raising the standard of those to be admitted so high that authentic vocations are destroyed. however, this is expressed without any prejudice to the fact that every aspirant should have the merit of his application considered by competent people, and the fact that greater attention should be paid to the prevalent falling standard of academic (and lack of interest in studies) into our various houses of formation. iii. how to help seminarians acquire a balanced view of the church: it should never be taken for granted that aspirants to the priesthood have the right view and image of the church. it is then pertinent that, even if it will be in a form of a workshop during their orientation programme, seminaries should ensure that seminarians have a good knowledge of basic ecclesiology – the mission of the church, their place and role in the entire missionary enterprise of the church. this will enable them to build seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 191 their entire formation into the mission of the church right from the beginning. iv. how to discern and understand the impact of secular society, culture and values on seminarians: since the church is called to show the light of salvation to the world, seminaries must not just resign to fate in the acceptance of deficiencies evident in the formation of young people aspiring to the priesthood. the formation team in the seminary must stay ahead of their society to identify values that are inimical to the priestly formation and device a way of helping seminarians shed the toga of evil or immoral values. however, while a compromise of value is no option, understanding is required to help aspirants understand the need to move beyond such ungodly values – even if the society sees nothing wrong in them. v. an understanding of the characteristics of the age from which seminarians come: every age has its peculiarities, which can be identified both in strength and weaknesses. it is pertinent that our agents of formation, especially, the formation team of the seminaries, develop a means of proper understanding the young seminarians with the intricacies that define their age and values. our approach to priestly formation must devise a means of channelling the winning mentality and readiness for challenge of the present-day youth into primary evangelization, and correct their disinterestedness in anything institutional; we must annex their hyper-connectedness in the social media for religious orientation and evangelization, without failing in correcting their weak human relations; and while formation takes cognizance of their naïve view of faith and gifts as personal belongings. it must never fail to teach them in charity, the true meaning of ‘communion’ and help them to strip themselves of self-sufficiency mentality through proper discernment. vi. the notion of human formation: in addition to issues already raised under emotional formation, seminary formation must pay attention to, and consider formation as a progressive achievement, a lifelong journey of 192 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age integration and discipleship, which must take note of the specificity of the individual seminarian. learning from the experience of the once buoyant and vibrant churches in the western world, the formation must pay attention to the rising tendencies of extreme clericalism and pride. the image of the priest as a servant leader must be underlined and defined to stem the cancerous tendency of viewing the priest as a ‘deputy god’ or a clerical chief. vii. integration of formation: consequent upon the insistence of the ratio on the centrality of integration and personality, “the process of formation must educate the person in the truth of his being, in freedom and in selfcontrol.”19 this must not just be assumed, but practical lessons in form of seminars and workshops must be organized to help the integration of the various elements of formation into the personality of the seminarian. it is not enough to evaluate the readiness or otherwise in this regard, seminaries must concretely prepare them for this integration and authenticity that the priesthood requires. 20 viii. research and teaching: considering the nature of many seminaries in nigeria and opportunities of researches and discoveries inherent there, the seminary should form the bedrock of the church’s response to many challenges. as charity begins at home, our seminary communities should be able to and create time for concrete researches and teaching modules on how to address specific challenges like the transition from seminary to parish experience, dealing with extreme clericalism, careerism, commercialism, healing ministry etc. ix. seminary formators: the importance of the issues already raised will require that our seminaries are properly staffed and that the ratio of seminarians to formator is kept as low as possible. most of our seminaries do not have enough formators to adequately guarantee the requirement of the ratio fundamentalis. it becomes expedient then, that more formators are sent to the seminaries; that more priests are sent for further studies to prepare them for seminaries; that the priests in the seminaries do not overstay their relevance to avoid burnout and redundancy; seminaries and priestly formation: new options in the light... 193 and that where there are cases of lack of interest to go into formation by priests, their genuine reasons should be considered and addressed. x. special needs in formation: among the special needs of the seminaries that must be looked into, i will strongly recommend that each seminary should have a formator that is capable of addressing the issues that pertain to the emotional formation. while this is without prejudice to the presence and need of both spiritual directors and psychologist, i will show a greater preference for a pastoral approach to it. conclusion over the centuries, the church has been providing effective leadership to the world, this has been possible so far, because, in addition to the divine grace bestowed on the church, she has been able to so positioned herself to see things before the world sees, to see farther than the world sees, and to see more things than the world sees. by so doing, she has been able to stay above the destructive and manipulative schemes of the world. this experience has been incorporated into the formation of priests and it has proven beyond doubt to be effective. with the issues already raised, it is my candid opinion that the church in the contemporary world cannot afford to be disinterested or treat with levity, the formation of priests, and that all aspects and needs of formation must be prioritized not only because this will ensure the relevance of the church in our time, but more importantly because effective formation remains the only sure path we have towards the achievement of the church’s missionary goal of making disciples of all nations. endnotes 1 franc rode, il cristo della formazione: manuale biblico e teologico di formazione alla vita religiosa, (vatican city: libreria editrice vaticana, 2010), 190. 194 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 2 cf. charton lewis, a latin dictionary: founded on andrews’ edition of freund’s latin dictionary, (oxford: clarendon press, 1879). 3 cf. william addis – thomas arnold (eds.), a catholic dictionary, (london: kessinger pub. 2004), 840843. 4 pope francis, address to the plenary of the congregation for the clergy, 3 october 2014, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/ papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 5 ibid. 6 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xxx 7 pope francis, homily at the chrism mass on holy thursday march 28, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papafrancesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 8 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation: assessing the past, reflecting on the present and imagining the future, minnesota: liturgical press, 2019, p. xix 9http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents /papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html 10 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 80 11 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xviii 12 benedict xvi, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_polandclergy.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 13 pope francis, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/ papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html (accessed 20/08/2019) 14 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. 20 15 john chrysostom, six books on the priesthood, trans. g.w. butterworth, crestwood: st. vladimir seminary press, 1964, p. 44. 16 cf. amedeo cencini, dall’aurora io ti cerco: evangelizzare la sensibilita per imparare a discernere, milano: san paolo, 2018. 17 cf. ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 43-53 18 declan marmion et al. (eds.), models of priestly formation, p. xvi 19 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 63 20 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis 131 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_poland-clergy.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_poland-clergy.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060525_poland-clergy.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/papa-francesco_20141003_plenaria-congregazione-clero.html the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 195 c h a p t e r 1 3 the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap between the diocese and the seminary peter abumhenre egbe preamble this project is in honour of very rev, fr. anselm jimoh, phd. a man of honour who has given most of his twenty-five years in the priestly ministry to the work of forming candidates for the priesthood. he is also a priest who has had the opportunity to be involved in parochial work. in addition, he was once a vocations’ director. it will not be an exaggeration to say that his priestly ministry has been one of bridging the gap between the life of the parish ministry and the seminary formation. it is, therefore, appropriate to salute this hero of faith in the catholic church and propose him to all who are in and those who desire to aspire to this ministry to learn from him through these materials presented in his honour. introduction the difference between the life within the seminary walls and the parish setting can be taken for granted and has in fact in many cases been taken for granted. but the reality of the gap between the two is more existential than imagined. many seminarians and even priests believe that there is no relationship between the life of the seminary and parish ministry. it is not novel to hear seminarians openly 196 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age criticizing the regiment of the seminary formation system and the seemingly unpredictable nature of practical life in parish ministry. it is the opinion of this article that there is a problem in this position that holds or argues that it is natural to view life in the seminary and life in the parish as distinct places for pastoral engagement. if the life in the seminary is like a nurturing ground to live the life in the parish, there should be a connection of semblance between the ‘two institutions.’ the problem that one might observe to be responsible for the seeming lacuna between life in the seminary and practical ministry for instance in the parish is the lack of integration. this lack of integration is not just only the difficulty in synchronizing the two separate realities of the seminary system and the parish setting, but also often due to the fact that many seminarians do not allow the life of the seminary exact the right impact on them while in formation. many see the seminary training in most part as theoretical and sometimes cumbersome, as compared to the practical and day-to-day simple parish life. one of the major issues that could be raised is sometimes the sacrifice inherent in the seminary formation and the enormous freedom and independence of life in the parish. but there is something missing in the whole system. fulton sheen once opined that – we who have received the sacrament of orders call ourselves “priest”. the author does not recall any priest ever having said, “i was ordained a ‘victim’’, nor did he ever say, ‘i am studying to be a victim.’ that seemed almost alien to being a priest. the seminary always told us to be ‘good’ priests; never were we told to be a willing victim. and yet was not christ, the priest, a victim? did he not come to die? he did not offer a lamb, a bullock or doves; he never offered anything except himself (see eph.5:2)1 here we can already understand that the risk of not integrating the life of the seminary and that of the parish potent a great problem for the church and it is time to address it. today, between the seminary and practical parish ministry, for instance, is the belief that – while the seminary is ‘a place of torment and suffering’, the ministry in general including the parish is ‘a place of arrival’. one can make a link between this conception and the civil educational system in our country. one is educated so that he can earn the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 197 a living for himself. the seminarian or the candidate for ordination has earned his qualification, so he can think more of how to take care of himself and even make personal investments side-by-side the assignment by the bishop and the two are different. here no one feels there is a problem; at least by what is obtainable in our time, even authorities seem to be complacent or at best helpless about this monstrous cancer of pastoral decay. what can be done to address this among many problems? there are places where people can now go to school and after training, they seek ‘job’ in the priesthood. in the name of doing that personal interest in ministries or programmes are often more important than ‘official’ church assignment. what will be your interpretation of this scenario? there is a need for a true auto-reflection as we get more and more challenged by the realities of our present world order. the true priesthood continues to be a sacrificial offering to god for the transformation of the world.2 in the tradition of the catholic church, “… all the faithful are made a holy and kingly priesthood, they offer spiritual sacrifices to god through jesus christ, and they proclaim the mighty acts of him who has called them out of darkness into his admirable light…”3 however, some are uniquely called and consecrated through the sacrament of holy order to particularly share in the ministerial duties of christ through the instrumentality of the church.4 it is the preparation for this particular function of the ordained faithful that is the duty of this paper. it will consider this function and its relevance by way of introduction and look at preparation for such an office of service to god and humanity. the paper will focus on the role of the parish priest as an agent of formation. it is important to state from the onset that vocation to the sacred ministerial priesthood is not a human initiative, but divine election and entrusted to the church by jesus christ through the power of the holy spirit.5 nevertheless, he is like the rest of humanity in everything. “priests, while being chosen from the midst of humanity and appointed to act on its behalf in what pertains to god, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins (see heb 5:1), live with the rest of humanity as with brothers and sisters.”6 not even angels can one claim to be capable of fulfilling the function(s) of the priest. it is in fact far removed from the ordinary duties of the human agent. it is the work of god established on earth to 198 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age mediate between the divine and mortals. in his reflection about the importance of the work of the priest, alphonsus de liguori states thus: “the dignity of the priest is estimated from the exalted nature of his offices. priests are chosen by god to manage on earth all his concerns and interests.”7 therefore, to talk about priestly formation and ministry means to talk about such duty that is completely outside the human agent, society and function, but for all of them. “the priests of the new testament are, it is true, by their vocation and ordination, set apart in some way within the people of god, but this is not in order that they should be separated from that people or from any person, but that they should be completely consecrated to the task for which god chooses them….”8 nevertheless, the ministry of the priest is a service to humanity. it is the work of god among human beings in the sanctification of the earthly kingdom (the world). divine as this task is, the human agent is still relevant in the dispensing of the work of the mysteries of god at the human and on a daily basis. these demands require candidates to be properly formed before they are ordained priests. the parish priest has a serious role to play here. to the extent that god himself became man, man has become very important in the economy of salvation. the role of a man here requires rigorous education and such education can only be well grounded if it is rooted in the family the cradle of life and nucleus of society. the parish priest is just one among many other agents entrusted with discerning and helping candidates for the priesthood. let us examine some of the agents of vocation to the priesthood and their respective roles in the formation period. the first place the human person encounters formation is in the context of the family. the family here in its purest form will include a couple (male and female), their children eventually. this paper does not nurse any bias against persons or agencies who have their own understanding about the concept of the family, but at the same time, the author is of the opinion that the reference to the family is as defined above. 1. the family the family is the domestic church and the seed-bed of vocation to the priesthood. it is impossible to have a healthy church and suitable candidates for the priesthood without a ‘worthy’ family. the priest is at the centre of this experience in the life of the parish community. “a the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 199 good laity is scarcely possible without truly holy priests. … – just as it is impossible to have a blossoming of vocations without christian families which are the domestic churches9. the obligation of education of children is crucial to priestly formation and rests squarely on the family. education begins in the family. consequently, formation begins with the family. it is incumbent on every family to bring up children in positive values that form the basis of a good and virtuous life of the human person. “since it is the parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the greatest obligation of educating their family. … the role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.”10 since the family is also a product of society, it required that the social order rises to its responsibility of providing the enabling atmosphere for the right form of education to its citizens. the task of imparting education belongs primarily to the family, but it requires the help of society as a whole. as well as the rights of parents, and those others to whom the parents entrust some share in their duty to educate, there are certain duties and rights vested in civil society inasmuch as it is its function to provide for the common good in temporal matters.11 the function of the priest is the work of the salvation of souls and in fact the salvation of the world at large. it is the mission of christ through the working of the holy spirit to win back creation to god who has made all things good and beautiful. it is a function of the redemption of the world. in the gospel of st. john, god declared the reason why he sent his son into the world; this was love (cf. jn.3:16). just so that the world might be saved, god sent his son born of a woman (cf. gal.4:4). it is this work of love that the priest is meant to perpetuate until the kingdom of god is consummated on earth. “and all these activities, since they flow from the paschal mystery of christ, will find their consummation in the glorious coming of the same lord, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to god his father.…”12 from the foregoing, the presence and role of the priest are crucial in the affairs of the world. it is flowing from here that anything that has to do with preparation for this august role must be nothing 200 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age below the best of human effort. the formation of a priest in the catholic tradition occupies a very high echelon in the priority list of the church’s activities. “the formation of future priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral commitment is considered by the church one of the most demanding and important tasks for the future of the evangelization of humanity the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work.”13 to address such a theme as we have is certainly a task long overdue. the role of the parish priest is critical in the formation of individuals for the priesthood. it is in the same vein, that one needs to consider the parish as an entity is an institution. 2. the parish the parish is a community of people under the care of at least a pastor. in the law of the church, the parish is not just a spiritual community, it is also a legal institution. “a parish is a certain community of the christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop.”14 such a community usually has its own territory. “as a general rule a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the christian faithful of a certain territory”15. it also requires a pastor or a priest to administer such portion of the christian faithful. it is the obligation of those who are responsible to make sure that it is only suitable priests that are given the task of the parish priest who is the pastor of the souls of the people within his territory. it is the function of the diocesan bishop to appoint a priest to pastor the souls of the people within the parish territory. this is very important because of the grave role the parish plays in the nurturing of vocation to the priesthood. optatam totius expresses this important point in a categorical manner. the duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully christian life. the principal contributors to this are the families which, animated by the spirit of the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 201 faith and love and by the sense of duty, become a kind of initial seminary, and the parishes in whose rich life the young people take part.16 it is important, therefore, to pay particular attention to the good of the family and the parish respectively to guarantee that the vocations that emanate from these institutions truly represent the ideal of the demands of the gospel. 3. the role of the parish priest in the formation of candidates to the priesthood the life of the parish is built around the priest. “it is therefore of fundamental importance for the parish to have a priest as its pastor and the title of pastor is specifically reserved to the priest.”17 the parish priest very often acts as a bridge between the diocese and the seminary in the process of discernment of a vocation to the priesthood. the evaluation of the parish priest as it relates to the pastoral activities of the seminarians do have great importance on the process of the discernment of the candidates to the priesthood. the function of the parish priest is to act as a bridge between the somewhat activism in the parish and the seminary. the position of this paper about this is that the relevance of the parish priest is before, during and after the seminary formation of the candidate to the priesthood. he prepares the candidate to choose the vocation to the priesthood. he guides him by mentoring through his training with practical experiences. he tutors him to take on pastoral assignment while in the seminary and as a young priest. he continues to provide him with practical life experiences as he even prepares to assume the role of the pastor himself. in the process of monitoring the seminarian, the parish priest should be careful to ensure that the seminarian does not become hesitant. having laid a background of relevance; the next thing is to address the practical importance of the role of the parish priest as a bridge between the parish and the seminary in the formation of candidates to the priesthood. without any doubt, the role of the parish priest cuts across all that the seminary does. in fact, it can be argued that the parish provides a platform first of all for the harvesting of 202 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age candidates for formation in the seminary. secondly, the parish provides the opportunity of practicum to the seminarian while he is still in training for the priesthood. finally, he ends up most of the time in the parish or any other institution primarily as a pastor of souls. hence, the parish is critical for the concrete realization in practice of all the theoretical principles and guidelines which the seminarian would have learnt in the process of his wholistic formation. “formation involves an educational process that is both gradual and progressive, one that is not carried out ‘in fragments’ or in isolated segments.”18 these include human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. “inasmuch as it is an educating community, the seminary and its entire life in all its different expressions is committed to the formation, the human, the spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation of future priests.”19care should, however, be taken not to divorce training in the seminary from practical discipleship which pastoral experience provides and this is most auspicious in the parish setting. it is the duty of a parish priest who is also called a pastor to take care of the parish community. such a task, however, demands a lot of care and practical commitment. it is important, therefore, to make sure that whoever takes this role understands and faithfully carries out his duty according to the required decorum by learning and morals. the pastor (parochus) is the proper pastor (pastor) of the parish entrusted to him, exercising the pastoral care of the community committed to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop in whose ministry of christ he has been called to share, so that for that same community he carries out the functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing, also with the co-operation of other presbyters or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of the christian faithful, according to the norm of law.20 as a result of the gravity of the matter stated in the reference above, apart from the fact that he has to be an ordained21 minister a pastor “is to be outstanding in sound doctrine and integrity of morals and endowed with zeal for souls and other virtues; he is also to possess those qualities which are required by universal or particular law to care for the parish in question.…”22 the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 203 this is because of the gravity of the work of the priest; the pastor ought to be exemplary in the requisite virtues of the priesthood so as to be able to positively influence young parishioners and attract them to the seminary for training as priests. consequently, local ordinaries are to make sure those who are responsible for the souls of the faithful are carefully selected for such assignment to guaranty the welfare of the formation of the parish from where candidates are selected for training to be priests. “consequently, it is recommended that the pastor (parochus), or whichever person is responsible for the pastoral setting that receives the seminarian, should be aware of the formative task entrusted to him and should accompany him in his gradual entry into pastoral ministry.”23 this citation according to the ratio makes specific reference to the diaconal period, but our setting already engages in this task even before the diaconate ordination. it is, therefore, the function of the priest to discern, recommend and get involved in the formation of the candidate to the priesthood. 4. the seminarian the seminarian is usually a male member of the faithful (who ought to be baptized and confirmed), who feels called and presents himself or is presented for training as a priest to be a priest. it is important to indicate some are presented and by parents or guardians. in the case of minors, as they are not matured to make such a decision, they depend on others to be presented. this applies in the case of minors who wish or are made to begin early in life their journey in the training to the priesthood in the minor seminary. this underscores the role of the pastor in the whole process of discerning vocation and eventual training for the priesthood that can occur at any time in life. “this vocation arises in various circumstances and at different stages of human life: in adolescence, in adulthood, and, as the constant experience of the church never fails to show, also in childhood.”24 in the process of formation, the seminarian is a ‘mystery to himself’25. “seminarians need to be accompanied in a personal way in the various stages of their journey by those entrusted with the work of formation, each according to his proper role and competence. the purpose of accompaniment is to carry out vocational discernment and form the missionary disciple.”26 204 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age accompaniment helps to make the journey of formation to be a shared responsibility. furthermore, one needs to point out more about the personal responsibility of the seminarian himself. receiving or perceiving the call of god to ministry, the seminarian has a responsibility to present himself free and sincere to the church for formation. it is the mind of the church that those to be trained as priests take responsibility for their choice and thus submit themselves for formation. each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation...and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account of his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels27 it will be impossible to have a fruitful training process without the free self-giving of the seminarian to the formation in response to god who calls. the history of every priestly vocation, as indeed of every christian vocation, is the history of an inexpressible dialogue between god and human beings, between the love of god who calls and the freedom of individuals who respond lovingly to him. these two indivisible aspects of vocation, god's gratuitous gift and the responsible freedom of human beings, are reflected in a splendid and very effective way in the brief words with which the evangelist mark presents the calling of the twelve: jesus "went up into the hills, and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him" (mk. 3:13). on the one hand, we have the completely free decision of jesus; on the other, the "coming" of the twelve, their "following" jesus.28 freedom makes the work of formation easy both on the part of the seminarian and on the part of the formators. but of more importance here is the freedom of the one to be formed. the success of formation depends on the openness of the formed and his willingness to follow the master. “freedom, therefore, is essential to vocation freedom the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 205 which, when it gives a positive response, appears as a deep personal adherence, as a loving gift or rather as a gift given back to the giver who is god who calls, an oblation…”29 very often the problems that arise can be numerous: in common experience, we have candidates who seem to respond and present themselves for formation who do not really wholeheartedly submit to the formation. some also come into the seminary with a disposition that makes it impossible for the process of the formation to be authentic and fruitful. cases abound in parishes and dioceses where seminarians who were highly esteemed in the seminary for discipline and maturity turn to have pretended all through their formation process only to reveal their true colours after ordination. some seminarians are also caught in the web of the confusion between the principles of their life in the seminary and the remarkable difference the come to experience in the parish setting. what could be done to bridge the gap between the authentic life that the call of the gospel demands on the individual and the reality of the personal experience and his environmental influences? the answer is a structural one. all stakeholders are to be diligent in the discharge of their duties from the family to the parish priest and the individual seminarian who should be honest in the search for god and the direction of such a hunger for god in the right direction. but since it is necessary for the students to learn the art of exercising the apostolate not only theoretically but also practically, and to be able to act both on their own responsibility and in harmonious conjunction with others, they should be initiated into pastoral work, both during their course of studies and also during the time of vacations, by opportune practical projects.30 if there is a true and sincere commitment on the part of the seminarian and the formators, the gap between the seminary experience and the reality in the parish will reduce if not completely eliminated. what is the seminary? 206 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 5. the seminary the word “seminary” is from the latin word seminarium, which means plots where plants are raised from seeds. it means breeding ground, nursery. when is used for in reference to the priesthood, it means a breeding ground for priests. the history of training for service in the house of god dates back to the old testament experience when god called different people to serve in his house. aaron, samuel, prophets, and the disciples in the early formation of the church. it serves the use of this project to make the above reference to some of the ways in which candidates were formed for service at the altar of god. as we have it today, the role of the seminary is more systematic and theoretical. 6. the moment of transition once a seminarian has completed his formation in the seminary, he returns to his diocese. most dioceses do have policies that require pastoral formation while formation in the seminary is going on. seminarians that are assigned to parochial ministries, that is, pastoral work, function under the supervision of the parish priest. he determines the nature of the work of the seminarian, and ensure that the theoretical intellectual formation is brought to bear in the pastoral field. the post synodal exhortation on priestly formation reads: and so pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work. thanks to an initial and gradual experience of ministry, future priests will be able to be inserted into the living pastoral tradition of their particular church. they will learn to open the horizon of their mind and heart to the missionary dimension of the church's life. they will get practice in some initial forms of co-operation with one another and with the priests alongside whom they will be sent to work. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 207 these priests have a considerably important role, in union with the seminary programme, in showing the candidates how they should go about pastoral work.31 one can say that this is the point where the work of the parish priest and that of the seminary meet. it continues from here and strongly demands that the parish becomes a priority of place when it comes to getting really involved in the work of service as priests and consequently priests to be. when it comes to choosing places and services in which candidates can obtain their pastoral experience, the parish should be given particular importance … for it is a living cell of local and specialized pastoral work in which they will find themselves faced with the kind of problems they will meet in their future ministry….these and other pastoral activities will teach the future priest to live out as a "service" his own mission of "authority" in the community, setting aside all attitudes of superiority or of exercising a power if it is not simply that which is justified by a pastoral charity.32 7. the dimensions of the work of the parish priests as a bridge between the seminary and parish. it is clear from the analysis above that the most important role of the parish priest is providing the seminarian with an opportunity to experience first-hand a practical application of the various aspects of theoretical formation he received from the seminary – the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. the proper integration of these aspects of formation both by the individual who aspires to ministry and the system that receives and trains him become the hallmark of a fruitful ministry. 7.1 human the priest is expected to have the natural human virtues that should dispose of him to function properly as a pastor. human virtues such as honesty, dedication, fear of god, love of human being, etc. it is the 208 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age view of the new ratio and other church documents that the basis and purpose of formation is priestly identity.33 priestly identity is being another christ. the priest, who is called to be a "living image" of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church, should seek to reflect in himself, as far as possible, the human perfection which shines forth in the incarnate son of god and which is reflected with particular liveliness in his attitudes toward others as we see narrated in the gospels.34 in addition to this – “future priests should, therefore, cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self but also with a view to the ministry. these qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities.”35this is what the priest is called to be. it is expected that the parish priest having lived such an experience as pastor will be in the best position to guide the seminarian to begin to mirror his life to it through an apprenticeship in the parish with the pastor. all of this will come to its proper expectation if the one who is aspiring is rightly motivated and truly available to be guided in the way of christ. in order for the human formation to complete and become available for the task of leading others, there is a need for spiritual formation. 7.2 spiritual in the words of thomas aquinas, “since therefore grace does not destroy but perfects it, natural reason should minister to faith as the bent of will minsters to charity.”36 it is in this richness of expectation that the life of the church minister to her members. every christian is called to holiness37. but there is a peculiarity in priestly spirituality. the spiritual training should be closely connected with the doctrinal and pastoral, and, with the special help of the spiritual director, should be imparted in such a way that the students might learn to live in an intimate and unceasing union with the father through his son jesus christ in the holy spirit. conformed to christ the priest through their sacred ordination they should be accustomed to adhere to him as friends, in an intimate the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 209 companionship, their whole life through. they should so live his paschal mystery themselves that they can initiate into it the flock committed to them.38 the parish and the parish priest provide the seminarian with the required atmosphere and living example to carrying out his spiritual exercises. having been taught in the seminary the practice of meditation and lectio divina as a routine, the parish now presents the seminarian the opportunity to live out the spirituality developed in the formation ground. it is through the interaction of the seminarian with the parish priest and generally with the parish life that will make the expected accompaniment possible.39 he sees the challenges in the ministry and learns to channel his energy to the required disposition of pastoral integration of the spiritual principles he has acquired in the seminary. with the intellectual and practical applications that he lives in the seminary, the seminarian begins to realize in a concrete way the various aspects of the spirituality of the life of the priest. he also begins to recognize his own personal strengths and weakness so as to be able to equip himself to develop a personal relationship with christ through an authentic practical spiritual life. this can have a tremendous effect on the seminarian while in training to constantly and in a profound manner improve on his own response to the formation. pastores dabo vobis points this out: it introduces him to deep communion with jesus christ, the good shepherd, and leads to the total submission of one's life to the spirit, in a filial attitude toward the father and a trustful attachment to the church. spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.40 7.3 pastoral pastoral dimension speaks to the willingness of the seminarian to take up assignments such as the teaching of catechism, preparation for the liturgical celebration, solicitude for the poor and organization of lay apostolate groups in such a way for them to function properly. here the parish priest is to work assiduously to channel the energy of the 210 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age seminarian to the vast pastoral need of the parish while guiding against excesses. just as it is the duty of the parish priest to take care of the pastoral need of the parish he presides over, it is his duty to gradually introduce the seminarian to the dynamics of this task. the pastor is obliged to see to it that the word of god in its entirety is announced to those living in the parish; for this reason, he is to see to it that the lay christian faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith, especially through the homily which is to be given on sundays and holy days of obligation and through the catechetical formation which he is to give; he is to foster works by which the spirit of the gospel is promoted, including issues involving social justice, is promoted; he is to take special care for the catholic education of children and of young adults; he is to make every effort with the aid of the christian faithful, to bring the gospel message also to those who have ceased practising their religion or who do not profess the true faith.41 in the first paragraph of the can. 528 above, one can claim that a lot of the pastoral work in which the seminarian is to be involved under the supervision of the parish priest is expressed. practical activities to this effect could be the teaching of catechism to the parishioners of different ages and professions. the seminarian can also be given charge of lay apostolate groups in the parish and in fact, the seminarian is a-priestin-making and should be very intimate with the pastoral life of the priest.42 the seminarian is one who is training to mirror the life of christ in his own life and conducts among the people of god. so, he must be made to take a serious part in liturgical celebrations. he is not only to participate actively but must also help other parishioners to understand the importance of liturgical celebrations. principal among these mysteries of the liturgy is the sacrifice of the holy mass. “the pastor is to see to it that the most holy eucharist is the centre of the parish assembly of the faithful.”43 the earlier those training for the priesthood understand and appreciate the role of the liturgy in their training and eventual ministry as priests the better for the church and for the proclamation of the gospel message. the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 211 another important aspect of the priest’s role in the guidance of the practical application of the seminarian’s knowledge in the pastoral fields is the ability to visit the parishioners. this is an important part of the formation. sometimes priests are not aware of the material situation of parishioners. the ability to visit parishioners can help the seminarian to appreciate them and their faith-journey. this is within the requirement of the priest to know his parishioners and introducing the seminarian to this pastoral obligation becomes an opportunity integration of theory into the practical existential situation.44 8. remarks the topic that has been addressed here is one that has a lot of practical undertones and it is pertinent to give some remarks. formation for the priesthood has been prime in the church’s evangelical mission. the agents of evangelization must be properly formed to respond to the needs of the human race in all ages. it is also true in our time that the world has known a lot of progress and experienced fragmentations. the church has not been exempted from the present human condition. in nigeria, the effects of globalization also impact on the life of people. the church has tried over time to respond adequately to the imbalances in the world and address their implications on faith expression.45 the most recent of such an effort as it concerns the formation for the priesthood is the new ratio fundamentalis institutionalis. one of the admirable points raised in the document is the capacity of local churches to fashion out their particular programmes based on their own experiences. it is the opinion of this paper that the nigerian church needs to use the opportunity of this document to re-evaluate the priestly training process in the country and create more practical synergy between the seminaries and other institutions like the parish through the dioceses. priests need to be more involved in the work of formation, helping candidates through practical means to integrate their formation in the seminary in the existential life of the parish. the practice of keeping seminarians far away from the priest should be discouraged as there is the most auspicious opportunity that the seminarian has to see closely the realities of the priestly ministry even before ordination. 212 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 9. conclusion the danger every priest must avoid is the temptation to view the value taught in the seminary as mere transitory in the life of a person. the values are to become intimate habits in the life of the candidate for the priesthood. these habits create the ground upon which the grace of the sacrament of the holy orders will build upon. the principle of st. thomas aquinas is very helpful in underscoring the fact that it is the mode of the seminarians that the grace builds on: quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur. whatever is received into something is received according to the condition of the receiver.”46 the role of the parish priest in the formation of candidates for the priesthood is to help the seminarian gradually integrate and appropriate the principles he has learnt in the seminary. therefore, the seminarian should be very close to the priest in the parish when on official and even unofficial pastoral experience. the motivation of the parish priest to do this work should come from his love for the church. failure to ensure that the taught doctrine and spiritual exercises in the seminary are lived out in the parish can cause a crisis of vocation and identity in the individual to be ordained a priest. unfortunately, in many instances that is what obtains today. but the onus is on the parish and the seminary as great institutions of interdependence opportunity to help individuals aspiring to the priesthood to take their vocation seriously. endnotes 1 fulton sheen, the priest is not his own; ignatius press, san francisco, 2005. 10 2 second vatican council, church in the modern world, gaudium et spes, 1965. 3presbyterorum ordinis no. 2. 4 cf. ibid 5 cf. heb. 5:4; ex. 28:1; jn. 15:16. 6 ibid. nos. 3. & 7 7 alphonsus de liguori, dignity and duties of the priest, redemptorist fathers, brooklyn, n. y., 1927. 24. 8presbyterorum ordinis no. 3 9 congregation for the clergy, the priest, pastor and leader of the parish community, libreria editrice vaticana vatican city, 2002. no. 27. 10 vat. ii., gravissimum educationis, 28th oct. 1965. no. 3. 11 ibid the parish priest as a formator: bridging the gap… 213 12presbyterorum ordinis no. 13pastores dabo vobis; no. 2. 14can. 515 §1. 15 code of canon law 518. from the vatican archive cited on the 31st of september, 2019. 16 decree on priestly training, optatam totius october 28, 1965, no. 2. 17 congregation for the clergy, the priest, pastor and leader of the parish community, libreria editrice vaticana vatican city, 2002. no. 2 18 jorge carlos patron wong, the stages of priestly formation, in the gift of priestly vocation in a symposium for formation teams, english-speaking seminaries of canada, april 4-7, 2019. 19 pastores dabo vobis, no. 61. 20 ibid 519. 21can. 521 §1 22 ibid 521 §2. 23 congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocation, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, l’ osservatore romano, vatican city, 2016. no. 75. 24 ibid no. 12 25 cf. ratio 28 26 ratio 44. 27 new ratio fungamentalis, no. 130 28 pastores no. 36. 29 ibid. 30 decree on priestly training, no. 20. 31 pastores dabo vobis. 58 32 ibid. 33 cf. new ration 30 34pastores dabo vobis 43 35 ibid. 36 aquinas, summa theological, part 1, question 1, article 8, response to objection 2. 37 ibid no. 45 38 decree on priestly training, optatam totius, no. 8 39 cf. new ratio no. 44 40pastores dabo vobis, no. 45 41 ccl, can. 528 §1. 42 cf. can. 530. 43can. 528 §2 44cf. 529 §1. 45 church in the modern world, nos. 5, 8, 9 & 10. 46 cf. summa theologiae, 1a, q. 75, a. 5; 3a, q. 5. 214 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 4 on-going formation of priests: new approaches to post-seminary formation hilary oseabulu odenore introduction i recall an interesting conversation i once had with a very knowledgeable layperson towards the end of my seminary formation. this man was trying to make an argument for the similarity between the calling and work of a catholic priest and the work of a medical doctor. for him, when one considers the length of training and sophistication of the training received, alongside the ethical requirements, and the demands of the job, the priesthood and the medical profession are very similar. he made bold to say that in the light of the regular updating and stress on specialization, the medical doctor eventually becomes more refined than the priest. it was at this point that i mentioned the on-going formation of priests, to which he replied; “what is that? am just hearing of that? what does it mean? but not all priests have post-graduate studies, do they? the on-going formation1 of priests is a reality that is often misunderstood, unknown and under-appreciated. and this cuts across the board, as not only are laypersons largely unaware of what it entails, even those that should know better, namely the clerics themselves seem to underappreciate it. this is despite the fact that it is a concept that is crucial to successful priestly ministry, as we read in the words of pope benedict xvi’s motu proprio ministrorum institutio on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 215 the ongoing formation of priests... is the natural and absolutely necessary continuation of the process of building priestly personality which began and developed in the seminary... with the training programme which aimed at ordination. it is particularly important to be aware of and to respect the intrinsic link between formation before ordination to the priesthood and formation after ordination. should there be a break in continuity, or worse, a complete difference between these two phases of formation, there would be serious and immediate repercussions on pastoral work and fraternal communion among priests, especially those in different age groups. ongoing formation is not a repetition of the formation acquired in the seminary, simply reviewed or expanded with new and practical suggestions. ongoing formation involves relatively new content and especially methods; it develops as a harmonious and vital process which — rooted in the formation received in the seminary — calls for adaptations, updating and modifications, but without sharp breaks in continuity.2 in this paper, we will consider post-seminary formation, from the point of view of new approaches to the on-going formation of priests. we will attempt to articulate the mind of the church as regards on-going formation of priests, according to the four major levels of formation spelt out in pastores dabo vobis, namely spiritual formation; human formation; intellectual formation and pastoral formation, vis-à-vis an overview of what currently obtains in dioceses in the benin city ecclesiastical province (which we will use as a case study of sorts). from this standpoint, we will consider the possibilities for ‘new’ approaches to on-going formation, albeit it will be our argument that we can only consider ‘new’ approaches when we have better understood what should be obtainable. definition of on-going priestly formation when the church talks about the on-going formation of priests, she refers to a distinct phenomenon. “the term ‘ongoing formation’ is a reminder that one’s experience of discipleship of those called to the priesthood is never interrupted. the priest not only learns to know christ but under the action of the holy spirit, he finds himself within a process of gradual and continuous configuration to him, in his 216 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age being and his acting, which constantly challenges the person to inner growth”.3 the directory on the ministry and life of priests uses similar categorization for the concept. here we read; the activity of formation is based on a dynamic demand intrinsic to the ministerial charisma, which is permanent and irreversible in itself. therefore this can never be considered finished, neither on the part of the church which imparts it nor on the part of the minister who receives it. it is, therefore, necessary that this is thought of and developed in such a way that all priests may receive it always, keeping in mind the characteristics and possibilities that vary with age, condition of life, and assignments. such a formation must cover and harmonise all the dimensions of the formation of priests. thus, it must tend to help each priest achieve the development of a full human personality matured in the spirit of service to others, in whatever task he may receive; it will permit him to be intellectually prepared in the theological sciences as well as in the human sciences, insofar as they are linked with his ministry, in order to pursue his function as witness to the faith with a greater effectiveness; that he has a deep spiritual life, nourished by intimacy with jesus christ and by love for the church; and so that he may pursue his pastoral ministry with zeal and dedication. in practice, such formation must be complete: spiritual, pastoral, human, intellectual, systematic and personalised.4 the watershed post synodal apostolic exhortation that was the fruit of the synod of bishops that considered the formation of priests in present-day circumstances also treated the question of on-going formation. according to the synod fathers, “the ongoing formation of priests, whether diocesan or religious, is the natural and absolutely necessary continuation of the process of building priestly personality which began and developed in the seminary or the religious house with the training programme which aimed at ordination”5 without prejudice to the best efforts of bishops and churches who are on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 217 working hard at it, it would appear that in nigeria, the on-going formation of priests is yet to receive the kind of attention that would help to underline its importance. and can be attributed to two factors. culturally, there is the inability to adequately inculcate in both formators and formandees (sic), the fact that seminary formation is preparation for priestly life, and not just for priestly ordination. if the emphasis during seminary formation is for the seminary formators to weed out those who are not suitable for the priestly ministry, it stands to reason that the modus operandi would be faultfinding, in place of journeying along with the candidate, to help him answer his call. and when the seminarians discern that his formators are very interested in seeking out his faults, he will continually seek out creative ways to make sure that these faults are not found out, following the principle of the proverbial eneke the bird6. this would lead to pretence and other related vices, just to ensure that one crosses the line. in this manner, priestly ordination, the end-point of seminary formation, is made to be a terminus ad quem, rather than the starting point of another life-long journey that is meant to build upon what was learnt in the seminary. on the other hand, and this applies to those situations where there are attempts to accentuate on-going formation, the stress seems to be on the intellectual formation, rather than a holistic approach. on-going formation in such instances, is reduced to further studies after ordination, and in certain cases, even this is not regarded as a right of the individual priest, but a privilege. what is clear is that in such situations, the academic degrees that a priest acquires after ordination, tend to overshadow the need to focus on other aspects of his priestly, resulting in arrested development of the other aspects. when the church talks about the on-going formation of her priests, we must be clear that “programmes, resources, and practices do not constitute ongoing formation. they are necessary instruments but always in service to the larger purpose and direction of formation”7. on the contrary, “it is the continuing integration of priestly identity and functions or service for the sake of mission and communion with christ and the church”8. 218 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age a brief overview of on-going formation as it obtains in our circumstances we have seen from the foregoing, that on-going formation of priests is a multi-faceted reality. before we can consider the possibility of new approaches to it, we have to attempt an x-ray of what currently obtains in our immediate environment9. we will do this using the following four questions;  who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests?  when is the on-going formation of priests supposed to take place?  what constitutes the content of the on-going formation of priests?  how is the on-going formation of priests carried out?10 who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests? when we talk about the on-going formation of priests, and who should be responsible for it, the casual observer will immediately point to the individual priest and his bishop. this will be a correct answer, although not an exhaustive one. pastores dabo vobis gives a deeper approach to the question of who is responsible for the on-going formation of priests, by specifying the following agents; 1. the church itself as a communion, under its head, the bishop. 2. the individual priest. 3. the bishop and the presbyterate. 4. experts involved in the formation of priests. 5. the family of the priest.11 as stated above, the priest and his bishop are two agents that quickly come to mind in this regard, and rightly so. in the words of the united states conference of catholic bishops, the priest’s responsibility, “…is linked to their commitment at ordination to serve well the people of god through their ministry and through their own personal faith commitment. priests in dialogue with their bishop, his representative, or other members of the presbyterate need to map out their plan of ongoing formation”12. as for the bishop, it goes without saying that part of his function as a shepherd, is to see to the welfare of his closest on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 219 collaborators, the priests. and the ongoing formation of these his sons falls squarely under the title of welfare. by extension too, since the individual priest belongs to a fraternity of priests, it stands to reason that his brothers should be solicitous for the on-going formation of one another. the ‘novelty’ however, especially given our culture here, lies in the other two agents; the church as a communion and the family of the priest. we belong to a culture that still has great reverence for the ‘man of god’. catholics generally love and respect their priests, and they understand that they have an obligation to care for the priest since he is the one that represents them in their relations with god (cf james 5:1-4). often, this care for the priest gets restricted to praying for them and providing for their material needs. it is noteworthy, therefore, for us to remind ourselves that there are other obligations beyond these two activities, one of which is to ensure their on-going formation. priests are not there to serve themselves but the people of god. so, ongoing formation, in ensuring the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral maturity of priests, is doing good to the people of god itself. besides, the very exercise of the pastoral ministry leads to a constant and fruitful mutual exchange between the priest's life of faith and that of the laity. indeed the very relationship and sharing of life between the priest and the community, if it is wisely conducted and made use of, will be a fundamental contribution to the permanent formation, which cannot be reduced to isolated episodes or initiatives, but covers the whole ministry and life of the priest. …and so the entire people of god, in each and every one of its members, can and should offer precious assistance to the ongoing formation of its priests. in this sense, people should see that priests are allowed time for study and prayer. they should ask of them that for which christ has sent them and not require anything else. they should offer to help in the various aspects of the pastoral mission, especially in those related to 220 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age human development and works of charity. they should establish cordial and brotherly relations with them, helping priests to remember that they are not "to lord it over" the faithful, but rather "work with them for their joy" (cf. 2 cor. 1:24).13 the socio-economic realities in nigeria have created an emerging attitude of distrust towards clergymen in recent times. social media is quick to make viral the mistakes, offences and crimes of selfacclaimed men of god, and in this manner, festering a wave of anticlericalism that is alien to our cultural heritage. while it has always been a pastime of sorts for parishioners to discuss their priests, the present social conditions mean that such discussions are tending more towards looking for reasons to criticize and condemn them. but a true catholic that wants to condemn his/her priest, has to realize that to the extent that the failings being highlighted are rooted in an incomplete formation of the related aspect of the priest’s life, then he/she has some responsibility for making sure that such errors are corrected and lacunae filled up. this is because we all have a role to play in the on-going formation of the priest. the family of the priest has its own part to play in the matter. the joy and festivities that colour the priestly ordination of a person, is to some extent the family’s way of showing gratitude to god for choosing one of them to serve him in a particular manner. beyond the ordination day, however, and without wanting to go into certain negative influences that the priest’s family could have on him, the family is to help him fully realize his identity as a true disciple of jesus, and a minister of god’s mysteries in the church. by being one with their son in his aims, the family can offer him its own important contribution to his mission. the plan of providence chose the priest's family to be the place in which his vocation was planted and nourished, an indispensable help for the growth and development of his vocation. now the family, with the greatest respect for their son who has chosen to give himself to god and neighbour, should always remain as a faithful and encouraging witness of his mission, supporting that mission and sharing in it with devotion and respect. in this way, the family on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 221 will help bring god's providential plan to completion.14 it is a truism that these two agents of on-going formation, have generally not been factored into the efforts in our circumstances. it is one area where improvement can be made, and immediately too, to ensure that priests are given the best possible assistance to fully realize their identity and carry out their obligations. when is the on-going formation of priests to take place? by its nature, the on-going formation of priests is a life-long matter. the ideal is to have a structure that caters for the different phases of life of a priest, and in this regard, there is still a lot yet undone in our circumstances. the present-day emphasis leans towards the formation of newly-ordained priests or what is commonly referred to as ‘junior clergy’ (priests of 10 years of priestly ordination and below). it is commonplace in dioceses in nigeria, to have programmes and activities designed to help them live up to the responsibilities of the priestly state that they assume after ordination, and subsequently, to acquire skills that will help them to handle greater pastoral offices, as they grow in the priestly life. usually, after a priest crosses the threshold of 10 years of ordination, there is rarely any specific programmes aimed at addressing challenges that he might be experiencing, such as burn out, mid-life crises, health challenges that vitiate their ability to fulfil their responsibilities, thereby leading to feelings of inadequacy and frustration. in addition, there is an absence of a strategic plan at the level of the dioceses to see to their intellectual renewal, and the acquisition of new skills and getting acquainted with contemporary church modalities for resolving modern-day challenges. yes, priests are sent to go for studies, and yes, there are workshops, seminars and other activities to impart skills to the priests. the problem is that there is often no strategic plan behind these efforts, hence we tend not to get the desired results. 222 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age what constitutes on-going formation? here, we are talking about the content of on-going formation or better still, its aspects of spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. this dimension of on-going priestly formation is one of the strengths of the dioceses that are in edo state. the present-day practice stresses on intellectual formation and pastoral formation. indeed, the intellectual formation is largely aimed at providing priests with the skills to better function pastorally. it is against this backdrop that dioceses plan for further studies for priests, in order to meet three categories of need; a. ensuring that the diocese has relevant experts for its proper functioning; b. satisfy the requests of institutions like seminaries and other catholic institutions of higher learning, for experts in ecclesiastical and other sciences; c. see to the personal development of priests who may not fall under categories a) & b) above. these three criteria are usually what informs the choice of persons going for further studies, even though many would argue that what obtains could be better organized and made to operate under a defined system. in this way, the on-going pastoral formation of priests is guaranteed, as the intellectual formation is geared towards better pastoral practices. as regards the spiritual formation, this arguably is the strongest of the four aspects in terms of what dioceses are doing for the priests. practically all dioceses in nigeria have annual retreats for the priests and regular monthly recollections, either at diocesan or deanery levels, following the relevant canonical prescriptions15. however, there is a need for due diligence in this area, lest what has always been an area of strength becomes one of weakness. this is because of the twin evils of absenteeism (especially in the case of recollections) and the inability of priests to stay in situ at the retreat grounds for the entire period of the annual retreat for diverse reasons, disrupting the rhythm that the exercise needs, and losing focus therein. on the whole, dioceses have some arrangements for the different aspects of on-going priestly formation. while the spiritual aspect seems to be the most stable in terms of the programmes, to some extent, the intellectual and pastoral formation also enjoy on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 223 reasonable consideration, while it would appear that human formation does not enjoy the same level of planning and programming. how is on-going formation carried out? generally, on-going formation is carried out through courses, programmes and similar activities. this is why we often hear of priests attending seminars, participating in workshops and talks, as well as taking courses that equip them for the priestly ministry. usually, these activities are carried out by groups of priests. however, human and spiritual formation needs more than such activities, and our dioceses need to explore other more personalized options, such as mentoring, so as to get the best out of her priests. this is because after all considered, it is the individual priest that needs this permanent formation, and he has to be open to the promptings of the spirit through these programmes and activities. “for this reason, there should be awareness, especially on the part of those responsible, that all priests must be reached personally, taking care of each one, and not simply having all the diverse opportunities available to them”.16 new approaches to on-going formation having attempted an overview of on-going formation, we recommend the following possibilities as new approaches to on-going formation for priests.  increased episcopal solicitude.  systematization of processes  accountability (through the involvement of other agents of formation)  flipping the pyramid of emphasis. increased episcopal solicitude: the role of the bishop in the ongoing formation of priests is very important. according to apostolorum successores, the bishop is the father of the priestly family and through him, the lord jesus christ is present among believers. for this reason, just as jesus manifested his 224 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age love for the apostles, so too the bishop knows that it is his duty to show particular love and solicitude for priests and candidates for the sacred ministry. guided by sincere and unwavering charity, the bishop should take care to assist his priests in every way, so that they come to appreciate the sublime priestly vocation, live it with serenity and defend it with vigour, radiant with joy as they faithfully carry out their duties.17 all the documents that refer to the agents of formation underline the importance of the bishop in this matter. if we wish to pay attention to the chronology, pastores dabo vobis lists the church and the bishop as first among the agents of on-going formation18, and while the directory on the life and ministry of priests places the priest himself and brotherly assistance as the first two agents, in talking about the bishop, it acknowledges that he has a very clear responsibility as per the permanent formation of his priests. hence we read that the bishop’s responsibility; is expressed both in that which concerns the individual priest, for whom the formation must be as personalized as possible and in that which concerns the formation of all the priests who make up the diocesan presbyterium. in this sense, the bishop will never fail to foster communication and communion among priests, taking particular care, to guard and promote the true nature of their ongoing formation, to educate their consciences regarding its necessity and importance, and finally, to plan the necessary structure and appropriate persons to carry it out.19 bishops have always given their best in the area of ensuring the utmost in terms of the permanent formation of the priests. nevertheless, the need for increased episcopal solicitude cannot be over-emphasized. this solicitude will make the priest understand that the question of on-going formation is neither optional for them, whereby they may or may not apply themselves to it, nor an imposition from ‘without’. the bishop has to utilize a virile pastoral approach to make the priests better appreciate programmes of ongoing formation that are available to them. to this end, we would on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 225 borrow from the document of the united states conference of catholic bishops (usccb), which spells out the duty of the bishop in this regard as including the following; 1. bishop's direct responsibility:  the receipt of a regular report from those charged with the ongoing formation of priests on the "state of soul" of the presbyterate and any particular concerns  at least three contact points with the presbyterate at large, e.g., chrism mass, a study day, or a diocesan retreat (as well as the presbyteral convocation when it is held)  a periodic conversation held either directly or through the bishop's delegate with each priest concerning his ongoing formation to provide for accountability and encouragement 2. bishop's provision for ongoing formation:  provides for the adequate staffing of an office for the ongoing formation of priests (bishop functions as the guarantor of encouragement, time, and resources)  appoints a director to organize, ensure funding for, and communicate the resources of human, intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual formation (whether diocesan based or drawn from other institutions)  appoints and oversees a committee of priests (perhaps drawn from the presbyteral council) and others to regularly examine the process of ongoing formation in its various dimensions  supervises the director to establish linkage between the ongoing formation of priests and other diocesan efforts, e.g., evangelization, catechesis, worship, justice and peace, and lay formation  through the mechanisms of diocesan communication, communicates the values, purposes, and activities of the ongoing formation of priests to the people of god20 a cursory juxtaposition of the recommendations of the usccb above and what obtains in dioceses around us would reveal that while there are some elements already present, there is still much room for 226 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age improvement. the bishop may want to better utilize such offices as the vicar for priests, and such organs as the priests’ welfare committee/commission, and expand their responsibilities to include the on-going formation of priests, such that they can better assist him to carry out his role in this regard. systematization of processes: following from the above, it is necessary to ensure that the ‘director (directorate) of on-going priestly formation’ sees to the systematization of the processes and activities of on-going formation. as we have already seen, there already exists different initiatives as regards permanent formation, but they tend to be unco-ordinated and scattered. it will be the responsibility of the said director, under the supervision of the bishop, to see to the planning, execution and evaluation of the different formation programmes in the diocese. this is particularly important when one considers that the mind of the church is for such formation to span through the life of the priest. consequently, it is expected that; there is a formation that is specific to newly ordained priests, recently ordained priests, priests preparing for the first pastorate, middle-aged priests, priests preparing for retirement, and retired priests. each group has its specific programme needs. still, there are core pieces of identity and service that are constant across priests' lifetimes no matter their age or the particular circumstances of their ministry. a part of formation truly does remain ongoing, permanent, or constant.21 the volume of work that this will entail for the typical catholic diocese in southern nigeria, with its attendant high numbers of ordained priests for instance, already points to the need for an office and staff, with files and other hardware that will cater for the organization of information. and before we get fixated on the office space and the equipment needed, it is more important to ensure that the director himself is trained before undertaking such office. such training does not necessarily mean frequenting a course in a university. it would suffice to spend time in two or three dioceses (preferably overseas) that have a defined and functioning programme on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 227 for on-going formation and to carefully study their modus operandi, with particular emphasis on the content and general orientation of their programmes. it is this knowledge that will guide the director in setting out the office and determining the responsibilities of the staff in the office. it is through this office also that the bishop will be able to monitor the progress of his priests along with set parameters. for instance, the usccb prescribes the following minimum for the priest as regards his on-going formation;  fifty-two contact hours of education per year (in other words, one hour per week)  one week of retreat  daily prayer (especially the celebration of the eucharist and the liturgy of the hours)  monthly celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation, perhaps in conjunction with spiritual direction  monthly contact with a priest group or its equivalent. 22 in a diocese of about 50 priests for example, it will be very difficult to firstly organize, execute and then evaluate each priest from the point of view of the minimum for formation for the year, without such an office. similarly, one can easily imagine the incremental improvements in the lives of priests if the office is well set up and running efficiently, hence its urgency. accountability (through the involvement of other agents) the word ‘accountability’ suffers from a misunderstanding in nigeria, and this misunderstanding sometimes means that when it is mentioned in certain circles, there is a semi-automatic negative reaction towards who uses it. however, in so far as accountability refers to “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions”23 then its relevance vis-à-vis new approaches to the on-going formation of priests becomes clearer. the most important factor in on-going formation is the priest himself. it is critical therefore that there be a system to hold him accountable for his actions in this regard. without prejudice to the 228 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age sense of personal responsibility of the priest (which thanks to his initial formation tends to be very high), and to his free will, the church has to have a way to get assurance that he is taking this seriously, as what negatively affects an individual priest reflects poorly on the corporate identity of the church in a variety of ways. so, the other agents of on-going formation can assist the priest in this regard. this is why the bishop has to receive regular updates from the directorate of on-going formation and to pay close attention to those who may not be pulling their weight, as this could be an indicator of other deep-seated issues. the bishop should not hesitate to raise this matter with his priests during pastoral visits and other encounters, as this will provide rich feedback from the priests’ point of view, which can, in turn, facilitate the further improvement of the existing programmes. the presbyterium shares a special relationship with themselves. “in all the aspects of priestly existence, there appear particular bonds of apostolic charity, of ministry and of fraternity, which serve as the foundation of the reciprocal help that priests give each other. it is to be hoped that co-operation among all priests should grow and develop as regards their spiritual and human life, as well as their ministerial service. the help which must be given to priests in this field can find support in the different priestly associations which tend to form a truly diocesan spirituality”.24 priests should encourage one another to apply themselves to the programmes that can help them make considerable progress in becoming other christ, as it is often the case that they will be the first to discern when a brother priest is in difficulty. in addition, the family of the priest should be made aware of their responsibility to journey along with their brother priest, with the same prayerfulness and joy that they demonstrated during his initial formation25. we have already highlighted the novelty of the stress of the family of the priest as one of the agents of his on-going formation. this has to be put in practical terms in the way they assist their son and brother in striving to become a good and holy priest. one clear way to assist him is not making undue financial demands on him that could distract him from his purpose. furthermore, experts in seminary formation have to be incorporated into diocesan programmes of on-going formation. this on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 229 can be advantageous in two ways; firstly, through their interface with priests in the field, they will be able to identify areas of initial formation that can be improved upon, from the standpoint of the lived experiences of priests. additionally, they are in a good position to play a mentorship role to the priests, and to use the repertoire of their experiences to identify the connectedness between lapses in seminary formation and priestly life, and proffer solutions to the priests. flipping the pyramid of emphasis: as we tried to establish much earlier in this work, on-going formation tends to be identified with further studies. also, extant programmes in diocese stress more on the intellectual and pastoral aspects, while there are already regular activities that cater for the spiritual aspect of the priest’s formation. the human formation does not have these sorts of programmes in the dioceses, and should we continue like this without any intervention, then it would remain de-emphasized. thus, there is an urgent need to flip the pyramid of emphasis as far as on-going formation is concerned, so that the human aspect gets the needed attention and pride of place. in real sense, the human aspect of on-going formation should come first in terms of emphasis. pastores dabo vobis maintains that; fuller development is first required in the human aspect of priestly formation. through his daily contact with people, his sharing in their daily lives, the priest needs to develop and sharpen his human sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their demands, perceive their unvoiced questions and share the hopes and expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people. in particular, through coming to know and share, through making his own the human experience or suffering in its many different manifestations, from poverty to illness, from rejection to ignorance, loneliness and material or moral poverty, the priest can cultivate his own humanity and make it all the more genuine and clearly 230 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age apparent by his increasingly ardent love for his fellow men and women. 26 it is when the priest is a better person that he can be a better christian, and then more fully realize his identity as a close disciple of jesus and a minister of the sacraments within the body of christ. this is why his human formation, which is a life-long affair, cannot be overemphasized. the goal, as the same document puts it, is that “…the people of god should be able to say about the priest, who has increasingly matured in human sensitivity, something similar to what we read about jesus in the letter to the hebrews: "for we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning" (heb. 4:15). 27 in their basic plan for the on-going formation of priests, the usccb states that a genuine human formation has to stress on the improvement of the priest’s capacity to communicate and his capacity for communion; care for the physical body to maintain a healthy and invested life, integration of human sexuality and contact with culture. as regards specific ways of realizing this, it provides that; the specific means include events, resources, and programmes. for example, human formation, as we have described it, can sometimes occur through a oneto-one dialogue of friendship. at times, professional counselling can appropriately and effectively address human growth issues for priests. it need not be reserved, as unfortunately, it is in the perceptions of some, for the treating of illness. professionally facilitated groups that focus on interpersonal dynamics can be effective instruments of human formation. similarly, the human formation can happen in the context of feedback, when individuals are helped to see and appreciate their impact in various situations so that they can learn from that knowledge and confirm what is good and change what is less opportune. programmes of periodic review and assessment are useful feedback mechanisms. as we have described it, the human formation has a direct, personal, and experiential dimension. studies can also on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 231 foster human formation for priests. an intellectual component in human formation enables priests to understand themselves and others better. certain courses, seminars, workshops, or directed readings could advance the human formation of priests. 28 in an ideal situation, even if there is no other programme of on-going formation in a diocese, due to the importance of the human aspect, then the activities listed above have to be running in the typical diocese. bishops, given their position in the church, have to make sure that human formation comes first before the other aspects, to guarantee that the goals of on-going formation as a whole are realized. it is when the priest is truly human, that he can be more holy, an excellent pastor, and a scholar. conclusion: it is often said that there is no small vulture. this is with reference to the fact that all vultures are bald, even the newborn among them. and this saying is often used in discussions involving newly ordained/young priests. i was a beneficiary of the saying too, and i choose the word ‘beneficiary’, because in the context of the discussion then, the saying was meant to boost my morale after some loving parishioners pointed out my error to me in a particular pastoral situation. interestingly, they went on to say that they understood why i made the error, and they trust that a few years down the line, i will not be making such mistakes anymore. it is true that there is no small vulture, but there certainly are inexperienced vultures, who despite their baldness, unless they continue their training under the more experienced ones, they would not get the tools needed to become the best possible vultures they could be. the on-going formation of priests is that indispensable mechanism that will help a priest to fully actualize the gamut of potentialities that are in him after he has assumed the priestly identity with sacred ordination. it is our opinion that this aspect of the life of the church demands closer attention, and the new approaches we have suggested above will go a long way in ensuring that this is the case. 232 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 in this paper, we will use the terms post-seminary formation, on-going formation and permanent formation of priests synonymously. 2 benedict xvi, motu proprio ministrorum institutio, 16th january, 2013. 3 congregation for the clergy, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, 8th december 2016, no 80 4 congregation for the clergy, the directory on the ministry and life of priests, vatican city, 1994, nos 73 & 74. 5 john paul ii, post synodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, 25th march, 1992, no, 71 6 eneke the bird, as we read in chinua achebe’s things fall apart said that ‘since hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, i too have learnt to fly without perching”. 7 united states catholic bishops, basic plan for the on-going formation of priests, 2001, general description. 8 ibid 9 what we will offer here is the fruit of participant observation of the author, as a member of a diocese, as well having carried out informal investigations into what also obtains in benin city archdiocese, and the catholic diocese of auchi. these three dioceses, which are in edo state, nigeria, constitute the ‘immediate environment’ referred to in the paper. while a more scientific study will offer deeper insights into the issues raised above, we do not reasonably expect it to have results that are completely different from the picture we will try to paint in this effort. 10 in drawing up these four categories, we are drawing largely from the usccb’s basic plan for the on-going formation of priests. 11 see nos 78 & 79 12 usccb, ibid, no n. 13 john paul ii, ibid, no 78 14 ibid, no 79 15 we read in can. 276 §1. in leading their lives, clerics are bound in a special way to pursue holiness since, having been consecrated to god by a new title in the reception of orders, they are dispensers of the mysteries of god in the service of his people. §2. in order to be able to pursue this perfection: 4/ they are equally bound to make time for spiritual retreats according to the prescripts of particular law; 16 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no 80 17 congregation for bishops, directory for the pastoral ministry of bishops apostolorum successores, libreria editrice vaticana, citta del vaticano, no 75 (emphasis added) 18 john paul ii, ibid, no 65 on-going formation of priests: new approaches ... 233 19 no 89 20 usccb, ibid, no n 21 ibid, no i 22 usccb, ibid, no n 23 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability (last visit 4th september, 2019) 24 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no 88 25 the bishop may choose to devote a part of the homily during priestly ordinations and chrism masses to encourage the families of priests in this regard. 26 john paul ii, ibid, no 72 27 john paul ii, ibid, no 72 28 usccb, ibid, no j https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability 234 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age c h a p t e r 1 5 co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial administration emmarex elemeiye okhakhu introduction traditional views of leadership as a top-down process are increasingly challenged by critical perspectives that acknowledge that leadership may involve several people. using the seminal work of david sally1 as the launchpad for this critical conceptual analysis, this research explored co-leadership where members share several leadership responsibilities. the research traces co-leadership through its definitional, management, and ecclesial lens. it challenged the deepseated traditional leadership of parish functions and church administration by bringing to the fore some biblical and canonical precepts and considerations that should steer ecclesial thinking in coleadership. beyond its contributions to the current leadership research, this work conceives the church as a living organization with strategies, norms, and discipline; a corporate of sorts in dire need of shared responsibilities and accountabilities. the overview of the existing literature, fused into ecclesial leadership models in the bible and postconciliar teachings should wake up fresh insights into the church’s understanding of gaudium et spes, the church in the modern world. in david sally work: co-leadership: lessons from republican rome,2 a leadership framework was created for ancient rome after a century of kingly successions. in 510 bce, the republic was founded and the first pair of consuls was appointed. from the perspective of battle-as-marketplace and government as-firm-metaphor, rome was co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 235 conceived as a high-growth company with sufficient scale of leadership to ensure a more complex organizational structure. “in addition to the pair of consuls (ceos), two censors (cfos) were added, two praetors (coos), four aediles (svps of production and operations), four quaestors (comptrollers), and numerous provincial governors (regional vps)”3 however, sally’s analysis insufficiently explained the social conflicts that consumed the patricians (nobles) and the plebs (common people), who though were full-fledged citizens of rome, were denied political opportunities. the patricians’ monopoly on power “could not withstand the growing numbers, motivation, and wealth of the plebs, as they organized the own bureaucracy, laws, and rights – a state within a state,”4 devolving into more anarchy. this failure and crisis of leadership continued into 367 bce and further, even when a merger was effected to include the plebs in every strata of governance. power asymmetries in this new inclusive governance only widened the divide between the lame duck and the rising stars, and made cohesiveness and learning impossible to the extent that if a coleader departs unexpectedly, the others could not forge on to lead the organization. such leadership lacked flexibility, learning, and continuity: “for when news came that a huge army of gauls had encamped in [the] latin territory, scipio was seriously ill; and the conduct of the war was given by special enactment to popilius”5 co-leadership, practised in roman republic was power shared between the two highest officers of state: the consuls. in this republic, the consuls shared power at the apex of a power-sharing system in which every official had to have a colleague with equal authority but never trickled down to the ‘subordinates’. such leadership at best was vertical devoid of parallel ownership. it dictated top-down the minds of the gods that were reverently obeyed. in this world order, co-leaders had no chance of immediately and permanently descending to the group. that decision would have to be made by the ex-consuls as entrenched in their laws guiding their dictatorship6. this model leadership did not lead ‘with’ rather, it led ‘over’ others. this is where sally’s discourse appeared to have missed the mark. his use of the descriptive term’ co-leadership’ to capture the leadership of republic rome rubs off negatively against its ideal meaning in management and 236 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age leadership studies, and begs us for its re-definition and reconceptualization in modern organizations. co-leadership in the literature leadership can be an elusive term to describe but easily identified when practised. based on its common element of relation-building “. . . a leader is someone who touches another’s future”7 peter senge, writing in the fifth discipline fieldbook, concurs with this understanding and notes that it is easy to perceive both good leadership and the absence of good leadership. “you can always sense the presence or absence of leadership when you begin working in a new organization”8 the stake gets higher when defining co-leadership. heenan and bennis9 introduced the concept of co-leadership as an activity that several people can share. this makes the term synonymous with shared leadership. the collective nature of leadership focuses on it as being shared and distributed10 between formally appointed managers, particularly at lower and middle management levels. position-sharing within pairs of managers demonstrates an alternative way of organizing leadership within a managerial position. this two-person instance is a “special case of shared leadership”11 in clearer terms, pearce & conger argue that: the key distinction between shared leadership and traditional models of leadership is that the influence process involves more than just downward influence on subordinates by an appointed or elected leader […]. rather, leadership is broadly distributed among a set of individuals instead of centralized in the hands of a single individual who acts in the role of a superior.12 the concept of ‘shared and distributed’ is defining and emerges, as it is needed since one leader in the traditional sense cannot be the expert in teams composed of people with different expert skills. rather, the team becomes more effective if the leadership is distributed and all members are allowed to influence the direction13 . the idea of topdown leadership weakens the concept of empowered teams since shared leadership occurs when the team is exerting influence. there is empirical evidence that managerial positions are successfully shared in most corporations.14 even so, the sharing co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 237 formula is fraught with problems. we still witness both ignorance of and resistance to the idea of shared leadership within a managerial position15 even in sweden, where shared leadership has been mostly demonstrated recently has a problem arising from its new education act, which forbade school principals to formally share leadership on an equal basis; each so-called school unit has to have only one principal16. this motivates a discussion about how to conceptualize the phenomenon and its different forms. klinga, hanson, hanson, and anderson17 explored the concept of co-leadership as “ one approach to meet the managerial challenges of integrated services -- practiced by pairs of managers – each manager representing one of the two principal organizations in integrated health and social care services”18 functional and project managers with either dotted or solid reporting lines of leadership. these researchers argue that “to deliver sustainable health and social care, cross-boundary collaboration is needed.19 in addition, stein, barbazza, tello, and kluge, stated that collaboration between professionals from different sectors is likely to develop more people-centred and holistic care.”.20 individuals with complex morbidities, such as those with mental illness, hiv, and disabilities, are vulnerable to fragmented care. “a higher degree of cooperation between services or integration of services is required to decrease the fragmentation”21 schools are beginning to imbibe the concept of shared leadership as a partnership, where teachers, staff, parents and students are equal partners. “creating this balance of power is probably one of the hardest aspects in shared leadership” 22even so, school boards are working on effective and clear parameters that can empower all members of the group. hughes and pickeral believe in the importance of, safe, equitable, engaging and high-quality school climates. shared leadership is when teachers, staff, parents, students and principals collaborate to solve problems. working together to create an engaging school climate that accelerates student learning is common sense. where shared leadership exists with youth and adults working collaboratively, there is a student-focused school.23 co-leadership, therefore, is a departure from the formal leader to a shared leadership model resulting in shared power and decision238 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age making. instead of an ‘elite’ individual leading the crew, others are invited to share the responsibility for leadership and develop a positive school climate. in the complex world of health care, it is inconceivable that the traditional top-down, heroic leadership really works. in fact, it would be a disservice to the healing profession. health care leadership is a “competency-based behaviour that has to come from everyone involved in health care. doctors work in multidisciplinary teams focused on the needs and safety of the patient where leadership becomes the responsibility of the team”24 while there is a functional leader of the team who is accountable for the performance of the team, the responsibility for identifying problems, solving them and implementing the appropriate action is shared by the team. the key distinction between shared and traditional models of leadership in this scenario is that the influence process involves more than just the downward influence of subordinates by a positional leader. leadership is distributed amongst a set of individuals instead of being centralized in the hands of a single individual who acts in the role of leader.25 in critical care for patients with cancer, hiv, aids, brain aneurysm, or even an automobile accident victim, a community of practice is deployed quickly in a multi-disciplinary fashion. this critical team may include different experts: surgeons, oncologists, anesthetists, palliative care specialists, specialist nurses, general nurses, therapists, radiologists, general practitioners, physiotherapists, nephrologists, cardiologist etc. these individual expert leaders cojointly make contributions in the planning and care delivery of the patient. “within a shared leadership model, leadership passes from individual to individual along the patient’s pathway of care. this provides continuity of care for the patient without compromising the standards of care”26 no one surgeon, medical director, or clinical expert satisfies the professional training of the individual experts in the interdisciplinary team to lead them in the traditional model. this fact does not diminish the need for a functional leader. interdisciplinary teams now characterize effective organizations, taking the burden off one person or discipline to have all the bulk knowledge and experience that solves the complexity of today’s problems. the breakthroughs in science, organizations, and people management are more likely to come from the collective interactions, contributions, and leadership between multiple disciplines co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 239 rather than a single positional leader. so, what are the specific benefits and drawbacks of co-leadership? benefits and challenges of co-leadership successful co-leadership demands the ability to listen to team members’ thought processes, which can challenge your own opinions based on fact. this disposition on a wider scale may lead to better solutions. such partnership binds people together toward common goals, sharing a common vision. it elicits human creativity, mutual respect, and allows partnership and compromise to trickle down to the rest of the organization. this concept can shrink factions, silo mentalities, and hero worship. co-leadership is a hard process that works when people commit to its discipline. it invites a voluntary commitment and deep desire to be involved in the process. one must clearly want to improve self and believe sincerely that others have good ideas as well. like in every true partnership, it’s imperative to start with the same vision, a desire to keep the conversation alive in spite of disagreements, and springing new compromises. o’toole, galbraith and lawler captured these ideas more aptly: “... co-leadership is much more likely to be successful with clear and agreed differentiation. this isn’t a one-off conversation. make co-leadership sustainable by regularly re-evaluating your roles and effectiveness.”27 the concept of co-leadership shift the perspective from viewing leadership as a single-person activity to viewing it as collective constructive processes, which opens space for all participants to express their agency at every stage of the change process, from ideation to implementation. however, conger and pearce are eager to mention that they do not view shared leadership as the universal solution to any leadership issue or group setting. the authors argue that: there do exist some situations when shared leadership is not just non-optimal, but even harmful, e.g. when there is a lack of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to shared leadership, when there is lack of goal alignment between members of the team, when there is lack of goal alignment between the team and the organization, when there is lack of time to develop shared leadership and finally, when there is lack of receptivity to shared leadership.28 240 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age therefore, the question raised here helps to examine the biblical foundation and appropriateness of co-leadership for ecclesial management. is co-leadership right for the church? co-leadership in scriptures not all leaders are equal in their giftedness, biblical knowledge, leadership ability, and experience or communication skill. therefore, those particularly gifted leaders and/or teachers will naturally stand out among the others. this is what the romans called primus inter pares, ‘first among equals,’ or primi inter pares, ‘first ones among equals.’ jesus practised this principle of ‘first among equals’ in his dealings with the twelve. they were all empowered to preach, heal, and cast out demons, even judas. however, jesus singled out three for special attention – peter, james, and john – primi inter pares. and among the three, peter stood out as the most prominent, the primus inter pares. perhaps, peter’s personality made him a more outspoken, confrontational, and natural-born leader in the group, and rightfully called the rock. christ insistence that the church be built on peter, the rock and his triple command to ‘feed my sheep” placed peter, however, above the others (john 21:15-17). the three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. the first time jesus says it, the greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). the greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. the second time, the literal meaning is “tend my sheep” (v. 16). in this exchange, jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. this expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. peter follows jesus’ example and repeats this same greek word poimaino in his first pastoral letter to the elders of the churches of asia minor: “be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 peter 5:2). even so, the eleven were not his subordinates. they were not his assistants. he was simply first among his equals, the chief apostle, acknowledged so by jesus himself. and it was james who headed the jerusalem council, not peter (acts 15). https://biblia.com/bible/esv/john%2021.15-17 https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20pet%205.2 co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 241 in the context of the seven deacons (acts 6), the dynamics of ‘first among equals’ leadership relationship is observed. these deacons were chosen to relieve the apostles of certain responsibilities. philip and stephen stood out as prominent figures among the five other brothers (acts 6:8-7:60, 8:5-40, 21:8). yet, as far as the account records, the two held no special title or status above the others. the concept of ‘first among equals’ is further evidenced in the relationship between paul and barnabas. they laboured as partners in the work of the gospel. they were both pioneers and leaders in missions, yet between them, paul was ‘first among equals’ because perhaps he was “the chief speaker” and a more dynamic leader (acts 13:13, 14:12). paul, the ex-rabbi, definitely more learned, did not boss over barnabas who could also stand on his own ground in the matter over john mark. the advantage of the principle of ‘first among equals’ is that it allows for functional, gift-based diversity within the leadership team without creating an official, superior or oppressive office over fellow leaders; just as the leading apostles, peter and john, did not lord it over others. these elders laboured in the word and exercised good leadership. however, current church leadership seems easier without the encumbrance of others. some leaders would prefer to dominate rather than rely upon the breadth of experience resident in the church. others fight hard to maintain unchallenged authority because they have a deep-seated need to be needed. still, others feel that they are the only ones who could get the job done. it’s true that this quick dash into scriptures raises more issues and challenges against heroic leadership, on which the church thrives especially within the power dynamics of the office of bishops. it is truer, however, that it is the overall spiritual giftedness of the pastoral team that causes the church to grow, not just the current leadership form of government. the early church grew out of the anointing of the spirit and the common life, shared vision of members, not its lordship. leadership anywhere works best when it is provided by teams of gifted leaders serving together in pursuit of a clear and compelling vision. perhaps, churches more than ever have the dire need to helmin some of its primus inter pares fanfare and seek shared and authentic leadership based on the spiritual gifts and energies that builds the church. for christ who, being in very nature god, did not consider equality with god something to be used to his own advantage. rather, 242 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness…(philippians 2:6-7). the dialogue on co-leadership in the church begins here. it revolves around the premiums we place on our positions, swayed by positional fanfare or whether we see them as invitations to spiritually build the body of christ. the church must decide on which of these values has eternity as a reward; then draw itself closer to the flock of christ, fusing relationship in christ and co-leading the affairs of the church. from this height can co-leadership further cascade to the parish level. while episcopal collegiality and parochial co-responsibility are both of vital importance to the life of the church, and needs to be constantly fostered, it seems opportune at this point to give some serious attention to the question of presbyteral collegiality in order to balance the various organs of governance in the church, and to balance the confusion of role and isolation experienced by many priests in their parishes. this is not to imply that the other dimensions of coresponsibility are of less importance; it is simply to address the issue in a more focused fashion. the very first document issued at vatican ii, the constitution on the sacred liturgy (#4), speaks of the close bond between the bishop and his presbyterate as they gather around the altar for the celebration of the eucharist. it speaks thus: the faithful must be convinced that the principle manifestation of the church consists in the full, active participation of all god’s people in the same liturgical celebrations, especially in the same eucharist, in one prayer, at one altar, at which the bishop presides, surrounded by his priests and ministers. the text is significant in that it takes us back to the writings of ignatius of antioch, indicating a desire on the part of the council to retrieve an earlier understanding of the relationship between the bishop and his priests and to reorder ministerial relationships accordingly. it also indicates a desire to relocate collaboration between priests and bishops in the context of the bonds of communion created by the eucharist. the dogmatic constitution on the church re-echoes the teaching of the document on the liturgy when it speaks of the bonds of communion and affection that are to exist between the body of priests and the bishop. the priests “share in the priesthood and mission of the co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 243 bishop.” they are “to see in him a true father” and the bishop is to treat the presbyters as “his helpers, as his sons and friends.” among themselves, “priests are united together by bonds of intimate brotherhood … through the medium of reunions and community life, work and fraternal charity.” priests are also called “to unite their efforts and combine their resources under the leadership of their bishops” (#28). in the decree on the bishops’ pastoral office in the church, a diocese is described as “a section of the people of god entrusted to a bishop to be guided by him with the assistance of his clergy.” the priests are placed alongside the bishop in the task of preaching, building up the unity of the community, and celebrating the eucharist. later, priests are called “prudent co-operators with the episcopal order,”(#11) and are said to “assume a part of the bishop’s duties and concerns” (#15). therefore, a bishop should treat them “with particular affection” and “regard them as sons and friends” (#16). in discussing the spirit of collaboration that is to exist between the presbyters and the bishop, the decree says: “to ensure an increasingly effective apostolate, the bishop should be willing to engage in dialogue with his priests, individually and collectively, not merely occasionally, but if possible, regularly. furthermore, the diocesan priests should be united among themselves and should be genuinely zealous for the spiritual welfare of the whole diocese” (#28). this is the language of collaboration, collegiality and co-responsibility of bishops with their priests and of priests among themselves. at the beginning of his pontificate, john paul ii stated that “a spirit of collaboration and shared responsibility” (redemptor hominis, #5) characterizes presbyteral councils, a feature of ecclesial life and mirrored the collegiality that existed among the bishops. towards the end of his ministry, in the post-synodal exhortation, pastores gregi (#45), he reaffirmed the same thinking, “the presbyters, and among them, parish priests, in particular, are therefore the closest co-operators in the bishop’s ministry….the bishop will always strive to relate to his priests as a father and brother who loves them, listens to them, welcomes them, corrects them, supports them, seeks their co-operation and, as much as possible, is concerned for their human, spiritual, ministerial and financial well-being.” these relationships are totally meant for the service of the church so that the ecclesial community has an absolute need for the 244 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age ministerial priesthood to have christ the head and shepherd present in her. from these relationships emerges the role of the priest. the parish priest is the cura animarum of the people of god, the parish, the powerhouse of our faith. the priest, pastor, and leader of the parish community the ministerial priesthood is the fruit of an election, of a specific vocation: "he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve" (lk 6, 13-16). thanks to the ministerial priesthood, the faithful are made aware of their common priesthood and they live it (cf. eph 4, 11-12); the priest reminds them that they are the people of god and makes them able to "offer spiritual sacrifices" (cf. 1 pt. 2,5), through which christ himself makes us an eternal gift to the father (cf. 1 pt. 3,18). without the presence of christ represented by the priest; the sacramental guide of the community, this would not be an ecclesial community in its fullness. so the priest is an alter christus, devoid of all authoritarian powers, politics, and lordship; he nurtures the faithful. he nurtures the common priesthood of the people of god, chosen by god. his role, therefore, is central to the growth of our faith and church. canon 532 stipulates that, despite the requirement for ecclesiastical communion, the parochus “personam gerit” –moves the juridic person of the parish in all its juridic affairs. in contrast, canon 393 ties the “personam gerit” of the bishop to the juridic person of the diocese, in all the juridic affairs. this is to say that the parochus directs the parish within the broad oversight of the bishop. in essence, the priest is the daily, on-ground ceo of the parish. it is important to emphasize that the parochus does not exercise his role of ceo, of office-holder, of a householder, on his own. he needs assistance. moreover, as a member of christ’s faithful himself, he needs to co-opt other members of christ’s faithful to make the parish household a vibrant actuation of christian communion. and who are the others that he needs to enlist in the life and work of the parish? canon 519 puts it this way: he is to work for the “co-operation” of other presbyters or deacons and the “assistance” of lay members of the christian faithful, according to the norm of law. the co-operation of other presbyters or deacons (transitional or married) has its uneven dynamics that need new learning, healing, and acceptance. the co-operation and assistance of lay members of the christian faithful needs focused nurturing as well. we submit here the co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 245 following: first, that the co-operation of the lay members of the christian faithful is what makes parishes work. second that this cooperation is found in the day-to-day functioning of the parish –with parish secretaries, parish catechetical directors, parish business managers, and pastoral associates. the priest needs seasoned shared leadership to elicit the needed ‘co-operation’ of all in the parish(es) entrusted to his jurisdiction, especially in (a) the parish finance council and (b) the parish pastoral council, where church laws are explicit. the finance council canon 537 states: in each parish there is to be a finance council, which is governed, in addition to universal law, by norms issued by the diocesan bishop and in which the christian faithful, selected according to these same norms, are to assist the pastor in the administration of the goods of the parish, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 532 [i.e., that the parochus is the one who moves the person of the parish]. a point to be made is that the role of the council is consultative. there is nothing in the universal law that requires a parochus to consult with the finance council for the validity of his action. but there is no reason why a diocesan bishop cannot issue particular law, requiring consultation with the finance committee for the validity of the action of the parochus in certain financial affairs (canon 127). and given the volume of conflicts from finance councils, some co-responsibility and joint working are needed. the parish pastoral council, unlike the finance council, is not an unconditional requirement of law. it is to be made up of the christian faithful – baptized christians who are in ecclesiastical communion with the catholic church. these persons need not be members of the latin church: they can be members of any church sui iuris. also included in its membership are “those who share in the pastoral care by virtue of their office in the parish: i.e., parochial vicars, deacons, pastoral associates, catechetical and liturgical directors. this membership gateway and that of the financial council opens multiple avenues for the priest to exercise and practice shared leadership, particularly as the 246 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age council and the parochus are distinct; the parochus presides at the meetings. he has leadership responsibilities to be shared with others. his collaboration, on the flip side, may elicit the rich contributions, the experience of other leaders that can help the pastor grow in leadership. the priest needs his co-responsible team to help develop a vision. sofield, loughlan, and kuhn29 stressed the importance of crafting a guiding vision. the co-responsible team must conceive powerful goals, communicate amongst themselves, and gain enthusiastic acceptance. champlin30 advocated a three-pronged approach. 1. gather grass-roots input. unless people buy into the dream it will not significantly motivate them. 2. keep repeating the dream. keep the people focused on the vision by repeating it again and again. 3. express the vision in some captivating way. use symbols and appeal to the senses. the co-joint parish team must thrive on strategic thinking. peter senge stated that strategic thinking helps grow strong leadership. the leader must articulate and differentiate what is truly essential from what is secondary. good strategic thinking addresses dilemmas arising from conflict among competing goals and norms. senge instructs that we must distribute power and authority, but we also want to improve control and coordination, for effective strategic thinking. these factors help organizations (churches) become more responsive to changes, and helps grow the individual’s stable and coherent sense of identity, purpose, and vision. these create a sense of ownership with corollaries to high productivity and creativity. a pastor who is not using the parish pastoral council to help create a parish vision is probably carrying too much of a burden. dennis o’leary reminds us that “the primary responsibility of the parish pastoral council is to assist the pastor in directional and strategic planning. if planning in these two areas is done well, administrative and programme planning by the pastor, staff and programme leaders will naturally follow, and the result will be a more focused and integrated approach to ministry” 31 co-leadership and the future of ecclesial administration: some interrogatives 1. do the tenets of co-leadership threaten the church? 2. is the church more persuaded by power, authority, and prestige than by a sublime desire to grow? co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 247 3. will priests and bishops lose power via co-leadership? 4. will the people of god feel more empowered to participate in the church through co-leadership? 5. can communication and common sense-making of conflicts ensure that the process is democratic, honest and ethical, with a common goal in mind? 6. can parish council meetings be co-led in ways where individuals’ specific experience, knowledge, skills, and competencies complement the decision process? 7. are priests prepared enough to lead parishes in this light? 8. are the disciplines of deep listening to other viewpoints, transparency, trust, and co-thinking for the richer good of all, anti-christian? conclusion and future research this conceptual analysis and exploration extend our knowledge of coleadership as a way of addressing managerial challenges in crossboundary service cultures, especially in ecclesial settings. sharing leadership between managers may be of specific interest for future leadership development in the post-heroic bent that we have tried to construct here. co-leadership enabled environments to provide robust management, broader competence, continuous learning and joint responsibility for services. therefore, co-leadership contributes to the provision of sustainable integration of faith and practice, the enrichment of the church. on the individual christian and interpersonal level, the prerequisites for successful co-leadership are the perception of the management role as a collective activity, continuous communication, trusting environment devoid of personal glories and prestige. defining leadership as a collective construction process makes a difference to managers’ and co-workers’ interaction and learning, which explains why the issue of how to organize leadership is important. joint leadership, in its far-reaching togetherness, deserves special interest. future research has several questions left to answer in order to further understand the relatively widespread32 but underresearched issue of shared leadership between managers, especially in the church. 248 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age endnotes 1 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome, california management school climate center. 2002. 2 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome, ibid. 3 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome 3. 4 sally david, co-leadership: lessons from the republican rome 4. 5 livvy. the rise of rome. oxford, england: oxford university press. 1998,126. 6 livvy. the rise of rome. 89 7 j. m. champlin, & c. d champlin, the visionary leader. new york: crossroad publishing company. 1993. 24 8 p. m. senge, c. roberts, r. b. ross, b. j smith, & a. kleiner, a. the fifth discipline: shared leadership. london: sage publications. 1994. 65. 9 d. a. heenan & w. g. bennis, co-leaders : the power of great partnerships. john wiley. 1999. 10 r. bolden, “distributed leadership in organizations: a review of theory and research” in international journal of management reviews, vol. 13, 251–269 (2011) doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x 11 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, (2003) retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf review 44(4): 8 12c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership (2003) retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf review 44(4): 1 13 c. s. burke, s. m. fiore, & e. salas, (2003). “the role of shared cognition in enabling shared leadership and team adaptability” in shared leadership: reframing the hows and whys of leadership, craig l. pearce & jay a. conger (ed), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452229539.n5, 105 14 s. choi, i. holmberg, j. löwstedt, & m. brommels, “managing clinical integration: a comparative case study in a merged university hospital”. journal of health organization and management, 26(4), 486-507, (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777261211251544 15m. döös, together as one: shared leadership between managers. international fieldbook. new york: doubleday. 2015. 16 m. döös, ibid. 17 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. international https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yg3gieez5d4c&oi=fnd&pg=pa103&dq=info:a-dwzijmckej:scholar.google.com&ots=ygm4bjwxzf&sig=t-resmfyqsopl564zuhpsclmwp8 http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yg3gieez5d4c&oi=fnd&pg=pa103&dq=info:a-dwzijmckej:scholar.google.com&ots=ygm4bjwxzf&sig=t-resmfyqsopl564zuhpsclmwp8 javascript:void(0); javascript:void(0); http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452229539.n5 co-leadership as a management option for ecclesial ... 249 journal of integrated care, 16(2): 7, 1, 2016. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.5334/ijic.2236 18 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. ibid. 19 c. klinga, j. hansson, c. hasson & m. a. sachs, “co-leadership – a management solution for integrated health and social care”. 20 stein, k.v., barbazza, e.s., tello,j. & kluge, h. “towards people-centred health services delivery: a framework for action for the world health organisation (who) european region”. int j integr care. 2013 (105) 10 21 stein, k.v., barbazza, e.s., tello,j. & kluge, h. “towards people-centred health services delivery: a framework for action for the world health organisation (who) european region”. ibid. 22 hughes & pickeral. “school climate and shared leadership”. ny: national in arthur x. deegan (ed.) developing a vibrant parish pastoral council. mahwah, new jersey: paulist press. 2013. 2 23 hughes & pickeral. “school climate and shared leadership”. ny: national in arthur x. deegan (ed.) developing a vibrant parish pastoral council, 3 24 nhs, (nd). shared leadership. enhancing engagement in medical leadership. retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf 25 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, 3 26 nhs, (nd). shared leadership. enhancing engagement in medical leadership. retrieved on august 29, 2019 from https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf 27 o’toole, j., galbraith, j., & lawler, e. e. “when two (or more) heads are better than one: the promises and the pitfalls of shared leadership”, (2002). california management review 44(4): 10. 28 c. l. pearce, & j. a conger, all those years ago: the historical underpinnings of shared leadership, review 44(4): 299 29 sofield, loughlan, and donald h. kuhn. the collaborative leader. notre dame, indiana: ave maria press. 1995. 30 champlin, j.m. & champlin, c.d. the visionary leader. new york: crossroad publishing company. 1993. 31 o’leary, dennis j. parish pastoral councils: instruments of visioning and planning. 1995. 32. 32 m. döös, together as one: shared leadership between managers. international fieldbook. new york: doubleday. 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc3886596/ https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/776bc9c27b6e8741d0ff42e593ba44cf.pdf 250 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age p o s t s c r i p t tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and servant of god leonard oshiokhamele anetekhai “every high priest is chosen and appointed from among god’s people to act on their behalf in relation to god” (cf. hebrews. 5,1). introduction the most exciting expression of the true nature of a priest is one that finds its true meaning in the phrase servus dei – a servant of god. this expression john e. rotelle, in his foreword to the book, the true priest: the priesthood as preached and practiced by saint augustine, is summed up as ‘service’. herein, the church father, augustine understood service as the “true meaning of ordination – service to god in transmitting the message of jesus to humanity and service to the people of god in helping the power of god’s spirit to enter their lives.”1 to this act of service and from a biblical understanding, gerald o’ collins, and michael keenan jones express that priests are chosen by god and not self-appointed. this thought finds its meaning in the old testament passages of exodus 25–30, 39–40; leviticus 8– 9; and number 1–10, wherein yhwh elected priests (and levites) to serve as his instruments for the benefit of the chosen people. in the new testament, jesus also received a divine mandate to serve as high priest of the new covenant. in the same vein, presenting jesus as a role model, the letter to the hebrews 4:1 affirms the human nature of a priest who is chosen from among human communities and placed at tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 251 their service, and also seen as one representing jesus christ ‘who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin’. in both instances, the divine purpose of a priest, as a ‘friend and servant’ is to bring about the sanctification through divine worship and the proclamation of god’s word to his people.2 to fulfil these above objectives, god calls and chooses priests from specific human and ecclesial contexts, and it is to this end that pope john paul ii believes that a priest is chosen for the service of the gospel message.3 it is to this act of service that this write-up discusses the priest as a friend and servant of god’s people. the priest: who is he? as expressed by karl rahner, a priest, as the name suggests – is an elder, a presbyter, in the community, for the community and from the community (cf. acts 11, rom 12, 8; phil 1, 1; 2 tim 1, 6ff). by and large, however, a priest in today’s world is not of the older generation in the sense of biological age and length of life; but his relationship of service to the community is of importance and essence to the priesthood, to which he is called.4 his vocation in the thoughts of john paul ii is a mystery. a mystery, he termed ‘admirabile commercium’; a mystery of a wondrous exchange between god and man. so beautiful a mystery that, a man offers himself to christ to be used as an instrument of salvation, offering himself as it were as another christ. without comprehending this mystery of ‘exchange,’ the human mind cannot appreciate how conceivably the word ‘follow me’ can motivate a young man, to abandon earthly satisfaction for christ sake, in the certitude that if he pursues this pathway, he will find utter personal happiness.5 consequently, to be a priest according to the teachings of saint paul, matthew levering writes that it demands above all to be a custodian of the mysteries of god. saint paul admonishes that god’s people should regard their priest, as servants of christ and stewards of the mysteries of god through their words and deeds. it necessitates that as servants and stewards, priests are found trustworthy (cf. 1 cor. 4, l – 2). the concept of steward he holds, cannot be replaced by any other. it is deeply rooted in the gospel, and it recalls the parable of the faithful and unfaithful steward, as explained in luke 12, 41 – 48). just like a steward, a priest is not the owner of the ‘field’, but the one 252 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age to whom the owner entrusts his goods so that he will manage them justly and responsibly.6 it is to this end that yves congar in affirming the mission and functionality of a priest believes in the word of saint vincent de paul, that “the priest is a man called by god to share in the priesthood of jesus christ in order to extend the redemptive mission of jesus christ in doing what jesus christ did, in the way in which he did it.”7 indeed, in the same way, “the priest receives from christ the treasures of salvation, in order duly to distribute them among the people to whom he is sent. these treasures are those of faith. a priest is thus a man of the word of god, a man of the sacrament, a man of the ‘mystery of faith.’ through faith, he draws near to the invisible treasures which constitute the inheritance of the world’s redemption by the son of god. no one may consider himself the ‘owner’ of these treasures; they are meant for us all. however, by reason of what christ laid down, the priest has the task of administering them.”8 he has the sole task of administering to god’s people the sacraments and the word, despite the many contradictions’ he faces in today’s world. these contradictions pope john paul ii expresses as the: “increasingly witnessing a powerful thirst for justice and peace; a more lively sense that humanity must care for creation and respect nature; a more open search for truth; a greater effort to safeguard human dignity; a growing commitment in many sectors of the world population to a more specific international solidarity and a new ordering of the world in freedom and justice. parallel to the continued development of the potential offered by science and technology and the exchange of information and interaction of cultures, there is a new call for ethics, that is, a quest for meaning and therefore for an objective standard of values which will delineate the possibilities and limits of progress.”9 within these contradictions, the yearning for god and a productive, meaningful bond with the priest is so intense and essential in today’s tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 253 world that, where there is a lack of a sincere and resonant proclamation of the gospel message, there is a growing spread of forms of religiosity without god and the proliferation of churches with few or no real disciples of christ. for the priest and all god’s people, the upswing of these spectacles within given societies and nation is not only a ceaseless motive to scrutinise our consciences as to the sincerity of our witness to the gospel message but concurrently as a sign of how deep and widespread is our christian faith and search for god.10 in all, though, the priest holds various meaning to different people, he is understood to be one who has no holiness of himself, but just a servant of god’s people who acts as a mediator between god and men. through the gospel message and faithful lifestyle, he dialogues and brings succour to god’s people. he is a servant who brings the love and strength of god to those around him and those whom the gospel message brings closer to him. he is also a friend who warms the hearts of those in need, gives consolation to the broken-hearted, comforts the sick, walks even when it means sacrificing his comfort through the dark with those distressed and in difficult situations. the priest as a friend and servant of god’s people a priest is and can be called a friend because of his unique relationship with all god’s people. without misplacing his priestly identity, he is called to be a friend not just of the rich alone, but also of the poor. his duty is that of service, and as expressed by karl rahner regarding hebrews 5, 1, “he is ‘appointed on behalf of men’, and his whole being is pledged to the service of others. he does not exist for himself: he has a function which orientates him with his whole life, his talk, his action, his example, his sacrifice and suffering, to other human beings. he is an apostle just that, sent to serve.”11 as a friend, a priest must be a fellow bearer of suffering, karl rahner believes: “though, it is difficult if as individual, we are vigorous, healthy, successful, enjoying life, and be patient with those who are suffering, whose lot is very different from ours, but it is difficult to avoid getting rid of these people quickly, regarding them simply as 254 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age hysterical, stupid, naive or sentimental. really to share the burden here, to listen, to get interested, to let people say the same things a thousand times, to put up with their whining, this is a great natural gift and at the same time a gift of grace. there must be someone in the world who takes all this on himself, patiently, while being hard with himself, at least in certain particular cases.”12 this task belongs to the priest who is a friend and being a friend does not eliminate from the priest adversaries who look for at all cost to find fault in him. as conceived by st. john chrysostom, “the priest must be armed with weapons of steel-intense earnestness and continuous sobriety of life-and he must keep watch in every direction, in case anyone should find a naked and unguarded spot and strike him a mortal blow. for everyone stands around him ready to wound him and strike him down, not only his enemies and foes but many of those who pretend to love him.”13 as a servant of god’s people, everyone wants to judge the priest, not as human clothed in flesh, not as a human having same nature as everyone does, but as an angel, free from shortcoming and defects like others. however, if a priest fails to notice his imperfections, and works towards eliminating them as is likely for every human person on his journey through this earthly life, even the best of his homilies and his good deeds would be of no avail to enable him to escape the words of his faultfinders.14 the strength of being a friend to all god’s people for a priest, even in demanding situations, is sustained by a christ-like and a common love of neighbour. it is in a true and genuine sense a fulfilment of this christian love of neighbour that a priest gets fulfilment, not just in his core priestly functions, but also in living out as an exemplary human person. for as human by nature, all god’s people are always essentially related to one another, and this nature develops and is communicated in unique ways according to the diverse strata of our human nature. all humans living within the same social environment through mutual understanding are related to one another via the exchange of objective intellectual goods and values, truth and goodness. together with the priest, god’s people are ultimately related to each other as person to person and united with tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 255 one another by the same holy spirit, who elevates, sanctifies and nurtures all humans into the life of one god’s people.15 the above-mentioned demands of being a friend, that is, of relating with god’s people, sums up the church’s teaching on pastoral charity, which is a priest’s total gift of self to the church in the footsteps of christ. christ who ‘loved the church and gave himself up for her’ (ephesians 5, 25). relating to god’s people through pastoral charity is a virtue by which the priest imitates christ in his self giving and service. it is not just what he does, but his gift of self, which manifests christ’s love for his people and determines his way of thinking and acting.16 the church father, st. augustine of hippo in his iohannis evangelium tractatus 123,5 understands this priestly pastoral charity which characterises the exercise of the priestly ministry as an ‘amoris officium’, and pope john paul ii in elaborating this expressed that: “the priest, who welcomes the call to ministry, is in a position to make this a loving choice, as a result of which the church and souls become his first interest, and with this concrete spirituality he becomes capable of loving the universal church, and that part of it entrusted to him with the deep love of a husband for his wife.” the gift of self has no limits and is evidenced in the same apostolic and missionary zeal of christ, the good shepherd.17 it is in this apostolic and missionary zeal of christ that christian communities are created and in the words of karl rahner such communities are: “based on mutual exchange of saving, redeeming and deifying truth and on· mutual benevolence which can touch the salvation that is, the deepest core of the other person; and a community of in exchangeable individual persons. this is and remains obviously the supernatural foundation sustaining the priestly relationship to the other person. if it is true that the priest genuinely possesses and fulfils his priestly nature only when he believes, hopes, loves, is justified and holy, then his relationship to the other person must as such be sustained by that infused, divine virtue of supernatural love in the holy spirit which justifies man and places him in an intimate relationship to god himself and his neighbour. this 256 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age neighbour is really and truly loved in and with god, for god’s sake and in the light of god, and can be loved deeply and intimately only through the supernatural deifying power of the holy spirit whom god has given to us in the supernatural life of grace.”18 within the people of god and the presbyterate, the priestly pastoral charity requires and demands in a particular and specific way that a priest relates with his fellow priests, united in and with his particular bishop, for it necessitates that a priest continuously work in the bond of communion with his bishop and with his brother priests, lest, his efforts of self-denial for the sake of the gospel be in vain.19 this implies that “whenever a priest becomes unconscious through the vice of pride; that is failing to appreciate humility in his priestly vocation, this most radical relationship with church authority, and to his fellow-men which exists in god himself […], he will also fail to come up to the requirements of his work as a priest. it follows likewise that all inner vitality, closeness, personal esteem for the other person must be included in the ‘heart to heart’ of christian love of neighbour.”20 to this love of neighbour which should emanate from that of loving christ and his church as a trademark of the priestly pastoral charity and true friendship with god’s people, karl rahner believes: “should be sustained by supernatural love and, up to a point, represents a quite specific fulfilment of this love. the priest in his mission formally and explicitly wills his neighbour’s salvation, his supernatural union with god, and thus expresses and makes official the inner core of love of neighbour, which is to love him in as much as god loves him. from this standpoint too we see how the merely authoritative, official, institutional factor not only does not define and cannot constitute by itself the relationship of the priest to men, but that this real, warm, vital, selfless, genuine love for the other person as such belongs to the priestly relationship to men.”21 in his dealings, a priest must see things without prejudice and must love god’s people with a priestly spirit, and in labour and sacrifice tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 257 fulfil his function within the totality of human life and human history as god’s sent. by so doing, he fulfils his priestly vocation of service and his proper destiny. for in loving others and showing such love in service, he finds him, who has called him to embrace the priestly vocation.22 a priest is not a mini-god and should not pretend to know all. as god’s servant “he need not feel threatened in his selfconsciousness, self-confidence and self-respect, if there are things in science which he does not understand, if he is not up to date in matters of art,”23 he must never fail to nurture god’s people through exemplary lifestyle. for this reason, which is “for the nurturing and constant growth of the people of god, christ the lord instituted in his church a variety of ministries, which work for the good of the whole body. for those ministers, who are endowed with sacred power, serve their brethren, so that all who are of the people of god, and therefore enjoy a true christian dignity, working toward a common goal freely and in an orderly way, may arrive at salvation.”24 such is the life and task of a priest which makes him utterly and genuinely human, and through this task, he must be able to win souls for god. as an individual, a priest must try to be convincing when he comes up against the critical attitude of others. small and insignificant, he can effectively win over the other only by displaying in the light of his christian faith that it is worthwhile to be a christian. in this status quo, he must be credible also as a human person.25 to be human in a christian way does not only entails conforming to the material world (rom 12, 2) but also implies that those we encounter as christians have the chance to realise that being a christian is not something contrary to human feelings. in this sense, the priest of today must be truly human.26 being human entail embracing all aspects of the priestly formation and as expressed in the words of karl rahner: “the priest of today must be somehow educated in a broader sense without on that account, pretending to be expert in everything. people expect the priest to be an educated man. since we took our final examinations, studied philosophy and theology, we have acquired a certain amount of education, but it is not this that people expect of us today. our education must be more human, and more generally must be 258 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age linked with an interest in just those things which interest modern man. we do not need to know everything. we cannot be atomic physicists, psychologists, palaeontologists, sociologists, literary experts and politicians in our spare time. however, it would sometimes be more reasonable to read a newspaper or to settle down with a novel than to play cards. we must be genuine, educated human beings. this also means that our education must not be merely intellectual, but a personal formation of the whole man including his emotions.”27 as a friend and servant of god’s people, the priest must be a man of prayer and to a considerable extent, must be one who loves and is not self-seeking. however, without prejudice to the priestly official and mandatory powers, the priest of today, can exercise his calling only when his human nature is evident, and when he is humanly credible and brings his faith to bear in his daily activities of life. he must, therefore, been seen by others as a loving, a selfless and a good man. to these latter attributes and good qualities, no priest would want to be excluded, that is being a good man. however, the question today is how is the priestly life making an effect within the society? as a priest, one must continuously ask himself: is my heart and love, really in the priestly work? if not, then even in the sacred priesthood one can just be a ‘blaring gong or reverberating cymbal’ (cf. i cor 13, 1).28 the priest: his relevance of being a friend and servant in modern times in modern language, to be relevant as a friend and servant of god’s people, there are some principles that cannot be avoided which aid the priest to better understand his chosen vocation within the context of a changing society. this essay wishes to advance two basic principles which affect the fabric of our society (nigeria) today, which arguably are pathways for personal growth and evangelical fidelity, not just those who have been in god’s service, but also as a guide for those in formation. the first principle is that the kingdom of god must be the focus of the gospel message – christ who has called us centred his tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 259 mission on the proclamation of the kingdom of god (cf. mk 1, 14 – 15), making, therefore, the gospel message free for all god’s people, by giving himself even to the poor of the poorest. this implies for the priest that, the focus of the universal purpose of the kingdom of god carries along with it a moral implication that enables not just to give oneself in charity to others as stated above, but to be responsive in attitude to the plight and situation of god’s people. this responsiveness demands a change of personal lifestyle, a change in the extravagance of material possession. to bring this to light, focusing on the gospel message requires that a priest eschew the many forms of prosperity gospel messages that characterise the church today all in the name of fame and money. such a prosperity message, which is a ‘brainwashing’ of god’s people who are supposed to be served, is spiritual enslavement for material gains and does not dignify the human person. being a friend and servant of god’s people calls priest today (and priest to be) to renounce the appearance and the reality of wealth and to uplift the spiritual life of god’s people through the gospel message and not to make them more miserable in their endless effort to seek and find god. hence, as pope john paul ii puts it, “the kingdom which jesus inaugurates is the kingdom of god. jesus himself reveals who this god is, the one whom he addresses by the intimate term ‘abba,’ father (cf. mk 14, 36). god, as revealed above all in the parables (cf. lk 15, 3– 2; mt 20, 1–16), is sensitive to the needs and sufferings of every human being: he is a father filled with love and compassion, who grants forgiveness and freely bestows the favours asked of him.”29 to this gospel message, a priest is called to be faithful. the second perspective is the use of authority and power and seeking of notable titles like jesus warns in matthew 23: 7 of the scribes and pharisees, who love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘rabbi’ by others. this principle requires the radical message of equality among the people of god and being god’s people manifest a principle of life, solidarity, dignity and love for people especially parishioners who must be treasured and respected as made in the image and likeness of god. what this implies is that the church to which a priest shares a part is a community of brothers and sisters, where no one can raise himself or herself above others, whether by sort of sacred authority, or teaching 260 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age or administration. it goes further to explain jesus message in john 13, 12–1, when he washed his disciples’ feet, telling them that no-one should dominate others because the only person who has and shows real authority is the one who serves others. as regards the use of authority and power machteld reynart expressing the thought of herman steinkamp in his book die sanft macht der hirten – the soft power of a shepherd holds that within individuals and communities, “power is always present but often hidden. power can take, for example, the form of loving care and service, of self-giving and self-sacrifice, of social support or wellintended guidance.”30 such power michel foucault calls pastoral power. for him, it is a “power that fully penetrates and shapes the life of an individual subtly. foucault viewed it as a new form of power in modern society that no longer can be understood as a hierarchical form of power, characterised by a direct exercise of power by authorities, or described in terms of sovereignty. foucault used the image of the ‘shepherd/pastor’ as a model for this form of power.”31 in defining a true shepherd which a priest in nature should be and the pastoral powers he commands, machteld reynaert with reference to michel foucault writes that: “a shepherd is a person who gathers, guides and leads the herd and who assures the herd’s well-being, even if this drives him or her to extremes. the shepherd is responsible for and has to focus on the entire ‘herd,’ but this is only possible when no ‘sheep’ escape. everything that the shepherd does has to be done both for the benefit of the herd and each sheep. the shepherd has to assure both the general well-being of the herd and the individual salvation of each sheep.”32 it is to this end of being a good shepherd and pastor, that the priest must know the people in all their various classes, the rich and poor alike; he must know the world of the past and today, but, what is more, he must pattern his life on the new emphasis in the image of his vocation as a priest, a minister of service to god and the people of god.33 tu es sacerdos in aeternum – the priest: a friend and…. 261 conclusion the priest is a gift from god’s people to god’s people and “without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: ‘go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ (mt. 28,19) and ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (lk. 22,19; cf. 1 cor. 11,24), i.e.: an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.”34 conclusively, if one takes a closer look at what modern-day christian expect from their priests, all we see, in the end, is that they have but one high expectation: they are thirsting for christ above everything else. their economic, social, and political needs are all summed up in their spiritual needs. from every and in every priest, god’s people ask for christ and have the right to receive christ, primarily through the proclamation of god’s word.35 in all, a priest must not try to connect others to god and be left out of god’s connection. he must, therefore, develop and continue to develop his human personality and priestly qualities to be a fit instrument for the tasks of today, and at the same time he must manifest a sense of community, and nothing on his parts must matter more to the people of god he is called to lead than the priest’s personal and living relationship with the master who has commissioned him.36 endnotes 1 michele cardinal pellegrino, the true priest: the priesthood as preached and practiced by saint augustine, (new york: augustinian press, 1988), p. 7 2 cf. gerald o’ collins, sj and michael keenan jones, jesus our priest: a christian approah to the priesthood of christ, (new york: oxford university press, 2010), p. 7. 3 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 5. 4 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood (new york: herder and herder, 1973), p. 106. 5 cf. matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, (usa.: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc, 2003), p. 134. 6 cf. ibid., p. 133. 262 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age 7 yves congar, “le sacerdoce du nouveau testament: mission et culte” cited in guy mansini, osb, and lawrence j. welch, the decree on the ministry and life of priests, prebyterorum ordinis, in matthew l. lamb an matthew levering (eds), vatican ii, renewal within tradition (new york: oxford university press, 2008), p. 208. 8 matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, pp. 133 – 134. 9 pastores dabo vobis, n, 6. 10 cf. ibid. 11 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 137. 12 ibid. 13 matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, p. 32. 14 cf. ibid. 15 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 137. 16 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 23. 17 ibid. 18 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, pp. 138 – 139.) 19 cf. pastores dabo vobis, n, 23. 20 edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 139. 21 ibid. 22 cf. ibid., p. 146. 23 ibid., p. 142. 24 lumen gentium, n. 18. 25 cf. edward quinn (ed), karl rahner, the priesthood, p. 150. 26 cf. ibid., p. 151. 27 ibid., pp. 151 – 152. 28 cf. ibid., pp. 156 – 157. 29 redemptoris missio, n. 13. 30 machteld reynaert, a web of power: toward a greater awareness of the complexity of power, in: annemie dillen (ed), soft shepherd or almighty pastor? power and pastoral care, (eugene, oregen: pickwick publications, 2014), pp. 8 – 9. 31 ibid., p. 9. 32 ibid. 33 cf. angelo fernandes, vatican two revisited (india: gujarat sahitya prakash, 1997), p. 79. 34 pastores dabo vobis, n, 1. 35 cf. matthew levering (ed), on the priesthood, classic and contemporary texts, p. 139. 36 cf. angelo fernandes, vatican two revisited, p. 79. index 263 index a abortion, 62 abrogated, 184 abuses, 135, 138 accountability, 223, 225, 227, 233 acquisition, 15, 184, 221 admirable, 197, 211 adolescent, 145, 147 advancement, 53, 88, 160 advent, 51, 121 affirmative, 135 affirming, 43, 49, 74, 252 agenda, 3, 79, 80 agent, 1, 14, 15, 30, 31, 142, 197, 198 ailments, 87 alignment, 141, 239 amorphous, 78 anchored, 100, 181 ancient, 37, 49, 91, 151, 181, 234 annihilation, 84 anointing, 60, 241 anthropology, 69, 82, 108, 135, 136, 145-147 anti-colonialism, 71 anti-structure, 71 apostasy, 62 apostolate, xv, 63, 129, 176, 205, 209, 210, 243 applications, 50, 167, 209 apprenticeship, 206, 208 aristotle, 29, 39, 40, 43 aspiration, 189 assembly, 62, 63, 69, 97, 115, 119, 122, 124, 128, 130, 131, 161, 210 assimilate, 163 astronomy, 37, 42, 51 attitude, 10, 24, 27, 28, 59, 62, 110, 141, 184, 187, 188, 209, 220, 257, 259 auditoriums, 72, 79 authentic, 58, 60, 70, 72, 89, 147, 154, 155, 162, 163, 178, 190, 205, 209, 241 axiom, 101, 104, 106 b baptism, 60, 103, 104, 151, 158 benefit, 60, 61, 64, 155, 157, 168, 188, 260 bishop, 41, 54, 55, 58, 65, 150, 151, 178, 186, 197, 200, 202, 218, 223-228, 233, 242-245, 256 c caution, 27, 135 celestial, 41 centrality, x, 74, 110, 122, 188, 192 charity, 59, 102, 162, 177, 191, 192, 207, 208, 220, 224, 228, 243, 255, 256, 259 chastity, 27, 141 child molester, 63 christianity, xi, xiii, 6, 35, 36, 44, 49, 67-70, 73, 74, 79, 80, 82, 88, 89, 93, 96, 98, 112, 153 clergy, 22, 42, 121, 128, 129, 131, 140, 142, 150, 151, 181, 187, 194, 212, 213, 232, 233, 243 clericalism, 172, 192, 220 combat, 91, 157 264 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age commission, xiii, 76, 129, 151, 226 commitment, 58, 68, 70, 151, 200, 202, 205, 218, 239, 252 complacent, 74, 197 concrete, 30, 122, 131, 141, 144, 146, 148, 149, 192, 202, 209, 255 conflict, 31, 36, 87, 164, 177, 246 constitution, 96, 107, 111, 112, 114, 169, 242 contemporary, 1, 8, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 31, 36, 50, 68, 75, 80, 94, 111, 113, 118, 121, 134, 168, 170-172, 174, 178, 182, 184, 188, 190, 193, 221, 261, 262 context, 7, 14, 16, 18, 71, 103, 176, 178 contrary, 5, 10, 11, 103, 109, 128, 217, 257 conviction, 41, 72, 108, 110, 127 cosmology, 37, 38, 50 creator, 37, 40, 47, 50, 88 curriculum, 32, 77, 129, 146, 174, 184 cybercrime, 155, 157, 169 d darkness, 4, 85, 102, 197 deacons, 54, 57, 137, 138, 150, 152, 202, 240, 244, 245 deceit, 59, 61 deficiencies, 138, 191 demonic, 80, 88 dialogue, 43, 74, 79, 82, 137, 147, 151-153, 167, 176, 204, 218, 229, 230, 242, 243 dimension, 49, 60, 84, 87, 101, 188, 206, 209, 222, 230 diocese, xii-xvi, 20, 55, 64, 65, 100, 151, 195, 201, 206, 222, 226, 227, 229, 231, 232, 243, 244 discernment, 3, 53-57, 65, 66, 148, 150, 169, 173, 175, 180, 187189, 191, 201, 203 discipleship, 96, 143, 186-189, 192, 202, 215 disciplines, 36, 50, 107, 108, 146, 147, 151, 238, 247 discoveries, 135, 136, 145, 146, 148, 150, 192 distinction, 31, 71, 72, 98, 156, 236, 238 diversity, 68, 74, 114, 241 docility, 55 dominican, 40, 41 dynamic, 84, 171, 216, 241 e ecclesiastical, 51, 58, 74, 105-108, 112, 172, 175, 176, 179, 215, 222, 244, 245 effective, 25, 122, 126, 146, 167, 184, 193, 204, 230, 236-238, 243, 246 embodied, 143, 145, 147, 148 embodiment, 145, 146 embracing, 137, 149, 257 emergence, 71, 72, 101, 111 emotions, 55, 63, 85, 145, 189, 258 encouragement, 54, 119, 123, 225 endeavour, 39, 41, 49, 55, 130 endowed, 23, 160, 202, 257 endowments, 31, 62 enlightenment, 3, 4, 6, 49, 56, 105 enriched, 36, 123 epistemology, vii, xiv, xvi equipped, 79, 106, 108, 129, 174, 185 era, 25, 44, 60, 62, 69, 118-120, 142, 143, 169, 171 index 265 essential, viii, 30, 33, 56, 60, 77, 78, 99, 110, 120, 141, 162, 173, 180, 204, 246, 252 eternal, 28, 29, 46, 92, 93, 105, 111, 116, 244 etymology, 26, 65, 84, 114, 115 evaluation, 8, 26, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 184, 190, 201, 226 evangelical, xv, 68, 72, 73, 82, 211, 258 evidence, 32, 36, 40, 60, 61, 64, 135, 150, 236 evil, 30, 122, 143, 145, 154, 178, 191 exhortation, 34, 62, 117, 120, 124, 125, 138, 152, 169, 170, 206, 216, 232, 243 existential, 117, 124, 142, 147, 195, 211 exorcism, 103, 104 experiments, 42, 43, 45 expression, 30, 32, 40, 48, 142, 164, 189, 211, 250 exsufflation, 103, 104 f facilitate, 12, 126, 184, 228 faith, 22-27, 31-36, 40, 44, 47, 50, 51, 56, 57, 60, 61, 69, 74, 75, 78, 84, 85, 89, 93-97, 99, 101, 102, 104-106, 108, 110, 116, 117, 119, 121, 122, 124, 128, 130, 132, 133, 147, 158, 160, 162, 181, 186, 191, 195, 201, 206, 208, 210, 211, 216, 218, 219, 244, 247, 252, 253, 257, 258 faithful, 23, 37, 38, 60, 64, 113116, 121, 124, 126, 128, 151, 158, 172, 173, 178, 187, 190, 197, 200, 202, 203, 210, 220, 242, 244, 245, 251, 253, 259 fluidity, 91, 136 formation, i, v, vii-xii, 1-3, 7-13, 16, 18, 20-25, 28, 32, 33, 35, 50, 53-59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 70, 84, 85, 91, 100, 101, 106110, 129, 130, 134, 138-143, 146, 148, 149, 151, 154, 155, 158-168, 170-232, 257, 258 fornication, 59, 62 g general overseers, 69, 80 genuine love, 55, 256 globalization, 78, 211 grace, 23, 85, 102, 103, 111, 130, 159, 180, 186, 187, 193, 208, 212, 254, 256 greed, 59, 62 h harmony, 35, 144 hazardous, 166, 189 healings, 69, 80, 88 hereditary, 45, 179 hierarchical, 78, 260 holy eucharist, 60, 210 holy, 23, 37, 43, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 66, 70, 81, 102, 103, 105, 114, 117, 130, 151, 154, 167, 173, 175, 186-188, 194, 197, 199, 208, 210, 212, 215, 228, 231, 255, 256 homiletics, 77, 113, 115, 120, 127, 129 homily, 113-132, 194, 210, 233 homosexual, 59, 61, 62, 66, 135, 150 honest, 108, 134, 135, 140, 147, 150, 176, 189, 205, 206, 247 humankind, 35, 36 humiliation, 71, 75, 165 266 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age i illegal, 73, 157 immune, 4, 142 impediments, 61, 62 implication, 7, 9, 104, 163-166, 259 impoverished, 76, 86 improvement, 131, 221, 226, 228, 230 impulse, 82, 161, 174 incarnate, 159, 208 independent, xv, 15, 68, 69, 71, 76, 81, 82 indigenous, 16, 71, 72, 76, 81, 82, 88, 153 indispensable, 101, 129, 167, 179, 187, 220, 231 influence, v, viii, 2, 6, 9-11, 40, 55, 59, 60, 63, 94, 105, 127, 131, 154, 164, 168, 177, 188, 203, 236, 238 initiation, 61, 87, 112 innate, 30, 138 institutional, 191, 256 integration, 33, 100, 192, 196, 207, 209, 211, 217, 230, 237, 247, 248 integrity, 25, 96, 151, 155, 165, 171, 173, 202 intellectual, 17, 24, 26, 29, 36, 47, 57, 62, 79, 92, 101, 139, 140, 149, 161, 162, 165, 175, 179, 180, 184, 185, 188, 202, 204, 206, 207, 209, 215-217, 219, 221, 222, 225, 229, 231, 254, 258 intelligence, 41, 63, 142, 159 intimate, 47, 208, 210, 212, 243, 255, 259 invalid, 4, 145 k kerygmatic, 114, 116 l lacunae, 146, 220 leadership, 55, 57, 59, 60, 62, 65, 79, 82, 138, 142, 188, 193, 234-243, 245-249 linguistic, 139, 147 liturgical, 24, 59, 62, 63, 65, 94, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 108, 110-133, 185, 194, 209, 210, 242, 245 liturgy, 63, 100-121, 123-128, 130, 132, 133, 166, 177, 210, 227, 242 lying, 59, 61, 87 m magisterium, 103, 120, 130, 131, 161, 165 malicious, 63, 157 materialism, 53, 59, 62, 178 maxim, 101, 104-106, 110, 111 meditation, 121, 162, 209 metaphysical, 28, 92, 94, 95, 136, 144 migrants, 72, 73 mission, 32, 57, 59, 60, 63, 64, 68, 70-72, 81, 131, 158, 159, 174, 182, 183, 185, 190, 191, 199, 207, 211, 217, 219, 220, 242, 252, 256, 259, 261, 262 modernity, 72, 82, 86, 89 modification, 104, 111 monastery, 44, 45 moral exhortation, 117, 125 morality, 36, 49, 50, 169, 177, 178 mutual, 12, 55, 76, 78, 106, 124, 219, 239, 254, 255 index 267 mystery, 59, 74, 95, 106-109, 115117, 119, 121-124, 128, 131, 133, 175, 199, 209, 251 n natural, 22, 30, 31, 37, 49-51, 56, 58, 62, 70, 143, 144, 146, 147, 174, 188, 196, 207, 208, 215, 216, 240, 254 neglect, 107, 160 nonchalant, 59, 62 nurturing, 32, 59, 147, 196, 200, 244, 257 o obligation, 54, 163, 199, 200, 210, 211, 219, 227 observable, 45, 47, 57, 137 openness, 5, 9, 12, 13, 55, 61, 189, 204 opine, 140, 147 oppression, 79, 150 orientation, 56, 84-86, 89, 90, 98, 100, 108, 140, 149, 182, 190, 191, 227 overarching, 30, 91 p paradoxical, 145 paramount, 73, 115, 120, 173 parish, 24, 58, 63, 65, 121, 125128, 175, 176, 187, 192, 195198, 200-203, 205-213, 234, 242-247, 249 parishioners, 127, 203, 210, 211, 220, 231, 259 patriarchal, 6, 63, 147 pedagogical approach, 185, 186 penance, 60, 123 pentecostal, 68-75, 78, 80-83, 8891, 93-95, 97, 127, 130 pentecostalism, 67-75, 77-83, 88, 90, 91, 97 perceive, 45, 71, 139, 166, 229, 236 permanent, 58, 84, 165, 186, 216, 219, 223, 224, 226, 232 persuasion, 72, 80, 114, 115 pertinent, 25, 107, 109, 160, 184, 185, 190, 191, 211 plagiarism, 154, 166 pleasure, 125, 148, 152, 153 possibility, 17, 59, 137, 218 potential, 35, 156, 252 pragmatic, 70, 141, 144, 147, 148, 153 prayerfulness, 55, 228 preserve, 60, 171, 180 prevents, 124, 128 previously, 79, 93, 143, 157 priest, viii, xii-xvi priesthood, i, v, vii, x, 3, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 33, 35, 45, 53-65, 100, 109, 141, 143, 146, 148-150, 155, 161-168, 171, 173, 175179, 181, 182, 184, 187, 189192, 194, 195, 197, 198, 200203, 206, 210-212, 214, 215, 242-244, 250-252, 258, 261, 262 priority, 200, 207 probability, 44, 45 proclamation, 59, 62, 70, 117, 122, 124, 159, 160, 167, 210, 251, 253, 259, 261 progressive, 69, 136, 148, 191, 202 pronouncement, 91, 154 prophetic, 116, 143 prosper, 102, 103 prosperity, 88, 97, 259 protestant, 114 prudent, 57, 63 psychedelic, 98 268 formation, the catholic priesthood and the modern age psychic illness, 62 puberty, 145, 148 r racism, 70, 150 rationality, 91, 92, 95 raucousness, 69 reappraisal, 186 reconciliation, 227 recruitment, 58, 64, 108, 180 redeemer, 113 redundancy, 192 reflection, 26, 32, 37, 48, 59, 69, 74, 100, 101, 103, 106, 109, 110, 118, 130, 142, 171, 197, 198 renaissance, 3, 41, 53 repercussions, 160, 215 responsibility, 54, 55, 78, 105, 108, 121, 129, 146, 148, 150, 159, 160, 168, 178, 199, 204, 205, 218, 220, 224-228, 238, 242, 243, 245-247 revamping, 138, 139 reverberate, 79 revivals, 69, 71, 79 ripple, 167 s sacraments, 24, 59, 61, 62, 114, 117, 119, 120, 124, 130, 159, 230, 252 sacred, 24, 36, 54, 57, 58, 60, 62, 98, 102, 105, 107, 108, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 120, 121, 129, 131-133, 176, 197, 208, 224, 231, 242, 257-259 sacrifice, 24, 58, 167, 173, 196, 210, 253, 256, 260, 261 scandal, 63, 74, 138, 151, 165 scandalous, 166 scholastic, 70, 71 scripture, xiv, 25, 33, 82, 102, 107, 110, 114-116, 118-121, 126, 128, 129 sectarianism, 74 self-sufficiency, 191 sensitivity, 206, 229, 230 service, 25, 33, 50, 58, 60, 61, 65, 151, 162, 169, 170, 186, 197, 198, 206, 207, 216, 217, 226, 228, 232, 243, 247, 250, 251, 253, 255, 257, 258, 260 sexuality, 135-137, 139, 141-143, 145-147, 230 shame, 96, 146 sincerity, 1, 55, 188, 253 solicitude, 209, 223, 224 solidarity, 144, 252, 259 specific, 5, 23, 25, 30, 67, 114, 129, 147, 192, 203, 221, 226, 230, 239, 244, 247, 251, 252, 256 specificity, 70, 192 spectrum, 36, 84, 143, 149 spiritual training, 208 spirituality, 23, 71, 77, 80, 166, 167, 185, 208, 209, 255 stealing, 59, 61, 64 sublime, 224, 246 success, 20, 88, 91, 140, 155, 156, 204 sufficient, 17, 59, 61, 63, 121, 185, 235 suicides, 87 suitability, 3, 54, 56, 57, 61, 63, 65 supernatural, 56, 58, 62, 144, 188, 255, 256 supervision, 176, 206, 210, 226 sympathy, 59, 64 t tendencies, 59, 61, 62, 66, 178, 192 index 269 testament, 37, 38, 50, 60, 92, 97, 104, 109, 118, 119, 158, 198, 206, 250, 262 theological, 37, 39, 44, 50, 61, 70, 71, 73-76, 78, 80, 81, 92, 9597, 107, 111, 115, 116, 118, 129, 132, 135, 141, 143-149, 151, 167, 169, 170, 176, 181, 184, 185, 187, 206, 213, 216 tongues, 74, 80, 82, 88 traditional christianity, 68, 79 transcendent, 48, 92 transparency, 150, 247 u ultimate, 31, 39, 62, 70, 82, 142 unilateral, 184, 187 union, 45, 67, 82, 166, 207, 208, 256 unprecedented, 75, 181 utilize, 160, 224, 226 v vatican, 42, 96, 106, 109, 111, 114, 121, 123, 129, 136, 138, 147, 152, 153, 161, 169, 173, 175, 180, 193, 194, 212, 213, 232, 242, 262 vibrant, 71, 192, 244, 249 vigour, 120, 224 w welfare, 83, 144, 203, 218, 219, 226, 243 wholeheartedly, 108, 121, 205 witness, 61, 78, 108, 119, 124, 188, 216, 220, 237, 253 x xenophobia, 87, 150 i formation of the human person in the 21st century proceedings of the 2nd international conference seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, edo state, nigeria (march 18th – 20th, 2020) editors gregory ogbenika and francis ikhianosime ii formation of the human person in the 21st century, proceedings of the 2nd international conference of the seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, edo state, nigeria. copyright © seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, 2021 floreat systems publications this work is subject to copyright. all rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms, or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known, or hereafter developed. the use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademark, service marks, etc., in this publication, does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and, therefore, free for general use. the publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the device and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. neither the publisher nor the authors nor the editor gives a warranty, express or implied, concerning the materials contained herein, or for any errors or omissions that have been made. the ideas contained herein are not necessarily those of the editor(s), but those of the author(s). isbn printed in nigeria by: floreat systems, 30 airport road, benin city, edo state. iii contents acknowledgements viii editorial foreword x welcome address to all the participants of the 2nd international conference very rev. fr. matthew ihensekhien, ph.d. xiii opening address: formation of the human person for priestly ministry in the 21st century most rev. dr. francis obafemi adesina, bishop of ijebu-ode xv keynote address: priestly formation in the 21st century: new trends and perspectives most rev. dr. michael odogwu elue, bishop of issele-uku xix commissioned papers 1. let the real feyerabend please stand: interrogating the ontological basis for a post-modernist epistemology of the human person prof. isaac e. ukpokolo 1 2. what sayest thou of thyself? some remarks on the entanglement of life and narration and its ethical implications for the philosophical canon. bjorn freter, ph.d 12 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 3. hermeneutic of continuity and theological formation francis ‘kunle adedara, stl, ph.d 21 4. formation in ritual studies: towards a better appreciation of catholic sacramental system olumuyiwa anthony omodunbi 36 iv formation of the human person in the 21st century 5. priestly vocation and discernment: espousing the gamalian approch in spiritual formation peter ajayi wojuaye 57 6. the relevance of experiential knowledge of jesus in seminary formation in the light of john 14:1-14 vincent ojo, ph.d 74 7. the blindness of material wealth in mark 10:17-27: a lesson for the seminarian of the 21st century. rex osagie, mth 86 8. discernment in the formation of future priests in a transition period: an examination of the vocation of samuel (1 sam. 3: 1-10) michael sola omojola, std 98 9. faith, formation, and vocationany link? amuluche-greg. nnamani, ph.d 121 10. priestly identity and new evangelization: resolving deficits in priestly identity through authentic patrology. clement ajibolade 136 11. harnessing our resources for the formation of seminarians to the priesthood in the post-modern age peter egbe, ph.d 148 12. the principles of formation of candidates for the catholic priesthood in optatam totius, pastores dabo vobis, and ratio fundamentalis institionis sacerdotalis as paradigmatic of human formation. anthony o. igbekele, sls, sld 165 13. the dialectics of auto-guided formation: the seminarian as an agent of formation anselm k. jimoh, ph.d 183 14. formation to the priesthood: forming the formators edwin n.omorogbe, ph. d 194 contents v 15. promoting a seminary formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry idahosa amadasu, ph.d 207 16. catholic social teaching on immigration and the movement of peoples prof. anthony kanu, mike bazza, ph.d and immaculata omojola, ph.d. 219 section 2: philosophical perspectives and human formation 17. man, religion and philosophy: towards a normative vision of the human person anthony ifechukwude akalue 229 18. husserlian ‘epoche’ and the expansion of human knowledge sylvester idemudia odia, ph.d. 247 19. an ethical appraisal of the family as an agent of priestly formation in africa gregory ebalu ogbenika, ph.d and gideon adeniji 255 20. personhood and formation: a philosophical insight from african perspective francis fabidun 270 21. a philosophical inquiry on the place of virtue ethics in human formation for the catholic priesthood in the 21st century. williams olorunfemi aso, ph.d. 284 22. sex slavery as dehumanisation: a contextual appraisal in martin buber’s dialogic approach. benedict egbuchunam 298 23. what can a woman know? epistemic bias as depersonalisation. francis eshemomoh ikhianosime 312 vi formation of the human person in the 21st century 24. the human person in yoruba culture and philosophy prof. anthony kanu, immaculate omojola, ph.d and mike bazza, ph.d 327 section 3: religious/ socio-cultural perspectives and human formation. 25. religion and human values: an inquisition of the afro-centric imperative prof. john afiagbokhai onimhawo and cyril osilama adamu, ph.d 337 26. human formation, religion and violence: a critical analysis of an unholy alliance john segun odeyemi, ph.d 356 27. formation of the christian youth and its implication on integral development in the nigerian society prof. felix ehimare enegho 370 28. the concept of sacrifice in yoruba religion and culture prof. anthony kanu, immaculata omojola, ph.d and mike bazza, ph.d 383 29. the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in the theological formation of seminarians today chris obi, ph.d 391 30. islam and the formation of catholic priests in nigeria emmanuel ukpebor 407 31. impact of migration on women and children prof. anthony kanu, immaculata omojola, ph.d and mike bazza, ph.d 419 32. formation of the youth and its implication on national development christopher osamede osawaru 432 contents vii 33. the religious roles on youth development in national development chikodi josiah wachukwu, ph.d 451 34. impact of religion on societal value development chikodi josiah wachukwu, ph.d 463 35. formation of the youth and its implication for national development. praise korie 475 36. seminary formation and modern means of communication: issues and possibilities hilary oseabulu odenore, ph.d 487 37. women in yoruba religion and culture prof. anthony kanu, immaculata omojola, ph.d and mike bazza, ph.d 504 communique of the conference 511 viii acknowledgements here are many people worthy of thanks both for the success of the 2nd international conference held at the seminary of all saints uhiele-ekpoma, edo state, nigeria, as well as for the publication of this book. the second international conference of the seminary was organized at an auspicious time of the 25th anniversary of the seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. hence, we begin our appreciation to god almighty for his sustenance and blessings for the past twenty-five years. we also thank god for the success of the 2nd international conference which was held from march 18th20th, 2020. we owe immense thanks to our proprietors, the archbishops and bishops of the lagos, benin and ibadan ecclesiastical provinces, for their overwhelming support and encouragement these past years. we are unreservedly thankful especially to most rev. dr. donatus ogun, osa, the bishop of uromi where our seminary is domiciled. we thank him for declaring the ceremony opened. we are similarly thankful to the most rev. dr. francis adesina, the bishop of ijebu-ode for his inspiring opening address at the conference. in the same vein, we thank exceedingly, the most rev. dr. michael odogwu elue, the bishop of issele-uku and chairman of our seminary’s commission for giving the keynote address at the conference. we also thank our dynamic rector, the very rev. fr. dr. matthew ihensekhien, whose leadership has seen the realization of some of these great feats, especially this conference. the same goes to the cohesive community of formators whose useful suggestions and collaboration were instrumental to the success of both the conference and this book. we thank, in no small measure, the commissioned speakers: prof. isaac ukpokolo of the university of ibadan, prof. agatha eguavoen of the ambrose alli university, ekpoma and dr. bjorn freter, an independent scholar from knoxville, tennessee, united states of america for their informed contribution and participation at the conference. we also thank other participants, from within and outside nigeria for their robust thoughts and informed contribution to the theme of the conference. we thank all the various professors from different institutions who helped to facilitate different sessions at the conference and who helped to moderate some of the papers which have been published in this volume. we are also thankful to the following for their roles towards putting this conference proceeding together, rev. fr. dr. michael t acknowledgements ix omojola, the chairman of the silver jubilee, the chairman and secretary of the 2nd international conference, rev. fr. dr. gregory ogbenika and rev. fr. francis ikhianosime respectively. we also thank mr. fashanu emmanuel for his immense assistance during the editorial process of this work. to god be the glory for making the conference and this publication possible. editors. x editorial foreword he 21st century is markedly identified by great discoveries in science and technology that it has christened as the age of information technology. regardless of the advancement of knowledge in this century with mind-blowing discoveries like electric, driverless cars, cryptocurrency, 3d technologies and e-technologies like e-readers and e-cigarettes, the human person instead of advancing, is palpably and grossly undermined. while there is so much advancement in human reason which is meant to bring about a better place and dignity for the human person, paradoxically, the cost of the human person is more cheapened more than ever. the scandal of technological advancement is that, the rise in human knowledge has not brought about a better quality of life and a more secured world of the human person. rather, the world has become more perilous. more and more, the purpose of man is diminished. for instance, in nigeria, we hear of harrowing experiences which not only diminish respect for human life, but also completely obliterate respect for the human dignity and person. there are daily orgies of violence and savagery brutality to the human person. francis ikhianosime captures the sad account and contempt for human life in nigeria in the following words: “the human person has been pillaged from every side in nigeria. the news of bloodbath occasioned from cult actions and restive youth violence, through to the chequered insurgency of boko haram insurgency and with its unbridled carnages, a smouldering band of herdsmen who maim and kill with reckless abandon and sometimes plunder an entire community without apprehension, broad-day marauding armed robbery and gory scenes of police brutality with heart-wrenching scenes and barbarity, sporadic mob-action of youths against perceived criminals, intermittent ethnic violence with sometimes unthinkable and profound bestiality on others, human life in nigeria is simply brutish and short. the cost of human life is obviously on a deficit. nigeria has become a charged zoned of violence. the respect for the human person and dignity is at a contemptible ebb in nigeria” (francis ikhianosime, “the word of god and the sanctity of human life in nigeria”, manual for national laity council, 2020). these experiences mirror the overall challenges to the human person globally. t editorial foreword xi the consequent effect is that the human person today feels more disintegrated, claustrophobic and small. man, more than ever before, is in need of meaning. the search for meaning has led many back to god through religion. while some have argued that part of the pillaging of the human person is the politicisation of religion, and so religion has no place in reclaiming the human person, others, think, religion remains a vehicle for reclaiming the place of man and his purpose in the world. arguably, the cost and value of man has been lost, hence, there is the need to redefine what it means to be human in the 21st century. the issues are axiological, philosophical and even theological. there is need for a reappreciation of the human person in the world of today and only a transvaluation of values can help. this task is imminent and onerous, hence, the focus on the formation of the human person in the 21st century in our conference. why this topic is so important is because, at the centre of any authentic value or quality, would be human formation. in priestly formation, human formation holds the pride of being the pivot for all other aspects of fomation. if the human person is not well formed, every other formation including, the spritual, pastoral or intellectual would be resting on a jaundiced foundation. therefore, the need to have a thorough human formation not just for priestly formation, but for all human members of the society is at the heart of reclaiming the soul of the human person in the world of today. if there is a proper formation of the human person, the values of life, peace and a healthy environment would be sustained. once, there is a proper formation of the human person, then, man can properly see all those ways that debases him in the society, and seek ways to reclaiming it. this is the attraction to the appeal for the formation of the human person in the 21st century. this volume covers contributions on the subject matter. the papers presented at the conference which largely have been edited and rearranged according to special sections cover ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formaton, philosophical perspectives and human formation and then, religious/socio-cultural perspective and human formation. the issues discussed generally oscillate on the need to reposition the human person to his rightful place in the world. they, generally seek to draw on normative views of the human person which will bring about right living and peaceful and cohesive existence amongst all humans. a large part of contributions have devoted attention to seminary formation, since the seminary, being a formation house, aims to train people who would be leaders and leaven in a sin-sick world. the keynote address and opening addresses set the tone for the conversation, while, the commissioned papers also further inspired new insight for this conversation. other contributions, have approach the subject matter xii formation of the human person in the 21st century from different sides, bring about a beautiful tapestry of rich resources on the subject matter, which we have here handy in this volume. in all, these papers offer theoretical basis for a reclaiming of the place of man in the 21st century. gregory ogbenika and francis ikhianosime. editors xiii rector’s welcome address to the participants of the 2nd international conference held at the seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma-nigeria, from 18th– 20th march, 2020, with the theme “formation of the human person in the 21st century” n behalf of the all saints family, i warmly and respectfully welcome our highly-esteemed bishops, distinguished guests, participants, each and all of you, to our seminary, the seminary of all saints in uhiele-ekpoma, edo state, nigeria and to this 2nd international conference, which has as its theme “formation of the human person in the 21st century”. you are here at a time of joy and celebration in the seminary. indeed, we celebrate the silver jubilee of our existence (1995-2020) both as a religious and an academic institution. so relax, celebrate and rejoice with us. now, why did the seminary decide to celebrate and discuss at the same time an issue of great complexity like human formation? why did the seminary decide to reflect on the formation and moulding of the human person to become christlike and christocentric? what are the nature, contents, challenges of the relations and roles that both the church and the state play in human formation? we have noticed that despite the fact that the famous universal declaration of human rights was adopted by the united nations general assembly at its third session on 10th december 1948 and later signed into law, the human person remains threatened in the world of today. the geometrical advancement in science and technology, which ordinarily should have been at the service of man, seems to practically make the human person a slave, unsafe and satisfied with the erosion of standards. the free market economics which have grown triumphant with the demise of communism, poverty, etc. have contributed to the erosion of values and making people live an unbearable life that unceasingly chips away on their dignity. the human person is a psychosomatic, theoandric entity with infinite capabilities, yet limited and laced with inherent crises. today, this human person is at a crossroad on account of some emerging challenging trends like individualism, o xiv formation of the human person in the 21st century post-modernism, relativism, materialism, loss of the sense of the sacred, etc. in the face of all these, there is the urgent need to evaluate the formation of the human today, in our world, in our church. no wonder gaudium et spes announced the need for a new birth of humanism: “a new humanism where man is defined before all else by his responsibility to his brothers and at the court of history” (gs 55). truly the human person should be formed in such a way that all things on earth should be ordained to his centre and summit. in a sense, the human person is the pivot of history, the climax, the chief actor on the theatre of world history and the contact point between the past, present and the future. the human person is superior to the order of things, but remains their unifying factor and their crown so, this is one reason why, as the seminary rejoices and celebrates 25 years of existence as an ecclesiastical institution, she has chosen, also, to call together scholars of repute from church, state and other institutions to reflect on the theme of the formation of the human person. it is my hope that this conference would be able to address this theme and its attending questions in some significant ways. it is hoped that by the end of this international conference, we would have enriched ourselves and acquired better views for human formation, which we can adopt, hopefully, in our various institutions, which we represent, and humanity will be better served as a result by all of us. i wish all of us exciting and purposeful deliberations. once again, i welcome you to this 2nd international conference in our seminary and may god bless your stay here. amen. very rev. fr. matthew ihensekhien, ph.d. rector march 18, 2020 xv opening address by the chairman of the conference, most rev. francis obafemi adesina, bishop of ijebu-ode diocese. formation of the human person for priestly ministry in 21st century nigeria historical context he 21st century is complex, sophisticated, ‘global’, ‘fast’ and amazingly interconnected. it is a world that questions: it is curious and challenges even age long traditional institutions, structures and beliefs. there seems to be an unrelenting battle by many forces, for the soul and heart of the 21st century world. on one end of the spectrum are matters of technology, ecology, morality, and faith. on the other end are challenges of violence, crime, and extremism, all intricately parked at the core of the 21st century. the tale of the world today is a paradox of two polar realities; of pain and progress. there is the reality of poverty, slavery, lack, disasters, terrorism, environmental collapse, religious fanaticism and the culture of death (abortion, suicide and assisted suicide). there is also the reality of populism, climate change, technological advancement, data revolution, rapacious interest in expanding communication, commerce, adventure, and high speed social-media interaction. the 21st century is a world where there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor, exponential population increase, discontent with traditional faith-structures (especially among young people), religious bigotry, political impasse, nepotism, corruption, issues of national unity (in the case of nigeria, even after 106 years of amalgamation). a world of increasing craze for prosperity, intense love for material possessions, liberalism, subtle exclusion of god from social life, redefinition of human sexuality, radically changing family structures, economic and cyber warfare, multicultural expansionism, etc. it is in this polarized world that the church continues to minister. it is in this ‘confused’ milieu that the catholic priest is called to witness with unchanging values and graces of the gospel to the ever evolving, discontent and disparaging world. with all these happening, the 21st century mindset poses a grave danger, if untamed, to traditional institutions including the church. there is a possibility that the church may become ‘5,000 miles wide in size, but only 5 inches deep in faith’. t xvi formation of the human person in the 21st century there is a temptation to replace quality with quantity, to replace value with number, depth with size, and content with package. it is therefore pertinent and wise to review and evaluate the processes and overall mode of priestly formation in this century in the face of global and local realities that have become part of society in the 21st century. as church with a unique mandate to witness to the gospel in nigeria and beyond, it is even more apt for us to consider the realities of the 21st century and the challenges that human formation for the priestly ministry faces or is bound to face. constant prayerful evaluation of our processes and mode of training is necessary for us to respond to the needs of our time. it is also very important for formation of priests in nigeria to be constantly juxtaposed with the standards the church has set for priestly training. we need to ask and constantly confirm that what we are doing and how we are doing it, is what and how the church wants it done. human formation of candidates to the sacred priesthood according to the church. from optatam totius and prebyterorun ordinis of vatican ii to patores dabo vobis of st. john paul ii and to the new ratio fundamentalis instutionis sacerdotalis — “the gift of the priestly vocation” of pope francis, the council fathers and all church documents emphasize the importance and centrality of human formation. it is the foundation of all priestly formation. human formation promotes the integral growth of the person and allows the integration of all its dimensions physical, psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. the objective of human formation is to achieve a mature and balanced personality. to use the word of pope francis, human formation is to transform “the uncut diamonds” of the formatees, patiently and carefully, respecting their conscience, so that they may shine among the people of god" as we all know that every human person grows within the context of a community. the family is the first place for the formation of the human person. family bonds are very essential for reinforcing healthy self-esteem and balanced personality. it is within the context of a healthy family that a healthy priestly or religious vocation is being nurtured. the family referred to as the domestic church is expected to inculcate earliest form of formation into every child. simple acts of prayer, reverence for the sacred and respect for moral laws are first learned in the family. the child receives baptism from the church and proceeds to further understand the faith through catechesis. having completed the sacraments of initiation, a child who is called to the priesthood or religious life would begin the priestly training in the seminary. opening address by most rev. francis obafemi adesina xvii from my personal experience of being a formator in a major seminary, i have come to the conclusion that when the christian family is healthy, good vocations emerge. after all, some of the deadly traits we notice in some seminarians are defects resulting from family set-up or societal backgrounds: aversion for truth telling; irresponsible life style; lack of commitment; sexual immaturity and abuses, mistrust of authority and disconnection from and discontent with the teaching, directive or spirituality of the church, etc. according to the 2nd vatican council, “priestly training should aim at the development of a system of training for the proper degree of human maturity, stability of character, ability to make carefully weighted decisions, sound judgment of events and people, self control, strength of character and those good qualities proper to christ's ministersincerity, constant love of justice, fidelity to one’s promises, courtesy in deeds, modesty and charity in speech.” it is therefore required that the seminary undertakes a careful, vigilant enquiry of every student with due consideration for age and development. the seminary should discern the motive, freedom of choice, aptitude for undertaking the obligations of the priestly life (pastoral, ecclesial, canonical), as well as the spiritual, moral, and intellectual adequacy of every seminarian. those not suited to the ministry are to be guided with fatherly kindness without derailing from the universal call to christian vocation. the priestly formation in the 21st century nigeria must therefore take seriously the discernment of vocation of seminarians in order to ascertain that, their values and motivation for the priesthood are not identical with the average gospel peddler who simply wants to be prosperous. the seminary and the dioceses must do more to confirm that seminarians love only what the church prescribes and follows what the church teaches. the agenda for the priesthood has never been and will never be about owning exotic cars; clothes, shoes, i-phones; nor about comfort, or "lucrative places of assignment.” rather, it is about service, prayer, penance, sacrifice and salvation of souls. the ultimate life sacrifice of late sr. henrietta alokha, ssh at the recent pipe-line explosion in abule-ado shows the courage c: a true shepherd, who would not abandon the flock in moment of danger. on 9th may, 2019, pope francis promulgated a motu proprio, vos estis lux mundi (you are the light of the world) which establishes new procedural norms to combat sexual abuse and to ensure that bishops and religious superiors are very well accountable for their attitude and approach to the handling of cases of sexual abuse. in the light of this new development, it will be a great disservice to the church and a grave error, xviii formation of the human person in the 21st century if seminarians are ill-prepared to respond and handle the broad scope of sexual abuse issues (including the attendant legal and ecclesiastical sanctions therewith). priestly formation we offer in the 21st century in our seminaries should afford seminarians specific, direct, consistent, holistic and versatile education on the dangers and implication of sexual abuse. they should be guided to avoid it or any semblance of it. furthermore, seminarians should be educated on measures on protecting themselves even from possible allegations and to shun any kind of behaviour that may illicit concern on this matter, or that may question the integrity of the church. it is foolhardy to think that sexual abuse issues is a matter for europe and not an african problem as some tend to think. candidates for the priesthood should be aware of the dangers and complexities of sexual abuse; so they can dispose themselves to escape the damages that sexual abuse brings conclusion the church in nigeria needs priests who can engage the world with the values of the kingdom; priest who can transform the present order with the powerful message of christ, we need priests who can preach the word of god with zeal and enthusiasm and conviction, priests who can meditate an the word of god, priests who can lead in vocal prayers with power from heaven. we need priests who can celebrate the sacraments with faith and action, not with some mechanical, cold, and depressing demeanor. we need priests who can engage the people of god and make them believe they have all the answers in the catholic church, so that they do not need to look for answers elsewhere the church m nigeria needs priests, who know what they are doing, who can defend the faith. we need priests who can manage their emotions and sexuality. we need priests who are not ruled by anger, bitterness, or malice. we need priests who are not always on their "highhorses’. we need priests who can relate with confidence and charity towards all men, christians, muslims, and traditionalists alike. we need good, happy, efficient, holy, loyal, hardworking, and compassionate priests. we need priests like christ. this is the task of the seminary at this time in nigeria, it is a great task but it is not impossible. all of us must do our part by giving our best to christ and his church we must pay more attention to every aspect of human formation, because the times are changing, demands are higher, and the stake is grave. + most rev. francis obafemi adesina bishop of ijebu-ode xix keynote address by most. rev. dr. michael odogwu elue bishop of issele-uku diocese priestly formation in the 21st century: new trends and perspectives your excellencies monsignori rev. fathers rev. brothers and sisters my dear brothers and sisters i stand before you as the representative of the cardinal, the archbishops and bishops of the three ecclesiastical provinces of lagos, ibadan and benin city, who are the proprietors of the seminary of all saints, the venue of this jubilee international conference on “priestly formation in the 21st century: new trends and perspective”. in their names, i welcome you all very warmly to our country, to our provinces and particularly to the only seminary in nigeria, which has the whole host of angels and saints in heaven as her patrons and patronesses. on behalf of our three provinces, i express my gratitude to you all for having chosen this seminary that is located in our province and is marking her 25 years of existence here, as the venue for this all important gathering and to discuss this equally important topic and i hope that you will all experience the rare but real hospitality offered by the community of saints. as you know, while the saints in heaven guide us, those of us here in this seminary or those who have anything to do with it, have direct admission to the community of saints later in heaven. i also hope that the sharing of views and ideas and celebrations which will take place amongst us will not only be an expression of the solidarity which is characteristic of the christian family, but also a significant step forward in our mission to function optimally and updatedly in the most important task of forming young men for the sacred priesthood. the business of the seminary is to form good catholic men for the ministerial priesthood. the task of seminary formators is to ensure that candidates were thoroughly grounded in theological truths and priestly spirituality with clear expectations in terms of doctrinal orthodoxy, liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly spirituality with an eye to the vicissitudes and vagaries of the time and place. the xx formation of the human person in the 21st century preoccupation of the formators in the seminary is how to form the seminarians for optimum efficiency and pastoral effectiveness as priests. the zealous and dedicated formators, therefore, are constantly in search of enhanced and updated software to carry out this duty satisfactorily. such conference as for which we are gathered and such themes as are to be considered, are some of those serious efforts that the formators in the seminary make to maintain their relevance and utility and to be sure that they are operating at the highest level with updated functionality. these efforts in the seminary by formators in the seminary, whose conditions of service are not the best in the world, are what convince the proprietors of the seminary and the church generally that the formators in the seminary are people who believe what they teach, namely, that the reward for every good work and even for every genuine effort, is in heaven. my opinion about how to proceed in this matter is to look at the topic of this conference very well and relativize the concepts very well to put us face to face with what the crux of the matter is. while the formation of the catholic priests has the same objective, the context, time, and methods for doing it have continued to change. now, let me attempt a relativization of the concepts of new trends and perspectives. every difficulty is relative to the person who has it. from the beginning of christianity until now, there have always been challenges which generations after generations of christians have had to face. and as we all know, the time of their facing these challenges was their contemporary society, their 21st century. so, it is not really an excuse to appeal either to challenges or to contemporary society for our inability to carry out and carry on this important function of the formation of our seminarians and priests. let me cite this example to buttress this relativity of challenges and contemporary society that i am talking about. my grandmother, who was born probably about 1887, has, as a name which she was given when she was 4days old “uwa ebihue” (the world has changed). if we were to judge them by our own standards now, we would ask “what would they have seen at that time to be giving that kind of name?” but in relation to their own time and space, they observed novelties that surprised them. they saw challenges in relation to what they used to know and what they used to see and so they gave the name and among us here names have meaning. my argument is that it is not more difficulty being a christian now than it was for the christians of asia minor whom, while peter was addressing them, reminded them that they were not to be taken aback by the fiery ordeals that they were going through as though something strange was happening to them (ref. 1 pet 4:12-14). and a little later, he keynote address by most rev. dr. michael odogwu elue xxi told them to bear in mind that their brothers all over the world are suffering the same thing (ref. 1 pet 5:9). so, i believe, as st. paul advises, that we should just work out our salvation within the context where we find ourselves (phil 2:12). for, after all, even though this present age may be a wicked one, our lives should redeem it (ref. eph 5:16; col 4:5-6). and so while nobody could have imagined that the usage or nonusage of the mobile phones and laptop computers were issues to be talked about in the formation team meeting during the time of late msgr pedro martins days in the seminary, or even in the days of this young bishop elue in the seminary, now, in this 21st century, not to take advantage of these updated software for priestly formation would cause injury to the integrity, comprehensiveness and the updated functionality of both the seminary as an institution and formators as conscientious labourers in it. i, who am an elder myself, according to st. peter, have this duty to forewarn the formators in the seminary about two dangers or temptations which they must try not to fall into. the first one is: “i no go do for my pickin because my papa no do for me.” the only thing that can come from that mentality is retrogression and backwardness. the other one is to project and prescribe one’s personal spirituality as the norm for everybody. no. general principles and objectives are approachable from various and different angles. again, we have the same aim, namely, for the good of priestly formation in our time. along the same line, i am sure it will also be important to talk about how the maximization of the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity would enhance the updated functionality and utility of the collective efforts of both the proprietors and the formators at priestly formation in our time. if everybody does what he or she does best, the whole group would be the better for it in the end. it is my wish and prayer, therefore, that this conference will offer sufficient enlightenment for the understanding of the topic of this conference and that the parties involved, that means all of us, would be able to see ourselves as partners in progress for the benefit of the best priestly formation in our time and for our church. now, i pass the word to you hoping that the input from the main speakers and from all participants in this conference would be mutually enriching and particularly that it would equip us to handle the matters arising in the name of new trends and perspectives as far as priestly formation in the 21st century is concerned. + most rev. dr. michael o. elue, bishop, catholic diocese of issele-uku, nigeria. 19th march 2020 xxii commissioned papers 1 1 let the real feyerabend please stand: interrogating the ontological basis for a postmodernist epistemology of the human person prof. isaac e. ukpokolo department of philosophy, faculty of arts, university of ibadan. ie.ukpokolo@ui.edu.ng introduction i consider it necessary to begin this interrogation of the ontological basis for a post-modernist epistemology of a human person with the assumption that there is a necessary relationship between metaphysics and epistemology. it is difficult to think of an epistemological stance without a corresponding metaphysics. by extension, it would be difficult to think of an epistemology of the human person without a given ontological stance. ontology is the science of ‘being’ in general, covering such issues as the nature of existence and categorial structure of reality. as a term, ‘ontology’ has some additional special uses in philosophy. it is used to refer to the set of things whose existence is acknowledged by a particular theory or system of thought: it is in this sense that one speaks of ‘the ontology of a theory’.1 to this extent, the post-modernist epistemology of the human person must rests on a given ontological scheme, and interrogating this ontological scheme is the point of focus for this essay. the work, therefore, considers the metaphysical ground or justification of a post-modernist theory of cognition concerning the human person. in other words, the work raises the question, how does the postmodern condition influence our cognitive process concerning the nature of the human person? 2 formation of the human person in the 21st century the received view of rationality since the 17th century, rationality has been understood through a matrix of relations between ‘truth’, ‘objectivity’, ‘certainty’ and ‘reality’. this has been identified with a certain unique framework of principles and methods with reference to which we are to secure truth and objective knowledge; an impartial stand point for meaningful discussion, appraisal, comparison, and judgment. the task of identifying and characterizing this framework is one of the starting point of human inquiry in general and philosophy in particular. the cartesian epistemological program initiated in the 17th century, presents one of the attempts at developing a system of principles and methods for conducting human inquiry. inspired by the desire for reliable knowledge, descartes constructed a system which he bequeathed to modern thought of which he is often described as the father.2 this system had the background assumption that, the order of nature is fixed and stable, and that the human mind acquired mastery of it by operating in accordance with principles of understanding that are equally fixed and universal.3 to most seventeenth century thinkers, this assumption was beyond question. it did not only influence the understanding of rationality at the time, it also determined the type of epistemological question that could be raised.4 in addition to this assumption, there is a certain disposition of the mind – a certain anxiety5 expressed in the belief that in our understanding of reality and our interaction with it, only two options are open to us: either we are equipped with some permanent, historical framework to which we can ultimately appeal or we are ineluctably led to relativism, historicism, scepticism, and irrationalism. and so, we are always faced with a choice between a certain binding set of ideals and epistemological chaos.6 it was generally believed that to resolve this anxiety, we require a fixed framework of universal and foundational principles. descartes saw this and embarked on a search for what he called an “archimedean point” in his meditations.7 beginning with the first meditation, he says, it is now some years since i detected how many were the false beliefs that i had from my earliest youth admitted as true, and doubtful was everything i had constructed on this basis: and … i was convinced that i must once, for all, seriously undertake to rid myself of all the opinions which i had formerly accepted, and commence to build anew from the foundation, if i want to establish any firm and permanent structure…8 the need for this project of establishing a securely grounded thought system is compared to the vision archimedes. thus, in the second meditation descartes writes: commissioned papers 3 archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out of its place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. in the same way, i shall have the right to conceive high hopes if i am happy enough to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.9 in descartes’s view, the principles that guide our understanding of the world consists in the correspondence between “ideas” which the human mind found “distinct” and “clear” (such as the basic concepts of euclid’s geometry) and aspects of the world. it is in this correspondence that we establish the foundations of knowledge as well as the standard of rationality. thus, at the very base of knowledge is, according to descartes, the neutral activity of reason.10 an adequate analysis of the received view of rationality must consider the contribution of descartes and bacon to the development of ideas. in the 17th century, aristotle’s science faced challenges in the light of new discoveries in physics, astronomy and anatomy. francis bacon is often taken to be the spokesman to the new spirit and new method of science. his idea about scientific method subsequently became known as beaconian induction, and is expressed in his novum organum.11 in a general sense, bacon’s contribution to modern thought can be discussed at two related levels. the first level concerns the classification of knowledge. this is laid out in book 1 of the novum organum. in it, he made what was probably the first systematic attempt to express a psychological motives and human interests that often lie behind various forms of philosophical outlooks. he discussed what he called “idols of the mind” which had up to his own time persistently stood in the way of objective knowledge, dominated and distorted men’s mind and delayed the acquisition of true knowledge. the “idols of the tribe”, for instance, are tendencies to see things in relation to one’s own self, rather than as they are in themselves. in bacons view, man is not the measure of all things and we unthinkingly tend to impose order on phenomena which is not there. if we would command nature, he says, we must first learn to obey her. there are “idols of the cave”, which are the predispositions of character and learning with which different individuals approach facts, rather than seeing them as there really are. the “idols of the market place” arise through the use of language, when we read back into nature, conceptions that have arisen through our using words, which actually stand for nothing. bacon also identifies “idols of the theatre” which are due to the influence of philosophical system of our mind. in his view, we should not be misled by aristotle’s talk of experimentation and observation. someone in the grip of a philosophical system, he says, including aristotle himself had come to his conclusion before he did his experiment. the second level has to do with a new method of investigation, set forth in the most empiricist form. this consists in 4 formation of the human person in the 21st century making experiments and drawing general conclusions from them. these conclusions are then tested in further experiments.12 bacon’s position is primarily an attack against what he called the sterility of pure deductive logic, which is never really able to increase knowledge. he insisted that the traditional syllogism was not a means of discovery, but only an aid for exhibiting the deductive consequences of what is already known. he also attacked the older induction by simple enumeration which applies only when the class of “all” things referred to is finite and accessible, as in the statement: “the founding members of the royal society are all males and over the age of thirty years”.13 bacon’s new method of induction was believed to go beyond this aristotelian method because it is able to produce generalisations about “all” things, not simple about some property of members of a finite enumeration. however, bacon was not unaware of the fact that we cannot prove the truth of an induction in a general sense. the idea of “all”, he says, must always include the thought that there may be found an exception to the inductive generalisation, as this is always based on a finite number of instances. in this way, bacon proposed that a single negative experience was all we needed to falsify an induction. thus, although it was g.h. von wright and karl r. popper that expounded much later the principle that the laws of nature and theories are not verifiable, but only falsifiable, the credit of initial recognition of this principle should go to francis bacon.14 science, he thought, would develop by compiling vast tables of actual data accumulated with the help of experiment and observation. of course, he believed that the mere accumulation of facts would not necessarily yield knowledge. there must be, he argues, a selection whose establishment is also quite problematic.15 nevertheless, many scientists are known to have expressed, in varying degree, their adherence to baconnian philosophy. for instance, isaac newton in his principia (1682), explored and extended the inductive method from qualities of bodies on which experiments can actually be performed to “qualities of all bodies universally” (rule 3, bk. 3). in his words, the sum total facts, which are not only given in sense experience but also the experimental philosophical propositions gathered from phenomena by induction, should be considered either exactly or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis, until yet other phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to exception.16 bacon’s writings inspired the concern by british philosophers for the analysis of the nature of inductive reasoning, a concern which culminated in j.s. mill’s system of logic (1843). importantly, while bacon’s classification of knowledge stands widely adopted, his commissioned papers 5 understanding of scientific methods presents an adequate framework. this is because he failed to appreciate the sense in which mathematics was already the language of science. he also underestimated the use of scientist need to make of imaginative hypotheses.17 on this, he was criticized memorably by immanuel kant in his critique of pure reason (b.xii. 4). yet, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the austrian philosopher and physicist, ernst mach (1838-1926) adopted bacon’s epistemology in his the science of mechanics (1893) and the analysis of sensation (1914). in his view, science is no more than a conceptual reflection upon facts whose elements are contents of consciousness, and are given to us in sensation. this means that scientific statements or theoretical terms must be reducible to statements about sensations.18 this is contained in his famous “doctrine of elements”. science as the paradigm of rationality from the foregoing, we are presented with the idea of rationality as a privileged framework of principles and methods to which we can ultimately appeal in our understanding of reality. it was noted that the attempt to codify these principles and methods found its significant expression first in the programmes based on the (new inductive) method of inquiry advocated by francis bacon in combination with the analytic method of deductive reasoning emphasized by rene descartes.19 the concern of these men was mainly to establish a “theory of knowledge”, to discover a unique set of terms into which discourses may be reduced, or some privileged vocabulary by means of which discourses may be rendered commensurable. the programmes of inquiry initiated in the modern period were essentially attempts to establish our discourses on a secure foundation; that is, to justify our beliefs and actions, goals and policies with reference to a certain universal “tribunal of judgment”.20 the validity of this foundationalist task of epistemology was reiterated during the first half of the twentieth century in the works of philosophers in the analytic tradition who sought to ground human knowledge in, or reduce all discourses to, a certain system of formal language.21 rooted in the works of gottlob frege, the analytic tradition influenced the works of bertrand russell, alfred north whitehead, ludwig wittgenstein, rudolf carnap, moritz schlick and several others whose ultimate concern was how to make philosophy rigorous and scientific.22 they initiated a new tendency in philosophy, re-orienting epistemology towards an ideal system of propositions and methods; a complex of principles and rules. it is with reference to such a system that theories are to be constructed and corroborated.23 the general aim of the new tendency was to sustain an adequate analysis of the character of 6 formation of the human person in the 21st century scientific investigations.24 and so, epistemology as a “transcendental” inquiry into the meaning and conditions of knowledge was gradually replaced by a methodology pursued with an understanding of science as the source of genuine knowledge and paradigm of rationality.25 the first significant representation of science as the paradigm of rationality and model of genuine knowledge, came with the positivist orientation. positivism, along with phenomenalism, pragmatism, operationalism, and empirico-criticism, belong to the empiricist tendency. for the positivist, an inquiry into the conditions of knowledge can be meaningfully pursued only as a methodological inquiry into the principles and methods for the construction and corroboration of scientific theories. thus, at the heart of the positivist philosophy of science is the belief in the exclusive validity of science. in his contribution, karl popper argued that the problem of this age, which is the possibility and method of achieving progress in human knowledge, can be resolved only in the appreciating of the growth of scientific knowledge. in this regard, it is in following the principles and procedures of scientific inquiry that we are likely to arrive at a system that accurately depicts the world.26 thus, researchers in various fields of inquiry, ranging from history to psychology and sociology, which have, with much vigour, engaged in the quest for laws and theories, usually felt apologetic whenever their discipline fell short of the ideas derived from physical science. in the field of education, curriculum theorists have often considered science to be one of the basics, and since the time of herbert spencer it has been regarded as an indispensable component of liberal education.27 the overwhelming popularity of this image of science arises, at least in part, from the great successes of recent science, particularly, physics.28 in explaining this success, scientists argue that science has evolved some procedures of inquiry, and that the observed developments in science have been determined by acting on the basis of the outcome of the application of these procedures. these procedures constitute the scientific method, a privileged method in the hands of the scientific community, which disinterestedly and detachedly employs it to reach the scientific goals.29 the post-modernist world view30 in recent times, particularly since the second half of the twentiethcentury, the intellectual world has witnessed the emergence of a certain shift in attitude towards reality (metaphysics or ontology), rationality and truth; a rejection of what could be referred to as the ‘received view’, and accompanied by a neo-protagorean relativism. the idea of the ‘received view’ of rationality is here identified with the idea of a universal, commissioned papers 7 foundational, permanent framework of thought and discourse developed in the 17th century. the programs of discourse that represents this shift include those developed by thomas kuhn, peter winch, donald davidson, paul k. feyerabend and a host of others. in his program, paul feyerabend proposed a pluralist conception of rationality, in particular, and worldview in general and meant to present this to stand in place of the enlightenment program characteristic of the modern period. for him, the modernist project has been shown to be sterile.31 the present study identifies the positivist worldview that constitutes the climax of modernism as well as the pluralist orientations of the post-modern which ushered in a rather reckless relativism. the study then goes further to establish a rejection of both positivist and post-positivist projects for reasons to be stated, and presents an alternative epistemology of the human person founded on a given ontology, while employing the methodology of education and a given scepticism to enhance a robust representation of the human person. feyerabend’s ‘post’ in the post-modern in his representation, paul k. feyerabend sees the commitment to just one theoretical framework or cognitive scheme as ‘monomania’. the clearest form of this criticism today is best identified with paul feyerabend’s postmodern orientation. a number of assumptions underscore his position. one such assumption is that, the theories, facts, and procedures that constitute the scientific knowledge of a particular time result from specific historical developments, and any such information cannot be about history-independent facts and laws – a rejection of the idea that tradition-independent points of view can overrule traditions. there are different points of view, ways of thinking and knowing. in the same vain, scientific theories branch out in different directions, use different and sometimes incommensurable concepts, and evaluate events in diverse ways. what counts as evidence or as an important or sound science or scientific procedure depends on time, profession and the research group. nature can be and is indeed approached in many ways, and for every statement, theory or point of view believed to be true with good reasons, there exists conflicting arguments. human experience, is not restricted to merely intellectual matters, but includes concrete human feelings, faiths and empathy, and involves more than just one single medium of discussion. and so, paul k. feyerabend is opposed to a certain program or tendency which, for want of a better name, is referred to as “methodism”, the idea of a method that contains fixed and binding principles for conducting the 8 formation of the human person in the 21st century business of science, politics or ethics. for feyerabend, science is not the paradigm of rationality. it is just a belief like any other. from the point of view of ethics, he privileges ethics without ontology. furthermore, he proposes a movement from “boundaries without values to values without boundaries”.32 the core of feyerabends moral philosophy is what he expressed in killing time, concerning the nature of moral character. for him, “a moral character cannot be created by arguments, education, or an act of will. it cannot be created by any kind of planned action, whether scientific, political, moral or religious”.33 here, feyerabend indicates what should not be associated with moral character or where it does not derive from. morality is not a product of education or any rational intentional, planned action. he compares moral character with what he calls “true love, which he says is a gift, not an achievement”. for him, the source or basis of morality or moral character is accidental, such as parental affection and friendship. these, he says, constitute the condition for some kind of stability or balance between what he refers to as “self-confidence” and “a concern for others”.34 according to him, it is possible for us to create these conditions: conditions that are meant to ensure the needed balance as we are never able to create the balance itself. it is only when the balance is enhanced, that the idea of guilt, responsibility, and obligation make real sense. but without the balance between self-confidence and concern for others, these ideas become not just empty words but obstacles.35 the idea of self-confidence of course, connotes a reliance on ones abilities – abilities to engage one’s experience, one’s environment and one’s reality. the product of employing this ability is to enhance the individual’s wellbeing. the need for the project of modernity, of establishing a securely grounded thought system is compared to the vision of archimedes. thus, in the meditation ii, descartes writes; archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out of it place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. in the same way i should have the right to conceive high hopes if i am happy enough to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.36 this immutable foundation – ontological reference is rejected by the post-modernist position of paul k. feyerabend and replaces it with heterogeneity, chaos and pluralism. post-modern ontology at this point, it is pertinent to ask the question, is there any theory of ontology proposed by postmodern philosophy? in response to this question, it is to be borne in mind that paul k. feyerabend, presenting a prototype of the post-modern worldview, rejects any attempt to propose one singular general ground totalizing framework that could be a commissioned papers 9 reference point, and that could be a foundation for any inquiry. this is with regards to, not only a universal theory of truth, a fixed model of knowledge, a standard reference to method, but, indeed a foundation. and so, it presents a no-foundation epistemology as well as proposing an ontology that is not characterized by relativism, but a pluralism. what this means is that reality could be created, truth is formulated, knowledge is fabricated such that ontology which is the study of being, could only be said to be presented and created or formulated as need be. reading feyerabend therefore, one is tempted to raise the question, is it not the case that in proposing a no-universal foundational fixed theory of reality, by itself, proposes a universal theory? to this extent, the post-modernist proposal that there is no fixed theory of knowledge, truth and reality is itself a theory of truth, of knowledge and of reality – a philosophical dead end. perhaps, an alternative reading of the post-modernist theory of the human person would reject any fixed set of principles, axioms and assumptions, claiming that the character of the human person is hydraheaded and its features are not just pluralistic, but actually indeterminate. we are not to reduce the human person to any fixed model, be it scientific, legal, ethical, or social. rather, it would be a combination of all these and more. the human person would then be seen as a mystery that can be comprehended only inadequately by anyone even the self. thesis and concluding remarks identifying, with bernard lonergan this paper posit that the essence of the human person has to do with the fact that humanity is to be recognized in four characteristics. these characteristics belong to the human nature representing a fundamental orientation in the human person. these are (i) search for truth (ii) search for the good (iii) search for the absolute/infinite and, (iv) search for love. the human person in relating with these realities that is, truth, good, absolute and love employs the capacity of the senses, of understanding and of judging. the actions of these variables and their relationship with the human person are so complex that they can only be understood imperfectly. the human person, therefore, is driven to the actualization of truth, the good and love. these efforts remain always in the state of progress towards actualization. to this extent, the human person remains an ongoing project. 10 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 ted honderich, the oxford companion to philosophy, 2nd ed. (oxford: oxford up, 2005), 671. 2 r. p. peerrenboom, “reason, rationales, and relativism: what’s at stake in the conversation over scientific rationality?,” philosophy today, vol. 34, no.14. (1990), 4. 3 toulmin, human understanding, 45. 4 toulmin, human understanding, 44. 5 bernstein, beyond objectivism and relativism, 9. 6 fritjof capra, the turning point: science and the rising culture, (london: fontana paper backs, 1984), 39, john veith (trans.) descartes: a discourse on method and meditation of first philosophy, (london: everyman’s liberty press, 1979), 120-121. 7 meditation i, in elizabeth s. haldane and g.r.t. ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1969), 114. 8 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 114. 9 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 6. 10 haldane & ross (eds.), philosophical works of descartes, 149. 11 francis bacon, novum organum, i, ix, in john m. robertson ed., the philosophical works of bacon (london: university press, 1965), 51-8. 12 o’hear, an introduction to philosophy of science, 5. 13 toulmin, human understanding, 57. 14 putnam, reason, truth and history, 108-109. 15 isaac newton, principia bk. i, rule 4, in b.i. cohen (ed.), 150. 16 isaac newton, principia bk. i, rule 4, in b.i. cohen (ed.), 150. 17 cohen, revolutions in science, 150. 18 jostein gaarder, sophie’s world: a 3000 year adventure in philosophy, (ibadan, spectrum books, 1996), 181. 19 antiquity had its own system constructors in plato and aristotle. the middle ages have st. thomas aquinas who attempted to link aristotle’s system with christian ethics and theology. after this came the renaissance with a welter of old and new beliefs about nature and science, god and man. but it was not until the seventeenth century that any significant attempt was made to assemble ideas into a coherent systematic whole. 20 randell, p. peerenboom, ‘reason, rationales, and relativism: what’s at stake in the conversation over scientific rationality?’ philosophy today, vol. 34, no. 14. (november, 1990), 4. 21 james l. battersby, “professionalism, relativism and rationality” in p.m.l.a. vol. 107, no. 1. (1992). 22 harre, the philosophies of science: an introductory survey, 18. many of the germinal ideas of frege’s philosophy are to be found in his conceptual notations (1879). his philosophy influenced russell’s thought. in the preface to volume i of russell and whitehead’s principia mathematica (1910), the authors wrote, “in all questions of logical analysis our chief debt is to frege”. in the same vein, wittgenstein acknowledged frege’s influence on his thought. in the preface to commissioned papers 11 tractatus logico-philosophicus, wittgenstein wrote, “i am indebted to frege’s great works and to the writings of mr. russell for much of the stimulations of my thoughts”. frege’s influence on carnap was also acknowledged by carnap who studied under him at the university of jenna. 23 habermas, knowledge and human interest, 65. 24 william bechtel, philosophy of science: an overview of cognitive science, (new jersey: lawrence eribaum, 1990), 1-15. 25 ted benton, philosophical foundations of the three sociologies, (london: routledge and kegan paul, 1977), 21. 26 karl r. popper, the logic of scientific discovery, (london: hutchinson and co. publishers ltd., 1975), 15. 27 a.f. chalmers, what is this thing called science?: an assessment of the nature and status of science and its methods, (london: open university press, 1990), 1. 28 newton-smith, the rationality of science, (new york: routledge, 1981), 1. 29 d.c. philips, philosophy science and social inquiry, (oxford: perganon press, 1988), 3. 30 a system of beliefs that are interconnected: not merely a collection of separate, independent, unrelated beliefs, but an intertwined, interrelated and interconnected systems of beliefs. 31 paul k. feyerabend presents his position most clearly in against method (london: verso, 1987) and farewell to reason (london: verso, 1993). 32 isaac ukpokolo, “navigating feyerabend’s moral philosophy from boundaries without values to values without boundaries” in the ethics of subjectivity, elvis imafidon ed. (new york: palgrave macmillan, 2015), 201. 33 paul k. feyerabend, killing time (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1995), 174. 34 feyerabend, killing time, 174. 35 feyerabend, killing time, 174. 36 elizabeth s. and g. r. t. ross eds. philosophical works of descartes, (cambridge: cambridge university press, 1969), 149. 12 2 what sayest thou of thyself? some remarks on the entanglement of life and narration and its ethical implications for the philosophical canon björn freter, ph.d independent scholar, knoxville, tennessee, united states of america bfreterb@gmail.com i. life and narration when we are asked who we are, we often answer in stories. let us take a look at an example, namely at the answer given to that very question by john the baptist as told to us by the john the evangelist1. the evangelist has the baptist answer the question posed by the jewish priests and levites “who art thou?” – “σὺ τíς εἶ;” as follows: i am not the christ [ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ χριστóς] (john 1:20). the learned men do not understand this cryptic reply. they continue to interrogate john the baptist: what then? art thou elias? (john 1:21) john the baptist responds: i am not [οὐκ εἰμί] (john 1:21). and a third question follows: art thou that prophet? (john 1:21) john responds and, for the third time, only provides a negative confession: “no [οὔ]” (john 1:21). the inquisitors become impatient: who art thou? […] what sayest thou of thyself? (john 1:22) “what sayest thou of thyself?” – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ;” that is a wonderful explication of the initial question “who art thou?”. who john the baptist is, είναι, is what he has to say, λέγειν, about himself. one could argue that at times the same can hold true for us: who we are is what we have to say about ourselves and, of course, what others have to say about us. we are our stories. we can express who we are by telling – commissioned papers 13 even, as john does, in a highly condensed way – our story. in fact, it seems we have to express ourselves in stories, it seems to be a specific and rather necessary way of being alive as a human being, in other words, using odo marquard’s phrase, “narrare necesse est” – “to narrate is necessary” (marquard 2003, 56, 60, 64, 71). let us turn back to the evangelists’ narration. after his negative confession to christ john the baptist eventually determines himself positively: i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet esaias (john 1:23).2 the inquisition is still not over. now the pharisees proceed to question why john baptizes, if he is not the messiah, nor elijah, nor the prophet. john replies: i baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet i am not worthy to unloose (john 1:26-27). this is what john the baptist wanted and had – narrare necesse est (to narrate is necessary) – to say about himself – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ” (john 1:22): initially it is vital to him to make his story distinguishable from the story of the one who is of the foremost importance. he is not the prophet; he is not elias and – most notably – he is not jesus. “οὐκ εἰμί” – “i am not” is stated by john the evangelist in strict opposition to the many times he records jesus saying: “ἐγώ εἰμι …“ – “i am …”3. eventually john the baptist declares who he is positively: he is the one who announces jesus. even this positive confession is a conscious redirection from himself and towards jesus, the one who is coming after – “ὀπίσω” – him. john is the “voice of one crying” – “φωνὴ βοῶντος”, he is announcing the one “whom ye know not;” – “μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε”. this story is who john the baptist is. the story of john the herald of jesus christ is john. this story, john is convinced, is precisely what any person who wishes to know who he is must learn about him. john encounters himself through his story and he tells this story to those who wish to know him. thus those – be it the jewish priests, levites, pharisees or the reader of the story in the present day – need this story to understand him as the human being he understood himself as to be. “to comprehend anything human”, spanish philosopher ortega y gasset observed, “be it personal or collective, one must tell its history” (gasset 1941, 214) – “para comprender algo humano, personal o colectivo, es preciso contar una historia” (gasset 1970, 49). and that means nothing else but: one must make accessible our stories. 14 formation of the human person in the 21st century human beings attempting to comprehend other human beings need to learn about the other’s life stories. here we see that life and narration are, as edmund husserl’s earliest disciples, wilhelm schapp described, entangled (schapp 1953). not only are our histories vital for comprehending the other and that our lives and the stories we tell inextricable, even the stories tell do not necessarily have to be factual. returning to our example, it does not even matter if we consider john the baptist to be a factual or fictious person, the real herald of christ or not. as paul ricœur states, “fiction is quasihistorical, just as much as history is quasi-fictive” (ricœur 1990, 190). german novelist siegfried lenz notes we have to learn that even those experiences ‘made’ by fictious personal still hold relevance for us. our being or vitality is very much alive in the fictitious experience. lenz explains: “experiences made by the invented person do not only concern them; they are transferable experiences. novel characters would never challenge our interest in this way if we did not feel that our matter was being negotiated; we stop and say: that is how it will be. […] at such moments it becomes clear that we need the invented person if we want to give expression to the general or to find the hidden law that underlies human existence.” (lenz 1981, 437-438)4 from this we expand the essential nature of stories from being necessary for understanding others and a fundamental part of our lives to incorporate stories of both fact and fiction that bring vitality to our experiences and our understanding of ourselves and others. we could say, narration is being alive. it seems we would not be able to eradicate our aliveness out of narration, even if we wanted to. when the human being narrates it inevitably add its humanity or vitality into the narration. when the human being narrates it implicitly speaks – λέγειν – of the human being – ἄνθρωπος – in general. conversely, narrating – λέγειν – implies to tell about the human ἄνθρωπος. anthropology implies narration as narration implies anthropology. our aliveness remains alive when it is spoken, written, or sung, in any the narrative form. indeed, we encounter narration as a form extracorporal human vitality. not only are we able to convey this vitality, we are in need of this vitality. it allows us to understand our story, it allows us to be understood and furthermore to understand other human beings. interconnected human life itself comes to reality in stories just as stories come to reality in human life. schapp even insisted, that access to the human being is “only possible through stories, only possible through his [her/their] stories” (schapp 1953, 100)5. commissioned papers 15 being alive is narrative. the telling of stories at all, is possible, because we are alive in a narrative sense. it can be said that stories enable our existence, and our existence enables stories. maybe we can even say that the telling of stories enables the living of stories, and the living of stories enables the telling of stories. life is always life’s story and life’s story is always something living, something living in which we see our vitality reflected back to us. returning to john the baptist we see he is who he is, and he can tell his story because he is his story and he is his story because he can tell it. life is narration and narration is alive. this makes the story of john the baptist being asked who he is a story that can affect us all, whether we understand him to be a herald of christ or something entirely different. certainly, we hear the story of the herald of christ, but we find a human being narratively self-determining himself. this self-determination can speak to any human being. and here the significance of our telling the stories of ourselves takes on crucial importance: the question of “who am i?” is connected at the very foundations of our existence with the question of “what ought i do?”. these questions converge so dramatically at the foundations of existence that they seem to form only one single question: work on the question “who am i?” seems to be the same work as that concerning the question “what should i do?”. martin luther understood the baptist in precisely this sense in a sermon on the gospel according to john. he has john the baptist say: i know neither how to help nor how to advise you [scil. the inquiring scholars], nor indeed myself; but i know of one who can help me and you alike. […] [f]ollow [christ], i and will do so as well (luther 2002, 31).6 follow christ – that is what is to be done here. while we may know the story of john only in its outline, we know not only his actions, his being, but also his “why?”, his practical answer to the question “what ought i do?”. we know john’s ought-to-be: to be a follower – or a precursor – of christ. this connection between being and ought, between what i am and what i ought to be is present in john’s story in concreto, but it is present in abstracto, as the fight for self-determination, for anyone who comes across this narration. when we hear the story of john, we also hear – without this having to be expressly spoken of – his normative narrative. a story, as we would like to put it, thus concerns the genesis of action and the reasons for it, or, put into philosophical terminology, is and ought and the connection between the two at the foundations of existence. our biographical narrative is not an objective narration. in the biographical narrative, in the understanding of the world and oneself according to this biographical narrative, our normative understanding of the world is also reflected. 16 formation of the human person in the 21st century the biographical narrative tells not only of our being, but also of who we are, and this self-determination necessarily includes the ought to which we subject this being. let us summarize our findings: we are our stories. being alive implies being entangled in stories, implies tell one’s story – or at least desiring to have a story – and to deal with stories of other human beings. a hermeneutic of human life needs cannot be complete without taking into account that being alive happens qua narration. an epistemology of human understanding that disregards stories, as far as we can tell, will necessarily be an ignorant reductive epistemology. we have to take stories seriously as a part of the expressivity of human life. ricœur remarked that “the novel occupied a still vacant place in the realm of human sciences” (ricœur 1990, 191) – “le roman occupait ici une place encore vacante dans l'empire des sciences humaines” (ricœur 1985, 278). we agree with ricœur. however, we would like to broaden his understanding and insist that this holds true not only for the novel, but for stories in the broadest sense as we can find it in schapp when he observed that even the “corporeal appearance” of a human being is actually “an appearance of his [her/their] stories” (schapp 1953, 100)7. with stories, the narratives of life, we possess a reservoir of testimonies of human self-understanding that has thus far, despite the works of schapp, ricœur and others – been widely underestimated. we must finally and fully accept narrations as, in the words of austrian thinker robert musil, “contributions to the intellectual dealing with the world” (musil 1978, 942)8. ii. consequences we have to tried to show the mutual implication of life and narration. our hypothesis may seem prima facie deceptively simple, but there are some surprisingly powerful ethical consequences to it. if it is true that stories – in the broadest sense – and human life are inextricably entangled then the disregard of some stories as irrelevant, beyond the canon, or primitive equals the disregard of those people who listen to and tell these stories. the western humanities have hegemonically determined for centuries what stories are of relevance. those stories were mostly written by white, heterosexual men and those stories were mostly written down – even though some foundational figures of the western culture, most notably socrates and jesus, never wrote a single line of their own teachings. the african culture, for example, was and continues to be for its many people who continue to hand down their stories orally deemed ‘primitive’, pre-western, of less relevance, inferior. however, if we take the entanglement of life and narrative seriously, we might have to give up the idea of a narrow canon. commissioned papers 17 of course, can establish different parameters of, for example, the impact of different stories. the story of jesus christ has certainly had a great impact, but that does hardly make the stories of the yoruba or akan any less relevant. it is a still prevailing predominantly western misunderstanding that impact – often advanced by subsequent domination and subordination – is the parameter of relevance. we have to give up the idea of canonical stories as story of superior relevance, of a canon that one has to read to become a human being, of a canon that determines that only those who think within these given stories are truly thinking and thus entitled to speak their thoughts. we have to give up the idea of a general canon, because a general canon is necessarily an antiinclusive and superiorist tool of domination that is compiled by those in power. however, power is not a philosophical argument. there is, if we agree to the interconnectedness of life and narration, no philosophical argument for a canon. any argument for a general canon is an argument against the relevance of all human beings. when we accept life and stories and stories and life as what they are by their blending, we have to understand that ignoring, disregarding, suppressing stories means to ignore, disregard and suppress human life. africa was during the colonial era not allowed to have a story, was not allowed to continue her story. georg wilhelm friedrich hegel famously claimed that africa is “no historical part of the world; it shows no movement or development” (hegel 1986, 129)9, and anything one might of relevance there is actually part of europe’s or asia’s history. africa, in hegel’s opinion, which was highly impactful for the development of what is to be considered part of the philosophical canon and what not, has no story to tell and – and the colonial reality shows the transition of this philosophical assessment into tangible reality – thus there are no living beings to considered as fully human. this practice has to be discontinued. philosophy has to desuperiorized, i.e. philosophy has to understand and dismantle the – implicit or explicit – assumptions of superiority in all its iterations. all must be able to determine who they are so that they can determine how they should act. thus everyone is included in the ethical conversations of our times and we can collaboratively broaden our epistemological understanding and desuperiorize the philosophical canon by making it inclusive so that philosophy as a discipline can be a vital part of our coming history. 18 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 we will use the king james version to cite the english text of the new testament and the aland & aland 26th edition for the greek text. 2 see esaias 40:3. 3 see for example john 6:20, 7:9, 10:11 and many more, furthermore see thyen 2005, 112. 4 this is my translation. the german text reads: “erfahrungen, die die erfundene person macht, betreffen nicht nur sie; es sind übertragbare erfahrungen. niemals würden romanfiguren unser interesse derart herausfordern, wenn wir nicht spürten, daß an ihnen auch unsere sache verhandelt wird; wir stutzen und sagen: so ist es, so wird es sein. […] in solchen augenblicken wird deutlich, daß wir auf die erfundene person angewiesen sind, wenn wir dem allgemeinen ausdruck verschaffen oder die verborgene gesetzmäßigkeit auffinden wollen, die dem menschlichen dasein zugrundeliegt“. 5 this is my translation. the full german passage reads: “wir meinen auch, daß der zugang zu dem mann, zu dem menschen, nur über geschichten, nur über seine geschichten erfolgt“. 6 this is my translation. the german text reads: „ich weiß euch [scil. den gelehrten] nicht zu helfen noch zu raten, auch mir selbst nicht; sondern ich weiß und kenne einen, der mir und euch helfen kann. […] [h]änget euch an [christus], ich wills auch tun”. 7 this is my translation. the german text reads: “das leibliche auftauchen des menschen [ist] nur ein auftauchen seiner geschichten ist“. 8 this is my translation. the german text reads: “beiträge zur geistigen bewältigung der welt”. musil refers here only to the novel. 9 this is my translation. the full german passage reads: “[afrika] ist kein geschichtlicher weltteil, er hat keine bewegung und entwicklung aufzuweisen, und was etwa in ihm, das heißt in seinem norden geschehen ist, gehört der asiatischen und europäischen welt zu“. 19 section 1 ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 20 formation of the human person in the 21st century 21 3 hermeneutic of continuity and theological formation francis ‘kunle adedara, stl, ph.d seminary of ss. peter and paul p.m.b. 5171, secretariat p.o., ibadan, oyo state fradedara@gmail.com abstract the foundation of theology is scripture. in an attempt to give a necessary clarification of this statement, i allude to the words of anthony akinwale: “the bible contains the word of god. but the word of god is not contained by the bible…” since theology is fundamentally a speech about god, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from god’ before it can be ‘a speech about god’. in other words, theology is a reflection on god who speaks (word – logos) and about his word that he speaks in scripture and tradition. this is the sense in which one understands akinwale’s statement, and how one ought to understand the basis of theology in scripture. hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals with the principles of biblical interpretation. correct hermeneutical approach is therefore essential to a proper understanding of the truth revealed by god. for example, it is essential to the full understanding of the ot to employ a hermeneutic that many ot texts are types or prefigurements of christ and his fulfilment of scripture in the nt. one very important interpretive principle that augustine enunciates in his de doctrina christiana is that one text of scripture cannot be preferred to another or played off against another. the real truth conforms to everything that has been revealed. what this paper attempts to do is to apply this same principle of interpretation to how theology is done. in this understanding, scripture cannot be reflected upon to the exclusion of the magisterium and the tradition of the christian faith, rooted in the apostles and reflected upon by the fathers of the church. keywords: hermeneutic, magisterium, apostolic faith, fathers of the church, continuity 22 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction it is important to note that one cannot sufficiently discuss the subject of theological formation without also broaching the subject of theological method. in this sense, theological formation is formation in method. in his epic work, method in theology, which reflects on the operations theologians perform as they do theology, bernard lonergan says: “a theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religion in that matrix.”1 two things stand out in this statement: firstly, ‘a cultural matrix’, which is loosely interpreted as that from which a culture originates, develops, or takes form, and secondly, ‘role of a religion’, which can be here understood as the function of religion in the process of forming, shaping, and developing a culture. in this regard, religion plays a significant role in shaping a culture. what lonergan proposes in his statement shows that theology mediates the role a religion plays in shaping a culture. the question is, with what special tool does theology carry out this mediation? theology mediates as a speech about god. therefore, how religion shapes a culture must necessarily relate a people and their cultural terrains to god as their beginning and their end. and since theology is fundamentally a speech about god, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from god’ before it can be ‘a speech about god’. in other words, in theology we seek explanation and understanding of what god has revealed. in this context of mediation, theology sheds light on how religion shapes culture, so that in forming and shaping culture, the practice of religion is a response to what god has revealed. consequently, every religious speech is a speech about god because it is a response to the word of god. in laying out the framework for speaking about method in theology, lonergan says: “method is not a set of rules to be followed meticulously by a dolt. it is a framework for collaborative creativity. it would outline the various clusters of operations to be performed by theologians when they go about their various tasks.”2 he highlights eight distinct tasks for contemporary theology: research, interpretation, history, dialectic, foundations, doctrines, systematics, and communications. what he refers to as functional specialties explains how he arrives at this list of eight distinct tasks. again, when lonergan speaks of method, he is not referring to a set of rules to be followed blindly but a framework for creativity. within such dynamism, what is underscored is not ‘writing theology’ but ‘method in theology’. according to him, the task of writing method in theology is not concerned with objects that theologians expound but with the operations that theologians perform. one must, however, avoid a hasty interpretation of lonergan that opposes object of theology to theological method. no matter the method, there is always the fundamental object section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 23 of theology that method must not detract from, namely, the first truth. whatever the operation of the theologian, his task is denominated by the first truth. in this way, theological method is not opposed to the object of theology, because the object determines the operation. as a matter of fact, god is not the object but subject of theology, and he determines the operation of the theologian. for the purpose of this paper, we shall attempt to transpose the idea of lonergan on how method works generally to how ‘hermeneutic of continuity’ functions in theological method and formation. according to lonergan, “a method is a normative pattern of recurrent and related operations yielding cumulative and progressive results.”3 two things are fundamental in this assertion: ‘distinct operations’ and ‘relatedness of the operations.’ from these two, lonergan describes the function of method in such a way that shows the integrity and continuity of operations, yielding cumulative and progressive results. he says: there is a method, then, where there are distinct operations, where each operation is related to the others, where the set of relations forms a pattern, where the pattern is described as the right way of doing the job, where operations in accord with the pattern may be repeated indefinitely, and where the fruits of such repetition are, not repetitious, but cumulative and progressive.4 what lonergan states here gives the broad framework for speaking about hermeneutic of continuity and method in theology. every authentic theological method must explore the interrelatedness of the distinct approaches to understanding the reality that is revealed and proposed for belief. this paper aims to show that hermeneutic of continuity in theological method and formation entails proper interpretation of scripture, tradition of the faith, and ecclesiastical texts, in order to emphasize their unity. the task of theology is to work for this unity rather than the too prevalent “hermeneutic of rupture.” in this understanding, “sacred tradition and sacred scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the word of god,”5 and its authentic interpretation has been entrusted to the teaching office of the church. for this reason, “sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the magisterium of the church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others.”6 thus, interpretation of the word of god is a task of the magisterium of the church: it is a task it carries out in fidelity to the tradition of the christian faith; in fidelity to the sensus fidei of the whole people of god; with fidelity to the apostolic origins of christianity; and with profound reference to the reflections upon the christian faith by the fathers of the church. 24 formation of the human person in the 21st century the function of hermeneutics in theological method the fact that scripture is the foundation of theology shows that every theological enterprise is a reflection on the word of god. it means theology is a reflection on god who speaks (word – logos), and about his word that he speaks in scripture and tradition. hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals with the principles of biblical interpretation. correct hermeneutical approach is therefore essential to a proper understanding of the truth revealed by god. this approach underscores the integrity of the whole of scripture, and how theological interpretation functions in fidelity to the unity of the truth that is revealed. it is along this line that st. augustine, in his on the christian doctrine7, recommends that when interpreting scripture, one text cannot be preferred to another or played off against another. since everything the holy spirit intends to teach in scripture is true, all texts which relate to a given problem must be examined for what they say about it, and the correct understanding will necessarily be an understanding which permits every text to retain its full force—that is, the real truth will conform to everything that has been revealed. working against this “hermeneutic” is any tendency to interpret scripture according to the “plain meaning” of a favorite text, while ignoring other texts which provide additional light on the same subject. this is the practice of quoting the scripture in isolation, and it is tantamount to “hermeneutic of rupture.” in order to highlight the function of hermeneutics in theological method, the correct principle of interpretation does not only apply to scripture, but also to everything that god has revealed in the christian tradition. describing the interrelatedness of different scriptural passages, and the relation of scripture to magisterial texts, jeff mirus says: because the magisterium of the church teaches with the same authority as sacred scripture (after all, the same holy spirit inspires and guarantees both), a catholic can properly understand a christian teaching only if he takes into account everything that both scripture and the magisterium have said on a subject. any understanding which fastens on what scripture says to the exclusion of the magisterium (as protestants typically do) or which fastens on this or that statement of the magisterium in preference to others (as traditionalists typically do) is doomed to be incorrect. the proper interpretation will always be the one which allows for the truth of all the relevant scriptural and magisterial texts.8 what the statement of jeff mirus attests to is the unity of scripture, tradition and the magisterium. in chapter ii of the dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, dei verbum, where it discusses transmission of divine revelation, the document states that all that god section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 25 had revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.9 “therefore, christ the lord, in whom the entire revelation of the most high god is summed up (cf. 2 cor. 1:20; 3:16; 4:6) commanded the apostles to preach the gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips.”10 the apostles transmitted what they received from the lord to succeeding generations. in order to preserve the living and full gospel in the church, the apostles left bishops as their successors. they gave them “their own position of teaching authority.”11 the transmission of the faith from the apostles is the characteristic feature of the apostolicity of origin, since the church was first organized by the apostles chosen by christ; it is the feature of apostolicity of teaching, because what the church teaches now is essentially what was taught by the apostles; and it is the feature of apostolicity of succession in office, since there has been an unbroken historical transmission of episcopal powers, through ordination, from the apostles to all the bishops in communion with the bishop of rome today. this does not only guarantee faithfulness to revelation, but also to its continuity. theology, which is a speech about god, because it is a reflection on god’s word, must therefore employ, in its method, the principle of interpretation that functions on the unity and continuity of the christian faith tradition. according to the fathers of the second vatican council, “this sacred tradition, then, and the sacred scripture of both testaments, are like a mirror, in which the church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth, contemplates god from whom she receives everything, until such time as she is brought to see him face to face as he really is (cf. jn 3:2).”12 in this regard, sacred tradition and sacred scripture are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other; they make up a single sacred deposit of the word of god, which is entrusted to the church.13 the council fathers further state that the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the word of god, whether in its written form or in the form of tradition,14 has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone.15 the authority of the magisterium in this matter is exercised in the name of jesus christ. it is not superior to the word of god, but is its servant. it teaches only what has been handed on to it. the document dei verbum concludes the section on the “transmission of divine revelation” with the profound statement of unity of sacred scripture, tradition, and the magisterium: “it is clear, therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of god, sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the magisterium of the church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. working together, each in its own way under the action of the 26 formation of the human person in the 21st century one holy spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”16 theologians have important task to perform in giving authentic interpretation of the word of god. since theirs is a service of the truth, whatever method they adopt must always work for the continuity of what god has revealed in christ, which is rooted in the apostolic faith, and which is correctly interpreted and taught by the magisterium. therefore, the theologian does not engage in reckless scholarship that emphasizes his subjective views over the inherent truth of the christian tradition; rather, he functions within the hermeneutic environment that is subservient to the teaching office of the bishops. it must be noted here that “both the teaching office of the bishop and the teaching office of the theologian are at the service of the truth. for this reason, they are not at variance. however, the teaching office of the theologian is at the service of the teaching office of the bishop.”17 a more specific scrutiny of the mission of the theologian is necessary to see how his service of the truth works for continuity rather than rupture. mission of the theologian and formation in method18 the profound mission of the theologian is silence and contemplation. this seems both strange and paradoxical, since theology is fundamentally a speech. yet, this is the primary mission of the theologian, because the purpose of silence and contemplation, as pope emeritus, benedict xvi, once said, is that “they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve permanent union with god.”19 he stressed further that the purpose is so that “that union with god may always be present in our souls and may transform our entire being.”20 the theologian is one who is first and foremost called to a union with god. in contemplating god who is the first truth, the theologian is transformed by the truth that he seeks to understand. it is only in this way that he can relate the fruits of his contemplation to others. silence and contemplation are therefore the essential mission of the theologian. this is his mission if, in the loquacity of his every day, in the plethora of words, he makes the essential words heard. through words, he makes present the fruits of his contemplation; he makes present the word, the logos who comes from god, the word who is god. the theologian lives in a world where there is the possibility of the distractions that come from so many words. if he is to make the word who comes from god present, it has to be through a process of purification of his thoughts, which in addition must be above all a process of purification of his words. john the evangelist says of the word of god that was coming into the world that he was the true light that enlightens every man. “he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not” (jn 1:10). the world did not know him because the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 27 world did not enter that silence in which john was privileged to know the logos of god and made him known. we cannot open the world and, indeed ourselves, to the word without entering into the silence of god from which his word proceeds. and as benedict xvi says: “for the purification of our words, hence, also for the purification of the words of the world, we need that silence which becomes contemplation, which introduces us into god's silence and brings us to the point where the word, the redeeming word, is born.”21 to enter into silence and contemplation always means to hear something, to hear a speech. the one who enters into this silence is not the one who speaks, but he listens. in this regard st thomas aquinas, with a long tradition, says that in theology god is not the object of which we speak. this is our own normal conception. god, in reality, is not the object but the subject of theology. the one who speaks through theology, the speaking subject, must be god himself. and our speech and thoughts must always serve to ensure that what god says, the word of god, is listened to and finds room in the world. for this reason, the practice of true theology cannot be the substitution of our words for the word of god. in theology god speaks, and in the process the theologian must learn to forfeit his own words, so that through this process of purification his words may be nothing but the instrument through which god can speak, and, hence, that god may truly be the subject and not the object of theology. when the theologian enters the silence in which god alone speaks, he must be attentive and seek the true word of god. a phrase from the first chapter of the first letter of st. peter easily comes to mind: “animas vestras castificantes in oboedientia veritatis” (1 pet 1:22). here peter speaks of the purification of the soul that comes from obedience to the truth. obedience to the truth must "purify" our souls and thus guide us to upright speech and upright action. the lesson in this, as it relates to the mission of the theologian, is that when there is obedience to the truth, the theologian will avoid what benedict xvi calls prostitution of words and of the soul. according to the pope emeritus, “speaking in the hope of being applauded, governed by what people want to hear out of obedience to the dictatorship of current opinion, is considered to be a sort of prostitution: of words and of the soul.”22 he explains further that the "purity" to which the apostle peter is referring means not submitting to these standards, not seeking applause, but rather, seeking obedience to the truth. in other words, the theologian must not only learn to forfeit his own words, but he must also constantly seek to be at the service of the true word of god. such service to the word of god is only authentic when opinions are not substituted for the truth. this can sometimes be the danger in the theological enterprise. this is why the mission of the 28 formation of the human person in the 21st century theologian should draw its proper life and derive its impetus from the obedience to the truth. the words of benedict xvi aptly convey the authentic content and method of the theological enterprise when he says: and i think that this is the fundamental virtue for the theologian, this discipline of obedience to the truth, which makes us, although it may be hard, collaborators of the truth, mouthpieces of truth, for it is not we who speak in today's river of words, but it is the truth which speaks in us, who are really purified and made chaste by obedience to the truth. so it is that we can truly be harbingers of the truth.23 the same message is communicated in the words of st. ignatius of antioch: "those who have understood the lord's words understand his silence, for the lord should be recognized in his silence."24 we grasp the true significance and depth of the words of jesus only when we attain that silence of the lord, his being with the father from which words come. the words of jesus are born in silence on the mountain, as is often said that he withdrew to the mountain to pray. the theologian, who has the mission to convey the words of jesus, must also take his instance from this communion of the son with the father. indeed, “words are born from this silence of communion with the father, from being immersed in the father, and only on reaching this point, on starting from this point, do we arrive at the real depth of the word and can ourselves be authentic interpreters of the word. the lord invites us verbally to climb the mountain with him and thus, in his silence, to learn anew the true meaning of words.”25 it is when the words of the theologian are born from the silence of communion with the father and with christ, the logos of the father, that it can be truly said of him: “anyone who hears you hears me” (lk 10:16). the content and context of evangelization is the word of god. if it is therefore true that those who hear us hear the lord, then the task of evangelization already has its true force and its assurance of success, since the word of god stands for ever, and it accomplishes the purpose for which it is spoken (cf. is 48:8; 55:11). it is the word that is born from the silence of communion with the father through the son and in the holy spirit that is the force of evangelization. the theologian must always enter this silence and contemplation. however, the nature of authentic theology is that it is both a quest and a speech. hence, it is the mission of a theologian that he searches and that he speaks. the quest and speech is primarily about god, and also about every creature in its relation to god as its first beginning and its last end.26 in proposing what the nature and task of section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 29 theology is, i allude to the words of anthony akinwale: “this search and this speech can only be undertaken by one who encounters god, human beings, and the universe in an attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible manner. each and all of these four levels of conscious intentionality must be sustained in prayer such that, in this encounter, the theologian is prayerfully attentive, prayerfully intelligent, prayerfully reasonable, and prayerfully responsible.”27 it follows that in its method, theology must always apply the principle of fides quaerens intellectum, where faith both informs and sustains the task of theology, and where the theologian does not yield to the recklessness of relativism. we have considered how silence and contemplation are profoundly the mission of the theologian. yet, because theology is also authentically a speech, the mission of the theologian is also essentially to speak about god. however, the one who endeavours to speak about god must also have a profound desire for god. here is the meeting point of theology as speech and quest, because there can be no speech about god where there is no quest for god. thus, in the larger picture of the mission of the theologian, as he speaks about god, his speech must be grounded in the silence and contemplation that we have talked about. the god who has placed in every human being the natural desire for him (desiderium naturale in deum)28 is at the heart of the quest that theology is. the quest is not a blind quest, but one that is born out of a sincere desire for god. in athens the greeks erected an altar “to an unknown god” (cf. acts 17:23). as it were, they had a desire for what was unknown; and this is absurd. in book viii of his de trinitate, st. augustine establishes the principle that no one loves what he does not know. thus, we do not love the unknown, but love to know the unknown. here is how augustine puts it: for, since ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ [2 cor 5:7], we certainly do not yet see god, as the same one has said: ‘face to face’ [1 cor 13:12]. unless we love him now, we shall never see him. but who loves that which he does not know? for something can be known and not loved; but what i am asking is, whether something can be loved that is not known? if that is impossible, then no one loves god before he knows him. and what does it mean to love god, except to see him and to perceive him steadfastly with our mind? for he is not a body to be sought for with bodily eyes.29 it follows that to speak about god is to have a desire for god; and one cannot have a desire for what one does not known. hence, we speak of the task of theology as a speech and a quest. and since one speaks about a person or thing to the extent that one knows the person or thing, 30 formation of the human person in the 21st century then the validity of what the theologian says about god must come from his deep knowledge of god. such knowledge comes from the silence and contemplation into with the theologian enters. as a result, the knowledge is the fruit of both faith and reason. the church teaches that “god, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason.”30 the catechism of the catholic church states further: “in the historical condition in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know god by the light of reason alone.”31 consequently, the knowledge of god that comes from reason must be from reason that is ennobled, enlightened, empowered and elevated by faith. what the church teaches in the two instances is true and valid. in the first instance, from the things that have been made (cf. rom 1:20), any reasonable and intelligent person can come to the conclusion that god exists. on the other hand, there are reasonable and intelligent people who have not been able to come to the conclusion that god exists. for the latter group, what is missing is faith. that god exists is self-evident in itself since the predicate is included in the essence of the subject. but it is not self-evident to us because we do not know the essence of god. it is for this reason that the proposition needs to be demonstrated by the things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature – namely, by effects.32 from what we have said, it is true and valid that god can be known by the natural light of human reason from the created world. but because god is mystery – not in the sense that god is unintelligible, but in the sense that who god is cannot be exhausted – to attempt to know god by the light of reason alone is fraught with so many difficulties. reason must be enlightened and elevated by faith. the god whom the theologian seeks to speak about is a mystery, so the theologian must recognize that the created intellect cannot know god perfectly. god is knowable, and he is knowable infinitely. yet the infinitely knowable god cannot be known infinitely by the finite intellect of the creature. and because the theologian cannot exhaust the meaning of who god is, he must fall in love with the mystery that god is, so that he may be purified, and so that his speech may truly be about god whom he has fallen in love with. he is called to live a holy life by constant conversion to god. furthermore, when the theologian speaks about god out of desire for god, it means “god is the subject matter of the speech that takes its inspiration from the natural desire for god and the god who fulfills that desire by revealing himself, and who gives the church’s magisterium as a gift to ensure that what is revealed is rightly interpreted.”33 theology is, therefore, a quest to understand god and what god has revealed about himself, and it is also a speech about god section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 31 who reveals himself. in this regard, “it is a search for understanding and a speech about the search, a speech in which the speaker seeks to understand for himself and seeks to explain to his audience the one he has found, or rather, the one who has found him.”34 if in the task and mission of theology, quest, speech and desire are interwoven, the mission of the theologian, vis-à-vis the task of interpretation and evangelization, must flow from a profound encounter with the god whom he has found and whom he loves, and his attempt to make this god known to others so that they too may love him. his speech will always be about the god of love so that those who listen to his explanation of the true word of god may also come to the knowledge and love of the god who speaks and is spoken about. it must be noted that though theology is a speech about god, it is also a speech about creatures. however, theology cannot be reduced to discourse about creatures. as a matter of fact, when it is said that theology is a speech about creatures, that speech cannot be isolated from the speech about god. for this reason thomas aquinas teaches that theology is not concerned with creatures in se, but only as they are related to god as their beginning and end.35 thus, when the theologian speaks about creatures he is not to use the methods of the natural or social sciences – though he does not ignore the findings of these other branches of knowledge – he must speak about them as a theologian. in other words, it is in his speech about god that he must speak about creatures. as much as other branches of knowledge can be of help to theology, the office of theology must not be usurped by these other branches of knowledge. the implication of this is that the theologian must engage in the task of interpretation and evangelization as one who primarily and essentially speaks about god. what he does in his speech about god is seek to understand the god who has created all things, and this desire to understand the mystery of god gives theology its character as a quest. st. anselm of canterbury speaks of this effort of the human mind to understand the mystery of god when he wrote: i am not trying, o lord, to penetrate thy loftiness, for i cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but i desire in some measure to understand thy truth, which my heart believes and loves. for i do not seek to understand in order to believe, but i believe in order to understand. for this too i believe, that “unless i believe, i shall not understand.”36 it is clear then that, in his speech about god, the theologian does not first seek to understand before he believes, but he believes so as to understand (credo ut intelligam). these words of anselm have given theology the classical character of “faith seeking understanding” (fides 32 formation of the human person in the 21st century quaerens intellectum). long before anselm, the fathers of the church, especially augustine, demonstrated the truth in these statements. from the outset of his most profound theological work, de trinitate, augustine impressed on his reader that the starting point of his quest for the immaterial imago dei was faith in the trinity, and that throughout the quest he was going to be guided by faith. “the de trinitate is a search, an inquisitio, as augustine puts it. it is the embodiment of a principle of catholic theology that augustine constantly invoked and that st. anselm later formulated: fides quaerens intellectum. faith is, therefore, the starting point for augustine. we cannot come to an understanding of the mystery of the trinity without the initium fidei.37 the theologian who speaks about god must always have this initium fidei. the initium fidei of the theologian is not an isolated private revelation, nor is it a rupture from what the christian community believes to be revealed through jesus christ, which the apostles taught and passed on to succeeding generations of christian disciples, the deposit of faith (depositum fidei). thus, the mission of the theologian, in his task of interpretation, is to constantly work hermeneutic of continuity in the understanding and explanation of the christian faith. his mission as theologian is one that he undertakes personally but on behalf of the believing community. in his regard, “the task of theology is to show that the act of faith and the act of good use of the human intellect are not incompatible.”38 and to have great impact in the task of interpretation, the theologian must be a man of faith, he must be intelligent and he must be reasonable. conclusion this paper examined hermeneutic of continuity as the proper principle of interpretation, in which the unity and integrity of the faith tradition is the task of theology. theological formation must therefore consist in the proper formation of theological method, so that the one who is thus formed recognizes his mission and his teaching office to be at the service of the truth and in obedience to the truth. for the theologian to be at the service of the truth is for him to work for continuity rather than rupture in the tradition of the christian faith. as principle of interpretation, hermeneutic of continuity allows for the truth of the relevant scriptural and magisterial texts, mediated by the faith tradition that goes back to the apostles. this principle is opposed to any interpretive technique which severs one or more magisterial texts, or one or more passages of scripture, from other texts. such a technique is a “hermeneutic of rupture”. the right principle is a “hermeneutic of continuity”, and this principle lies in the heart of true theological formation and theological method. for over two centuries now, “western intellectual life, with the deep influence of modernism, has been dominated increasingly by a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 33 “hermeneutic of rupture”, a broad principle of interpretation of the good which dismisses tradition and opts instead for the latest ideas, as if by the very fact of coming later in time, these ideas must be superior—a misconception arising largely from the western notion of “progress”.”39 in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this hermeneutic of rupture was imported into catholic theology by those who fell victim to modernism. modernism essentially finds religious truth in the current lived experience of christians. as a remedy, this paper proposes proper theological formation that is rooted in “hermeneutic of continuity”, and in which the theologian sees his task as that of service to the integral truth of scripture, sacred tradition, and the magisterium. the study of the fathers of the church must be an integral part of this theological formation. endnotes 1 bernard lonergan, method in theology (toronto: university of toronto press, 1971), xi 2 bernard lonergan, method in theology, xi 3 bernard lonergan, method in theology, 4 4 bernard lonergan, method in theology, 4 5 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 6 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 7 the following insight is an explanation of the thoughts of st. augustine provided by jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. 8 jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. 9 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 10 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 11 st. irenaeus, adversus haereses, iii, 3, 1 12 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 7 13 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 9, 10 14 cf. first vatican council, dogmatic constitution on the catholic faith, c. 3 (on faith): denz. 1972 (3011). 15 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10. cf. pius xii, encyclical humani generis, 12 august 1950: denz. 1972 (3886). 16 vatican ii, dei verbum, dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, 10 17 francis adedara, “marriage and family life in service of truth: theological perspectives on reception of the apostolic exhortation amoris laetitia” in abuja journal of philosophy and theology, 7 (2017) 80-81. 34 formation of the human person in the 21st century 18 what i discuss in this section is the variation of a section of the paper i read at a conference of the southwest association of nigerian catholic theologians. see francis adedara, “the mission of the theologian and the task of evangelization: a reflection on the nigerian context”, in the theologian and the new evangelization in the south-west of nigeria, conference proceedings, vol. i (ibadan: a publication of southwest association of nigerian catholic theologians, 2014). the section on mission of the theologian is adopted and adapted for the purpose of this paper. 19 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission, redemptoris mater chapel, apostolic palace, october 6 2006 20 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 21 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 22 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 23 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 24 ignatius of antioch, letter the ephesians, xv, 2 (sources chrétiennes 10, pp. 8485). 25 benedict xvi, homily at the eucharistic celebration with the members of the international theological commission. 26 see thomas aquinas, summa theologia i, q. 1, a. 7 27 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” a paper presented at graduate theology students; colloquium, ave maria university, fl, september 14, 2007, p. 4 28 the catechism of the catholic church teaches: “the desire for god is written in the human heart, because man is created by god for god; and god never ceases to draw man to himself. only in god will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for” (n. 27). the second vatican council says in this regard: “the dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with god. this invitation to converse with god is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. for if man exists it is because god has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator” (gs 19). 29 augustine, de trinitate, viii.6 30 catechism of the catholic church, 36. see vatican council i, dei filius 2: ds 3004; cf. 3026; see also vatican ii, dei verbum 6 31 catechism of the catholic church, 37; see pius xii, humani generis, 561, where this historical condition is rooted in the consequences of original sin. 32 see thomas aquinas, summa theologiae i, q. 1, a. 1 for a discussion of whether the existence of god is self-evident. 33 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 4 34 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 4 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 35 35 cf. summa theologiae i, q. 2, prol.: “principalis intentio huius sacrae doctrinae est dei cognitionem tradere, et non solum secundum quod in se est, sed etiam secundum quod est principium rerum et finis earum, et specialiter rationalis creaturae.” 36 anselm of canterbury, proslogion, ch. 1 in a scholastic miscellany: anselm to ockham, edited by eugene fairweather (philadelphia: the westminster press, 1956). cf. is 7:9, as read by augustine in the old latin version, and frequently quoted by him, for example, epist. 120:1 (csel, 34, 706); sermo 89:4 (pl, 38, 556). 37 francis adedara, “the image of god in man and original sin in augustine’s de trinitate” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2011), see pp. 4-5 38 anthony akinwale, “catholic theology and the church in nigeria,” p. 7 39 jeff mirus in his article “benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity”, written and uploaded for catholicculture.org, january 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org /commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. retrieved on december 30, 2019. 36 4 formation in ritual studies: towards a better appreciation of catholic sacramental system olumuyiwa anthony omodunbi catholic diocese of oshogbo thonyiwa@gmail.com abstract for a long while, the roman catholic sacramental understanding has been built upon thomistic philosophy that is foundational on aristotelian metaphysics. this approach to sacraments and sacramentality often obscures seeing sacraments as what they really are: rituals. more than ever before, there is need, both in understanding and in practice, to have recourse to ritual dimensions of sacraments. liturgical acts are essentially ritual actions and as such deserves such a consideration. however, in the wake of the post vatican ii liturgical reforms, romano guardini (one of the fathers of modern liturgical movement), in his open letter to a german conference on liturgy in 1964 made an apt remark that worths considering in the formation of 21st century priests. he remarked that despite the ritual and textual problems that come with the reform, “the central problem seems to me to be something else; the problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the liturgical act. as i see it, typical nineteenth-century man was no longer able to perform this act; in fact he was unaware of its existence.” this essay therefore argues for the need of incorporating ritual studies into the formation of contemporary seminarians for a better understanding and practice of liturgical acts. the essay argues that ritual studies posits an invitation to a renewed understanding of sacrament and sacramentality. the ministers of the word and sacraments must be aware of the rituals they make, the inherent symbols, and how the symbols speak to the assembly that partake in the ritual actions. also, needless to say that liturgical catechesis will become more common and effective, only if the teachers understand deeply the rituals they make, since nemo dat quod non habet. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 37 keywords: sacrament, sacramentality, rituals, ex opere operato, symbols, ritual studies, introduction one of the major lasting effects of the second vatican council is the call for the revision of the rites of celebrating various sacraments in the church. the entire reform of the liturgy – especially the celebration of the sacraments is to emphasise the reality that liturgical acts are ritual actions.1 as such the theology of the different sacraments should at the same time be directly drawn and inferred from the ritual practice. little wonder that each general instruction to the various rites establishes the significance of the various liturgical celebrations upon the rite with which they are practiced. this is a deliberate move away from the scholastic approach to liturgical practices (prior to the vatican ii council) which prioritizes the juridical implications of liturgical celebrations. however, the reality on ground attests that the development that the reform of the liturgy by the conciliar fathers envisaged is still far from actualization in many quarters. in many places, the scholastic approach (using thomistic philosophy built on aristotelian metaphysics) to the sacramental system of the church is still prevalent, and in many cases, the only way of understanding sacramental reality. the purpose of this presentation is to argue for another way of looking at the catholic sacramental system – basically the meaning of sacraments and sacramental efficacy. it proposes that formation in ritual studies will enhance a better understanding and the practice of liturgy. the need for this formation in ritual studies was underscored by romano guardini, in his open letter to a german conference on liturgy in 1964 (few months after the call for revision of various rites) when he remarked that: a mass of ritual and textual problems will present themselves and long experience has shown how much scope there is for a right and a wrong approach. but the central problem seems to me to be something else; the problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the liturgical act. as i see it, typical nineteenth-century man (sic) was no longer able to perform this act; in fact, he was unaware of its existence. religious conduct was to him an individual inward matter which in the “liturgy” took on the character of an official, public ceremonial. but the sense of the liturgical action was thereby lost. the faithful did not perform a proper liturgical act at all, it was simply a private and inward act, surrounded by ceremonial and not infrequently accompanied by a 38 formation of the human person in the 21st century feeling that the ceremonial was really a disturbing factor. from that point of view the efforts of those who concerned themselves with the liturgy must have appeared as peculiarities of aesthetes who lacked christian sincerity.2 guardini did not hesitate to acknowledge the importance of seeing liturgical acts as actions performed by sociological entities who are both human and spirit. he also pin-points the importance of the various elements – the time, place and things involved in the external action called ritual. in these, one can deduce the inevitable call for formation in what will later be known as ritual studies for the better appreciation of the liturgical reform and the liturgy itself. he argues that the opportunity that the reform brings is the opportunity ‘to relearn forgotten way of doing things and recapture lost attitudes.’3 this is the same prospect that ritual studies offers. this presentation will therefore proceed to highlight some justifications for the claim that ‘there is a forgotten way’ and ‘lost attitude’ to relearn and recapture respectively through formation in ritual studies. this will explore the patristic way of understanding sacramental reality vis a vis the renewed understanding of sacramentality today. afterwards, the work will argue for the potency of ritual studies to illuminate catholic sacramental system. re-learning the forgotten way: sacramentality renewed before requesting for the revision of the various rites for celebration of the sacraments, the conciliar fathers acknowledged that there is a problem of a ‘forgotten way’ because ‘with the passage of time, (however), there have crept into the rites of the sacramentals and sacraments certain features which have rendered their nature and purpose far from clear to the people of today.’4 this reality calls for a reflection on the history and development of sacramental practice in order to highlight what was wrong and at what point.5 while this work cannot cover the scope, let it suffice to note that the understanding of sacrament and sacramental efficacy in the church has not been the same all through the history of the church. recent scholarship now favours the patristic understanding over the rigid and strict scholastic meaning. the second vatican council brought with it a new way of understanding sacramental theology. more than ever before, the council emphasised that creation has the capacity to reveal god who is both transcendent and immanent. therefore, the fathers assert that ‘there is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed towards the sanctification of men and the praise of god.’6 this teaching ignited a revolution in sacramental theology, and ‘christian section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 39 theology today recognises that the ability of all creation to reveal the transcendent god is first and foremost through the initiative of god and then also because of the willingness of an immanent god to communicate that desire and allow it to be known in human heart.’7 david brown underscores these two attributes of god – transcendence and immanence – as unique ways of mediating divine presence through the material world. for him, transcendence does not mean absence; rather it stresses the otherness of god, while immanence makes possible his closeness.8 sacramentality does not mean that god is in all things, but that all things are capable of revealing god (or at least something about god).9 it was rowan williams, the former archbishop of canterbury, who remarked that ‘sacramentality is not a general principle that the world is full of “sacredness”: it is the very specific conviction that the world is full of the life of god whose nature is known in christ and the spirit.’10 since all of creation is the handiwork of god, creation possesses a bit of ‘god’ in them and are so enabled to ‘reflect’ god. sacramentality thus ‘acts as a prism, a theological lens through which we view creation and all that is in this good earth as revelations of god’s presence and action among us here and now.’11 hence, sacramentality is a theological concept covering a vast sphere of reality and cannot be narrowed down to the ecclesial (seven) sacraments. in the words of larson-miller, ‘the elusive nature of the term “sacramentality” is its strength, in that it can lure christians beyond the narrowness of ecclesial sacramental terminology to a broad context in which other terms can find a home, both contextualized and rational and capable of development.’12 the elusive nature of the term, ‘sacramentality’ recognised by larson-miller is not a new discovery. from the earlier usage of the term sacrament (from which sacramentality is derived), it has always carried a variety of meanings. though augustine refers to sacrament as ‘a sign of a sacred thing’ it was applied to a variety of realities.13 true to its etymological meaning, the latin word for sacrament, sacramentum is derived from the word sacrare meaning ‘to make or be holy.’ it can refer to ‘a person or thing constituted holy by divine right, a function reserved for public authority to “consecrate,” the one who performs the consecration, the consecration itself, the person or thing consecrated, and the means used to effect it.’14 also the word sacrament has a traceable root in the greek term mysterion. in the new testament, paul uses mysterion to refer to the hidden plan of god (cf. rom. 16:25-26). also, in this greek sense, mysterion means something unfathomable, something so extraordinary and overwhelming that it cannot be comprehended.15 it is in this light that joseph martos noted that ‘any ritual or object, person or 40 formation of the human person in the 21st century place, can be considered sacramental if it is taken to be a symbol of something that is sacred or mysterious.’16 furthermore, augustine used the term ‘sacrament for three classes of things: (1) the religious rites of both the old and new testaments and rites of paganism, (2) symbols and figures, and (3) revealed teaching of the christian religion.17 these include imposition of hands, blessed ashes, holy water, sign of the cross, ordination, religious profession, the lord’s prayer, feasts, and the word amen among many others. while the term ‘sacraments’ in the roman catholic church is often associated with the seven sacraments as defined by the council of trent (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extremeunction[now anointing of the sick], holy orders and matrimony), the renewed understanding of sacramentality has opened up deeper ways of understanding sacraments. contemporary theology incorporates the patristic notion of sacraments into how sacraments should be understood today. hence, we speak today of primordial sacraments – first to describe christ and, second the church18 -, the seven ecclesial sacraments and other sacramentals.19 indeed, according to paul tillich, ‘any object or event is sacramental in which the transcendent is perceived to be present.’20 moreover, the theological principle of sacramentality justifies the use of earthly materials as sacred signs in the liturgy. creation does not only reveal god, but also praises god in itself and through the works of human hands. sacramentality is therefore based on the belief that everything god created is good and they can be used in the worship of god and the sanctification of humans. according to irwin, ‘sacramentality is a worldview that invites us to be immersed fully in the here and now, on this good earth, and not to shun matter or avoid the challenges that such earthiness will require of us, even as we pray through liturgy and sacraments (and other means) to enter into heaven when this earthly pilgrimage has ended.’21 the engagement of humans with creation in its goodness continues the purpose of god in creation, reveals his presence among us and manifest his actions in and on us. hence, ‘holiness, salvation, and redemption are given to us in the sacraments because of the principle of sacramentality and mediation.’22 the fundamental means of mediation of the experience of the divine is through the human body. in recent times theologians pay more attention to the role of the human body in sacramental theology, perhaps partly because the body is ‘the physical channel of meaning.’23 this attention is mainly due to ‘the recognition of the human being, inseparable from his or her context-dependence on the living organism of the earth, as the conduit through which any and all theology is section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 41 constructed.’24 in a sense, ‘sacramental theology is explicably a prayer of the body.’25 this centrality of the human body in mediated liturgical experience is however not new as tertullian had earlier asserted that the body is the instrument of salvation. for tertullian, this is linked to the mystery of incarnation. at the incarnation, the eternal word of the father took flesh and by so doing, he saved us and we in turn can come to worship god through our bodies with which we encounter all of creation. narrating how the mediation works, the comment of tertullian on the resurrection of the flesh is enlightening: the flesh is the hinge on which salvation depends. as a result, when the soul is dedicated to god, it is the flesh which actually makes it capable of such dedication. for surely the flesh is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is sealed, so that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed by the imposition of hand, that the soul too may be illumined by the spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of christ, that the soul as well may fatten on god.26 though the actions tertullian spoke of are specific to the sacraments of initiation, his assertion captures adequately what sacramental realities do. in this way, sacraments are seen first and foremost as ritual events and not a metaphysical reality. recapturing lost attitude: the ritual studies this section of the presentation argues that through a formation in ritual studies, the faithful can develop the proper attitude towards the sacraments and its celebration. but what does ritual studies entail? in the words of ronald grimes: there is a broad and narrow use of the term “ritual studies.” on the one hand, it means simply “the study of ritual” regardless of discipline and regardless of the status, professional or amateur, of those who carry it out. on the other hand, it refers to the study of ritual by scholars who devote most of their research time and energy to doing it. in the former sense, many engage in it; in the latter, few.27 in this work, we shall consider ritual studies from the broad dimension. while many liturgical theologians are not schooled in this field (ritual studies), the works of experts in this field have been highly beneficial to the understanding of christian rituals and liturgy in general. their works give prominence to the various elements of rituals and that the elements are fundamental to understanding the belief of the people and their expression of such belief. prominent among these are the works of catherine bell and ronald grimes, on which i will largely 42 formation of the human person in the 21st century depend in this section. our aim here is to show in bits how ritual studies can illuminate our understanding of sacrament and sacramental efficacy through the interplay of the ritual elements. but what is ritual studies? ritual studies is ‘a unified, interdisciplinary approach which aims to avoid false conflicts and excessively narrow definitions of ritualistic phenomena.’28 it is an interdisciplinary field that engages sociology, psychology and cultural anthropology. since sacraments are for people (sacramentum propter hominem) who belong to a society (faith community), psychological, sociological and anthropological investigation (through ritual studies) into sacraments is apt in understanding sacramental efficacy. michael g. lawler rightly captures this interconnection between ritual studies and sacrament when he says: ‘an investigation of human behaviour and existence throws light on sacraments, just as sacraments are disclosive of the human experience and existence.’29 understanding what people do when they come together and how they make a meaning of what they do is key in understanding how what they do works by effecting what they intend. according to louis bouyer, ‘[i]ndeed, the more perfectly we know the human aspects of christianity, the more perfectly we shall understand the part of it which is the result of divine intervention. this is not to say that the human and the divine should be found in it separated from one another. it is rather that the divine reveals itself in the transformation it effects in what is human.’30 every animal – rational, social or irrational – ritualizes. ritual actions range from the actions carried out almost instinctively and without any consciousness to those that are planned for and even transcend our present situation.31 ritual is basic to human activities like eating, drinking, exchanging pleasantries through handshake, moving about, mating, giving birth, dying, praying, celebrating anniversaries and so on. we engage in ritualizing to give ‘stability to our behaviours and to serve as vehicle of communication.’32 for this reason, tom f. driver concludes that ‘ritualization is our first language, not our “mother”, but our “grandmother” tongue, as such it is something we do not outgrow.’33 though rituals are generally human activities, in its technical usage, the term is considered to be ‘more fittingly applied to forms of religious behaviours associated with social transitions.’34 in this sense, the behaviours events, prayers, gestures and materials involved in the celebration of sacraments fall within the scope of ritual activities. despite the attempt to define ritual, one would admit that ritual is wider in scope than the descriptions. because of this diffuse nature of rituals, scholars prefer to speak of family characteristics of rituals rather than giving a water-tight definition. in other words, there are some basic characteristics that a particular action should meet before it can be said to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 43 be a ritual action.35 ronald grimes highlighted different ways by which actions can be ritualized. these include by:  traditionalizing them, for instance, by claiming that they originated a long time ago or with the ancestors  elevating them by associating them with sacredly held values, those that make people who they are and that display either how things really are or how they ought to be  repeating them – over and over, in the same way – thus inscribing them in community and/or self  singularizing them, that is, offering them as rare or even one-time events  prescribing their details so they are performed in the proper way  stylizing them, so they are carried out with flair  entering them with a non-ordinary attitude or in a special state of mind, for example contemplatively or in trance  invoking powers to whom respect or reverence is due – gods, royalty, and spirits, for example  attributing to them special powers or influence  situating them in special places and/or times  being performed by specially qualified persons.36 the celebration of the sacraments (and indeed all liturgy) can adequately be regarded as a ritual activity as it meets the characteristics laid out above. they are communal events developed over time by the christian community, and are celebrated at particular times to enter into a hierophany. they are carried out at specific places by designated persons following the prescribed way of doing them. in carrying out these actions, meaning and communication become more important than mere function. as grimes noted, when this happens, ritualization has begun to occur.37 liturgy, as human and divine action, cannot be spoken of except within the context of rituals. little wonder lawrence hoffman considers liturgy as ‘acted-out rituals involving prescribed texts, actions, timing, persons and things, all coming together in a shared statement of communal identity by those who live with, through and by them.’38 liturgy, as a ritual event, is also underscored by the principle of sacramentality expressed above. to escape ritualization, we will have to escape our bodies, which is impossible.39 the body that grounds the principle of sacramentality and mediation also makes ritualization an inevitable human activity. the reality of our lives is that ritual actions are always around us and are unavoidable. despite all efforts of modern men and women to move away from rituals, we cannot do without them.40 44 formation of the human person in the 21st century kinds/genres of rituals as pointed out, it is obvious that ritual actions are inevitably numerous since different ritual actions perform different roles at different moments. however, attempts have been made by scholars in the field to categorize the different kind of rituals in their study. for the purpose of our work, we shall focus on the six categories of ritual actions proposed by catherine bell.41 these are: rites of passage, calendrical rites, rites of exchange and communion, rites of affliction, feasting, fasting and festival; and political rites. a) rites of passage: these are the ceremonies that accompany and dramatize such events as birth, coming-of-age initiation for boys and girls, marriage, and death.42 these celebrate both biological and socio-cultural changes. these rites celebrate and facilitate real changes that take place in people’s lives. in christian liturgy, the celebration of the sacraments of christian initiation (baptism, confirmation and eucharist), matrimony, and holy orders fall within this category, as do the rites of christian funerals. b) calendrical rites: these are the ‘rites that give socially meaningful definitions to the passage of time, creating an ever-renewing cycle of days, months and years.’43 some occasions are calculated with the solar calendar (like christmas day on december 25 and new year day on january 1), while others are marked by the lunar calendar (e.g. easter sunday). the rites are celebrated periodically – annually or sometimes weekly (like the sunday liturgy). c) rites of exchange and communion: these are the rituals of making offering (often to a divine being) in order to receive a blessing in return. the process of making offering and receiving blessing also involves a communion, when there is a union of the human and divine worlds.44 to some extent, the seven sacraments of the roman catholic church are rites of exchange and communion as in them prayers are offered to god who in turn grants his blessings (or graces). d) rites of affliction (healing and purification): these are ‘the rituals that attempt to rectify a state of affairs that has been disturbed or disordered.’45 hence, they are also called rites of healing and purification. in the christian liturgy, the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick readily comes to mind as healing rites. also, the rcia contains a number of rites that fall under this genre, among which are the anointings, laying on of hands, ephphetha, exorcisms and scrutinies. e) rites of fasting, feasting and festivals: these are ‘rituals people often use to publicly express – to themselves, each other, and sometimes outsiders – their commitment and adherence to basic section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 45 religious values.’46 in feasting, sharing of food is involved as a sign of solidarity and charity, and in fasting, adherents abstain from food often as sign of contrition. in roman catholicism, the seasons of advent and lent are seasons of fasting. they are periods of preparation for festivals of the birth of the lords on christmas day and resurrection of jesus on easter day respectively. though none of the sacraments of the roman catholic church fall under this ritual, the ritual fast is often recommended for the reception of the sacraments, especially eucharist.47 f) political rites: ‘these rituals can be said to comprise those ceremonial practices that specifically construct, display and promote power of political institutions (such as kings, state, the village elders) or the political interests of distinct constituencies and subgroups.’48 the rites are also called rites of power because they do not only give form to power and invest people with power; they also create power in the tangible exercise of it.49 the rites by their very nature make power both tangible and effective.50 the sacrament of holy orders celebrates a political rite where men are invested with the power of governance, and lay persons can also cooperate with the power of governance by the virtue of their baptism.51 the explanations of the different kinds of rites reveal that there are no strict rules demarcating the various rituals or restricting them to only a genre. for instance, the celebration of the sacrament of baptism or orders can at the same time reflect the aspect of rites of passage, of exchange and communion, of feast, and of power (political). elements of rituals in all the genre or kinds of rites discussed above, there are some fundamental elements that cut across them and are essential for the efficacy of the rites. as such, it is expedient that we analyse the elements of ritual in our process of understanding how they work. ronald grimes underscores the importance of this analysis for two other reasons.52 firstly, such analysis guards one against oversimplification of ritual process and exposes how each of the elements contribute to or detract from the whole process. secondly, it assists in noticing ritual transformation, recognising how the process develops or unfolds. grimes identified seven elements of ritual; viz: ritual actions, ritual actors, ritual places, ritual times, ritual objects, ritual language and ritual groups. he noted that there are no rigid rules about them or how the categories are named. rather, what matters is how they interact; an interaction which is not predetermined by a theory but from observing specific ritual events. 46 formation of the human person in the 21st century a) ritual actions: though one can begin analysing a ritual with any element, ‘choosing ritual action as a default starting point is both pragmatic and a reminder to focus on ritual.’53 it emphasises the fact that rituals are, foremost, actions of persons human or divine. ritual actions are different from mere movements in the sense that they are characterized by intention. ‘things move but people act.’54ritual actions carry with them the force of enacting through inter-actions. it is noteworthy that the aim of ritual action is not merely to entertain (even though sometimes it does), rather, they are designed to achieve an effect. hence, we can say that ‘people enact rituals, especially when a rite seems capable of accomplishing a deed or bringing about an effect.’55 ritual actions do not speak for themselves in isolation, but in their interaction with other actions that precede or follow them. as such, the meaning of a particular action can be modified by the action that precedes or follows it. in the context of christian sacramental rituals of the rcia, there are several ritual actions like kneeling, standing, laying on of hand, anointing with oil, profession of faith, movement to the font and signing of the senses. all these gestures and postures are not just to show something; but work in the ritual system to have a desired effect. b) ritual actors: foremost, we must note that ritual actors are different from stage actors in that when the term ‘perform’ is used for both, they do not mean the same thing. the term ‘perform’ is only used for a ritual actor to underscore that his actions are done in the presence of people. in the case of a stage actor, he performs in the presence of people and he is supposed to be pretending (although they may in fact be).56 though the ritual actor may or may not be aware that he/she is being observed, his ‘performance’ is intended to effect something. ritual actors, like actions, do not act alone. as social agents, they also interact with other actors either as objects or subjects of various actions. their actions are done among and with other people. though ritual actors are distinguished as leaders or followers, ministers or candidates, every participant in a ritual event is important irrespective of the role they play. even those who simply show up without ‘doing’ anything, other than observing, contribute to the ritual performance. in christian initiation, there are various actors at different stages. prominent among these are the ministers (often the priest and catechists), catechumens, sponsors, and the entire congregation. the presence (and sometimes absence) of any of these actors play important role(s) at the various celebrations. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 47 c) ritual place/space: rituals always take place. rituals are always sited in a location, even when ritual actors do not value the location. the spatial rootedness of the human life is key to understanding ritual places despite the claim that ritual sometimes involves the divine and trance experiences. the human body which makes human activities possible is spatio-temporal and cannot be conceived without a location, earthly or heavenly. thus, a ritual place is any place where a ritual occurs. it is that ritual environment that ‘encompasses the totality of what surrounds it and interacts with it.’57 in this sense, some rituals can only take place at some particular places, while others can take place anywhere. if some rituals are not done in the particular places demanded by their rite, they often lose their force. ritual space is basically marked by boundaries ‘implied by ritual actions, generating a centre and a circumference, both of which can fluctuate, the centre receding and advancing or momentarily disappearing altogether as subgroups disperse and recongeal.’58 however, this boundary marks are often delineated by walls forming the space into a building like a church or mosque. ritual places should not be confused with sacred places. grimes cautions that ‘even though ritual happen in places and make them ritual spaces, not all ritual spaces are sacred spaces, and not all sacred spaces are permanently so. the sense of a place can change, and a single person can hold conflicting attitudes towards a place.’59 ritual space/place both speak and act. a baptistry, for instance is capable of speaking of the history of salvation through its shape and the painting projected on the walls.60 when the ritual place speaks, sometimes the meanings are to be inferred from the actions taking place there and sometimes it ‘speaks more clearly to those who have ears trained to hear what it says.’61 rituals places can be shaped by ritual actions and at the same time they shape ritual actions. when people come into a ritual space for a ritual action, they leave with feelings, images and impressions of the space. the place gives meaning to what they do while what they do also gives meaning to the place. d) ritual time: ritual actions, like every human activity has its starting point as well as its terminating point. likened to performing arts, ‘rituals “eventuate.” they arise, persist for a while, and then disappear, perhaps leaving the traces on the environment, in memory or in text.’62 ritual time can be spoken of in various ways. the ritual duration (length of a ritual performance measured by clock, bodily tiredness or position of the sun) is not always evident. ritual endurance refers to how long a ritual last historically. ritual timing 48 formation of the human person in the 21st century denotes ‘when’ – the day, hour, week, month, or seasonof ritual occurrence. the timing of some rituals is fixed while some vary. ritual timing serves various purposes and can affect what is being done. for instance, the same action performed at sunrise and midnight impacts the body differently and speaks different meanings. ritual timing is purposeful, and this is evident in the case of easter vigil emphasising the darkness/light theme very evident in the service of the light, the exsultet, the readings and the baptismal liturgy. ritual regularity refers to how often a ritual occurs in terms of the evenness of intervals between enactments.63 ritual phases are chronological subunits and can be mechanically marked by sounds or even without dividers. it often demarcates time for various actors to start or stop particular actions. all these dimensions of ritual time are applicable to christian rituals especially the rites of the christian initiation. there are times for the different periods and stages of the catechumenate. the days for some rites like acceptance into catechumenate, enrolment/election and scrutinies are spelt out in the rcia. the time for different actions like kneeling, laying on of hands and sending out after the liturgy of the word are also marked. the easter vigil is the preferred night for the actual celebration of the sacrament when candidates journey from darkness into light. e) ritual objects: these are materials actively used in rituals. an object, irrespective of its material, content, beauty or conditions of its production, becomes a ritual object when it is used in ritual action or ritual space. regarding the distinction between ritual object and sacred object therefore, grimes noted that ‘“sacred” is about value; “ritual” is about use.’64 among the ritual objects in the rcia are water, oil, white cloth, and candle. f) ritual language: this includes ritual words, ritual sounds and ritual texts. through these, rituals declare facts, convey meaning and ‘do things.’ like place and actions, words and music have the capacity to do work. they are capable to do so because in ritual (by extension in liturgy), words are used in symbolic context.65 as symbolic language, words are used in ritual as performative utterances. words, in this sense, do not just declare facts and convey meaning, but also accomplish tasks.66 in the words of john l. austin, under the necessary conditions, ‘saying it makes it so!’67 for instance, ‘i pronounce you husband and wife’ in marriage, is not a mere declaration or the description of an action, ‘but the performance of a deed.’ in the same way, ‘i baptize you in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit’ goes beyond a narration of an section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 49 article of faith, but the performance of the action that cleanses the soul from sin and brings rebirth. regarding ritual texts (which are words, put in writing), grimes opines that they function to facilitate ritual performance at least in two ways. firstly, texts serve as mnemonic device as an alternative to memorization, and secondly, they function as ritual objects when in ritual performance they are ‘read aloud by leaders, tracked silently by followers, touched, fanned, elevated or revered.’68 while ritual texts perform these dual function, it should be noted that performance do not always mirror the text, even when the leader is being prompted by or claims to be reading from the text. when performance and text do not tally, there are spectrums of possibilities of the meaning intended and meaning communicated. g) ritual groups: rituals are built on affiliations.69 people involved in ritual actions do not only do so as individuals but in interaction with other actors. rituals always belong to a cultural home as they are created by a cultural group and enshrines the values of the group.70 the group designs the ritual to meet the immediate and further needs of the group. as such, the general outlook of a group is reflected in its rituals. it is in this light that we can speak of the sacraments of the roman catholic church or how the eucharistic liturgy of the roman rite can be distinguished from the orthodox rite. ritual process: how rituals work in defining what rituals are, grimes noted that they are ‘designed assemblages.’71 they are ‘designed’ because they are planned and constructed in a way that enables form and dynamic to flow to one another; and they are assemblages because there exist a sculptural technique of composing a group of unrelated, fragmentary or discarded objects into a work of art.72 the ritual elements create meaningful patterns when they overlap and interact with one another. taking the case of performative utterances (ritual language) for instance, austin noted that to claim ‘saying it makes it so,’ ‘it is always necessary that the circumstances in which the words are uttered should be in some way, or ways, appropriate, and it is very commonly necessary that either the speaker himself or the other persons should also perform certain other actions, whether ‘physical’ or ‘mental’ actions or even act of uttering further words.’73 in other words, ‘ritual words’ actually work, not on their own but within the framework of the ritual process, the interaction of the ritual elements. a deeper understanding of how ritual works is to consider ritual performance as symbolic events. this is possible because the elements 50 formation of the human person in the 21st century of ritual, (not just ritual language) are capable of being symbolic. ritual actions, places, actors, objects, time, and group, act as symbols when interacting in a ritual process. as such, when we speak about ritual performance, we are at the same time speaking of symbolic events. symbols and meaning symbols must be differentiated from signs even though the distinction is not clear-cut as it often seems. while a sign is just as much a reference to another reality, a symbol in one way or the other refers to itself, because it participates in the reality to which it refers.74 while signs makes reference through a rational process and thus a product of agreement, symbols are perceived intuitively and touches the whole person at the level of feeling and the senses, and as such do not rest on agreements.75 consequently, while signs can be altered by agreement when its meaning is no longer clear, symbols call us to stop, ponder and meditate since it is ‘the thing without being the thing, and yet is the thing.’76 more importantly, signs have one clear meaning while symbols have multiple meanings. symbols refer to deeper reality, a farther horizon, a wider landscape.77 as an example, the red colour of the traffic light is a sign calling road users to stop. it simply calls them to stop and nothing more. the meaning of this sign is learned and that is why it is expected that all drivers should be able to know road signs and these signs are presumed to mean the same thing for every road user. to think of another meaning, no matter how little it differs, other than a call to stop, is to break traffic rule and perhaps cause accidents. if at a later time, the red sign no longer refers to ‘stop,’ it only needs to be changed by agreement. on the other hand, water being used in the sacrament of baptism carries a polyvalent meaning. it first partakes in the reality of washing which it symbolises. it could make reference to the baptism of jesus and his mandate to his apostles to go and make disciples of all nations by baptizing in the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spirit (cf. matthew 28:20). it may refer to the deluge in the time of noah, or the exodus experience when the israelites crossed the red sea and river jordan. the immersion in the water could symbolise dying and rising, death and rebirth, movement of darkness and light (as the one being baptized could not see when immersed in water until he comes out), and even becoming a new creature coming out from dirts already washed. the sprinkling of holy water at celebrations could bring together all these meaning, and the meanings are endless. because of its polysemic nature, if a symbol seems not to communicate a particular meaning (or the meaning is inaccessible to the observer or the observers are unable to decode the meaning), it does not call for a change through an agreement. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 51 rather, it calls us to pause and ponder on the reality unfolding before our senses. in relation to the sacramental symbols, ritual s will facilitate the ability to ‘pause and ponder’ moreover, it is noteworthy to reiterate that the distinctions made between sign and symbol are not always clear as they might seem. signs can become symbols and symbols can be reduced to signs. according to susanne langer ‘it is the human operation that makes the difference between sign(al) and symbol… rather than words and images in themselves.’78 every word, image, object and action has the potential of multiple significance and multiple reference of language. the context in which they are employed and the interaction they have with other objects, words, image or actions provides the ground for their possibility of multiple meanings. the danger for observers or participants in a ritual performance (liturgy inclusive) is the temptation to reduce symbols to signs. symbols are reduced to signs when we tend to restrict them to a particular meaning and not beyond that.79 in christian parlance, we should not think that the meaning of a ritual event consists of or is tied to the thoughts of a theologian, pastor or the christian community that designed them. rather, ‘ritual meaning consists just as surely of the random thoughts and gestures that occur during the ritual.’80 there is no doubt that official meaning provided by the christian community or theologians can aid in giving insight to what is being done at liturgy. however, as david power warns, ‘any effort to tie down the meaning of liturgical symbols to a single or preconceived meaning thwarts their efficacy.’81 rather, we are to allow other meanings to complement the other predominant meaning(s). sometimes, symbolic actions perform the mediation role. in this sense, the ritual process creates the atmosphere for the divine to work. the creation of the atmosphere consists in the overlapping of the meaning of the ritual space, the actions, objects and/or the performative language used. the rituals in the words of joseph martos works as ‘doors to the sacred’82 leading the participants into an hierophany. through the symbols therefore, we enter into the experience of sacred meaning. the other way we can speak of how ritual works is in the light of means-end context. while this context may not be applicable to all rituals, grimes argues that some rituals essentially work that way. among these are the rituals of healing and fertility.83 the sacrament of anointing of the sick falls under this category. the prayers and the action of laying on of hands (symbolic action) and actual anointing with sacred oil (symbolic object) accompanied with prayers (symbolic words) serve the healing purpose through the means-end reasoning. however, this does not exempt the working of the divine agent (god), nor does it exclude the assertion that it also creates the atmosphere for the divine 52 formation of the human person in the 21st century work of healing or strengthening (among other meanings) that is intended and/or expected. thus, grimes says ‘rituals itself is sometimes considered a spiritual ecological technology.’84 conclusion with these few tips on some aspects of ritual studies, it is evident that the formation of seminarians in ritual studies will go a long way in appreciating the catholic sacramental system. the studies undertaken in sociology, cultural anthropology and psychology can be better directed to include how these sciences relate to the celebration of the sacramental mysteries. this will inevitably enhance the full, conscious and active participation that the vatican ii fathers advocated. in the same way, it opens a new way of considering the inculturation project that was encouraged by the council. also, formation in ritual studies no doubt is a formation of the human person, enabling the person to appreciate signs and symbols in his environment and in worship. it sharpens one’s sense of the sacred and leads one to a hierophany. endnotes 1 see vatican council ii, constitution on the sacred liturgy, sacrosanctum concilium no.63. 2 see romano guadini, ‘open letter’ in foundation in ritual studies: a reader for students of christian worship, eds. paul bradshaw & john melloh, (london: spck, 2007), 4. 3 ibid. 4 sacrosanctum concilium, no.62. 5 for a comprehensive treatment of the topic see kevin w. irwin, the sacraments: historical foundations and liturgical theology, (new york: paulist press, 2016), 1 116; joseph martos, doors to the sacred: a historical introduction to the sacrament in the catholic church (missouri: ligouri publications, 2014) 6 sacrosanctum concilium, no.61. 7 lizette larson-miller, sacramentality renewed: contemporary conversations in sacramental theology, (collegeville: liturgical press, 2016), 6. 8 david brown, god and enchantment of place: reclaiming human experience (oxford: oxford university press, 2004), 40. 9 far from equating this notion of sacramentality with pantheism, created materials are used in worship in relation to words and texts. it is only within the context of the words and texts that we speak of materials as used in the liturgy being means of speaking of god, experiencing god and worshipping god. see kevin w. irwin, the sacraments: historical foundations and liturgical theology (new york: paulist press, 2016), 211-212. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 53 10 rowan williams, foreword to the gestures of god: explorations in sacramentality, ed. geoffrey rowell and christian hall (london: continuum, 2004), xiii. 11 irwin, 210. 12 larson-miller, sacramentality renewed, 9. 13 see augustine, on christian doctrine, book ii, 1:1 (npnf vol. ii, p. 535) 14 irwin, 11. 15ibid. 16 joseph martos, doors to the sacred: a historical introduction to the sacrament in the catholic church (missouri: ligouri publications, 2014), 4. 17 see irwin, 53. 18 see edward schillebeeckx, christ the sacrament of the encounter with god, (london: sheed & ward, 1963); avery dulles, models of the church, (new york: image books, 2002), 55 -67. 19 catechism of the catholic church (ccc no. 1667) says: holy mother church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. these are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. they signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the church. by them men (sic) are disposed to receive the chief effects of the sacraments. and various occasions in life rendered holy. (see also sacrosanctum concilium, no. 60). 20martos, 3. quoting paul tillich. 21 irwin, 210. 22 ibid., 214. 23 mary douglas, implicit meaning: essays in anthropology, (london: routledge & kegan paul, 1975), 85. 24 siobhan garrigan, beyond ritual: sacramental theology after habermas, (hampshire: ashgate, 2014), 41. 25 nathan d. mitchell, meeting mystery: liturgy, worship, sacrament (new york: orbis books, 2006), 153. 26 tertullian, on resurrection of the flesh, ch. 8. (anf vol. iii p. 551). 27 ronald l. grimes, the craft of ritual studies (oxford: university press, 2014), 7. 28 ronald l. grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity’ worship 53, no 2 (1979): 126. 29 michael g. lawler, the symbol and sacrament: a contemporary sacramental theology (new york: paulist press, 1987), 1. 30 louis bouyer, the rite and man, trans. m. joseph costelloe (notre dame: university of notre dame press, 1963), 2. 31 ronald l. grimes refers to them as different modes of ritual sensibilities. these are the attitudes that seem to predominate in a ritual performance. these are ritualization, decorum, ceremony, magic, liturgy and celebration. see ronald l grimes, beginnings in ritual studies, 3rd ed. (waterloo, on: ritual studies international, 2013), 35-50. 32 tom f. driver, the magic of ritual: our need for liberating rites that transform our lives and communities (new york: harpersanfrancisco, 1991), 23. 33 ibid., 13. 34 victor w. turner, the forest of symbols: aspects of ndembu ritual (ithaca, ny: cornell university press, 1967), 95. 54 formation of the human person in the 21st century 35 see catherine bell, ritual: perspectives and dimensions, (new york: oxford university press, 1997), 138-169. here, catherine bell identified six characteristics or ritual-like actions as: formalism, traditionalism, disciplined invariance, rulegovernance, sacral symbolism and performance. 36 ronald l. grimes, ‘religion ritual and performance’ in religion, theatre and performance: acts of faith, ed. lance gharavi (new york: routledge, 2012), 39. cited in ronald l. grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 194. 37 grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity,’ 127. 38 lawrence hoffman, beyond the text: a holistic approach to liturgy, (bloomington: indiana university press, 1987), 3. 39 grimes, ‘modes of ritual necessity,’ 127. 40 see leonel l. mitchel, the meaning of ritual, (new york: paulist press, 1977), xii xv. here, mitchel argues about the impoverishment of our age that only looks at the natural world and sees only a collection of physical phenomena, and as such claims that we can do without ritualization. for mitchel, the question is not about if we can do without ritualization, but how do we understand religious rituals today. see also mary douglas, natural symbols: exploration in cosmology, 2nd ed. (london: barrie & jenkins, 1973), 19-39. 41 see bell, ritual: perspective and dimension, 93-137. ronald l grimes highlighted twelve categories: rites of passage, funerary rites, marriage rites, festivals, pilgrimage, purification, civil ceremonies, rituals of exchange, sacrifice, worship, magic, healing rites, interaction rites, meditation rites, rites of inversion, and ritual drama. see ronal l. grimes, research in ritual studies (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1985), 68 -116. the categories given by bell are more relevant to our work because they usually associated with clearly defined religious traditions, and have long been dominant examples and primary data for ritual studies. (bell, 93). 42 bell, 94. 43 ibid., 102. 44 ibid., 112. 45 ibid., 115. 46 bell, 120. 47 code of canon law, no. 919: “one who is to receive the most holy eucharist is to abstain from food and drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before communion.” 48 bell, 128. 49 ibid., 136. 50 ibid., 129 citing clifford geertz, negara: the theatre state in nineteenth century bali (princeton, n.j.: princeton university press, 1980), 102, 104, 131. 51 see code of canon law, no. 129. 52 see grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 234-5. 53 ibid., 242. 54 ibid. 55 ibid., 243. 56 ibid., 249. 57 ibid., 259. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 55 58 ibid., 256. 59 ibid., 257. 60 for further reading on symbolism of baptistries see robin m. jensen, baptismal imagery in early christianity: ritual, visual, and theological dimensions (grand rapids: baker academic, 2012). 61 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 258. 62 ibid., 263. 63 ibid., 266. 64 ibid., 267. 65 see david n. power, unsearchable riches: the symbolic nature of language, (new york: pueblo publishing company, 1984) 64-65. david power noted that words/language can be used in three different contexts. he wrote: ‘there are three contexts in which the lexical significance of words, or the primary nature of things and actions, receives determination of meaning and designation. the first context is the ordinary, everyday affairs. here the people are concerned to deal with situations and interact among themselves in common sense, practical fashion, and so eliminate ambiguity as far as possible. in this world, it is preferable for words, things and actions to have clear purpose and meaning. a jug is meant to hold liquids, a knife to cut, announcement of time to eat is clearly an invitation …. in the second context, the world of science, meanings are more abstract in character, but they are still clearly and technically defined. equivocity or polysemy is not considered a virtue. mathematical symbols, the naming of chemical elements, types of experiments, the forms of logical reasoning, all eradicate the multiplicity of meanings as far as possible, because the world ruled by science and technology runs better when meanings and uses are fixed. in contrast to both the uses of sign and language, the world of the symbol, the third context, intentionally deploys the multiple possibilities of meaning. a flag flying on top of a building recalls past history, evokes in the passer-by a sense of national pride, and reveals the parliament is in session, all at once. in this case, although the immediate obvious functional indication is that the country’s legislators have not gone home, the whole setting is symbolic in intent.’ 66 grime, the craft of ritual studies, 276. 67 john l. austin, how to do things with words (oxford: oxford university press, 1962), 8. 68 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 278. 69 ibid., 279. 70 ibid., 282. see also ronald l. grimes, deeply into the bone: re-inventing rites of passage (berkeley: university of california press, 2000), 3-4. 71 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 232. 72 ibid. 73 austin, how to do things with words, 8. 74 see gerard lukken, ritual in abundance: critical reflection on the place, form and identity of christian ritual in our culture (leuven: peeters, 2005), 19 -20. 75 ibid. 76 ibid., citing t. todorov, théories au symbole (paris: le seuil, 1977), 239. 56 formation of the human person in the 21st century 77 ibid., 18. 78 david n. power, unsearchable riches, 69. citing susanne langer, feeling and form: a theory of art (new york: scribner’s, 1957), 26. 79 for further readings on the fields of meaning, see lawrence hoffman, “how ritual means: ritual circumcision in rabbinic culture and today” studia liturgica 23 (1993): 79-84. 80 grimes, ‘mode of ritual necessity,’ 140. 81 power, unsearchable riches, 67. 82 martos, 8. 83 grimes, the craft of ritual studies, 298. 84 ibid. 57 5 priestly vocation and discernment: espousing the gamalian approach in spiritual formation. peter ajayi wojuaye seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma, edo state deogratiaswoju@gmail.com abstract the priestly vocation is a mystery and its discernment is metaphysical because the reality of the call to the roman catholic priesthood is ultimately divine, therefore it calls for proper discernment from both the formandee and the formators. the letter to the hebrews chapter five makes it clear that “no one takes the honour upon himself”. vocation to the priesthood which is a call as well as a precious gift from god “is the love of the heart of jesus” as congregation for the clergy reminds us in june 7, 2013, the world day of prayer for the sanctification of priests. in this light, gamalian spirituality is born out of the way of life, the reputation and the way in which gamaliel; a pharisee approached the issue of the conflict between the sanhedrin and the persecutions of the early church when peter and john were persecuted cf. act 5:34-40. gamaliel said, “so in the present case i tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fall; but if it is of god, you will not be able to overthrown them. you might even be found opposing god!” to this effect, in the formation and the discernment of priestly vocation, gamalian spirituality is very important. keywords: priestly vocation, seminary formation, spirituality, gamalian spirituality, discernment introduction priestly vocation is a mystery, life itself is a mystery and the task of discernment of the call itself is indeed a mystery. francis cardinal arinze mailto:deogratiaswoju@gmail.com 58 formation of the human person in the 21st century was once asked to explain his vocation to the priesthood he however, gave a brief history of his life how he was influenced by blessed michael i. tansi (his former parish priest who is now a blessed). cardinal arinze said, “only god can finally analyze the reason a person is attracted to the catholic priesthood.” in the book titled “saint john paul ii the story of my life gift and mystery”, our loving saint pope john paul ii gives the reality of this mystery!1 vocation to the catholic priesthood is a mystery. how can one know that he is called? how could this call be discerned by those in charge of forming candidates for the priesthood? in fact, formation could be defined as ‘deciding for god’ those whom he has chosen. this tells us that formation as a process or art is not an easy task. how can formators despite human limitations recommend young men whom “they may not know in totality” for the priesthood? this is also a mystery. to further this mysterious nature of this vocation we are led back to its discernment. the story of the way david was anointed readily comes to mind. before samuel could discerned that david was the one chosen by god after god rejected seven sons of jesse tells us the difficult task of discernment cf. i sam 16:1-13.2 it is on this note we shall look at some terms that need clarification as follows: priestly vocation, seminary’s formation, spirituality, gamalian spirituality, and discernment. priestly vocation the priestly vocation, is a mystery, it is a call to become another christ. vocation is from the latin word vocare which means to call. in the latin rite, it is to be a celibate. by the laying on of hands and the prayer of consecration the man that was in the seminary becomes another christ. this means that priestly vocation is a called to discipleship. in fact, the holy orders is a sacrament of service. in the latin rite, we have seven sacraments, three of these are sacrament of initiation while two are sacrament of healing, and the other two are sacrament of service namely: holy orders and matrimony. the priestly vocation as the sacrament of service, is a call to become another christ and a mystery. to this effect, because of who the priest is, the church as laid down through experiences ways in which young men are admitted to the seminary so that they could be formed and their calling to this great ministry discerned; this is why formation in the seminary is necessary. seminary’s formation the council of trent in the sixteenth century instituted seminary formation. the seminaries were given directive for the formation of men for the priesthood. it is imperative to know what is a seminary before going to the seminary’s formation. seminary is a nursery ground for the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 59 training of those preparing for the catholic priesthood. it is reserved to schools instituted, in accordance with a decree of the council of trent, for the training of the catholic priests.3 a theological seminary (grand séminaire) provides courses in holy scripture, philosophy, theology and so on to give young men immediate preparation for ordination.4 a priest is the representative of christ among men: his mission is to carry on christ's work for the salvation of souls; in christ's name and by his power, he teaches men what they ought to believe and what they ought to do: he forgives sins, and offers sacrifice of the body and blood of christ. he is another christ (sacerdos alter christus). his training, therefore, must be in harmony with this high office and consequently different in many ways from the preparation for secular professions. he must possess not only a liberal education, but also professional knowledge, and moreover, like an army or navy officer, he needs to acquire the manners and personal habits becoming his calling. to teach candidates for the priesthood what a priest ought to know and to make them what a priest ought to be is the purpose of seminary formation.5 it is to this effect that the seminary’s formation is divided into four major parts as it had been laid down by the church from experiences through the inspiration of the ‘finger of god’, the holy spirit who is going to lead the church to the complete truth (cf. jn 16:13) and in pastores dabo vobis of pope john paul ii numbers 42 to 59 the four areas of priestly formation as follows: (1) human formation, the basis of all priestly formation, (2) spiritual formation, in communion with god and search of christ, (3) intellectual formation, understanding the faith, and (4) pastoral formation, communion with the charity of jesus christ the good shepherd.6 these areas of formation is indeed good and useful for forming candidates for the priesthood in its synthesis and none of this parts should be neglected as if it were unimportant. for christ to be formed in an individual candidate, these areas of formation must as a matter fact, be united. in fact, i would like to call it “an indispensable tetra-formative process” and in parts they cannot formed but in their unity we see another christ, who is human, spiritual, a scholar and a pastor as well. to this end, we look at the spiritual formation of a candidate by examine spirituality. as noted by the fathers of the second vatican council, spiritual formation is a necessity for priestly formation. and just as religious institutes use the period of novitiate to introduce their candidates to their spiritualities, that is, (to the way in which connection with god is sought and established in their particular traditions) the spiritual year is a duration set apart for initial spiritual formation in view of the priestly life and ministry.7 and this ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/13554b.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/04670a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/15030c.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/15030c.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/03449a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/11279a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12406a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/08374c.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/13407a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/14153a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/08374c.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/14004b.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/05295b.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/08673a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12409a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12406a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/08673a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12406a.htm 60 formation of the human person in the 21st century spiritual formation continues in major seminary or theological seminary. spirituality in order that the term spirituality might be understood in its entire dimension, it is necessary to explain what is meant by the term spirit. spirit is from the latin word, spiritus meaning breath, spirare to blow, breathe which is an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms, a supernatural being or essence.8 spirit is mysterious in nature and it is ascribed to a divine origin.9 in the bible, the spirit is called the creative, animating power or divine influence of god (cf. joel 2:28).10 so when we are talking about spirit, we refer to the activating or essential principle influencing a person, an inclination, impulse, or tendency of a specific kind and a special attitude or frame of mind.11however, in as much as there are different kinds of definition of spirituality this paper uses the definition provided by fagun when he was asked the meaning of spirituality. he says, spirituality is a core aspect of religion though some nonconformists try to create some spirituality in the air. spirituality is essentially based on religious practices. in fact it leads to the height of religious experience. it consists of a particular experience of what is divine. i say a particular experience because there are many sides to spirituality based on one’s faith and character. for according to my slogan, "a kìí ṣe ìgbàgbọ́ kọjá ìwà ẹni" one’s character is basic to one’s spiritual life, because character would dictate the level of cooperation with divine grace. authentic faith is a gift of god, and it is grace that inspired the spiritual person who freely cooperates.12 so, the context in which this paper shall adopt as regard spirituality is the influence of the spirit of god in an individual irrespective of the person involved and how this stimulus reflects in the individual day-today living and most importantly, noticing the spirit of god at work in a certain person or in a given situation most especially a particular way of experiencing the divine as noted by fagun. in the aspect of spirituality, spirituality means being spiritual, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit, incorporeal, connected with religious values, related or join in spirit.13relating to or affecting the human spirit as opposed to material or physical things, relating to religious belief.14 what then is spirituality? spirituality, therefore, means sensitivity or attachment to religious values, the quality of being spiritual.15 that is, a soul is acted upon by the holy spirit.16 the basic truism from this section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 61 definition is that spirituality has a transcendental dimension which goes beyond physical reality for it is a religious term. this implies that spirituality, as a concept is a broad concept. that is why we have different kinds of spirituality like african traditional spirituality, buddhist spirituality and christian spirituality. in christian spirituality, there are many kinds of spirituality. some words associated with spirituality are piety, devotion, godliness and holiness.17 the word “spirituality” and “mysticism” are somewhat used in an equivalent way.18 spirituality etymologically suggests “life”, and “dynamism” and “breathing”. and that is what the spiritual life aims to be: coming to life in all one’s dimensions.19 the word “spirituality” a word obviously “contaminated” by the “spirit”20often refers to a way of living in line with a particular way of life. to further this example, let us examine what donald dorr has to say about spirituality. now i prefer to begin at the other end to accept that the most privileged ‘place’ in which god speaks to me is my own spirituality. this means that i can no longer think of a person’s spirituality as something that comes from outside. rather it is that which is most deeply personal. my spirituality is me. not the ‘me’ that so often is distracted, scattered, and inauthentic; but the most genuine and profound ‘me’ that exists.21 this tells us how spirituality is personal and entails a communication of the divine to the human person. it is the sum total of religious or ethical values that govern a person’s life. spirituality is that which determines and directs one’s life.22 christian spirituality is therefore, a participation in the mystery of christ through the interior life of grace, actuated by faith, charity, and the other christian virtues. the life that the individual receives through participation in christ is the same life that animated the god-man, the life that the incarnate word shares with the father and the holy spirit; it is, therefore, the life of god in the august mystery of the trinity. through christ, the spiritual life of the christian is eminently trinitarian23 the difficulty in constructing a theology of the spiritual life consists in the fact that the spiritual life is at once a mystery and a problem. it is a mystery specifically since it is life, indeed divine life, a sharing in the christ-life. although one may experience this life in the depths of his being as a life of union with god, it is nevertheless ineffable because the supernatural and transcends human comprehension.24 however, living well is at the heart of all serious spirituality.25 this implies that no matter how secularized the word spirituality is we cannot remove religiosity from it if it is to be authentic. it is on this note we have different kinds of spirituality: like islamic spirituality, african traditional spirituality and christian spirituality which follows a doctrine or a way of life of a 62 formation of the human person in the 21st century particular religious figure. for example, jesus for the christians and muhammad for the islam and the practices with different gods in african traditional religion in relation to the supreme being (god). as noted earlier that spirituality is a broad term, and that its definition in particularity might be very difficult. this same difficulty is also apparent in christian spirituality that sometimes becomes difficult to define it with any specificity. in other words, christian spirituality manifests in different forms, and so, it is difficult to find one common form of christian spirituality.26 however, in the heart of any christian spirituality is jesus christ and the working of his spirit. fagun defines christian spirituality as imitation of christ when he was asked in an interview the question: “what is christian spirituality”? christian spirituality is a life of spiritual perfection in the imitation of the lifestyle of jesus christ as he taught his followers to be perfect (matthew 5:48). and this perfection requires placing spiritual values over and above the material in practice (cf. matthew 19:16-29).27 let us examine the definition of spirituality according to balthasar. the notion of spirituality is a modern one, found neither in the tradition of religious philosophy nor of biblical theology. it is therefore important to determine its content and bearing. in general (negative speaking) it may be said that there is no reason for the christian to limit spirituality to the context of christianity; just as christians speak of a “medieval” or a “carmelite” or a “lay” spirituality, so can we speak analogously of “buddhist” or a “sufi” spirituality. on the basis of the same common understanding of the idea, spirituality may be approximately defined as that basic practical or existential attitude of man which is the consequence of expression of the way in which he understands his religious or more generally, his ethically committed existence; the way in which he acts and reacts habitually throughout his life according to his objective and ultimate insights and decisions.28 gamalian spirituality the pharisees are one of the jewish religious sects in jesus’ time. this particular sect was always at loggerheads with jesus. in fact, jesus christ had confronted them with statements like: “woe to you pharisees”, “you hypocrites” and so many others unkind statements. in fact, there is no less than six woes for the pharisees and scribes in the gospel according to st. matthew (cf. 23:13-39) this is because of the ways in which the pharisees presented themselves and ultimately the way they organized and practiced the jewish religion. this statement by jesus to the pharisees was because of their external observance of law and religious practices that were not truly internalized or even practiced with the spirit of the law. hence, they followed the law (torah) to the latter as against section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 63 the spirit behind the law. another aspect of this pharisaic way of life is the trait of self-righteousness, which jesus christ was totally against when he gave the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee who were in the temple for prayer and the pharisee’s prayer was rejected because of the lack of humility which is an essential element of an authentic prayer to god (cf. lk 18:9-14). be that as it may, there exist questions that could be raised from the above and which need careful consideration. firstly, is everything wrong in being a pharisee on one hand? if this is yes, why would jesus christ recommended that people should observe and practice everything that the pharisees tell them? (cf. mt 23:3). but then, this recommendation has a clause and that is “what they do”. in other words, this recommendation by jesus excludes “what they do”. secondly, can anything good come from a pharisee? or are the pharisees totally bad? these are basic questions which this paper tries to address that despite the disputes that existed between jesus christ and the pharisees in the gospel we can have a spirituality that could be useful for christians which is named after the pharisee called gamaliel. the aim and objective of this work is to examine and expose gamalian spirituality and show how a christian spirituality may be gotten from a pharisee namely: gamaliel and how it can be applied to the discernment of priestly vocation. discernment discernment is the process of gaining insight into a situation in order to arrive at appropriate judgment, often times in view of taking or not taking a certain action. in spiritual direction, one analyzes how a person’s spirit is moved to determine whether or not the movement comes from the holy spirit. it is quite possible, even in what appears to be favorable inspiration that comes from the evil spirit or from the person himself.29 but in priestly vocation it means the process of recommending a candidate for the priesthood. of course, in the major seminary or the theological seminary it is the sole responsibility of the rector in conjunction with other formators to decide whether or not a candidate is suitable for the priesthood. the management of the seminary is in the hands of the rector, who alone under the bishop governs the seminary, calls to orders, admits and dismisses the students; a treasurer has full charge of temporal matters, while to a spiritual director is entrusted with the formation of the students in piety(which is the spiritual formation). the professors are merely teachers. however, all the formators have a share in the administration of the seminary; and all important matters are decided by a vote of the faculty. the spiritual directors and confessors of the students have no voice in the faculty meetings when one of their ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12676c.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/02581b.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/05024a.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12748a.htm 64 formation of the human person in the 21st century penitents is concerned.30 to this end, discernment in spiritual matters as well as priestly vocation is not an easy task. since vocation to priesthood is a mystery so it discernment is demanding. for example, a seminarian was expelled in a minor seminary in view of priestly vocation upon the issue he honestly did not know anything about. but has providence would have it, this same rejected stone by the builder became the cornerstone not just a cornerstone but “a special-cornerstone”. it will interest you to know he became a deacon, a priest and a bishop who has ‘the fullness of priesthood’, ‘the successor of the apostles’ who was raised to the higher level greater than those who expelled him.31 when it comes to issue of vocation one need to trend with caution and that is why gamalian spirituality is paramount in this case. st. pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis no. 2 was aware of the difficulty in the discernment of priestly vocation when said: for this reason, the total trust in god's unconditional faithfulness to his promise is accompanied in the church by the grave responsibility to cooperate in the action of god who calls, and to contribute toward creating and preserving the conditions in which the good seed, sown by god, can take root and bring forth abundant fruit. the church must never cease to pray to the lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his harvest, (cf. mt. 9:38). she must propose clearly and courageously to each new generation the vocational call, help people to discern the authenticity of their call from god and to respond to it generously, and give particular care to the formation of candidates for the priesthood. the formation of future priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral commitment is considered by the church one of the most demanding and important tasks for the future of the evangelization of humanity. the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work, which the evangelist mark illustrates in these words: "and he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. and he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (mk. 3:1315).32 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 65 gamaliel to gamalian: a christian spirituality to this end, the major concern of this aspect most especially the different kinds of spirituality we have apart from christian spirituality and the christian (catholic) spirituality in particular had been exposed. this aspect is to attribute christian spirituality after gamaliel and that is, gamalian spirituality. it is a way of life lived after gamaliel, a pharisee, as recorded in acts of the apostles chapter five. hence, “gamaliel to gamalian” is the transposition of gamaliel’s way of life to a christian way of life in all its good aspects. furthermore, gamaliel, as a person belonged to a particular religious sect called the pharisees. so for better understanding of the background to which gamaliel belonged to at that time, it is very important to examine the spirituality of some religious sects of judaism. the working definition of spirituality that this paper adopts is the definition by fagun that had been cited earlier. in it, fagun gives credence to the fact that religion and spirituality are closely related when he says: “spirituality is essentially based on religious practices.”33 the sect we are going to examine is the pharisees since it is to this sect that gamaliel belongs. the pharisees the word pharisee is from the hebrew word 34ים רּושִׁ perusim meaningפְּ separated, separated ones, separators.35 they are called hasidim;36 as a continuation and development of hasidaeans the hebrew word pɞrûšίm; aram. pɞrίšayyā, from which the greek word φαρισαίοι is derived means those who had “separated themselves”37. the pharisee, ‘separate’ or ‘detach’ as the name connotes. in this regard, from whom did the pharisees separate themselves? from those, particularly priests or clerics, who interpreted the law in a different way than they; from the common people of the land or people of the earth am-ha-ares (cf. john 7:49 ); from gentiles or jews who embraced the hellenistic culture: from certain political groups? all these groups of people the pharisees would have been determined to avoid in their decision to separate themselves from any type of impurity proscribed by the levitical law — or, more specifically, their strict interpretation of it.38 they were an active, vocal religious jewish sect in the centuries before and after christ appeared on earth. they represented by and large the intellectual sector of their people, because they were passionate, continuous students and teachers of jewish religious law. their intensity and single-mindedness resulted in a harsh and uncharitable emphasis on the legal aspects of religion at the expense of charity and loving concern. jesus represented a threat to their intellectual security and leadership. they tempted him at every opportunity. they tried to trap him into wrong answers (mat 22:15-22). http://www.biblestudytools.com/john/7-49.html 66 formation of the human person in the 21st century they opposed questions, hoping to prove contradictions (mat 22:34-40). they criticized the company he kept. they objected to his sabbath activities (mk 2:15-17).39 these appellations were given to describe what the pharisees stood for at that time. but then, this does not mean that the pharisee do not have spirituality on which their religious practices are based. it is on this note that their spirituality shall be examined. the spirituality of the pharisees the teaching of the sect was based on the oral tradition as well as on the written law. the pharisees held such religious truths as the resurrection of the body and the existence of angels. since these doctrines were not clearly taught in the pentateuch (the only scripture accepted by the sadducees), the pharisees founded their belief in them upon later writings and oral traditions. in the field of morals, the pharisees taught a rigorous observance of the sabbath and insisted on legal purity and the payment of tithes. they offered various opinions on observance of these and other precepts degenerating into rigorism and casuistry. the result was frequently a sterile externalism destructive of a real religious spirit. after the destruction of the temple, and the overthrow of the jewish state, the pharisees, became practically the only influential group among the jews. they held the jewish people together. later rabbinical schools looked back with admiration upon the pharisees as the true upholders of israel’s law and traditions. the rabbis of the talmud40 were their spiritual descendants.41in order to join this spiritual association and be called a pharisee, it was necessary to have an exact knowledge of the mosaic commandments (the written torah) and the traditions of the ancients (the oral torah), to adhere with mind and heart to the teachings of the doctors of the party, and to distinguish oneself by the exact fulfillment of all their precepts. as josephus flavius points out, the pharisees concerned themselves with the strict interpretation and observance of the torah, and spared themselves no efforts to fulfill the law in every detail, earnestly and consistently striving to practice the ideal propounded by the torah scholars. in that sense, they were the classic representatives of the course adopted by judaism in its inner developments during the post-exilic period. juridical science of the pharisaic rabbis manifested itself particularly in three points: the observance of the sabbath, legal purity, and the payment of the sacred taxes.42many of the pharisees, like the essenes, believed in doctrines such as resurrection of the body, day of judgment, apocalyptic holy war and life in the world to come, while sadducees disagree with essenes and pharisees, over these doctrines. the pharisees hold only the written torah as authoritative 43 and they agree that the torah admitted of variation in applications, but jesus pressed the variation further than they section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 67 did.44with regards to the sabbath rest, they had multiplied prohibitions, going into even the smallest details. on the question of impurities, the most minute prescriptions had been added to the mosaic legislation regarding foods, diseases, corpses, apparatus in daily use, ablutions and purifying baths, contact with persons and things considered impure, and so on. as to the tithes to be paid to the priests and levites, the list of goods, revenues, and products affected had been considerably lengthened.45the rabbinical writings show that the problems raised by the observance of these traditions suggested refined casuistry. thus, with respect to the sabbath: was it permissible to eat an egg laid on such a day, or fruit plucked from the tree on that day? with regards to ablutions: which kind of water purified best, and how far must one throw one’s hands into that water? regarding taxes: was it lawful to eat vegetables or fruits bought at the market without knowing for certain whether the tithe had been paid on those products.46this is the religious sect which gamaliel belongs. to this effect, who is this gamaliel? a biography of gamaliel gamaliel, rabban gamaliel i, so called, to distinguish him from his grandson gamaliel ii who lived around 100 a. d. gamaliel is also called ‘the great’. he was a pharisee and a member of sanhedrin which judged peter and john. gamaliel intervened in favour of the apostles with prudent reasons. he intervened in their judgment noting that if the christian movement were merely human, it would of itself break-up but if it were from god then it would endure. he then admonished his colleagues to exercise caution (acts 5:34-39). in his address to the jews in jerusalem, paul claimed that he had studied under gamaliel (acts 22:3).47the word, gamaliel, is a greek form of the hebrew name meaning ‘reward of god’.48he had a son named simeon. he was of the city of jerusalem, and a noble family, of the sect of the pharisee, which were above others in the accurate knowledge of the laws of their country.49but it seems that he took a special interest in social reform, particularly in bettering the legal status of women.50 base on who gamaliel is, fagun has this to say when he was asked the question “do you know anything about gamaliel of acts 5:34-40?” gamaliel was a rabbinic scholar of the school of hillel, the liberal minded, as against the school of shammai, the far right in israel. he was one of the chief judges in the sanhedrin court at the time of the apostles of jesus christ, and paul would later boast of being his student (acts 22:23), because he was a highly esteemed and popular scholar (acts 5:34).51 from the above, we see clearly the personality of gamaliel and his reputation. his name designates in the new testament a pharisee ../../../../../../windows.old/users/icentre/desktop/africaebooks/cathen/05393a.htm ../../../../../../windows.old/users/icentre/desktop/africaebooks/cathen/14530a.htm ../../../../../../windows.old/users/icentre/desktop/africaebooks/cathen/11789b.htm 68 formation of the human person in the 21st century and celebrated doctor of the law. gamaliel is represented in act 5:34ff as advising his fellow-members of the sanhedrin not to put to death st. peter and the apostles, who, notwithstanding the prohibition of the jewish authorities, had continued to preach to the people. his advice, however unwelcome, was acted upon. so great was his authority with his contemporaries. gamalian spirituality: theological look at acts 5:34:40 in order that we may better understand acts 5:34-40 which shows gamaliel’s intervention or advocacy for the apostles during the persecutions in the early church at jerusalem, it is very important to recall what happened in the previous chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the acts of the apostles in order to understand what led to gamaliel’s intervention of which gamalian spirituality is solidly based. the holy spirit had just descended upon the apostles (cf. acts 2ff) and the apostles were able to preach with confidence without fear of the jews (cf. jn 20:19). as a result of sadducean jealousy at the apostles’ reputation for the healing of a man lame from birth (cf. acts 3:2) and many other signs and wonders, they had been arrested and put to jail, only to be released by an angel (cf. acts 5:12-20). when the sanhedrin convened, their captain and officers eventually tracked the apostles down in the temple, and brought them before the council (vv. 21-27). the high priest demanded to know why the apostles persisted, in spite of prior threatening, to teach in jesus’ name. they replied thus: “we must obey god rather than men.” they also accused the sanhedrin of murdering the saviour (vv 27-32). condemnation of death at that moment seemed certain (v 33).52 it is in this certainty that gamaliel gave the following admonitions to the council which is the foundation of gamalian spirituality: so in the present case i tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of god, you will not be able to overthrow them. you might even be found opposing god! (act 5:38-39) gamaliel intervened and cautioned against imprisonment and further persecutions. his standing in the sanhedrin is assumed to be great, in that he commands the apostles to be put outside for brief time (v 34). he, then, urges caution, and gave instances of theudas and judas the galilean which had come to nothing. the apostles also will fail, if their movement is of men (vv 35-38). if their movement is of god, gamaliel argues that the sanhedrin would be unable to prevail, and it will even be a fight against god (v 39). having been convinced by gamaliel’s arguments, the sanhedrin released the apostles after flogging them and repeated the old command, not to speak in jesus’ name (v 40, cf. 4:17). ../../../../../../windows.old/users/icentre/desktop/africaebooks/cathen/13444a.htm ../../../../../../windows.old/users/icentre/desktop/africaebooks/cathen/12565a.htm section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 69 however, the apostles were very happy to suffer for the sake of christ and they did not cease to talk about jesus. the second and last mention of gamaliel occurs in acts 22:3, during a speech of paul, in which the apostle claims to have been instructed at the feet of gamaliel with an exact knowledge of the ancestral law.53these passages give credence to the fact that gamaliel is a person with high integrity. to this end, gamaliel’s counsel to the council is the bases for the gamalian spirituality which calls all to a life of tolerance, respect for human dignity and being sensitive to the action of the holy spirit. gamaliel was able to be sensitive to the signs of time and his expression testifies truly he was a man of high repute as earlier described by the evangelist (cf. acts 5:34). an application of gamalian spirituality to priestly vocation and its discernment the priestly vocation is indeed a spiritual thing and through the application of gamalian spirituality to the spiritual formation and the entire process of formation there will definitely be a proper judgment, helping the seminarian to better appreciate his call, give him another opportunity this will definitely makes him to value the mystery of his call, a mystery that goes beyond the one who is called the letter to the hebrews 5:4 tells us: “and one does not take the honour upon himself, but he is called by god, just as aaron was.”pope john paul ii gives credence to this point in pastores dabo vobis when he says: the absolute primacy of grace in vocation is most perfectly proclaimed in the word of jesus: “you did not choose me, but i chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide (jn 15:16). if the priestly vocation bears unequivocal witness to the primacy of grace, god’s free and sovereign decision to call man calls for total respect. it cannot be forced in the slightest by any human ambition, and it cannot be replaced by any human decision. vocation is a gift of god’s grace and never a human right, such that “one can never consider priestly life as a simply human affair, nor the mission of the minister as a simply personal project” every claim or presumption on the part of those called is thus radically excluded (cf. heb 5:4ff). their entire heart and spirit should be filled with an amazed and deeply felt gratitude, an unshakeable trust and hope; because those who have been called know that they are rooted not in their own strength but in the unconditional faithfulness of god who calls.54 70 formation of the human person in the 21st century conclusion to end, the fact that priestly vocation is a mystery calls for a careful discernment of which gamalian spirituality is very important. fr. michael bunmi olofinlade, in his book “mystery of god’s call: a reflection on discipleship” reflecting on the mystery of vocation and the choice of the twelve by jesus out of many that he had called says: “thus, jesus christ is the one who determines the choice of his disciples, it is not a human choice despite human instrumentality in its discernment.”55this, therefore, is a pointer to the reality that seminarians are not to give up. if they do not become catholic priests they can still be useful in the church. they must not use it to alienate themselves from the church or become anti-catholics. if one becomes a catholic priest after one’s seminary training, we can only attribute it to the grace of god. the letter to the hebrews tells us, ‘no one takes this honour upon himself’. that is why vocation is a gift as well as mystery, says st. pope john paul ii.56 pope francis reminds us in his message for 2018 world day of vocation that: “the lord’s call – let it be said at the outset – is not as clear – cut as any of those things we hear, see or touch in our daily experience…”57. this tells us that both the formed and the formators are to tread with caution in this discernment there must not be harsh judgments base on sentiments. in fact, gamalian spirituality gives credence to probation by which the formators gives second chance to a given seminarian. as regards vocation, all that can be expected is not indeed certainty, but probability.58 and this is why the formators recommend candidates for the priesthood while dismissal from the seminary means no more than that the student is not considered fit for the priesthood. but then, gamalian spirituality will plead to give more chance(s) because if they have the call they will definitely be. just has the bishop who ordained me into catholic priesthood was expelled in the minor seminary but he later became a bishop! can we say the judgment was wrong or that was the path that god wants for him? but history proves he was expelled but later exalted. prof. plo lumumba says: “history is a fair judge, it is a judge that is able to identify the things that speak for themselves”. and if gamalian spirituality is applied in formation it will save many fruitful vocations. but then, gamalian spirtuality is not an advocate of seminary where anything goes! it is about a careful discernment. endnotes 1 cf. saint john paull ii, the story of my life: gift and mystery, (vatican; libreria editrice vaticana: 1996, in paulines publications africa, 2014 with a new title: the story of my life on the occasion of the canonization of pope john paul ii) it must be ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/03539b.htm ../../../../../dell/desktop/e-africa/cathen/12409a.htm section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 71 noted that the title that was given to this book when it was first published in 1996 by libreria editrice vaticana was “grace and mystery” but on the occasion of his canonization in 2014 the paulines publication added the title “the story of my life”. 2the holy bible revised standard version, 1 samuel 16:1(rsv) says “ the lord said to samuel, ‘how long will you grieve over saul, seeing i have rejected him from being king over israel? fill your horn with oil, and go; i will send you to jesse the bethlehmite, for i have provided for myself a king among his sons” this explains that even before david was anointed had already been chosen by god. applying this to formation one could say that before a seminary formation a seminarian had been called by god himself. for example in the life of david, he was already a shepherd and the qualities of a leader has been inculcated one could say his formation was on the field he was called on the field. this could be applied to the story told by francis cardinal arinze that he was influenced by his former parish priest blessed michael i. tansi the influence that blessed tansi had on the lad, francis arinze provided a suitable ground for his seminary formation. this too is a mystery! 3 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm. 4 ibid. 5 ibid. 6 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) 42-59 7“the spiritual year” in ikenna henry okoroji, catholic seminaries directory nigeria, 1st edition (abuja: catholic secretariat of nigeria abuja, 2011) 67. 8 catherine soanes and angus stevenson, concise oxford english dictionary, 11th edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2004) 1391. 9 “spirit” in the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language (usa: deluxe encyclopedic edition, trident press, 1977) 1210. 10ibid. 11 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1203. 12michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. it worth noting that fagun is emeritus bishop of the catholic diocese of ekiti, he was ordained as a bishop on october 10, 1971 he is an historian and he had authored many books. 13 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1203-1204 14 catherine soanes and angus stevenson, concise oxford english dictionary, 11th edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2004) 1391. 15 fredrick c. mish (et.al.), merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 11th edition, (usa: 2004) 1204. 16the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language (usa: deluxe encyclopedic edition, trident press, 1977) 1210. 72 formation of the human person in the 21st century 17william m. thompson, christology and spirituality, (new york: crossroad publication, 1991) 4. 18 ibid, 5. 19ibid., 4. 20ibid., 5. 21donald dorr, spirituality and justice, (new york: macmillan, 1984) 19-20. 22abraham kadaplackal, the spirituality of the diocesan priest, (bandra: st paul’s publication, 2010) 15. 23 jordan aumann, spiritual theology, (london; sheed and ward stagbooks; 1980) 18. 24 ibid. 25richard s. briggs in kevin j. vanhoozer (et.al), dictionary for theological interpretation of the bible, (usa: baker academic publisher, 2001) 768. 26obi oguejiofor, “the world as summum bonum: impact of african idea of ultimate reality on christian spirituality” in marysylvia nwachukwu and augustine oburota, theological perspectives on spirituality and piety in nigeria, proceedings of the 19th conference of cathan(the catholic theological association of nigeria) held at st. augustine’s major seminary, jos 14-16th april, 2004,( enugu: 2005) 101. 27“what is christian spirituality?” michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 28 hans urs von balthasar, “the gospel as norms and test of all spirituality”, in christian duquoc and claude geffré et al, spirituality in church and world, vol. 9 (new york; concilium paulist press, 1965 ) 7. 29 theodore w. walters, a guide for spiritual direction (kenya: paulines publication africa, 2015) 48. 30 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm 31 it worth noting that this is a life story of the bishop who ordained me into catholic priesthood. cf. portrait of a servant of god: biography of bishop ayo-maria atoyebi, o.p. @ 70 (ilorin: published by catholic diocese of ilorin 70th birthday committee, 2014) 32 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) 2. 33 “what is spirituality?” michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 34 hebrew word for pharisees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pharisees accessed on 3 march, 2019 9:35 pm 35john a. hardon, pocket catholic dictionary: abridged edition of modern catholic dictionary, (new york: doubleday, 1985) 326-327. 36william bridgewater (et al.,) the columbia-viking desk encyclopedia, (london: macdonald, 1968) 843. 37new catholic encyclopedia, vol. xi (usa: catholic university of america, 1967) 252. 38“pharisees”https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/pharisees/(3/3/2019) 39 john a. hardon, pocket catholic dictionary: abridged edition of modern catholic dictionary, (new york: doubleday, 1985) 326-327. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/pharisees/ section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 73 40the talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; hebrew: ְלמּוד talmūd) is the central text ofתַּ rabbinic judaism and the primary source of jewish religious law (halakha) and jewish theology. until the advent of modernity, in nearly all jewish communities, the talmud was the centrepiece of jewish cultural life and was foundational to ‘all jewish thought and aspirations’, serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of jews. cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/talmud (7/3/2019). 41new catholic encyclopedia, (london: catholic university of america, 1969) 252. 42 francis pereira,gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 24. 43 john t. pawlikowski and james a. wilde, when catholics speak about jews, (new york: liturgical training publications, 1987)24. 44 ibid.., 25 45francis pereira,gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 24. 46francis pereira, gripped by god in christ: the mind and heart of st. paul, (bangalore: st. paul publications, 1993) 25. 47the new world dictionary concordance to the new american bible, (usa: catholic world press, s.d,) 2000. 48 gigot, francis. "gamaliel."the catholic encyclopedia.vol. 6. new york: robert appleton company, 1909. 26 apr. 2010 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06374b.htm>. 49josephus flavius, the works of josephus, (usa: hendrickson publication, transl. by william whiston, 2006) 12. 50new catholic encyclopedia, vol. vi, (usa: catholic university of america, 1967) 275. 51michael, fagun, “a theological appraisal of gamalian spirituality in acts 5:34-40.” an interview, ado-ekiti: september 23, 2018. 52bruce chilton in david freedman, anchor bible dictionary, vol. 2 (london: yale university press, 2008) 904. 53ibid. 54 pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation ‘pastores dabo vobis’ i will give you shepherd, (vatican: st paul publications africa, 1992) no. 36 55 michael b. olofinlade, the mystery of god’s call: a reflection on discipleship, (ado-ekiti: afusco printing press, 2001, ) 24-25. 56 cf. st. john paul ii the story of my life: gift and mystery, (libreria editrice vaticana: 1969 in paulines publications africa 2014) 57 pope france message for the 2018 world day of vocation, vatican: 3 december, 2017. 58 viéban, a. (1912). ecclesiastical seminary. in the catholic encyclopedia. new york: robert appleton company. retrieved april 26, 2010 from new advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm 74 6 the relevance of experiential knowledge of jesus in seminary formation in the light of john 14:1-14 vincent ojo, ph.d head, department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma ovbpres@yahoo.com abstract the formation of the human person has always been a herculean labour as a result of the complex nature of human beings. the human specie has similarities with other animal species but some other features radically distinguish human beings from other living beings. outstanding of these features is the power of reasoning and freewill. the human person can make decisions based on the level of reasoning and disposition. the formation of the human person can never be imposed as a result of the freewill. this means the human person can be impervious to formation passing through the person. john 14:1-14 presents a conversation between jesus and his disciples about his imminent return to his father. in this pericope, jesus takes up both thomas and philip over their shallow knowledge of him in spite of their closeness to him. thomas did not know that jesus is the way and philip failed to see god in jesus. their familiarity with jesus did not simply afford them this experiential knowledge. this paper opines that it is a possibility for seminarians to spend years in the seminary learning about jesus without actually knowing him. experiential knowledge of jesus is different from academic knowledge. academic knowledge is necessary in as much as it leads to the experiential knowledge. the danger, however, comes when the knowledge the seminarian has of jesus during his seminary formation is limited to the academic knowledge. this can hamper his effectiveness as a priest in the 21st century. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 75 keywords: experiential knowledge, jesus, seminary formation, john introduction seminary formation is the process young men aspiring to become catholic priests pass through in order to become priests in the catholic church. seminary formation affords the candidates for the priesthood to acquaint themselves with the essential doctrines of the church which have their basis in the scriptures. seminarians, in the course of their seminary training, are given formation in four crucial areas namely human, pastoral, spiritual and academic. they are to be well-grounded in these four areas so as to be effective ministers of both the word and sacraments after their ordination. these areas are integral to the wholistic formation of candidates for the priesthood. they are thus to immerse themselves in formation and not lag behind in any of these four areas. however, experiences have shown that it is possible to go through the entire seminary formation without necessarily allowing the formation to permeate one’s life. in other words, one may pass through the seminary without the seminary passing through the person. we may, therefore, have intelligent and hardworking priests who act only like functionaries. they know a lot about jesus and can talk so much about him too. however, in all their dealings as priests, something still seems to be missing. they lack that inner touch that only someone with a personal knowledge of jesus and an intimate relationship with him can have. this is what this write-up is all aboutexperiential knowledge of jesus. the bone of contention is: how can the academic knowledge of jesus be transformed into experiential knowledge? it is the stance of this writer that if the candidates for the priesthood are able to have the experiential knowledge of jesus before leaving the seminary, they would be in a better position to “bring all to christ and christ to all”. definition of terms for an easy understanding of this work, some terms that are operational are clarified and their use explained. the words are experiential knowledge and seminary formation. experiential knowledge according to the new international webster”s comprehensive dictionary of the english language, experience is “knowledge derived from one’s own action, practice, perception, enjoyment, or suffering”1. this means that experience is something personal to the individual and must come from one’s perception of reality. experiential too has been defined as “pertaining to or acquired by experience; empirical”2. this also suggests that experiential emanates from experience. it is empirical 76 formation of the human person in the 21st century and not abstract. knowledge on the other hand is defined as “a result or product of knowing; information or understanding acquired through experience”.3 there is another aspect of knowledge which the dictionary points out namely that it is “information; learning; specifically, the cumulative culture of the human race”.4 knowledge, therefore, is the accumulation of all that is learnt either through learning or experience. bearing the foregoing in mind, experiential knowledge as used in this work refers to that knowledge that is gotten from experience rather than one that is gotten from mere learning through academics. seminary formation seminary formation refers to that process whereby young and interested men are trained towards becoming priests in the catholic church. they undergo some rigorous training in both philosophy and theology and thus become mature intellectually and otherwise to be able to proceed to the priesthood. seminary formation spans some few years of aspirancy, spiritual year, philosophical studies, pastoral year and theological studies. it also involves the work of discernment on the part of the formators who together with the rector have the responsibility to recommend candidates to the bishops for ordination at the end of their training. seminary formation, therefore, as used in this paper refers to the training of young men for the catholic celibate priesthood. john 14:1-14: the conversation between jesus and his disciples in this passage, jesus engages hi disciples in a conversation during which he tells them that he is about to leave them and return to his father. he assures them that he would not abandon them but would go and prepare a place for them so that where he is going, they too would follow later. this is because they know the way to the place. it was at this point that the first scandal occurred. thomas, one of the disciples listening to jesus betrayed his ignorance about the way. he says: “lord, we do not know where you are going. how can we know the way?” (v.5). at this culpable ignorance of thomas, jesus does not hide his disappointment. however, he seizes the opportunity to teach them that he is the way (ego eimi he hodos), the truth (kai he aletheia) and the life (kai he zoe) (v.6). he continues by saying “no one comes to the father except through me”. this means that the knowledge of the father is in the son and that of the son is in the father. so, if the disciples truly know jesus, they have known his father as well (v.7). in the words of teresa okure, “a most consoling message for the disciples is that they know the way to where jesus is going (v. 6). jesus is the way to god: they need to walk along it and have no fear of stumbling. he is the truth: they need to hold on to him and rely on him without fear of being failed by him. he is the life: section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 77 they need to live it, live in him, and have no fear of death.”5 this knowledge is necessary for a continued relationship between jesus and his disciples. jesus reveals the identity of the father to the disciples and through this revelation, they are able to sustain a relationship with jesus. “the link between jesus’ words and those of the father who sent him”, says pheme perkins, “is grounded in the picture of jesus as the agent of the father (e,g. 3:34; 7:17-18; 8:28,47; 12:47-49)”6 jesus makes the knowledge of him and his father a joint one so that anyone who has the knowledge of one also has the knowledge of the other. there are two key words used in this passage to express this namely  and . these two verbs denote knowing with  and  meaning “i know”.  means to perceive, gain knowledge of, know, learn, understand, judge, determine, decide, think and to resolve.7 it follows from this that  has a wider meaning than . these two words are key in this passage. the use of in the perfect here means knowledge already attained.8however, this knowledge is not perfect yet as it becomes obvious from the question philip asked afterwards. in v. 8, philip cuts in to the discourse of jesus by asking jesus to show them the father so as to quench their doubt, ignorance and curiosity. jesus is once again taken aback by this display of ignorance by philip. what philip is actually asking for here is not that clear. is it like one of the great theophanies that moses and elijah enjoyed or the visions of the heavenly court enjoyed by the prophets? hence, brown concludes thus: “in the context of the evangelist’s own time, perhaps philip is made the innocent spokesman of those heretical christians who seek after or claim a mystical vision of god.”9 jesus reprimands him and continues his teaching regarding the unity that exists between the father and himself. this knowledge is open to only those who are close to jesus. they are the ones expected to have a first-hand knowledge of who jesus is and what he stands for. however, in spite of their close affinity to jesus, the disciples, thomas and philip, could not fathom the real personality of their master. thus, “the disciples are ignorant of truths that are fundamental for an understanding of who jesus is, what he is doing, and where he is going.”10it must be noted that this reprimand was not meant for only thomas and philip but for all the disciples as it is evident in the use of the plurals in v. 7 ,  and  and in v. 11 with the use of and  . these plural verbs suggest that even though thomas and philip were the disciples who displayed publicly this ignorance about jesus, the teaching that followed was not meant just for the two of them but for all the disciples.11 78 formation of the human person in the 21st century this discourse regarding the relationship between jesus and his father continues till v. 14. here, jesus makes it abundantly clear to his disciples that he is god’s representation on earth. to have seen him is to have seen his father too. seeing and knowing jesus is tantamount to seeing and knowing the father. the fact that the disciples have not yet arrived at this level in their knowledge does not make them a failure but in the words of moloney, “the disciples have not failed completely to know jesus (as “the jews” had done: viii 19); yet their questions indicate that they do not know him perfectly.”12 jesus seizes this opportunity to enlighten and educate them on his real identity, where he comes from and where he is returning to. he also tells them that even if they do not believe on account of his words to them, his works are there as outward manifestations of his personality and his relationship with god the father. “real belief in the works”, according to moloney, “involves the ability to understand their role as signsthe ability to see through them to what they reveal, namely, that they are the work both of the father and of the son who are one, and thus that the father is in jesus and jesus is in the father.”13 the discourse ends with the invitation to the disciples to ask for anything in the name of jesus which he would grant (v. 14). the point at issue in this pericope is not so much the discourse of jesus with his disciples as the interventions of the disciples to jesus’ words. the betrayal of their shallow knowledge of him and his father points to the fact that it is possible to know many things about someone without really knowing the person. this fact is made clearer by the immediate response of jesus to the request of philip (“lord, show us the father, and we shall be satisfied.” v. 8) namely, “have i been with you all this time, philip, and you still do not know me? (v. 9). this response must have been worsened because of the ignorance displayed earlier on by thomas who did not know that jesus was the way to the father. it was as if the disciples of jesus did not actually know the true identity of their master even though they were very close to him listening to his words and seeing his marvelous deeds. the truth of the matter is that if his disciples did not know him well enough, how would they be able to make him known to the people around them who were not close to him, that is, the pagan world? nevertheless, the point must be made that this is not an indictment on the part of the two disciples, thomas and philip, as their requests were not ridiculous or outrageous. it only shows how imperfect they were in their understanding of the person and mission of jesus on earth. seminary formation in perspective the task of the seminary is to train and form men who would be ordained as priests to minister to the needs of the church. to facilitate section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 79 this task, priests are chosen and sent as formators to the seminary to accompany the candidates on their journey to the priesthood. seminary formation is thus divided into different stages with studies in philosophy and theology. there are four major areas of seminary formation which are spiritual, pastoral, intellectual and human. these run through the different stages of seminary formation. the seminarians are expected to develop in the four areas of formation without leaving any one behind. to achieve this end, auto formation is highly encouraged but with the formators accompanying the seminarians to be able to reach the requisite maturity for ordination. the formators by their words and examples accompany them to respond positively to god’s call. philosophical studies as part of the prerequisites for ordination, seminarians are to undergo studies in philosophy to sharpen their power of reasoning and enable them to make mature decisions resulting from critical analysis. through the study of ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary philosophical thoughts of philosophers, they arrive at a moment when they are disposed to receiving different thoughts and opinions with the aim of sifting out the truth. philosophy enables the candidates to have an open mind towards the opinions of others and to approach issues with equanimity. with the aid of studies in logic, metaphysics and epistemology and other related disciplines, they learn to articulate their thoughts in a convincing way to win people over and are also circumspect regarding what they hear. the knowledge acquired in philosophy serves as a preparatory ground for theology which is “faith seeking understanding”. also within the years in philosophy some theological courses are taken by the candidates to balance up their study in philosophy before they proceed on the pastoral year. theological studies on the return of the seminarians from their one year pastoral year, they begin their theological studies in earnest. in the course of the years in theology, they undergo studies in scriptures, dogma, canon law, liturgy and morality. it must be noted that the essence of these courses is to acquaint the candidates with the knowledge of jesus christ as revealed to us in the old and new testaments, in the fathers of the church and in the teaching office of the church. with this requisite knowledge it is believed that the seminarians have reached an appreciable level of maturity to advance to ordination. the rector and the entire formation team do not come to this conclusion without first examining and assessing the candidates. this process is called evaluation. first, they are assessed on the basis of their academic performance which the various 80 formation of the human person in the 21st century examinations they do reveal. before the reception of any ministry, the candidates are also tested and evaluated to ascertain their readiness to advance towards the priesthood. in the final year of their priestly formation, candidates who have been judged worthy and suitable are recommended to their bishops for diaconate ordination. those who are ordained serve as deacons for six months till the close of the session. they are then further recommended for priestly ordination after a thorough evaluation has been done by the rector and the formators. lack of in-depth knowledge of christ by the seminarian it has been observed by many people that there seems to be a great dichotomy between the seminary and the parish. the seminary is the house of formation for future priests while the parish is where the ordained minister functions. due to the nature and function of the seminary, seminarians do all in their power to abide by the rules and regulations of the seminary. this, more often than not, is as a result of the saying that “if you keep the seminary rules, the seminary would keep you”. therefore, seminarians often put on their best behaviour while in the seminary so as not to be expelled but to be recommended for ordination in due course. sometimes, this attitude leads to a lot of pretence such that the true colour of seminarians does not come out until after ordination. the seminarians in this category pass through the seminary formation and even excel in the various aspects. to the formators these seminarians have met the requirements to be admitted to ordination into the catholic priesthood. however and quite unfortunately, immediately after ordination, the newly ordained priest begins to act in a way that is incongruous with the training he has just received. he begins to behave in a way that is at variance with the examples of jesus christ whose herald he has now become according to the words of ordination. he feels and acts as being on top of the world with the whole world answerable to him forgetting christ who says: “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (mark 9:33). one finds some situations in the parishes that make people to ask if a particular priest ever passed through a seminary. they do things in ways that show that they only passed through a seminary without the seminary passing through them. there seems to be a general belief that there is a contradiction between seminary life and parish life. this perhaps accounts for words like “do you think i’m still a seminarian? do you think we are still in the seminary? i am no longer a seminarian etc. some believe that there is no consensus between the theory in the seminary and the practical in the parish. therefore, for such priests, once the seminary formation is ended, so also is anything that has to do with section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 81 it. as such, some practices in the seminary are the immediate victims of this kind of attitude like praying the office of the hours, doing adoration and benediction, praying the rosary and so on. the pertinent question is this: why is there such a dichotomy between the life of the seminarian while in the seminary and the life of the priest after ordination? it is the opinion of this writer that the lack of an in-depth knowledge of jesus is responsible for this dichotomy. the relevance of experiential knowledge of jesus for the seminarian in the 21st century experience, they say, is the best teacher. the dictionary defines experience as “knowledge derived from one’s one action, practice, perception, enjoyment or suffering.”14 experiential i also defined as “pertaining to or acquired by experience.”15 experiential knowledge, therefore, refers to the knowledge acquired through experience. it is quite different from mere theoretical knowledge which is a knowledge acquired through learning alone. with theoretical knowledge one learns with the head alone without necessarily involving the heart. this is why one can learn something and forget it thereafter. it is not the case with experiential knowledge. more often than not, whatever one learns through experience does not depart from the person. it rather becomes part and parcel of that person. in the episode of john 14:1-14 discussed earlier in this piece, thomas and philip were among the disciples of jesus who have been with him for some time listening to him and learning from him. they seem to know so much about their master except his real identity as the visible image of god on earth. this accounts for their questions to jesus while he was discussing with them. thomas asked for the way jesus was going while philip asked to see the father so as to be satisfied. the amazement of jesus at these questions reflected in his response tells the whole story. as his close friends and companions, they were expected to have known him through and through having listened to him and seen all his marvelous deeds. however, their lack of this in-depth knowledge of him surprised him and he seized the opportunity to educate all the disciples on his real nature and personality. this does not in any way put these disciples in a bad light but only exposes their imperfection. they still had so much to learn from jesus who even after his death and resurrection promised to send them the holy spirit who would lead them to the complete truth (john 16:13). the seminarian in the 21st century, in order to be true to his calling to be a priest after the heart of jesus, must not only have the theoretical knowledge of jesus but also the experiential knowledge. this will enable him to live out more concretely the values of the priesthood 82 formation of the human person in the 21st century in a world that is hostile to the gospel. this experiential knowledge is relevant today because it helps the seminarian to see continuity between life in the seminary and life in the parish. the seminary training is to enable the seminarian when ordained to become a good and holy priest. he must not see the discipline he received in the seminary only as a means to become a priest but as a discipline for life. this is one of the benefits of experiential knowledge that the seminarian is able to see the seminary formation not just as a means to an end but a way of life that must be lived out in the priesthood. another way that experiential knowledge can impart positively the life of the 21st century seminarian is that having embraced the life of christ as his own, the things of this world are not his immediate priority after ordination but to do the will of god just as jesus said in john 4:34, “my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work”. this is quite different from what we observe today among newly ordained priests. even before ordination, the preoccupation of the deacon preparing for ordination is on the material acquisition like the kind of car(s), latest gadgets in town, large sum of money in his bank account and a host of others. this is not to suggest by any means that these things are not necessary for the ministry. it is rather the inordinate desire for them at any cost that calls our preparedness for service to question. after all, the master, jesus, when he was sending out his disciples on their mission said: “as you go, proclaim the good news, ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. you received without payment; give without payment. take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or staff; for laborers deserve their food” (matt. 10:7-10). hardly can we find today disciples who are ready to plunge themselves into the ministry without first looking for comfort and conveniences. i once heard of a deacon preparing for his priestly ordination who came up with a list of things needed for the ordination and commencement of priestly service. the total cost of all the items on the list runs into several millions of naira. it is not a bad thing for the disciples to be comfortable in the course of their work but the truth of the matter is that comfort and conveniences should not be the conditio sine qua non for service or what the disciples would be pursuing. otherwise, these things could act as encumbrances to the carrying out of our duties as priests. an experiential knowledge of jesus who had nowhere to lay his head would help achieve this (matt. 8:20). section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 83 the difference between mere functionaries and real pastors of souls there is a vast difference between functionaries and ministers of the gospel. functionaries can be likened to hirelings who feel nothing for the sheep but only carrying out the task they are being paid for. these are the people jesus refers to in john 10:11-13 when he says “i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. the hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs awayand the wolf snatches them and scatters them. the hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep”. it can be said then that any minister of the word and sacraments who pursues only his own interest and not that of the sheep entrusted to him is only a hireling. such a person does not possess the experiential knowledge of jesus. we find so many of such hirelings in the ministry today. they are not ready to dive into the deep for a catch of fish but are busy pursuing their own selfish interests and ambitions and whenever and wherever these are not satisfied, there is trouble and discontentment. thus, they could be referred to as mere functionaries, performers and artistes. real pastors, on the other hand, having experienced jesus as one who has come to serve and not to be served, are always ready to go in search of souls to be won for christ. they are prepared to be sent anywhere to minister to people as long as human beings are there. they do not pick and choose where they are going to work. wherever their bishop or superior sends them, they are happy to go there. on resuming there, they do not put their own needs first. rather, their preoccupation is to elevate the life of the people and make them better than they met them. they try to imitate the good shepherd himself who knows his sheep just as his sheep know him too (john 10:14). they identify with the people not only when things are going on well for them but also and more importantly in their moments of crisis and suffering. the role of the seminary and diocese in imparting experiential knowledge to the seminarians there is no gainsaying the fact that both the seminary and the diocese play important roles in the formation of seminarians. theirs, therefore, is a collaborative ministry and to succeed in this, all hands must be on deck. the seminary. among all the other functions that it performs, must ensure that seminarians are given sufficient time and space to really discover themselves. while in the seminary, everything must not be subjected to a matter of horarium. if everything is about horarium the seminarians would always abide by it and participate in all the programs of the seminary even when they are not convinced or disposed towards 84 formation of the human person in the 21st century it. however, if some of the programs in the seminary are presented as private which by no means indicates optional, they are better able to make up their minds on what to attend and for how long. though this idea may seem to subject seminary formation to the whims and caprices of the seminarians, the intention behind it is to prevent the mechanical obedience to seminary programs. in this way seminarians would be better known and those having challenges can be better helped. the diocese of the seminarians has a role to play too in giving to them the experiential knowledge of jesus. seminarians go on pastoral work every year and they are sent to work in parishes. it must be ensured that they are well guided to carry out real pastoral works and not just some menial or domestic assignments in the parish or rectory. besides, since examples are better than precepts, priests must always show them good examples for them to emulate. it is often counterproductive when they hear one thing from priests and yet observe another. also, more often than not, people learn bad things faster than good ones. seminarians must see priests do the right things so that they can learn them and be able to put them into practice when they eventually become priests themselves. conclusion the encounter of jesus with his disciples, thomas and philip, as enunciated in this work has opened up the discussion on the meaning of experiential knowledge as distinct from mere theoretical knowledge. these disciples as well as others have been with jesus for a while and yet their knowledge of him has been somewhat shallow. they know him well in the flesh but their knowledge of him as a divine being is inadequate. they still had doubts regarding his divinity. that accounts for why these disciples questioned jesus the way they did. f. moloney’s words are apt here when he says “to know jesus is to know the father, and philip is exasperatingly ignorant in asking jesus to show the father (v.9). the problem lies in the disciples’ lack of faith.”16 it is the opinion of this piece that the same thing happens to seminarians who only have theoretical knowledge of jesus without advancing to the experiential knowledge. they know so much about jesus but jesus himself they do not know. this is a clarion call on all those responsible for the formation of future priests and the seminarians themselves to interiorize whatever theoretical knowledge they have about jesus so as to make jesus more real to the 21st century world. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 85 endnote 1 the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language. typhoon media corporation, 2010. p.447. 2 ibid 3 ibid 706 4 ibid 5 teresa okure, “john” in the international bible dictionary. bangalore: theological publications in india, 2004. p. 1562 6 pheme perkins, “the gospel according to john” in the new jerome biblical commentary. bangalore: theological publications in india, 1995. p. 974 7 james morwood, john taylor (eds), pocket oxford classical greek dictionary. new york: oxford university press, 2002. p. 70. 8 max zerwick, mary grosvenor, a grammatical analysis of the greek new testament. roma: editrice pontificio istituto biblico, 1996. p. 330 9 raymond e. brown, the gospel according to john x111-xx1. new york: doubleday, 1970. p. 632 10 francis moloney sacra pagina: the gospel of john. minnesota: the liturgical press, 1998. pp 395-396 11 raymond e. brown, the gospel according to john x111-xx1. new york: doubleday, 1970. pp. 621-622 12 ibid p. 631 13 ibid 633 14 the new international webster’s comprehensive dictionary of the english language. p. 447 15 ibid. p. 447 16 francis moloney, sacra pagina: the gospel of john. p. 396 86 7 the blindness of material wealth in mark 10:17-27: a lesson for the seminarian of 21st century rex osagie, stl, mth st. gregory catholic church, ekpoma rexosajie12@gmail.com abstract the seminarian of the 21st century lives in an era characterized by grave political instability, insecurity and economic crises laden with a high cost of living. thus, to forestall this unbearable situation, many youths have abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various crude and evil means of survival. some have taken to prostitution, seeking greener pastures via the crude libyan route, kidnapping, advance free fraud etc. the consequence of this enormous, the streets, shops and craft workshops are deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the death of their children who have lost their lives. again, the insufficient manpower in various communities has heightened the level of suffering and poverty in the land. apart from that, it is really difficult to convince the few youths left at home not to embark on such venture since the few who are acclaimed ‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material wealth in a fascinating manner for all to see. however, the encounter between jesus and the young rich man in the text of mk10:17-27 reveals the essence of human life and its destiny and the blindness of material wealth. the tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ reflects a greater love for his material possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal life offered by christ jesus. this brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? and what is the meaning of success and the source of happiness? how can a disciple of christ define his identity in this situation? thus, this paper hopes to undertake a detailed exegesis of the text, its theological functions in its immediate and wider context and its theological significance for the seminarian of the 21st century. it will also proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the discourse on the authentic formation of the seminarian of the 21st century. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 87 keyword: blindness, wealth, seminarian, youth, human life, formation introduction the 21st century is an epoch of immense human, economic, scientific, social, and political expansions and prospects but loaded with grave crises, challenges and failures. the struggle to make the world a global village aided with information and communication technology has enhance the identity, values, proficiency, productivity and needs of the human person within the globe. on the other hand, this era is typified by grave unstable political climate, insecurity, unemployment, climate change, health issues, economic crisis e.t.c. these crises have great effects on the life style, creativity and identity of the human person in a society where economic power is the centre of gravity. consequently, the human person is tempted to mislay its values and ultimate goal in the bid to survival. here, material wealth becomes a vital tool of continued existence and happiness. so, to avert these unbearable circumstances, many youths have abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various crude and evil means of survival. some have taken to prostitution, seeking greener pastures via the crude libyan route, kidnapping, advance free fraud etc. the consequence of this is enormous on the true realization of human dignity. the streets, shops and craft workshops are deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the death of their children who have lost their lives. again, the insufficient manpower in various communities has heightened the level of suffering and poverty in the land. apart from that, it is really difficult to convince the few youths left at home not to embark on such venture since the few who are acclaimed ‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material wealth in a fascinating manner for all to see. however, the encounter between jesus and the young rich man in the text of mk10:17-31 reveals the essence of the true dignity of the human life and its destiny against the blindness of material wealth. the tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ reflects a greater love for his material possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal life offered by christ jesus to bring mankind to its fullness of human dignity. this brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? and what is the meaning of success and the source of happiness? how can the person of the 21st century define his christian identity and dignity as disciple of christ in this situation? thus, this paper undertakes a detailed exegesis of the text, its theological functions in its immediate and wider context and its theological significance for the person of the 21st century. it will also 88 formation of the human person in the 21st century proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the discourse on the authentic formation of the human person of the 21st century. the text of mark 10:17-31 a. the text 17 καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς ὁδὸν προσδραμὼν εἷς καὶ γονυπετήσας αὐτὸν ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; 18 ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.19 τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας· μὴ φονεύσῃς, μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, μὴ κλέψῃς, μὴ ψευδομαρτυρήσῃς, μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς, τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα. 20 ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· διδάσκαλε, ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου. 21 ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἕν σε ὑστερεῖ· ὕπαγε, ὅσα ἔχεις πώλησον καὶ δὸς [τοῖς] πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι. 22 ὁ δὲ στυγνάσας ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἀπῆλθεν λυπούμενος· ἦν γὰρ ἔχων κτήματα πολλά. 23 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος ὁ ἰησοῦς λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· πῶς δυσκόλως οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελεύσονται. 24 οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς πάλιν ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτοῖς· τέκνα, πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 25 εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ [τῆς] τρυμαλιᾶς [τῆς] ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 26 οἱ δὲ περισσῶς ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες πρὸς ἑαυτούς· καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; 27 ἐμβλέψας αὐτοῖς ὁ ἰησοῦς λέγει· παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ θεῷ· πάντα γὰρ δυνατὰ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. 28 ἤρξατο λέγειν ὁ πέτρος αὐτῷ· ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν πάντα καὶ ἠκολουθήκαμέν σοι. 29 ἔφη ὁ ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς ἀφῆκεν οἰκίαν ἢ ἀδελφοὺς ἢ ἀδελφὰς ἢ μητέρα ἢ πατέρα ἢ τέκνα ἢ ἀγροὺς ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. 30 ἐὰν μὴ λάβῃ ἑκατονταπλασίονα νῦν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ οἰκίας καὶ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς καὶ μητέρας καὶ τέκνα καὶ ἀγροὺς μετὰ διωγμῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. 31 πολλοὶ δὲ ἔσονται πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ [οἱ] ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι. b. translation of mark 10:17-31 17and as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “good teacher, what must i do to inherit eternal life?” 18and jesus said to him “why do you call me good? no one is good but god alone. 19 you know the commandments: `do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'“ 20and he said to him, “teacher, all these i have observed from my youth.” 21and jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “you lack one thing; go, sell what section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 89 you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 at that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23and jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of god!” 24 and the disciples were amazed at his words. but jesus said to them again, “children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god! 25 it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god.” 26 and they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “then who can be saved?” 27 peter began to say to him, “lo, we have left everything and followed you.” 28 peter began to say to him, “lo, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 jesus said, “truly, i say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 but many that are first will be last, and the last first.” the background of the text of mark 10:17-31 the text of mark 10:17-31 is situated within the larger corpus of the journey outside galilee and movement towards jerusalem. here mark appears to regard this text as a single unit which expresses the true meaning of discipleship and presents the necessary condition for entrance into the kingdom of god. thus, he places it after chapter 10:1316 which defines the entrance into the kingdom and encloses it by the third major prophecy of the passion of christ in 10:32-34. this is based on the purpose of projecting the christian faith in a climate of uncertainty where martyrdom poses a grave danger to the faith of the people.1 in view of that, the marcan christ continues to speak and act meaningfully in the context of crisis. in order to achieve this, the evangelist employs vivid narrative style characterized by simple sentence structure, parataxis, direct speech and historical present in order to make jesus the contemporary of those who hear or read the account.2 consequently, the text serves as caveat to the audience of the gospel and post marcan audience on the dangers and blindness of the love for material wealth against the forfeiture of the eternal life offered by christ. content analysis of the text of mk 10:17-31 vv. 17-22 -the rich young man (10:17-22) the setting of the amazing encounter between christ and a young man in the text of mark 10:17-31 is indicated by the verb ἐκπορευομένου, (as he was setting out) which is the present genitive middle masculine 90 formation of the human person in the 21st century participle of ἐκπορευομαι in v. 17. the eager approach of the man while jesus was setting out on a journey characterized with his kneeling posture, the formal address and the weighty value of his question suggest a deep respect for jesus and the genuine sincerity of the man. he did not insist upon a private conference with jesus by night like nicodemus. he came to consult jesus as a distinguished rabbi and showed him the deference reserved for revered teachers of the law.3 the designation of jesus as διδασκαλε agaqe (good teacher) in the masculine vocative is a sincere tribute to the impression jesus had made upon him. though in the ot and judaism, only god is characteristically called “good” but can be used in derived sense of “the good man”.4 however, christ would have him looked upon him to be god, since none is good but god. again the question of the young man τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; (what must i do so that i may inherit eternal life?) places the discussion which follows in an eschatological perspective. ἳνα (so that) here signifies a purpose clause defining the function of τί ποιήσω (what must i). also, the use κληρονομήσω (i may inherit) in proleptic aorist stresses the certainty of ζωὴν αἰώνιον (eternal life) to the young rich man.5 in addition, the form of the question implies a piety of achievement which stands in contrast to jesus’ teaching that man must receive the kingdom as a gift from god in his helplessness like a child in 10: 15. thus in v. 20 the man thought that there were other conditions beyond those written in the torah. however, jesus’ appeal to the commandments serves to re-echo the old ot teaching that the man who obeys the law will live (deut. 30:15, ezek. 33:15). he mentions the six commandments of the second table, which prescribe our duty to our neighbor, but puts the fourth commandment last, as that which must be remembered and observed. while the tenth commandment is put as “do not defraud” showing that it is a rule of justice not to advance or enrich ourselves by doing wrong or injury to any other.6 these commandments clearly and incisively focus upon relationship with others as the discernible measures of a man’s reverence for god and obedience to his mandate.7 here, jesus does not accept as good any other will than the will of god revealed in the law. hence his affirmation of the commandments is a demand for obedient action which recognizes both the sovereignty of god and the existence of neighbor. in v. 20, the impulsive reply of the man ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην (all these i have kept) with the verb φυλάσσω in global aorist indicative middle reveals that he had made the law the norm of his entire life and had confidently fulfilled its demands perfectly. the reference to ἐκ νεότητός μου (from my youth) indicates a boy of twelve years who assume the yoke of the commandments and was held responsible for section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 91 their performance.8 in this sense, mark presents the inquirer’s idea of goodness as defined by human achievement, which has a sense of confidence that he had fulfilled the commandments from time but seeks to discover from another ‘good’ man what he can do to assure eternal life. but the referral of the question to god puts jesus’ response within the context of the lordship of god. nevertheless, the response of jesus to the young man in v. 21 is not designed to shame him by exposing the real depth of the commandments but is an expression of genuine love for him and to set in correct perspective the honor of god.9 thus, jesus discovers the one thing he lacks, is the selfsacrificing devotion which characterizes every true follower of christ. thus, jesus invites him to follow him now and experience the demands of life and the kingdom with the twelve disciples. this brings to fore that the keeping of the individual commandments is no substitute for the readiness of self –surrender to the absolute claim of god imposed through the call of the gospel.10 in this context obedience to the law is rendered ultimately in discipleship. selfsurrender means a renunciation of his achievement and the reception of messianic forgiveness through which man is released to stand under the law and to offer the obedience of love.11 therefore, the command to sell his property and to distribute the proceeds to the poor was appropriate to this particular situation. since the promised treasure signifies the gift of eternal life at the revelation of the kingdom of god. however the true answer to the question in v. 17 lays not so much on the command to sell all but as a necessary condition to answer the call to follow jesus.12 in this sense, the marcan christ clearly defines the cost of discipleship. consequently, mark in this text shows that jesus separated persons from their normal historical existence as showed also in 1:16-20, 2:14, 3:13, in order to introduce them to a new quality of existence based upon fellowship with him. jesus demand is radical. he claims the man utterly and completely, and removes anything that could interfere with an unconditional obedience. so following jesus implies that jesus himself is the answer to humankind’s quest for life and authentic realization of true human dignity. the grave disappointing and sorrowful response of the young man in v. 22 to the invitation of christ in v. 21 is described by two verbs; στυγνάσας aorist participle active nominative masculine singular of stugnάzw and ἀπῆλθεν 3rd person aorist indicative active singular άπέρχομαι. the verb ‘stugnάzw’ occurs only twice in the new testament in the text of matt 16:3 and mk 10:22. it means “become gloomy or dark, be shocked or appalled” but with ἀπῆλθεν in the aorist indicative active signifies temporal adverbial participle demonstrating two simultaneous actions of the young man of being ‘shocked and went 92 formation of the human person in the 21st century away’. so, his tragic decision to turn away reflects a greater love for his possessions than for his life as jesus states in mark 4:19. again it shows the depth of the demand of discipleship and the uniqueness of the twelve who abandoned everything in order to follow jesus. another crucial finding of mark in this text is that the law had not yet fulfilled its function of bring man’s satisfaction with this world to an end and energized the thirst for righteousness and life.13 consequently, mark indicates for the first time that the man was rich in v. 22. vv. 23-27 -the danger of riches (10:23-27) the gesture of jesus in v. 23 to look round depicted by the verb περιβλεψάμενος in aorist participle middle nominative masculine singular demonstrates the contrast of the running and kneeling approach in v. 17 and the slow retreat that ends the amazing encounter in v. 22. thus, it became imperative for jesus to turn and catechize those who have abandoned everything to follow jesus. the comment of jesus in v. 23b reaffirms the danger of attachment to wealth to the rejection of an infinitively important everlasting life that leads to the fullness of human dignity. this danger lies in the effects of wealth on the spiritual life, which claims the total dependence on god and develops a false sense of security. material abundance therefore, is an enemy to the ‘abundant of life’ offered by christ.14 surprisingly, this response of jesus meets with great amazement from the disciples. mark expresses this ‘shocked or amazement’ of the disciples with another verb ἐθαμβοῦντο in an ingressive imperfect describing the shock that ended with the teaching of christ as distinct from the amazement of the young man that did not allow for catechesis. the amazement of the disciples probably stems from the belief that prosperity is the blessing and favor from god for righteousness.15 however, jesus did not fail to repeat his solemn warning of v. 23 in an absolute form in v. 24b , saying how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god, which is calculated to provoke careful reflection on the part of those confronted with the call of the gospel. consequently, he addresses his audience as τέκνα (children) in the vocative neuter plural, not in the sense of biological growth but in terms of understanding the divine principles of the kingdom of god. the hyperbolic comparative between the largest animal (camel) and the smallest opening (eye of a needle) used by jesus with the verb εὐκοπώτερόν (easier) in the comparative adjective in v. 24b is the only existing comparative found in the nt.16 and it expresses what, humanly speaking, is impossible or absurd.17 consequently, jesus’ response to the total rejection of his invitation leaves an exceeding astonishment in the face of the disciples which led to an inquiry; καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; (then who can be section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 93 saved?). accordingly, the response of jesus in v. 27 to the query of the disciples in v. 26 places salvation beyond the spheres of human possibilities into the hands of god as his gift to humankind. vv. 28-31 -the reward of discipleship in v. 28 peter acts as the spokesman for the disciples and shows an absolute understanding of v. 21. his affirmation which seems to be a note of self-congratulation is in positive contrast to the refusal of jesus’ invitation in v. 21 of a man who prices material wealth than the invitation of the divine and supreme creator.18 this is based on the fact that the disciples have fulfilled the two requirements of complete renunciation and of following jesus.19 conversely, the response of jesus in vv. 29-31 to peter declaration in v. 28 defines christianity in terms of promise and persecution, and history as the interplay of blessedness and suffering. this is pivoted on the divine principle that god takes nothing from a man without restoring it to him in a new and glorious form. so, whatever is lost in one society in v.29 will be regained a hundredfold in the new society created by the dynamics of the gospel in v.30.20 in this sense, the promise of eternal life in the age to come looks beyond the conflict of history to the glorious triumph assured through radical of obedience of anyone to the will of god. the discourse ends in a caveat couched in antithetical parallelism in v. 31, in which jesus demands a total and radical commitment sustained only in the act of following him faithfully. theology of mk 10:17-31 the vivid narrative style of mk 10:17-31couched in simple sentence structure, parataxis, direct speech and often intersected with historical present is knitted with various theological themes. they are: the prophetic mission of christ jesus the actual encounter of jesus with the rich man in mk 10:17-31 clearly defines the prophetic identity of jesus as the true messiah who teaches and saves. jesus’ identification as διδασκαλε agaqe is based on the impression of his distinctive teachings, exercise of authority over demons and miracles on the mind of the people. (mk 1:22, 27). jesus’ exclusive declaration of the attributive adjective agaqe to god is a self-revelation of his christology and divinity. indeed god only can be acclaimed perfectly good and not man. since, god is all goodness and there is no evil in his nature. in this sense, only god has the authentic prophet mandate that can truly teach, sustain and lead humanity to its goal and fullness of dignity as destined by god. this is in line with the lucan manifestos of 94 formation of the human person in the 21st century christ in 4:18-19 “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord”. similarly, the marcan christ who consistently speaks and acts meaningfully in the context of crisis has the prophetic role to set humanity aright at all times. the implication is that humanity must realize its need to depend on god and do his will in order to fulfill its destiny and dignity. thus, the imperative is that humankind must listen to him. (mk 9:7b). material wealth in mark’s theology a closer survey of the gospel of mark reveals that he does not totally condemn wealth but does not seem to attach much importance to it in relation to the gospel message.21 accordingly, the disciple of christ is called to totally depend on divine providence and not on the temporary false security which wealth seems to provide. as a result, to follow christ demands the adoption of the simplest way of life and subordination the comfort of life to the mission of christ jesus.22 consequently, following and listening to jesus without the distraction of material wealth is a source of abundant divine blessings, since the heavenly treasures offered by christ is supremely greater than material wealth. however, the young man’s tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ to an everlasting and abundant life is a reflection of an absolute foolishness. this unique rejection of divine bliss is based on the lack of the authentic understanding of the true identity of the self and its divine goals. the alignment and total dependence of the human person upon the securities and pleasures which material wealth offers is deluding and destructive blindness to the nature of the human spirit and its end. hence, for jesus the human person who is enslaved by material wealth has made external bliss impossibility like the head of a carmel going through the eye of the needle. (mk 10:25). this invitation of christ is typified by consistent sharing and self-giving of one’s self and material wealth to others. consequently, the young rich man lost christ’s offer to a great friendship, development and great adventure to be god’s fellow worker in shaping the world. he fails to see the danger of material wealth to spiritual life and true dignity. this hazard of wealth lies in the fact that the means have a subtle way of becoming ends. indeed, “wealth can imprison a man in a world of illusion and thus develop a false sense of security. in this sense the centre of gravity moves from personality to power, and such personality shrinks in the process.”23 thus, the gospel becomes an enemy to the abundant life which material wealth offers. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 95 the law and the gospel of christ the invitation to follow christ for mark requires self-sacrificing devotion, selfsurrender and sacrificial love which cannot be achieved through the observance of the torah alone. this radical demand of the gospel is the litmus test of discipleship. indeed, this is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as set out by jesus in matthew 5:17. the walking away of the young man is an indication that the observance of the law only did not fulfill the demand of the gospel of sacrificial love of the new covenant and the required dignity. so, dependence on wealth and earthly desires are antithetical to the good news proffer by christ jesus. thus entrance into the kingdom of god in this sense requires total self-surrender to the person of christ. this cannot be attained through the observance of the law alone but via total dependence on god. this self-surrender to christ brings the divine justice and love of god towards those who accepts the christ’s invitation but not without suffering and persecution. the lesson of mark 10:17-31 for the 21st century the human person of the 21st century is called to witnessing and discipleship of christ jesus like the apostles, who left everything and followed christ (mark 10:28). he has the unique mission to continue the ministry of jesus handed down by the apostle. as a disciple of christ, he/she is offered like the young rich man to adopt the itinerant and simplest lifestyle of jesus and his first followers in order to save souls and shape the world.24 accordingly, being with jesus and sharing in his mission of teaching and healing entails the adoption of the simplest possible way of life and subordinating one’s personal comfort to the mission. thus, as a witness and disciple of christ, he is faced with the choice of spending his life in christ or embracing a world that celebrates material possession. in wise manner, the human person of the 21st century should make a fundamental option to witness to christ and share in the divine blessedness of the elect. similarly, the rich young man’s rejection of jesus’ invitation arises from his unwillingness to adopt the simple lifestyle required for the ministry of jesus. his great love for possessions hindered him from participating in the mission of christ. this demand of christ’s disciples is antithetical to the dependence and false security material possessions offers. the excessive crave for wealth to the detriment of the salvation of the soul will completely and totally separate one from eternal happiness. again, the use of dubious means in acquiring wealth like fraud and robbery, selling of body parts, kidnapping, prostitution e.t.c is totally unbecoming of a christian lifestyle laid down by the gospel of christ. 96 formation of the human person in the 21st century the imperative is to seek eternal life offered by christ jesus and not transient happiness offered by material wealth. another basic issue that this text of mark10:17-31 seeks to address is the essence of life and the source of the ultimate happiness. it completely rejects material wealth as the essence of life and the ultimate source of happiness. also it teaches that being rich can prevent one from entering the kingdom of god. the joy and security of life is not based on what one owns but total surrender and dependence on the god the creator (luke12:15). thus the life created by god cannot derive its true meaning and fulfillment from the created things except from the creator alone. the rich young man lost the blessedness of the spirit because he was shaded with the dark lenses of wealth. jesus challenges the rich young man to admit that there are even greater blessings than being rich in life and playing the benefactor (mark10:21). again, the text teaches that life must be lived as a gift from god and used as an instrument for pleasing god the creator. the rejection of the invitation to share his wealth with the poor and store up treasure in heaven (mark10:21), is a pointer that the rich young man lack this basic understanding of life. this same mindset is common in the 21st century of those who take to various dubious means to amass wealth and pursue it as the ultimate goal of life. life must not be lived in a competitive and self-centered manner but rather with the disposition to share and live for others. this jesus did by climbing the cross. thus, the authentic realization of the human dignity in the 21st century must entail a good disposition to sacrificial love, total dependence on god and the consistent attitude of sharing with others. this is the unique identity of the first century christians that shaped and transformed the world. (acts 2:45) the text of mark10:17-31 also teaches in vv. 28-31 that there is reward for those who take up poverty in the service of jesus’ mission of proclaiming the kingdom of god. the reward will both present and future. indeed there is a better reward for those who accept the simple and poor life of jesus christ, with the promise of a new family and new possessions, and eternal life in the age to come (mark10:30). in this sense, the person of the 21st century should live his life for eternal bliss than for transient material wealth. conclusion this study critically examines the text of mark 10:17-31 and reveals its theological functions and values on the cost of the discipleship and the use of material wealth. it argues that the ultimate goal of christ for the rich young man is his salvation. the imperative to share his material wealth with the poor is an invitation to share in the life style of jesus section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 97 christ and enjoy eternal happiness. the gospel of christ teaches that human life and material wealth should be lived and shared with others. this is essential to the authentic realization of the dignity mankind the 21st century who lives in a world that celebrates and adores material wealth, even when it is acquired via dubious means. this will help to strengthen the faith and build life style on the person of christ who is the ultimate source of life and happiness. endnote 1 william lane, the gospel according to mark. (michigan: eerdmans, 1974) 25. 2 william lane, 26. 3 heinrich rengstorf, theological work in the new testament, vol 2. (germany: kohlhammer. 1990) 157. 4 henry matthew, commentary on the whole bible. (u.s.a: hendrickson, 1991) 1800 5 daniel wallace, the basics of new testament syntax. ( michigan: grand rapids, 2000) 242. 6 henry matthew, 1800. 7 john calvin, commentary on a harmony of the evangelist; matthew, mark and luke.( grand rapids: christian classics ethereal library, 1949) 1060. 8 william lane, 366. 9 brenkinridge warfield, studies in theology. (princeton: banner of truth trust, 1988)15. 10 daniel harrington & john donahue, mark. sacra pagina. (minnesota: michael glazier book, 2002) 302. 11 henry matthew, 1081. 12 daniel harrington & john donahue, 303. 13 william lane, 369. halford luccock, “the gospel according to st. mark: exposition” in the interpreter’s bible, vol, 7. eds. george arthur buttrick, george et al .(new york: abingdon, 1951) 806. 15 halford loccock, 806. 16 bibleworks9: mk 10:24 17 william lane, 369. 18 william lane, 371. frederick grant, “the gospel according to st. mark: introduction and exegesis” in the interpreter’s bible, vol, 7. eds. george arthur buttrick, george et al.(new york: abingdon, 1951) 808. 20 william lane, 372. leslie j. hoppe, being poor: a biblical study (good news studies 20) (delaware: michael glazier, 1987) 150. 22 daniel harrington & john donahue, 307. 23 frederick grant, 806. 24 daniel harrington & john donahue, 303. 98 8 discernment in the formation of future priests in a transistion period: an examination of the vocation of samuel (1 sam. 3.1-10). michael sola omojola, std department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma solajjola@yahoo.com abstracts the passage of our consideration narrates the ‘call of samuel’ and how the priest eli guided him to properly decipher the voice of yahweh and disposed him to the vocation and mission that yahweh would assign to him and how he on his part made a final and definitive response to his vocation in a transition period in the life of the jewish people (1 sam. 3.1-10). his formation has an enduring implication for the jewish nation by providing a necessary guidance and needed unique identity in the ancient world upon which successive generation continue to build on. this passage is still relevant today as we celebrate the silver jubilee of our seminary and examine the theological relevance of priestly formation in this third millennium, prospects and challenges. therefore, a proper examination of this passage will help candidates to the sacred priesthood present themselves for proper formation that has a transforming effect for the work of evangelization to which god is calling them. however, without proper disposition and opening of self to true discernment which is the action of the holy spirit, in the humble efforts of the formators, who like eli, should help the candidates to decipher and discern the true voice of god calling; it will be difficult to achieve the desired result, which is furthering the kingdom of god on earth. keywords: discernment, formation, vocation, formators, holy spirit section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 99 introduction there are so many concerns about the books of samuel among scholars but some areas that constantly receive scholarly attention include the composition of the book itself, the source and the question of its authorship. these areas continue to re-appear in biblical scholarship and they often generate and shape the direction of the discussion among scholars. that this is nearly so can be seen in the work of moshe garsiel.1 in his work, he notes that the book of samuel appears at the most “crucial period in the history of the israelites…the book, as is seen even at first sight, is a unique combination of historiography, literary poetics and ethical and theological perception.”2 however, other scholars have also contributed to the discussion by raising the relevance and the novelties of the different narratives, the characters, their social and theological innovations for social and religious transformation, the geographical settings and their importance for the future of the covenantal relationship between yahweh and his chosen people.3 making a comprehensive excursus into the different debates will be too cumbersome for this paper. therefore, the scope of this paper shall be limited to the character of samuel and his involvement in the different transitions that led to the stability of the chosen people and gave a unique identity to them as a nation and see how it can be a guide for a nation like nigeria in her identity crisis. the approach to be employed will be synchronic and canonical, as such, the textual criticism of the pericope may not be necessary. this passage reflects the final stage as it were in the formative period of the life of the young samuel who was dedicated to the service of yahweh immediately after he had been weaned by his mother.4 “and when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the lord at shiloh. and the child was young….therefore i have lent him to the lord. as long as he lives, he is lent to the lord." and he worshiped the lord there.” (1 sam 1.24-28). when samuel was given to eli, the best the mother could have hoped for, was to assist the old priest of yahweh at shiloh, because priesthood in those days was tribal and hereditary, of which his family was not a part of (num 18.1; 1 sam 2. 28, 30). thus, the young samuel’s works would have consisted of, looking after the person of the priest, eli and the place of worship, taking charge of the work connected to the place of worship. the proper sacrifice and the sacred vessels shall be handled by the priests of aaronic lineage (num 18.2-4). it is for this reason that the chroniclers in their short genealogical tree of the workers at the temple named his grandson heman among those who were listed as choirs of the temple by king david (1 chron 6.18). while doing this, 100 formation of the human person in the 21st century the boy samuel was growing physically and inwardly as he also found ‘favour with god and man’ (1 sam.2.26). this terminology is found only once again in the whole of the bible in the gospel of luke when the boy jesus was found in temple teaching elders and later followed his parents home (luke 2.52). however, the historical context of his call showed a nation in transition and the need for a strong, god fearing, committed and faithful leader, who would help to direct and midwife the various institutions necessary for its continued existence as a nation and as the chosen people of god (i sam. 2.26).5 he was called particularly to guide and to take a leading role in this transition, so that, this plans of god would not be truncated. giving a summary of the life of samuel, the author of the book of sirach notes that he “was the beloved of his lord; prophet of the lord, he instituted the kingdom, and anointed rulers over his people. by the law of the lord he judged the assembly, and the lord watched over jacob. by his loyalty he was recognized as a prophet, by his words he was known to be a trustworthy seer” (sir. 46.13-15). this alo corresponds to the deuteronomic summary of his life (1 sam. 3.19-20). the literary classification 1 sam 3.1-10. every piece of literature can be classified according to its literary genre. while many scholars classify this pericope as ‘the call of samuel’, they do not assign a special literary structure to it or at best they compare it with other prophetic commission narratives especially that of moses.6 a commission narrative is usually the last process of a call narrative and as such they are two different things. there are so many commission narratives in which nothing are known about their birth such as those of the prophets and the apostles yet god called and sent them on mission. some others see the passage as that of the birth narrative like other birth narratives of great people in the bible.7 it should be noted that birth narrative is a prelude to the story of a great personage of historical importance; it may not necessarily lead to a special vocation. others see it as a divine revelation or a theophany of yahweh to the young samuel.8 in another respects some compares it to the dreams in the ancient near east.9 it is true that this passage has some characteristics of theophanic revelatory call and dream like commission narratives; it is the opinion of this work that it best fits into the literary pattern of the vocation narratives. vocation as a literary type or genre has its own form in both the old and the new testament. an examination of a few examples will show the pattern of this literary structure as a unique genre for this pericope.10 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 101 call of moses: ex. 3 initiative of the deity: natural state: moses was tendering the flock of jethro ex. 3.1 apparition of the deity: the angel of the lord appeared ex. 3.2 sacred location; the burning bush ex. 3.2,5b call by name: moses, moses ex. 3.4b challenges of certainty: moses turned around to look ex. 3.3-5a confirmation of the call: ex.3.6 the reason for the call: i have seen the affliction of my people ex.3. 7-9 the commissioni will send you to pharaoh ex.3.10 time for maturity and assurance: discussion between the deity and the person, ex. 3.11-4.17 positive response: he returned to jethro. ex. 4.18 call of samuel i sam. 3. initiative of the deity. samuel was sleeping; 1 sam 3.3 apparition of the deity: the lord stood by him; 1 sam. 3.10a sacred location: the temple and the ark of god 1 sam. 3.3 call by name: the lord called samuel; 1 sam. 3.4,6,8,10b challenges of certainty: the boy samuel went to meet with eli thrice; 1 sam. 3.5-8 confirmation of the call: the boy samuel answered; 1 sam. 3.4,10c the reason for the call: god wants to do a terrifying thing in israel; 1 sam 3.14 time for maturity: discussion between the deity and the person; 1 sam. 3.11-15 the commission: i will judge the house of eli; 1 sam.3.13 positive response: lay down and sleep over the words; 1 sam. 3.15 the call of the first disciples (luke 5.3-11 initiative: he went into one of the boats; luke 5.3 sacred place: after teaching people; luke 5.3 call by name: he called simon to thrown into the deep; luke 5.4 challenge of certainty: we had toiled all night luke 5. 5-7 confirmation of the call: simon fell on his feet; luke 5.8 reason for the call: not applicable time for maturity: they dragged their catch to the shore; luke 5.9-10a the commission: hence you will catch men; luke 5.10b positive response: they left everything and followed him; luke 5.11 the call of paul of tarsis (acts 9.3-20) initiative: he was on a journey; acts 9.3a sacred place: a light from heaven; acts 9.3b 102 formation of the human person in the 21st century call by name: god called saul, saul; acts 9.4 challenge of certainty: who are you? acts 9.5a confirmation of the call: what do you want me to do; acts 9.6 reason for the call: it is hard to kick against the pricks; acts 9.5b, time for maturity: between the incidents and brother ananias; acts 9. 6b,9-14 the commission: he will be told what to do as a chosen vessel unto the lord; acts 9.6c positive response: they brought him to damascus, acts 9.8 call literary structure: i. initiative of the deity: natural state ii. apparition of god, an angel of god, the word of god iii. sacred locationa description of the location; temple, burning bush11 iv. call by namecall is given to individual/ vocation is person v. challenges of certainty, doubt and assurance vi. confirmation of the callgiving sign vii. the reason for the calldescription of the situation viii. commissionbrings about a lasting change ix. time for maturity: preparation for the mission x. positive response the characteristics of vocation genre the first consideration about the genre of vocation is that, it is not the individual that calls himself to the service of god rather the initiative is always from god. as noted by fretheim, “the emphasis throughout is on the divine initiative. it is god who confronts moses and calls him to a task. moses does not prepare for the encounter, nor does he seek it.”12 hence, the author of the letter to the hebrews notes ‘no one takes this honour on himself except he is called as aaron was’ (heb. 5.4). since the initiative is from god, the recipient of such a privilege calls, is presented in his natural state. it is not a reward for a good done or a prize won for a previous action. hence, it is always related to a divine revelation or a vision of the divine.13 such vocation is always an invitation to participate in a transformation that will have a universal implication of great importance rather than a personal glorification or a prize, or a reward, given for what one has done in the past.14 the manner and pattern of each vocation narrative depends on the nature of the mission to be accomplished. for instance, abraham was called to leave his father’s house for a promised land (gen. 12.ff). moses was called to lead the people from slavery into the promised land (ex. 3.1ff). samuel was to help them make necessary section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 103 transition from a loose tribal amphitony to a united kingdom under one leader in the promised land (1 sam. 3.1ff). hence, because the mission god is entrusting to this individual is enormous, he also prepares them for it. one other characteristic of this literary genre is the mentioning of the recipients’ personal name by god before revealing to them his purpose of calling them. this name calling shows the personal relationship with the divine who knows his messengers by name (is. 49.1). in the case of moses, samuel and paul, their names were repeated twice by god as a sign of “endearment” to authenticate their vocation.15 even in some other instances, god gave new names to those he called which would correspond to their mission. god calls individual for particular mission. it is therefore god’s knowledge of the individual as well as a reminder to the individual’s response to god’s invitation (hos. 11.1). it is from this name calling, that the literary genre as it were, bears its special character of ‘vocation’. another important aspect of the vocation genre is the centrality of the word of god. according to zimmerli, “the particular significance of the account of jeremiah’s call’s to be seen in the firm subordination of all its features to the word of yahweh.”16 this word of god is central to all the prophetic vocation. in the case of samuel, there is an emphasis from the beginning that the word of god was not common. at the end of this narrative, god does not allow the word to fall to the ground without being fulfilled. this also puts him in the same position like that of the prophets of old because “the messages are more important than their experiences”.17 in all of these examples of vocation literary genre given above, the recipients, moses, samuel, the apostles and paul in a special way, were called to be involved in a transition that will have a lasting and more enduring effect. thus, the “account of samuel’s vocation is a good example of a divine calling to perform a special mission, it shows both the attitudes that the person called should have and the demands that the divine call implies.”18 this is also reflected in the manner of their vocation to set up a special people for god through their own person charisma and formation. moses formation was god himself through the different dialogue. samuel had the old priest to help him, the apostles and paul had jesus as their teacher (matt. 23.8; mark. 3.13-14; gal. 1 1516). furthermore, the resemblance between moses and samuel is telling because the circumstances of their birth and the relationship of their parents, were involved in their narratives (ex. 2.1ff; 1sam. 3.1ff). 104 formation of the human person in the 21st century examination of the narrative of samuel’s vocation samuel is described as one who “stands at the intersection of a cephalous clan culture and the hierarchy of the nascent monarchy he inaugurates. he is charged with preserving the conservative values of the past while also plotting out the future during a period of national transition.”19 his contributions and actions are pivotal to the eventual emergence of the people both as geographical entity and in their self-religious group. indeed, the book could be called book of transition of which samuel enjoyed not only a luminal figure but also, has consistently shown him as a leading figure. according to some authors, samuel’s vocation was necessary because of both the physical and spiritual weakening of eli’s strength and yahweh has found himself a strong man in the young samuel. this passage of our consideration is the centre of the story which began in chapter one with hannah’s prayer. it is the summit and the beginning of the great israelitic institutions of the vocation to the special priesthood, the distinctive prophetic ministry and the yahwistic monarchical election.20 for this reason, some scholars note that to “samuel’s is the credit for one of the greatest contributions ever made to the political thought of man.”21 thus, this call was necessitated by the “historical and moral limitations” that created a crisis point in israel and needed divine intervention before it becomes catastrophic. god called samuel to cart a new cause of direction for the leadership of the people that might eventually restore the people to the right path through the word of god.22 however, by helping him to answer this call, the old man, eli, shows that yahweh has a special assignment for the boy as indeed indicated in the narrative of his infancy. yet he must not only consult and seek the guidance of the old priest eli, but also complete the period of his formation. consequently, the call of the boy samuel begins a new personal relationship between yahweh and his chosen people.23 samuel is in the vanguard because he must instruct the new leaders including himself that leadership in “israel were not allowed to do whatever they fancied. they were subjects to a higher power and to the rule of law and morality, upheld by the prophets.”24 hence, “as has now been addressed directly by yahweh, and the significance of this fact extends beyond the immediate circumstances, for the closing verses of the account make it clear that samuel is henceforward to be the medium through which yahweh will address his people.”25 therefore, this passage is a bridge between the old order as it were and the new things that yahweh wants to do. this is the nature of god that time and again, in different circumstances, he intervened and section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 105 gets involved directly in the affairs of his chosen people. in doing this, he calls individuals to partner with him in bringing about this radical change. samuel will now be called a prophet. a term which in its akkadian root means to be called or summoned by the gods “one called to duty by a god.”26 if samuel was courageous and successful in his ministry as a prophet and a judge (1sam. 3.19-20), it was because he has disposed himself favourably through obedience under his master eli. thus, he became a model of obedience as he listened to what eli taught him to say if he should hear the voice of god calling him again (1 sam. 3.9).27 he repeated the words just as eli told him. eli also showed by his own example of life, how to submit to the will of god, when samuel narrated to him the message of god which he has just received. although, challenging and difficult, samuel told him what god had threatened to do to his two sons hophni and phinehas and his family. eli responded, he is the lord, let him do what seems good to him (1 sam. 3.18b). bowing to the will of god is a sign of true vocation, mary (luke 1.38) and jesus (matt. 6.10; 7.21;26.42) would later give us models by the examples of their lives. however, the vocation of samuel needed a special period of discernment because of the theological implication it would have for the future of the people of god. hence, the place of eli in this discernment was of great significance because helped the young samuel during this formative period so to say, to learn by every call experience, the voice of god in the many deceptive voices that could be speaking to him (1 sam. 3.5). two caveats that are significant here in the beginning of the narrative of the vocation are: (a) the description of samuel as a ‘young boy’ or a child and (b) that the ‘word of god’ was not common in those days (1 sam. 3.1). having completed his period of formation, he was able, through the discernment of eli, to make appropriate response that guided him throughout his life. he learnt that he was a servant-leader between god and his chosen people. this becomes very obvious in the words of his response to the call of god as directed by his master eli; ‘speak lord your servant is listening’ (1 sam. 3.9). therefore, he must listen to the rb;d" ‘word of god’ and act accordingly before the people and that makes his a prophet like moses. to underscore the importance of the word in the life of samuel, his mission was summarized in the following words ‘samuel grew, and the lord was with him, and did not let none of his words fall to the ground’ and from dan to beersheba, he was recognized as aybiiþn" a prophet (1 sam. 3.19-20).28 this was evident when he was to chide saul for his disobedience “and samuel said unto saul, i will not return with thee for you have rejected the word of god: (1 sam. 15.16). 106 formation of the human person in the 21st century implications of samuel’s vocation for israel as a nation there is no doubt that the theology of the books of samuel shows that the narrators/redactors re-worked the different historical traditions at their disposal to give appropriate place to god’s intervention in the unfolding of events in the pre monarchical period. mark leuchter, notes that this was the major concern of the deuteronomic historian who constructed “a theoretical narrative of israel’s landed experience …for the purpose of establishing a vision of society where sacral leadership and old covenantal ideals formed the basis for evaluating righteousness, theological fidelity, and social responsibility.”29 in spite of this, the importance of a visionary and dedicated leader in a transition period cannot be over emphasized. this is where the person of a priest leader like samuel becomes inevitable. in these twin books, the combine efforts of the deuteronomic and priestly traditions, both of which are steeped in the theological ideologies of the chosen people are openly manifested. this theological outlook particularly reflects the “religion of a people deeply rooted in the life of a people settled on their land and leading a natural agricultural and political existence.”30 it is therefore reasonable to assume that they have placed the different characters in these books at some special junctures in the history of the chosen people of god as a nation, to give credence to their assumptions. the character of samuel as a dedicated man of god who received the word that was very rare and the vision that was uncommon, yet that would eventually shape the history of the people along the traditions received, bearing in mind their relationship with yahweh as his covenanted people, at the beginning of this journey, was inevitable. the narrative of the vocation of samuel presents him as the personage that bears this new theological vision on his shoulder and thus incorporates other narratives that have implication not just for the immediate moment but also for the exilic period and even beyond. samuel thus functions within a work that was not always a single narrative, but which was always part of a textual curriculum with an interconnected vision. his diverse roles as priest, prophet, and judge are the end result of careful hermeneutical creativity on the part of the redactors who recognized samuel’s liminality and its potential as an interface between tradition.31 in order to do this properly, he had to undergo tutelage and formation under an experienced priestly figure like of eli. this period helped him not only to respond properly to god’s call as he should, but also, it helped him to navigate the different contours of transitions even without an already worked-out road map, to guide him. thus, “the narrative of 1 samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. it section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 107 details the transitional phase from the era of the judges to the era of the monarchy; its transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one successful dynasty (davidide)”.32 it must be mentioned that all the primary characters in this book “stand in transitional relationship to each other so that the narrative tells of the transition from one leader to another: from eli to samuel, from samuel to saul, from saul to david.”33 however, the character, samuel, that concerns this work, has at least four different accounts of transitions recorded in which he played major roles. he became intuitive and creative as he responded to the exigencies of his vocation right from the beginning of his ministry to the end and endeared himself to the heart of the people. he did this very well as he made the uncommon transition from one leadership institution to another, until till kingdom was securely established in david, the man after god’s heart. on the person of samuel, his identification has been difficult because he has been described with various epithets: a seer, a priest, a prophet and a judge.34 these roles singled him out as a man with special character in the development of judaism and jewish history. little wonder, it was said that he had favour with god and with men (1 sam. 2. 26). the ‘word and the vision’ he received from god continued to be the major instruments of his vocation and the guide of the chosen people afterwards.35 these institutions though common to the people of ancient near east, gave the israelites a unique identity among their neighbors because of what samuel did.36 it is necessary to examine some of these transitions and how he had contributed to the establishment of the theological focus on the one hand and how such focus had helped to establish, stabilize and give an enduring identity to the people in later judaism. priest priesthood until the time of eli was tribal and hereditary. this was in accordance with the plan of god when he gave the nations their inheritance. god speaking through his servant moses says, “the levitical priests, the whole tribe of levi will be without share or heritage of their own in israel… for yahweh your god has chosen him from all your tribes to stand before yahweh your god, to do the duties of the sacred ministry, and to bless in yahweh's name -him and his sons for all time” (deut. 18. 1a, 5). according to the introductory words of the first book of samuel, he was an ephraimite from ramathaim the place of his father as such he is not of the priestly linage (1 sam. 1.1).37 this passage presented his parents as faithful israelites who went to perform their religious duty at shiloh regularly. 108 formation of the human person in the 21st century through his association with eli, “he is depicted as to a point, the heir to the functions and authority of exercise by the elide priesthood”.38 thus, the institutions of the priesthood which hitherto belonged to the aaronic and levitican family, began a new order in him. hence, samuel grew up to occupy the priestly position in shiloh because the sons of eli dishonor yahweh while he too vowed to take this privilege from their house. samuel brought a new candor to the priestly office through the restoration of the true worship of god rather than idols of the nations (1. sam. 7.3ff). in him also the office of priesthood and prophecy were held together under one person that constituted another turning point in the history of god’s relationship with his people. this would be followed by many other priests after him (cf ahimelek: 1 sam. 22.10; abiathar 1 sam. 23.912). as a priest he carried out his duty throughout their cities, blessing the people, their food and offering their sacrifices (1 sam 9.12-13). he also anointed the first and the second kings of israel: saul (1 sam. 9.1427) and david (1 sam 16.12-13). the narratives of samuel’s life record his various activities in carrying out his priestly duty throughout the towns and villages of israel and the people deferred to him after the death of eli without any constraint. through him, a new line of priesthood was open to those who were not aaronic or levitical lineage which will eventually pave way for a universal priesthood in the future. prophet another area of transition that occurred under the guide of samuel was the introduction of the prophetic institution.39 although the deuteronomic historians concluded that moses was the prototype, the model and the standard of prophetic vocation (deut 34.10), yet, it can be said that classical prophecy began with samuel. in fact, in judaism, the books of samuel with that of kings are parts of the corpus called earlier prophets. under his guidance and direction, the institution grew to a major and pivotal one in israel and became formalized. this is evident in the narratives of his vocation, the summary of his life even from the beginning of his ministry (1 sam. 3.20) and through the various prophetic activities he carried out (1 sam. 9.15). his importance was such that the author of the book of samuel credited him with this assertion that, “formerly in israel, anyone who went to inquire of god would say, "come, let us go to the seer"; for the one who is now called a (‘aybin") prophet, was formerly called a (ha,(roh') seer” (1 sam. 9.9). a seer (ha,(roh') known as the ‘man of god’ ‘~yhil{a/-vyai was consulted by the people like a divine and to inquire about what the lord wants (1 sam. 9.6). he was a precursor of the classical prophetism (‘aybin") of a sort in israel who spoke the word of section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 109 god to the people (1 sam. 4.1) it is noted by scholars that “it was principally as a prophet that samuel’s memory was preserved in the tradition, so much so that, as an exponent of prophetic intercession he takes his place in later literature alongside moses.”40 like moses, he combined in himself the role of offering sacrifices and intercession on behalf of the people (jer. 15.1, ps. 99.6). eventually, some of the prophets after him would combine these roles; gad (1 sam 22.5); nathan (1 sam. 7.3). hence, he was credited as the one who made the transition from the various visionary movements to the prophetic institution initiated by the so-called bands of prophets, to the eventual classical prophets of which the writing prophets represented fully (1 sam 9.9; 19.18-20).41 as a prophet, he guided the leaders to make the right decisions that will help the people to remain faithful to the covenant relationship with yahweh. he was fearless in admonishing and speaking against the evil of the leaders in order to correct and to guide them in the right part (1 sam. 15.10ff). he made the will of god known to the people by telling them the words of god as revealed to him just as he told eli his master (1sam. 10.17ff; 12.1ff). all these contributed to the strong and solid foundation of the monarchy, the united kingdom and the prophetic ministry after him. he was acknowledged as one of the greatest prophets in israelitic history if not on the same level with moses but also very close. for this reason, the prophet jeremiah sees him as a credible and powerful intercessory figure before god in company of moses (jer. 15.1). monarchy in the opinion of some scholars, “it is with the rise of the monarchy that we can truly speak of israel as a nation.”42 if this is true, samuel can then be credited as the architect of the foundation of the monarchical institution in israel because it was to him that the people turned in their quest for a king (1sam. 8.5). his efforts to guide and administer the people after the demise of the charismatic leaders of the book of judges, whom we could classify as the classical judges, until they had and built the sense of a united people and instituted and enthroned their own king is remarkable and noteworthy (1 sam. 12.1-24). samuel appointed so to say, a transitory leader dygin" nagid in saul (1 sam. 9. 16; 10.1b) and then appointed a king %l,m,( melek in david (1 sam. 16.1).43 in their quest for a king, he did not appoint a leader who would lord it over the people (1 sam 8.11ff) but the one, who would have the ‘heart of god’ and would try to do the will of god (acts 13.22). he warned them about the abuses that might come from such a blind quest for a king as they wanted and so directed their yearnings lest they had 110 formation of the human person in the 21st century tyrants reign over them (1 sam. 8.9-22). he approved this leader only when he had given them a constitution that defined the roles, the rights and the powers of the king (1sam. 10. 25).44 this transition into monarchical leadership was well instituted by the change of baton from one a priest-judge which was himself, to a leader, nagid in saul and eventually to a king, melek in david. it must be mentioned that the transitions were not as smooth as they seem, rather, they had their own attendant intrigues and challenges, yet, by discerning the will of god, he was able to manage it through. thus, he made an uncommon transition from the charismatic leadership to an organized form of leadership which found resonance in the monarchical institution. to sustain this momentum, he built a special relationship between the monarchy and the prophetic leadership that would eventually characterize successive monarchical periods till the dissolution of the united kingdom (1 sam 15-16; 18.8-19.24; 23.25-23). the importance of the monarchy cannot be over-emphasized in the self consciousness of the people of israel. this gave them identity and the unity they needed as a people. the monarchy helped them to realize how related they were as a nation under yahweh’ rule. it also helped them especially through the efforts of david in uniting the entire kingdom a territory and establishing a capital where they all could call their own (2 sam. 5.7-12). it gave them security from the marauding enemies who hitherto were pillaging them at will. it became their identity throughout ages (2 sam. 5.17-25; 7.1). therefore, the cry for a monarch to lead and rule over them like some of the nations roundabout so that they too could be an organized state having their own military and form of government to lead them seem justified (1 sam. 8). the monarchy gave birth to the so-called davidic berith which introduced the messianic expectation as the fulfillment of the promise made by yahweh (2 sam 7.14). it became a model for the kingship of yahweh and a foundational influence to the establishment of the reign of god now termed kingdom of god. the preparation and the constitution made by samuel with the people at mizpah concerning their request were integral to the stability of the monarchy in the heart of people even after the destruction and the exile (1 sam. 10.17ff). judge when they were just members of the tribal league and led by charismatic leaders such as samson, gideon etc. they were plagued by all sorts of invasion from the neighboring nations who were best organized than themselves. this perhaps happened because the foreign nations manipulated their disunity and unleashed terror on them. eventually, he section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 111 became their judge and appointed his children as judges over the people. as a judge, he arbitrated between the people and yahweh, among the people and between the king and the people, between the king and god. although, he still saw the need for the person of a judge to hold the people responsible in the ethical demands of the covenant and so he appointed his own children as judges but because they were not like him and did not follow his ways, the people rejected them (1 sam. 8.1-5). that was the end of the institution even in his own life time as the people clamored for a king who would double as the judge (1 sam. 8.5, 20). although his role as a judge was not so much highlighted, yet he was considered a reputable, incorruptible and the last of the judges in israel even by his own account at the farewell speech (1 sam. 12.3-4). he assumed the office of a judge at mizpah after the death of eli (1 sam 7.6). he composed law concerning the monarchy and explained them to the people (1 sam 10.25). he judged israel as long as he lived and even appointed his sons to judge as well (1 sam 7.15-17; 8.1). as a judge, he counseled the people as to the appropriateness of having a king and its implication; he reminded them of their sacred duty to yahweh and judged king saul about his failure to carry out the order of the lord (1 sam 15.16-19, 28-29). the three institutions of the monarchy, priesthood, and prophetism, gave the jews their special identity among the people of ancient times and even till today. the uniqueness of each of these institutions to the preservation of the religion of yhwh cannot be overemphasized. each of the institution is seen as having a special relationship with the god of israel as such they become messianic institution. the efforts of samuel in giving this special identity to these institutions are noteworthy and remarkable because even after the dissolution of the kingdom and the subsequent exiles, a new rejuvenated judaism arose from the remnants. this foundation is still the force behind the many dreams of the people till today. the nigerian situation today the socio-political, religious context of nigeria today is similar to that of the time of samuel in many respects. for this reason, a number of challenges are confronting our nation begging for definitive intervention to chart a way from the quagmire that beset our country, nigeria. there is the political clamour for a leader to lead us so that we can participate in the comity of nations. this is compounded by all sorts of religious aberrations and syncretism that lay heavily on the shoulders of the people like the sons of eli. on the social level, there are the daily threats and insecurities to lives and properties in every part of the country. moral 112 formation of the human person in the 21st century decadence and anti social activities run unabated from the old to the young, no one is left behind (is.1.6). in all of these, priests and prophets ply their trade without any clue (jer. 14.18b). there is a grave need for a someone who can be a moral compass to our nation; one will grow in favour with god and people (luke. 2. 52). there is no doubt that the books of samuel and in indeed the person of samuel have a deep implication for formation today as the world gradually settled into the third millennium. it is more so for a country like nigeria where its corporate identity is a mirage of a sort. there are more than three hundred ethnic nationalities and 3 major tribal groups, different in language, cultural and religious values, political and social worldviews. the country was born out of a colonial amalgamation and given a name that makes no sense to all its component parts together. incidentally, there were some charismatic leaders as founding fathers. after their death like israel of the judges era, everyone does whatever the heart dictates. from the foregoing, it is very clear that we are grappling with various transition programs ranging from cultural, tribal, clan and societal perceived forced amalgamation to a state that must participate in a globalization program. as a young fledging nation like israel of the samuel era, there is also the leadership struggles of transition in the political arena with the nascent democracy wrestled from the military rule being led by already militarized minds in all tiers of government. we live in a country and times where democratic principles are subverted and manipulated for person ideologies and gain. we live in the times where elections are held and the results are sometimes declared to the amazements of the electorates. the religious atmosphere is similar to that of the idolatrous society of pre samuel era where everybody did what pleased him (judg.21.25). therefore, we live in times of perennial religious transition from traditional religious worldview to embracing a judeo-christian/ islamic religious worldview. we live in the country where any religious novelty finds a breeding ground from among the so-called christians, where orthodoxy easily bows to various forms of aberrations and syncretism; where voodooism and paganism are gaining ascendancy. the worship of idolatry in various forms and shades are constantly in the increase with everyone bringing his own novelty to bear. scandalously sometimes, we live in the times where church leadership that was once seen as a sacred precinct, where the holy spirit chose the one he wanted, are now fraught with manipulations, acrimonies, defamation, intrigues and libels, very unfortunately. on the social level, the society seems to be on a loose spree in all sorts of anti social behaviours without any control or qualm. there is no section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 113 sense of any moral value in the mind of many citizens in the name of civilization and development. individual has become the measure of all things an relativism as an ideological concept is enthroned over the collective and shared values. all the traditional and religious checks and balances are eroded and lost without any replacement or hope of replacement. all of these have created crises of unimaginable proportion in the society and often created setbacks and social tensions that threatened the cooperate existence of the nation. many have often called to question the necessity of the corporate existence all together as if it was a malediction. the socio-political and religious situation was similar to the bankruptcy that samuel inherited at the time of his calling. samuel was called to save and stabilize the covenant relationship hitherto promised to abraham and inherited by his descendants so that the kingdom promised by god for which moses led the liberation from slavery may survive. in response to his vocation, he remained focused and faithful to the god of the covenant. he constantly visited the religious sites to hear god instruct him on how to handle particular situation. the word of god which was rare before his call became common because he listened to god spoke to him time and again. he did not manipulate or subvert the word of god to please the leaders but corrected and chided them as occasion demanded. he was frank and sincere with the people in the discharge of his duties (1 sam. 10.17-26). for all these reason, when he gave his farewell speech, he challenged the people to his conduct and behavior among them (1 sam.12. 23-24). therefore, like samuel of old, those who are responding to god’s call must prepare themselves to respond appropriately to the exigencies of their vocation for the continued establishment of the reign of god and the good of the conglomerate called nigeria. they should not be oblivious of the reality in which they are living in rather they should confront and transform it. they should not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges confronting nigeria as a nation but study it in the light of revelation and respond appropriately its demands. this can only happen if the formation which is the foundation of the future ministry is solidly laid. in the opening words of the new ratio, it is noted that “the gift of the priestly vocation placed in the hearts of some men obliges the church to propose to them a serious journey of formation.”45 if the new ratio describes the formation of the future priest as journey in discipleship, samuel then gives a concrete example of this journey in the old testament. his type of formation was a novelty and typology in the old testament of what will eventually take place in the new testament 114 formation of the human person in the 21st century when jesus will begin to call disciples to form them into a universal instrument of salvation. many cynics have profited themselves in various ways in the ensue imbroglio. they continue to take advantage of the confusion, ignorance, the fears, the anxieties and the vulnerability of the individual to despoil them of a qualitative life. yet in all of these, we seem not to have our feet properly firm and steady on the ground. what can we contribute or rather how do we make impact through our vocation. in a prophetic manner, karl rhaner has this to say about the priest of tomorrow: he will be a man to whom mature people find their way even though the society does not drive children to him. he will be a man who truly endures the grievous darkness of existence together with all his brothers and sisters, knowing that its first source and its blessed fulfillment are found in the mystery of love which conquers by the incomprehensibility of the cross… will not have power drawn from the social power of the church, but will have courage to do without that power…46 challenges and implication for formation the call of samuel has offered us a new perspective in responding to the call of god in a trying and transition period. through the examination of this pericope some salient point that can help in discernment and give focus to minister of god can be underlined. the following are some of the recommendations that may be fruitful for formation of the future priest. 1. national identity the problem of identity is a major one for any entity because if one does not know who one is, such cannot respond to its situation appropriately. this is one of the greatest challenges that is facing a country like nigeria. for a country like nigeria to move forward and develop, the citizens must cultivate and have the sense of identity that will breed patriotism in them. this is where the work of samuel as a leader in transition period becomes more appreciable. he rallied the people around the worship of a yhwh who is morally interested in the social affairs of his people and that gave them a sense of unity. even when the geographical unity was undermined by the division of the kingdom, an identity has been created in the hearts of the citizens. nigeria needs a leader who will give her a united identity and a moral compass under which all members can rally. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 115 until this is achieved, development and the social transformation that is craved for will remain elusive. 2. vocation is a gift of god the choice of who leads the people finally falls on god. if this is a correct reading then, it is not only that yahweh is the guidance of history, but that the call of samuel shows that it is he that chooses whom he wants and empower such for the task he wants him to accomplish because he will not let any of his words fall without being fulfilled (1 sam. 3.19). this recalls what jesus told his disciples, you did not choose me no, i chose you and sent you to bear fruit that will last (john 15.16). therefore, vocation is a gift that god give for the benefit of others not a prize won for a good act. if it is a gift, it should be preserved jealously and carefully not to be misused or misplaced by carelessness on the part of the recipients. 3. necessity of formation and discernment for leaders although, vocation is a gift of god, yet it needs to be checked and controlled as it may be that it is really from god and for which purpose. therefore, a period of formation is necessary for the recipients of such gifts so that it may be put to proper use. by his stay with eli, samuel has been properly formed and schooled in the religious tradition that will shape the theological future of the people. this is still the work of theology today in a constant changing situation of life. it is appropriate to show that in the unfolding of the daily events of a people, the place of god is not relegated to the background or allow cynics to control the interpretation of such events. rather, it is right and fitting to show and acknowledge the guiding but unseen hands of god in directing the affairs of the universe both in the case of the individual and that of the nations within the universe. he did it in the case of samuel through the old priest eli, he did it even the more in the case of the disciples of jesus, whom he called and formed for a number of years both in wrds and example of his life before he commissioned them to go and continue the same mission of making disciples f all nations (matt. 26.1; 28.19-20). in the call of samuel, we see the need to prepare those that have been chosen for special assignment so that they might be able to give credible and lasting witness to their vocation. 4. a faithful minister in the sanctuary of god the priest should realize always that he is called by god and not responding to a profession or a job opportunity. therefore, he should remain faithful to god and his church to the end in good and bad times. samuel remained faithful to his vocation, he was visiting the sanctuaries 116 formation of the human person in the 21st century of god to seek the will of god as he met the challenges of his vocation (1 sam. 8.6, 21). it was this that made him a model and hero not because he appointed kings or leaders (1 sam. 3.20-21). 5. lover of the word of god. at the beginning of the call of samuel, it is said that the word of god was rare in those days. this word of god became common in the time of samuel because it was the light and guide in his mission, for the book notes time and again, ‘the word of god came to samuel’ (1 sam. 15.10). in another summary about his life, the author notes “and, for all israel, the word of samuel was as the word of yahweh” (1 sam. 4.1). in his recent document motu proprio, on invitation to have a special sunday marking the importance of the word of god in pope francis, notes that “those called to be ministers of the word must feel an urgent need to make it accessible to their community” (aperuit illis no.5). foremost among these are the priests and especially the priests to be who are in formation, they should love to hear and read the word of god because in it is their salvation. in his final exhortation to joshua, moses exhorts that this word should not depart from his mouth, meditating on it day and night so that he may succeed in all his ways (jos. 1.8). 6. a dispassionate leader/judge of the nations a priest is always the leader of the community not just the christ faithful but everyone. in samuel, we found a leader who is dispassionate in dealing with the situation at hand. when the people demanded for a king, a request he did not support, he chided them for their wrong motive (1 sam. 8. 10-18). when saul disobeyed the word of god, he scolded him without mincing words (1 sam. 15. 22-23). when there was the need to change even his own children from being the leader of the people he did not hesitate. he tried to expiate for saul when god rejected him but when god said he has fund a replacement, he worked with the new leader. in the same way, a priest should see himself as the leader of all the people especially in our generation when people are building fences and blockages to keep others away, the priest should build bridges. he can intercede for the people but he should not be seen to be partial or biased in his relationship with the rich and the poor, with the leaders and the led. far from him to even take side in leadership tussle but should seek the will of god and accept the outcome of god. 7. a voice of the voiceless a priest is the voice of the people within the community. he should not be afraid to call the leaders to account and be responsible for their actions. samuel gave a lead in this regard when he confronted saul about section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 117 his mission to amalekites. he spoke and interceded on behalf of the people before god also. it is primary duty of the priest to offer sacrifices for sin and intercede for the people. samuel was offering sacrifices for the people and available for their spiritual growth. he went round the sanctuaries to offer sacrifices. a priest should be available for the people even when it seems not convenient for him. conclusion in conclusion, the examination of the call of samuel then shows that god is always interested in the affairs of his people and he does not leave them alone in time of crisis and challenges. he tries to give them necessary guide that will help them find stability only if they listen to him and can discern his voice amidst the many conflicting voices they hear. it is true that the onus of a vocation belongs to god and he calls whom he loves (john 15.16; heb. 5.4) just as he called samuel and other people at some crucial moments in the life of the jewish nation. yet, the cooperation of those called is always necessary to realize the vision that god has for such people. through the dedication of samuel, he was able to help the people to have a personal encounter with their god because he too kept a personal relationship with the god who called him. eli helped him to shape this relationship into maturity and guide him to know the will of god and how to respond to it in obedience. moreover, this knowledge of god helped him to give a national identity to the chosen people and to navigate through the political, social and religious waters of his time. this same god is still concerned with the affairs of his people today and will intervene through the vocation he gives to the individual. nigerian is indeed in need of leaders who can help her create a unified identity where the feels belong, a leader who can help her to navigate through the political, social and religious crises she finds herself. she needs a leader with the prophetic voice and message that will heal the wounds of the past in these challenging times like that of samuel. our growth in priestly vocation and formation should help us to read the signs of the time and attend adequately as the prophet of old. formators cannot remain silent or unconcerned as charlatans take control of the people and we keep pouring out from the seminary those who cannot make the needed difference. it is the time to discern properly those who rightly hear the voice of god and help them to respond appropriately. formators should accompany with the right disposition, be more astute and be more involved in the process of discerning and the formation of the priest to be. like the old priest, eli, formators should have the proper knowledge of who god is and teach 118 formation of the human person in the 21st century the same to those who are discerning their vocation that he is god, he does whatever he will and that obedience to him is better than sacrifice. in the words of st gregory the great, “a religious leader should be careful in deciding when to remain silent and be sure to say something useful when deciding to speak. in this way he will avoid saying thing that would be better not said, or leaving unsaid things that ought to be said.” it is our duty as future priest to listen attentively to the voice of god and respond appropriately. however, how can you guide when you have not gathered, how can you discern when you have not listened and how can you lead when you have never followed? endnotes 1 moshe garsiel, “the book of samuel: its, composition, structure and significance as a historiograhical source,” in perspectives on hebrew scriptures vii ehud ben zvi ed. gorgia press, 2011, 131-173. 2 m. garsiel; “the book of samuel”, p.131. 3 “the book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the new….the transfer was effected smoothly in the case of eli and samuel, with difficulty in the case of samuel and saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of saul and david, culminating in saul’s recurring attempts to kill david.” s. bar-efrat. “1 samuel” in the jewish study bible, (jps), a. berlin and m.c. brettler eds, oup, oxford, 2004 p.559. 4 b. c. birch, “the first and second books of samuel: introduction, commentary and reflections” in the nib: a commentary in twelve volumes; vol.ii, abingdon press, nashville ,,1998; p.991, 947-1383. 5 the book of judges, which actually precedes the book of samuel in jewish canon; ends with these words, ‘in those days when there was no king in israel, everyone did whatever seem right in one eyes’ (jug. 21.25). the children of eli also did not listen to the counsel of their father. hence, samuel was said to have found favour with god and man’, as a sign of his readiness to assume this responsibility according to human reckoning. 6 there is no doubt that with the emphasis on the word of god and the eventual institution of the prophetic league, samuel was seen as a prophet, yet the narrative is different from that of the prophetic vocation because the prophets narrate their commission rather than vocation. samuel and moses especially narrated their calling which eventually involved their commissioning. cfr. b. o. long, “prophetic call tradition and reports of visions”, zaw (84), 1972, 494-500; g. robinson, a commentary on the books of 1 and 2 samuel: let us be like the nations, w. eerdmans, grand rapids, 1993,22. 7 the birth of samuel reflects a special literary genre that some scholars classified as a ‘birth narrative genre. this is the 5th of such narrative in both the old and new testament (cf. r.h. jarrell, “the birth narrative as female counterpart of covenant”, jsot, vol. 26 (3); 2002, pp.3-18, 5. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 119 8 r.w. klein, 1 samuel wbc, vol. 10, texas, word books, 1983, 30 9 r. gnuse, “a reconsideration of the form-critical structure in 1 samuel 3; a n ancient near eastern dream theophany” zaw (94) 1982, 379-390, 388. 10 for a more comprehensive treatment of this structure see t. tsumura, the first book of samuel, w. eerdmans, grand rapids, michigan, 2007, 171-184 and w. watson, “the structure of 1 samuel 3” bz (29), 1985, 90-93 11 “unusual fire or light frequently announces the presence of god”, g. ashby, go out and meet god: a commentary on the book of exodus, eerdmans pub., grand rapids, 1998 p.19 12 t.e. freitheim, exodus, interpretation, a bible commentary for teaching and preaching, john knox press, louisville, 1991 p.56 13 14 god is not asking those he called to go all alone but they should cooperate with him to carrying out his mission, as contained in the structure of major calls. j.k. bruckner, exodus, bakerbooks, grand rapids, 2018, p.41 15 “in semitic culture, addressing someone by saying his or her name twice was a way of expressing endearment, that is, affection and friendship.” d.k. stuart, exodus, the new american commentary, e.r clendenen et al ed. vol 2, b&h publishing, 2006 p. 113 16 w. zimmerli, a commentary on the book of the prophet ezekiel, chapters 1-24; hermeneia, fortres press, philadelphia,1979. see also, g. robinson, 1 & 2 samuel, 23. 17 t. tsumura, the first book of samuel,184 18 the navare bible: joshua-kings, four courts press, dublin, 2002, 223 19 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping of tradition, oup, oxford 2013. p. 6 20 r. w. klein, 1 samuel, p.35. 21 i. epstein, judaism: a historical presentation, penguin books, middlesex, england, 1987, p.35. 22 the narrative of samuel’s vocation look forward to a future that god’s transforming initiatives will make possible for israel in the midst of crisis.” b.c. birch, first and second samuel, p.970. 23 “the book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the new….the transfer was effected smoothly in the case of eli and samuel, with difficulty in the case of samuel and saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of saul and david, culminating in saul’s recurring attempts to kill david.” s. bar-efrat. “1 samuel” in the jewish study bible, (jps), a. berlin and m.c. brettler eds, oup, oxford, 2004 p.559. 24 s. bar-efrat, “1 samuel” the jewish study bible, p. 599. 25 p.k. mccarter jnr., 1 samuel: a new translation with introduction and commentary, in anchor bible, w. f. albright & d.n. freedman (eds) vol. viii, double day & co. new york 1980, p.100. 26 ibid. p.99. 27 according to st. gregory the great, the boy samuel was an example in obedience of what a disciple should be. 120 formation of the human person in the 21st century 28 samuel became “the only source of god’s word during the oncoming period of radical dislocation and transformation in israel.” b.c. birch, 991. 29 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping…, p.20. 30 m. weinfeld, deuteronomy and the deuteronomic school, oup, oxford, 1972, p.179. 31 m. leuchter, samuel and the shaping….p.21. 32 although, he is making reference to the rejection of one yahweh’s agent in favour of another who has the right heart of yahweh, benjamin johnson, notes that the book of first “samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. it details the transitional phrase from the era of the judges to the era of the monarchy; it transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one successful dynasty (davidide). “the heart of yhwh’s chosen one in 1 samuel,” in jbl vol. 131(3), 455-466, 465. 33 “the heart of yhwh’s chosen one in 1 samuel,” in jbl vol. 131(3), , 2012 p.465. 34 walter brueggemann, “samuel” in the anchor bible dictionary, vol 5, david n freedman ed., doubleday new york, 1992, pp.954-973, 954. 35 all the major prophets after him begin their ministry either with vision or the word of god (is.1.1; jer.1.1, ezk. 1.2; hos. 1.1) and whenever they delivered the message of god to the people, they end with the prophetic formula, “thus says the lord or oracle of the lord” (amos 1.6). 36 i. epstein, judaism, p.34-35. 37 l, grabbe, priest: a socio-historical study of religious specialist, diviners in ancient israel sages, trinity press international, valley enge, pennsylvania, 1995, p.44. 38 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, jsot press, 26; r. gnuse, “ a reconsideration, zaw, (94), 1982 39 according to blenkinsopp, “the call of samuel at shiloh (1 sam.3-4.1) marked the beginning or at least a new beginning, of prophetic activity.” j. blenkinsopp, a history of prophecy in israel, louisville, kentucky, westminster john knox press p. 47. 40 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, p. 27. 41 after him came other prophets such as gad (1 sam. 22.5; nathan (2 sam. 7.2), elijah (1 kgs. 18.; elisha, who ministered at the palace to the king or independently from the king but very close them in decision and guidance of the course of israel. 42 r.p. gordon, 1 & 2 samuel, p.40 43 the exact meaning of the word dygin" nagid is not ascertained because it could mean, a leader, a king, a prince, perhaps it means a military leader but the word %l,m, melek means a king, cfr. la bibbia tob: nuova traduzione cei, p. 507. 44 i. epstein, judaism, p.35. 45 the new ratio fundamentalis, pg. 1 46 k. rahner, servant of the lord ,herder & herder, new york, 1968, 112. 121 9 faith, formation, and vocation – any link? amuluche-greg. nnamani, ph.d st. peter’s chaplaincy, university of nigeria, nsukka gregluche@gmail.com abstract there is an apparent disconnection between formation processes and the acquisition of faith today. looking at some candidates for formation in our seminaries and formation houses, and at some young priests and consecrated persons who have passed through our seminaries and formation houses in recent history, one would wonder whether formation impacts or impacted positively on their faith respectively. after years of formation, many still suffer from bouts of crises of faith. ordinarily, formation is expected to improve candidates’ level of faith. after all, formation is majorly about faith formation. unfortunately, however, many candidates enthusiastically embrace a feeling of vocation and go in for formation, but come out with less zest and overgrown selfdoubt. this raises questions. does formation really increase faith? or does it merely decrease it? are we just training in apologetic rhetoric and lifestyle, in acquisitive elitism and survival tactics? this paper seeks to enquire into the relationship between vocation, formation and faith and to explain the role of formation in the advancement of faith especially in the lives of priests and consecrated persons. finally, it suggests what should be done to make formation lead to transformation. introduction – faith and character formation human formation begins with faith formation. faith or belief is the first character a child acquires. according to eric erikson, an american psychologist, basic trust is the first thing a child learns in life (erikson, 1950, 1963, p. 247ff). faith, as basic trust forms the foundation of all later forms of faith, defines all stages of character formation and determines the development of the entire human person. by way of clarification, we must differentiate between natural faith and supernatural faith. as children, we begin to learn to trust and believe 122 formation of the human person in the 21st century our parents and other people, based on what they say and do to us. depending on what the child experiences from the people in close contact with it, it may begin to acquire basic trust and form basic belief about the people and environment. if the child is treated fairly, it learns to trust; if not, it acquires distrust. all this happens at the level of natural faith. then as we grow and mature, and seek to understand the meaning of reality, we begin to believe what we are being told about god, and what we experience about him. this is religious or supernatural faith – belief at a spiritual supernatural level. supernatural faith differs from natural faith, but both are mutually related (ccc 153ff). a sound natural faith is the stepping stone towards the acquisition of authentic religious faith. so, crisis in natural faith can lead to crisis in religious faith. faith has thus natural and supernatural dimensions. it is to the extent somebody trusts people that he or she can trust god and develop an authentic faith in him. while natural faith can be learnt overtime across the length and breadth of the development of the human person, supernatural faith is a gift from god, a grace that we are called upon to embrace. though every human being is a religious being, equipped to relate to god, not every person has the privilege to recognize god as the trustworthy author of life. faith is a supernatural gift of god that enables us to trust him completely. faith in god occurs when one hears god’s call (either through direct personal experience or through the historical and biblical revelations) and then responds to it with total conviction and trust. when the trust cannot be totally because of certain distractions and personal interests, crisis of faith ensues. essentially, faith is firm confidence in god and total self-surrender to him. challenges to faith in modern time all through history distractions to authentic christian faith abound, paganism, persecutions etc. but the modern time seems to have a lion share of threats to faith. in addition to wrestling with the historical enemies of faith, the modern person has secularism/relativism, materialism/consumerism and globalization to contend with. as a result, the candidate for formation is hemmed in between the negative influences from the global world and from our own local environment. the modern person is a subject of the western cultural revolution, which has not only practically edged god out of the stage of reality, but has also, in his place, declared science, technology, freedom and pleasure new gods. as the western persons try to dethrone god and strip him of his absolute authority, they position “liberty” as the god everybody must now worship. for the western mind, god has become a relative instance, and freedom an absolute reality, a dogma which supersedes section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 123 every other value. this is pure relativism, which joseph ratzinger, pope benedict xvi, severally identified as the major crisis of faith and religion in the modern world (ratzinger, 2006 p. 34 ff). the problem of secularism and relativism is compounded by globalization, which now, empowered by information technology and all the sundry social networks, exposes the rest of the world to the negative impact of the western cultural revolution. the entire world is now globalized and subsequently shrinking into a single global village with virtually no boundaries. distances have become negligible, since the farthest part of the world can just be but a goggle search away from us. the repercussion is that good and bad ideas, tricks and fashion are pushed around across the globe influencing the rest negatively or positively. the ongoing covid-19 pandemic corroborates this point. the tragedy of globalization is that traditional and religious values, as well as indigenous cultures lose out in the encounter with the more dominant pop culture from the western world. traditional morality, sacredness of creation and sense of sin are now considered archaic in the face of rampaging consumerist, individualist and materialistic culture from the western world. as a result of the overwhelming influence of the western pop culture on our society, our values are now in flux and our taste almost insatiable; nothing (including products) seems to have lasting values anymore. we are out seeking “the latest (fashion, gadgets, mobile phones, and best things in the market), and quickly discarding ‘old’ ones even when they can still be used” (chima, 2010). this has much impact on the young people. another major threat to faith, spirituality and morality is the so called new global ethic (peters, 2007), which seeks to legitimize all sorts of consumerism and bestiality. this new ethic equally proposes a type of gender ideology that tends to determine the right to life based on human conscience and pleasure. for the proponents of this view, it is not god, but hedonism that decides who has the right to live. the aim of such a gender ideology coming from the western feminists is to neutralize society, make it asexual, without masculinity and femininity, and make it open to irresponsible libido propagated by homosexual and lesbian interest groups. men now marry men, women marry women; very soon people will begin to marry their dogs and pussies cats and demand the status of marriage. the combination of relativism and consumerism looks like a conspiracy against the spiritual dimension of the human life. apparently, the faster technology moves, the more materialistic and consumerist we become, and the less spiritual and moral we become too. the major problem here is that the new ethic encourages technology without a sense of responsibility and sustainability (ratzinger, 2006, p. 27). since, 124 formation of the human person in the 21st century technology is naturally poised towards achieving all that man can do, not what man ought to do, it follows then that if we do all we can do, then we will destroy ourselves one day, because we possess the power and skill to kill ourselves in the most sophisticated manner. hence, globalization, relativism and consumerism are modern threats to faith emanating from the western world and culture. there are also threats within our ranks, arising from our sociocultural context, african traditional religion and african brand of pentecostalism. under the influence of our own african socio-cultural context, the average african believer ends up living in ambivalence in matters of faith – adopting a half christian, half pagan mentality. our socio-cultural context exerts much pressure on the practice of faith and especially on the formation process of young men and women who feel called to consecrate themselves to the lord. as the archbishop ignatius kaigama, once rightly observed, “the environment in which the seminarian grows plays a determining factor in what he becomes later – a good priest or a bad priest” (kaigama, 2005, 6). the nigerian society, from where most candidates come for formation, has lots of sociocultural problems. much corruption, cheating, duplicity, dishonesty and sundry crimes characterize our societal landscape. no matter the side you face in our society, dishonesty is the order of the day – in the family lives, in education, in business, in the government, and even in religion the story is the same. there is something like an erosion of values in our society, such that many people no longer know what is virtuous and what is vice. the candidates who come for formation have been under the influence of our corrupt society. in a 1995 publication, fr. emmanuel obuna paints a gloomy image of the societal background of most of the seminarians and aspirants who come to us for formation. according to him, the candidate who comes for formation today “is most likely to have passed through a primary school where teachers come to school once or twice a week and spend the remaining days of the week attending private businesses at home, in the farm, or in their shops – buying and selling; where pupils in primary schools are pressurized into paying illegal levies to their teachers in order to be allowed to stay in class; where teachers who are also parents bring in outsiders to sit the final examination for their own son or daughter who is not intelligent enough to pass, etc.” “having passed out of this primary school (of primary corruption), our candidate then goes on to secondary school (of secondary corruption) where question papers are on sale a week or two before the final exams; where students themselves collect levies to pay off principals, teachers, invigilators and even the policemen sent to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 125 maintain law and order during the examination; where some teachers make …(almost the equivalent of their annual salary) from bribes paid by students on the spot to persuade them to solve questions in the examination hall. “from this secondary school of corruption our candidate now moves up to the university for a bachelor’s degree in corruption. if the testimony of our undergraduates is anything to go by…the situation in our universities today is such that you can personally negotiate with the lecturer for any grade you want in any examination…depending on how much you are able to pay in cash or kind.”(obuna, 1995,58-59) what this suggests is that the environment from where candidates come is saturated with corruption – a corrupt environment produces corrupt candidates. such candidates are likely to be problematic in the process of formation; they may even wriggle safe through the entire system and get ordained or professed. with such a background, it should not be surprising when a large number of formandi do not show signs of authentic faith. similarly, many candidates for formation come into the formation houses with a backload of many elements of the african traditional religion. many of them have the traditionalist’s values, expectations and tenets stored in their subconscious, irrespective of the fact that most of them are not new converts, but children of the first and second generation christians. at points of deep emotions of sadness and joy, challenges and leisure, most africans act out pagan fears and fancies. the one obvious effect is unintended syncretism – the subtle mixture of christian values and the african traditional habits. a candidate with such a background may find it difficult to internalize the culture of christ, such as total trust in god and dependence on him, sacrificial love and acceptance of one’s daily cross. in that case, formation may become an impossible task. the impact of african traditional religion on some candidates for formation shows up in the type of pentecostalism they aspire to practice. many candidates have gone pentecostal and charismatic, and are frantically in search of miracles. they have become so gullible that they suspect the devil in everything and practice a magico-religious type of spirituality. even the materialistic tendency evident in the african traditional religious worldview, with all its this-worldly eschatology, is imbibed and allowed to flourish in the consciousness of a number of candidates. this certainly makes them focus attention on worldly, rather than transcendent values. rather than encouraging a good, moral and sacrificial life, prosperity is preached as the only type of god’s blessing. moreover, some of them come into the seminary in a triumphal mood, 126 formation of the human person in the 21st century believing either that they have already gotten all it takes to be successful priests or that they know it better than the seminary authorities. the result is that they close themselves to formation, disregarding what is delivered in the lecture halls, but rather organizing their own private group classes on the homiletics of influential pentecostal pastors. these candidates buy their books and listen to their videos and disregard classical catholic spirituality and theology. by implication, candidates who had been under the influence of modern pentecostalism before entering the formation houses are often closed to formation processes; they are very likely going to be stubborn with regard to respecting authorities, rules and regulations. the tasks of formation simply put, formation is about subjecting candidates to training and discipline that would help them acquire the basic values of jesus christ, his culture, which consists essentially of the disposition for self-emptying love. like clay in the hands of a potter, candidates are to be molded in the formation houses to become water-tight personalities, able to transmit the message of jesus christ without adulteration and misrepresentation. apart from the primordial selfishness, which begins from the cradle, persons accumulate lots of harmful habits as they grow up in dysfunctional families and societies. the project of formation is to prune such personalities and purify their intentions, to make them worthy disciples of christ. in the post-synodal exhortation, vita consecrata, dedicated to the issues of religious life, the object of formation has been defined as “the preparation for total consecration of oneself to god in the footsteps of christ, at the service of the mission” (john paul ii, 1996, 65-71) in other words, formation is all about getting ready to place one’s entire self at the service of god in the style of jesus. the consecration of oneself to god demands complete submission of all our human faculties to him. to that effect, authentic formation is a holistic venture, which tries to engage all aspects of our being; it is not done with partial or cosmetic changes, but with a total remolding of one’s entire personality. the body, the spirit, the intellect and one’s commitment to service are subjected to formation. attractions, sentiments, emotions, dreams, strength, weaknesses, feelings, needs and desires are submitted for purification, integration and transformation in the houses of formation. the apostolic exhortation, vita consecrata, understands formation primarily as preparation and insists therefore that “preparation has to be human, cultural, spiritual and pastoral, paying special attention to integrating the various aspects” (john paul ii, 1996, 65). earlier, the post-synod apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (1992), outlined section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 127 four various forms of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. for want of space, it may not be necessary to elaborate on each of these forms of formation here. it suffices to say, not just that all the four areas of formation are intertwined, but also that the successes of the spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formations depend on the accomplishment of the human formation. the goal of all forms of formation is to effect growth in faith, intimacy with god and jesus christ. formation involves changes, but not all changes imply formation. we can only begin to talk about effective formation, when the changes effected in our lives lead to growth in faith. growth of authentic and informed faith, balanced in act and content, is the measure of true formation. in other words, true formation must lead to growth in virtues, in intimacy with jesus christ, in the understanding of divine wisdom, and in the effective application of our faith in the day to day interaction with people. formation must be holistic, ensuring growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral spheres of the candidate’s life. growth is to be understood here, not just as the unfolding of our life and personality, but primarily as the break with our negative past, and the onward consolidation and integration of the positive values we have been able to pick from our past experiences. this is akin to what bernard lonergan calls conversion, the process that removes blockages in our life (lonergan, 1972, 237ff, & mueller, 1984, 13ff). consequently, formation works on our past experiences. according to a. cencini, it touches upon the past, the present and the future of both the person and the institution (cencini, 1999, 9). formation can succeed or fail, depending on what we carry along from our past experiences and environment. if the candidate comes to the house of formation with a genuine desire, openness to the truth and with some level of flexibility, suppleness and adaptability, there is the chance that he or she can experience conversion – a movement from an enthusiastic but less informed faith to a more reasoned and internalized faith. if however, the candidate is hardened and closed up, he or she remains impervious to the impact of formation. when we encounter consecrated persons or priests who do not measure up to the demands of discipleship, one begins to wonder what went wrong in the formation program, the method or the candidate. how successful is the formation process in nigeria today? without intending to sound as an alarmist, the quality of life lived by many priests and consecrated persons passing out of our seminaries and formation houses today leaves much to be desired. people are beginning to wonder whether formation has any positive impact on the priests and religious of our contemporary time, whether formation increases or 128 formation of the human person in the 21st century decreases faith of the candidates. those who argue that it decreases faith give instances of people who went into the seminary very pious and apparently very innocent, coming out later as priests and religious who have lost all sense of the sacred and the horror of sin. many of our seminaries and formation houses paint an ugly picture of the conduct of candidates in formation, who are now capable of committing worse crimes than their counterparts in the tertiary institutions. lack of openness to formation, growing signs of deep-seated dishonesty, dubious motivations abound; a conformist attitude to the rules and the seeming focus on being seen to be doing the right thing with the sole purpose of avoiding sanctions are on the increase. the simple fact is that dishonesty, pretenses, aggression and even theft are on the increase in houses of formation today. some go as far as forming cliques, shielding partners in crime, to subvert the authorities and regulations the situation becomes even more worrisome, when we look at the conduct of many religious men and women trained in our seminaries and vocation houses. there have been cases where priests and even male and female religious resorted to physical violence in order to settle their differences. some others have been caught stealing or misappropriating funds meant for projects. some flout every regulation in their diocese or congregations and break all the vows of evangelical counsels with impunity. there is a noticeable increase in the chase for money and wealth, even among the religious who have vowed poverty. materialism has become the order of the day for many priests; they use sacraments and sacramentals, prayer houses and ministries to accumulate wealth for themselves. pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel have special appeal for many priests and religious, who have an insatiable appetite for miracles and cross-less christianity that denies the salvific dimension of suffering in our lives. added to this is the sexual indiscretion that is today common among priests and religious, seminarians and other candidates in formation. evidently, these are all signs of grave loss of faith, rooted in selfishness – the lack of readiness for selfless service, self-renunciation and total surrender to the will of god on which radical discipleship can be built. where radical surrender is lacking, the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience turn to empty promises – a sure sign of hypocrisy. it is evident that selfishness and self-seeking abound amongst the clergy and religious today. this raises doubts about the effectiveness of our formation programs. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 129 possible reasons for failures in the formation programs today the fact that the products of our seminaries and formation houses are not up to the standard expected suggests that something is wrong somewhere. something is wrong, not just with the formation method, but also with the formators and formandi. let us first consider the candidates for formation the formandi: the young men and women pursing vocation today in our formation houses are definitely different from their counterparts about seventy years ago. then it was clear that the candidates were already groomed in faith before entering the seminary and had lesser distractions from the society. but the candidates of today are under pressure from the demands of modern time, ranging from technological and liberal cultures, materialism, secularism to pentecostalism. many come from a socio-cultural background saturated with corruption and consumerism, from dysfunctional families and societies prone to competitive life-style. people from such backgrounds are likely to have problem discerning their vocations and might even seek formation for a very wrong motivation. in fact, many candidates have other motives, different from what they gave as reasons for seeking admission into the religious houses or seminaries. some may consciously hide their real motivation and declare as reason that they wish “to serve god and humanity”, when, in truth, they have come for the benefits and privileges attached to religious vocation, and would want to be served rather than serve. some others may be unconscious of what motivates them to enter the seminary. they may honestly desire to serve god and humanity, but deep within them they are driven by some undisclosed desires about making life better for themselves. both groups of persons may be excellent seminarians or novices in the formation houses, ready to comply to the rules and identify with the authorities in order to remain in formation, but they are rarely able to internalize their experiences in the formation houses. however, as soon as they get ordained or professed, they begin to show their true colours. it has often been humorously said that some seminarians fear god while they are in the seminary; but when they become priests god begins to fear them. this is particularly true of persons with mixed or falsified motivations, whether male or female. one would certainly need a more rigorous formation program, other than the conventional one, in order to be able to access such candidates, to unlock their pretenses and help them discern their vocation early enough. another obstacle to formation with regard (akubeze, 2010,1) to candidates is the issue of number. while in the western world there is a record of decline in religious vocations, here in nigeria, we experience 130 formation of the human person in the 21st century surplus number of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. since about the past sixty years, there has been a steady increase in vocations and a multiplication of seminaries and religious houses. nobody seems to know the exact number of young men and women being formed in our seminaries and houses of formation. many of these institutes are merely coping with, what has often been termed, the “tyranny of number”. as a result, many formandi live in anonymity till they pass out of the seminaries and houses of formation. if this situation is to be arrested, not only must the population of the formandi be drastically scaled down to a manageable size, but also that a more rigorous selection and discernment program must be put in place. the formators: the high failure rate of formation process in nigeria has often been correctly attributed to the insufficiency of the number of formators in the formation houses and also to the incompetence of the available ones (okeke, 2011, 26). there is hardly any seminary in eastern nigeria, for instance, that is not understaffed in terms of the number of formators on the ground. the few available ones are intelligent teachers and lecturers, but no formators, who are noted for their didactic presentation of materials, but not for mentoring. spiritual directors are often too few and poorly empowered to take adequate care of the candidates. a good number of the so called formators have neither pastoral experience to their credit, nor good enough signs of faith in their lifestyle and utterances that would make them stand as models to the formandi. some simply parrot off their lessons without any sign of internalization, others merely treat church views and roman documents with disdain in the attempt to sound academic. as a result the candidates receive lots of confusing signals (okeke, 2011, 26; this leaves them undecided as to what to believe. moreover, bishops and religious superiors have a penchant for appointing young and inexperienced priests and sisters as formators and vocation directors. to compound the problem, a number of them have never had any training or formation as formators (iperu, 1995, 58). many have not been able to manage themselves, and as such cannot really contribute much in the formation of the candidates. such ones are terribly ill-equipped to take into their own hands, the formation of the contemporary candidates as described above. this is contrary to the specifications of the synod fathers, echoed by pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis: the task of formation of candidates for the priesthood requires not only a certain special preparation of those to whom this work is entrusted, one that is professional, pedagogical, spiritual, human and theological… for this ministry, priests of exemplary life should be chosen, men with a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 131 number of qualities: human and spiritual, maturity, pastoral experience, professional competence, stability in their own vocation, a capacity to work with others, serious preparation in those human sciences (psychology especially) which relate to their office, a knowledge of how to work in groups (john paul ii, 1992, 66). similar things are required for formators in the formation houses. to make the matter worse, despite the much talked about ongoing formation and formation of the formators (nwabeke, sine datum), not much is being done in this regard. in the view of the challenges facing formation today, it is grossly inadequate for somebody to act as a formator without any formal training. again due to poor funding of the seminaries and formation houses, poor remuneration of the formators, many able priests and sisters who would otherwise have liked to be absorbed into the formation apostolate, refuse to get involved. formation method: most seminaries and formation houses are still using the traditional formation method, whose justification has been overtaken by the demand of contemporary modern culture. the culture of establishing seminaries and formation houses took a centre stage in the period between the 17th and 20th centuries when the primary concern of the church was to train men and women who would be able to give an apologetic response to the threat of reformation and modernism. seminaries and formation houses concentrated on apologetics, emphasizing academic ability and the capacity to study and store information. the passing of examinations and collection of certificates counted more than strength of character. moreover, due to the emphasis on the hierarchical nature of the church, “unquestioning obedience and compliance with the orders of the day were the primary obligations of priests and religious. they were not expected to think and reflect much beyond this. they did not have to make many choices for themselves and develop their initiative … discipline, not maturity, was what counted here.” (iperu, 1995, 13) the method of formation then was more of lectures and conferences, and of course ongoing supervision of the candidates to see whether they comply with the rules and regulations. as a result, students learn how to comply and identify, even when they are not convinced, all in the attempt to avoid expulsion. the internalization of the program is hardly achieved. this traditional model paid more attention to intellectual formation, which mainly took the form of passing information about doctrines and morals. it had little or no provision for the human development. people grew dissatisfied with the traditional method, particularly because it was one-dimensional and devoid of holistic integration. the second vatican council, decree on the training of priests, optatamtotius, specifically 132 formation of the human person in the 21st century called for a radical change. it emphasized spiritual and pastoral training (vat ii, nos 8-16,19-21). then, in 1988, the entire catholic world together with pope john paul ii deliberated on new methods of formation. the result is what we find in the apostolic exhortation, pastoresdabovobis, which not only identifies the four main forms of formation, but also pleaded for a holistic integral formation. for some seminaries and formation houses, these recommendations remain mere theories. their formation method is still business as usual: study, lectures or spiritual conferences, and little or no exercises in human development. given the numerous challenges to formation today, the traditional model can hardly meet the demands of the contemporary time. didactic approach is grossly inadequate; one must supplement it with something near “therapeutic” approach, so that the candidates can be helped to attain maturity. we dare not forget, as the iperu formation team puts it, that “the general stance of the church in its relationship to the modern world and to other religions has shifted from that of defensive vigilance and suspicion to that of openness and dialogue.” (iperu, 1995,13) the shift we must make if formation should succeed though the church has made a lot of recommendations with regard to changing our formation method to the better, bishops and major superiors, seminaries and formation houses continue, in practice, to pay more attention to academic qualifications rather than maturation processes; as a result intellectually bright but psychologically weak candidates and formators are chosen for the formation process. (iperu, 1995,13) the major concern of formation houses today should be how to achieve human maturity, not just on the part of the candidate, but also on the side of the formators, because, as pastoresdabovobis affirms, the success of every form of formation depends on the proper formation of the human personality. we need to focus on human maturity, as that aspect of human beings that ensures the harmony of elements and the integration of all tendencies and values in the human person. the sacred congregation for the catholic education recognizes the role human maturity plays in a healthy spirituality and appreciates its complexity and comprehensiveness in the following words: maturity is a complex reality which cannot be easily or fully defined. in general, however, one can judge a man mature when he has brought to reality his vocation as a man; in other words, a person who has acquired a ready and habitual capacity to act freely; a man who has integrated his developed human potential with habits of virtue; a man who has acquired an easy and habitual emotional self-control by integrating his section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 133 emotional drives and placing them at the service of his reason; a man who enjoys community living because of his willingness to give himself to serve others; one who devotes himself to his profession steadily and calmly; one whose conduct obviously follows his conscience; a man who uses freedom to explore, investigate, and develop; who can mould events and bring them to future fruition; finally, a man who has succeeded in bringing all his specifically human possibilities and potentialities to their due development. (the sacred congregation, 2002,18) if the crisis of faith is to be avoided in the lives of the candidates, the future priests and consecrated persons should be made to grow in vocational maturity. this means that there should be a shift from the didactic and defensive approach – which merely transmits information – to the therapeutic, dialogue and more comprehensive approach – which aims at transformation and growth in maturity. only the latter approach can handle the complex issue of formation in the contemporary world. ultimately, the task of formation is not just to in-form, but primarily to trans-form, so that the candidates can per-form better in their vocation. in other words, the project of formation, should not just aim at delivering information, but basically on effecting transformation in the candidate, so that he or she should be able to put up a nice performance in the ministry, in the discipleship. the drive towards maturity is a motivation towards transformation and “conversion of heart” (ccc 1206). as st paul was telling the ephesians, it is only at a high level of human maturity that we can attain the “unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of god” and form the community necessary for the body of christ (eph. 4:13). similarly, only with maturity can the formators create a formation community, provide the accompaniment on the road to discipleship, so that the candidate themselves can grow in vocational maturity. if the candidates are to acquire vocational maturity, they need training in the three areas of the psyche – the cognitive, the affective, and the volitional.  formation should aim at making candidates develop cognitive maturity, that is, the ability to grasp truth in a more dynamic way. this would entail, not just gaining knowledge of things, but also knowledge of the truth about themselves, the knowing subjects – about the development of their minds and moral conscience. much could be learnt from the advancements in human science, especially from jean piaget and lawrence kohlberg, who have proven beyond doubt that moral reasoning is not a static possession, but something that must be acquired through a developmental procedure.  formation should equally lead candidates to the growth in emotional maturity. this should make them be aware of their feelings and how 134 formation of the human person in the 21st century these feelings, whether conscious or unconscious, influence their actions. the regular pious admonitions from lectures and conference would certainly not be enough. it would rather require the involvement of a competent formator and a huge investment of time and energy both on the part of the candidate and the formator, for one to grow in awareness of what type of feelings and how such feelings motivate one’s actions. it should be an attempt to expose the defense mechanisms and replace them with much more mature and purposeful skills in rechanneling emotions to positive use.  candidates should equally learn how to grow in volitional maturity, i.e. the ability to delay or deny the gratification of certain desires inconsistent with the core values of one’s vocation. this would entail teaching them how to engage in responsible freedom: allowing them to be free in making their choices, but at the same time take responsibility for the result of their choice or actions. when all these are in place, candidates would be better prepared to attain competence in ministry; live a life that is an expression of authentic faith, rather than disbelief. with a mature personality, the religious or priest becomes a bridge that connects people to jesus christ. and when all these rigorous formation processes are in place, it will become easy for the formators to identify those candidates who do not qualify for the ministry, and redirect them elsewhere before ordination or profession. conclusion in the contemporary time, secularism and atheistic culture exert a lot of influence on life. this has its root in the western cultural revolution, which propagates relativism – the trend of thought that denies god and the supernatural absolute authority in the interpretation of reality – and makes human right to freedom and pleasure the criteria for moral judgment. this, no doubt, introduces crises in religion and in the life of faith, which, with the help of globalization, is tossed around in the world. the youth, more than any other group, is exposed to the current wave of religious and faith crises, which is compounded by other negative influences from the contemporary nigeria society saturated with materialism, corruption, superstition and sundry vices. as a result, candidates coming for formation today have a troubled background, which compromises their faith, and places much pressure on the traditional methods of formation. though formation should transform the candidates, it is being observed that many pass through the formation houses, and come out with lesser signs of authentic faith. the thrust of this reflection has been that if formation is to help in confronting and solving the problem of crises of faith, a more holistic and integral form of formation must be followed, not section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 135 just in principle, but in practice, aiming not just at information, but at transformation. references 1. cencini, amedeo,spiritual and emotional maturity. guiding young people in religious and priestly formation, nairobi: pauline publications africa, 1999. 2. erikson, erik h., childhood and society, new york: w.w. norton &company, 1950, 1963. 3. holy see, a catechism of christian doctrine, london: catholic truth society,1971, nr. 9. 4. holy see, cathechism of the catholic church, vatican city, 1992 5. iperu formation team, a guidebook for formators (formators handbook), iperu:ambassador publication, 1995. 6. kaigama, ignatius a., the pastoral care of seminarians in the parish, abuja: gaudium et spes institute, 2005 7. lonergan, bernard, methods in theology, minneapolis, minnesotsa: the seabury press, 1972. 8. mueller, j j. what are they saying about theological method?, new york, ramsey: paulist press 9. nnamani, amuluche-greg, “the influence of the past on the present with reference to formation and growth”, in bigard theological studies, dec-june 2013, vol 33, no 1, p. 83. 10. nwabeke, aloysius a., the formation of the formators, enugu: bigard memorial seminary, sine datum. 11. obuna, emmanuel, psychology and priestly formation (a nigerian experience), catholic diocese of abakaliki, 1995, 58-59 12. o’connell, laurence j., “vocation”, in the new dictionary of catholic spirituality, edited by michael downey, banglore: theological publicaions in india, 2003. 13. okeke, cornelius uche, “contemporary pressures on priestly formation: a formator’s perspective”, in the challenges of seminary formation in our time, edited by victor onwukeme, gwagwalada abuja: 2011. 14. pope john paul ii, post-synodal apostolic exhortation, vita consecrata, on the consecrated life and its mission in the church and in the world, vatican city, 1996. 15. pope john paul ii, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis, 1992 16. ratzinger, joseph, (pope benedict xvi), christianity and the crisis of cultures, san francisco: ignatius press, p.34 ff. 17. peters, marguerite a.,the new global ethic: challenges for the church, 2006, and marguerite a. peters, the globalization of the western cultural revolution, 2007. 18. shorter, a., religious obedience in africa, nairobi: st. paul communications/daughters of st. paul, 2000. 19. the sacred congregation for catholic celibacy, a guide to formation in priestly celibacy, nairobi: paulines publication africa, 2002. 136 10 priestly identity and new evangelization: resolving deficits in priestly identity through authentic patrology. clement ajibolade seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma ajiboladeclement@gmail.com abstract the catholic priesthood has got a character with which the priests are easily marked out, even since antiquity. no matter the historical development of the priesthood, this character remains substantially intact. the consciousness of the character is also a source of great impetus for enthusiastic evangelization. however, one of the major challenges bedeviling the catholic priesthood in nigeria is the crisis of identity. this plays out strongly in the minimal level of zeal displayed in the pastoral ministry, witnessing to christ. it has been a clog in the wheel of the new evangelization, which remains almost only in theory and the fruit of its practice is elusive. what explains this crisis of identity? is it really because we are product of our society? is it the change in outlook in the course of history? could it be because the priesthood has had some development? does the historical development cause essential change leading to loss of identity today? this paper sets out to reveal yet another nuance to the issue of crisis of identity among priests in nigeria, which is the seed-bed of the problems limiting ‘catholic evangelization’ on the nigerian soil. this is because; the growth of any of the church’s agenda relies to a large extent on her priests, who are the close pastors of the people. we shall submit that authentic patrological formation would help to ameliorate this menace, if not eradicating it totally. to achieve this, the method of exposition is employed. keywords: patrology, identity, crisis, evangelization and formation. mailto:ajiboladeclement@gmail.com section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 137 preliminary and useful insight we are aware that the only antidote to the endemic poison of our society that has held people hostage and put them in fetters of ignorance is the communication of truth. that is why jesus christ says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free (jn 8:12). the reality of the level of ignorance and deception concerning the meaning of human body resulting to the perversion of the truth of sex and sexuality, the intelligent understanding of human origin and summit of human existence and unnecessary mistaken mentality of the essentiality of human life are arbiter of the aspiration and thirst of men of this age for the teaching of the truth. no one can really know the truth unless he is taught, no one can be taught unless there is a teacher (rom. 10:14ff). the task of announcing the gospel truth in an evangelizing manner and missionary disposition has become emergent than ever before, in the age of relativism and the desire for unguided freedom and this is a loud and laudable awakening from clerical slumber. the congregation for the clergy puts this in a particular perspective saying: “we are aware that no missionary activity can be realistically undertaken without the enthusiastic support of priests, who are the first and most valued collaborators of the order of bishops.”1 and so, “all priests are called to become aware how especially urgent it is for them to receive formation at the present time: the new evangelization needs new evangelizers, and these are the priests who are serious about living their priesthood as a specific path toward holiness.”2 we can say, relying on the aforementioned documents that the church relies so much on priests for the task of new evangelization. this is because they are evangelizers by their own right and virtue of their ordination and they are also supposed to be trainers of evangelizers and personnel for evangelization because, the word evangelization captures concisely the entire missionary activity of the followers of christ. evangelization has to be understood then as the announcement and transmission of the message of christ that is “the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes” (rom 1:16). the term evangelization has a very rich meaning. in the broad sense, it sums up the church’s entire mission: her whole life consists in accomplishing the traditio evangelii, the proclamation and handing on of the gospel, which is “the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes” (rom 1:16) and which, in the final essence, is identified with jesus christ himself (cf. 1 cor 1:24). understood in this way, evangelization is aimed at all of humanity. in any case, to evangelize does not mean simply to teach a doctrine, but to proclaim jesus christ by one’s words and actions, that is, to make oneself an instrument of his presence and action in the world.3 138 formation of the human person in the 21st century paul vi says: “evangelization means bringing the good news into all the strata of humanity and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new”4 ronald says: “evangelization, of course, comes from the greek root ‘to proclaim good news’, and it has been particularly used by christians in every age to speak of the missions ad gentes, that is, outreach to all peoples the world to bring them to christ.”5 that is why the pauline ambition is “to preach the good news not where christ has already been known …but as scripture says: those not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand.” this does not only mean going to a geographical location that was not accessible for the past missionaries, but entails the inculcation, appropriation and internalization of “the mind of christ” (i cor. 2:16). so, joseph okojie writes: “evangelization aims at penetrating and uplifting a given culture by the word of god. it is the acceptance of christ’s call and a deep response to the invitation of the trinity to the work of love and a commitment to continue this work in everyday life.”6 evangelization then, is crucial and irreplaceable. it is central to the life of the church and all her activities since antiquity. in this recent age7 particularly, the pontificate of pope st. john paul ii reawakens the consciousness of evangelization in our own age when he was speaking of new evangelization. “what was new about evangelization?”8 the new evangelization is not the announcement of a new message, but a new way of the announcement – a new way that is characterized with a new disposition of vigorous resilience. will this be possible without great recourse to tradition of the church? those who are familiar with wine and all that concerns it have convincingly argued that the longer it stayed the better. in like terms the longer the catholic tradition, having experienced several cultures, people and time, the better for evangelization of peoples. st. paul speaks of the credence of the sacred tradition in the context of the liturgical celebration of the eucharist in his first letter to the corinthians chapter 11: “this is the tradition of the lord that i received… (i cor. 11:23). the author of the letter to the hebrews urges: “remember your leaders who taught you the word of god. consider the end result of their lives and imitate their faith. jesus christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings.” (heb. 13:7-9). the consideration of the end result of the lives of our past leaders in faith is aided by the study of the fathers, which is technically referred to as patrology. patrology like patristics is used to mean the study of the fathers.9 the word patrology was synonymous with patristics, which is used to designate the works of ancient christian writers. in recent times, it refers to an organized manual on the patristic literature.10 here, we section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 139 want to use the term patrology to refer to the whole life and works of the fathers. the gist of the problem of priestly identity crisis we have said earlier that priests are supposed to be at the fore front of the evangelization. more deeply, let us say that young priests are believed to be the protagonists of the new evangelization. the employment of the youthful hue and vigour is appropriate especially in the areas described as young churches. however, what is experienced in some instances is perturbing, concerning the disposition of some priests. to this effect, charles hammawa laments: some young priests are bereft of a proper sense of mission. their concept of priestly ministry is limited to the works assigned and masses allocated to them. they are not interested in the total well-being or the temporal good of the church. the ecclesiology is so deformed that their comfort is the primary issue to them.11 the resultant effect of this is that the announcement of the gospel suffers and the people continue to be in want. that is why ambrose agu retorts: “…unfortunately, today, in many places, the gospel is not proclaimed with due force and veracity. it is not exposed level of its radical and disturbing implications. when this is done, the pastor or minister of the gospel is excoriated as being conservative, unnecessarily strict or not in touch with present realities. the tendency for many pastors is to shield the people from the disturbing and pungent truth of the gospel message. they tell the people what they would want to hear and dilute the force of the message handed on to them. sometimes, a message is avoided entirely if it is considered a contradiction of the spirit of the time.12 corroborating this, anselm jimoh calls the prevalent menace a lack of pastoral commitment. he also offered the effect of this disposition of some young priests. he says: the observed lack of pastoral commitment, moral probity, inordinate materialistic tendencies, oversocialization of matters of faith and spirituality, frequent display of disobedience to local ordinaries/superiors on the part of the priests, and other observable misdemeanors which coincidentally are more common among the younger generation of priests is disturbing…13 140 formation of the human person in the 21st century today, instead of yearning to win the whole of the world for christ, the happenings in our society appears to be overtaking us and exerting much influence on us. the spirit of avarice, which may be seen as the sin of the old, is now common among the young. this we must say beclouds the vision of evangelization and pastoral initiative that is greatly missionary. there is no other better time to shun the empty promises of the world so that we may purify it. “yet increasing it appears that more and more young priests are taken up with buying cars the day after their ordination…”14 and “pastors and priests are getting swallowed en mass and the virtue of comportment and decency no longer has a place in our life.”15 it is an understatement to say that some priests do not evangelize, they even disturb the mission. john aniagwu says: “many priests are giving counter witness.”16 substantiating this, hassan kukah writes: “given the poverty of our society, it seems that materialism on the part of many priests and religious has become the greatest threat to our mission.”17 particularly of young priests, who should “spear head” new evangelization because of the gift of youthful strength, it is advised: “formators need to take account of what happens in parishes when young priests get there… an exalted and glamourous priest will weigh too heavily on the mission of the church. the young priest must not be gullible to think that the one who endorses his every whim is the one who supports his ministry.”18 relying on the impetus created by st. paul, oredipe calls for new missionary drive when he wrote: “surely then, the memory of st. paul will inspire a new missionary drive in the church for the benefit of the whole of humanity.”19 in like manner, ambrose agu speaks of new pastoral courage in the following terms: “this concern must be seen in his zeal to reach out to the people outside the church. this concern calls for the special attention of the pastors and ministers of the church.”20 he continued: “the duty of a pastor does not end with leading the flock to pasture and protecting it. he has also the onerous task of going out in search of the straying and the lost sheep and bringing it back to where it belongs … and this requires special pastoral courage and zeal, which of course is the only way the pastor can foster faith and call to faith in the world of today.”21 and so, aniagwu complains: “there is proclamation by written word…but many do not do it. they simply do not write. they are either too timid to do so or they do not have the time.”22 it is true that the general theme of this conference focuses on the formation to the priesthood, let us speak commonly at this moment so that other young persons may have the issue to ponder on, since the task of evangelization per se, is of all who are “baptized and sent.”23 dwight longenecker underscored the fact that our disposition towards section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 141 evangelization is too minimal. he has this to say: “we catholics skate around this one muttering catchphrases like “the new evangelization’ and we trumpet the few evangelization enterprises that are going on, and we self-righteously quote st. francis (who never actually said it), ‘preach the gospel at all times. use words if necessary.’”24 he did not fail to enumerate some of the reasons for such disposition generally by catholics which include; cultural catholicism, over-sacramentalism, ignorance, social gospel and professional catholicism.25 catholics tend to be shy about evangelizing. and, it shows. the decline in sunday mass attendance is best described as a plummet. seventy-five percent of catholics went to mass weekly in 1955 gallup reported. that dropped to about 39 percent according to data collected between 2014 and 2017; which was down from 45 percent between 2005 and 2008. it’s a disturbing trend and one that msgr. thomas richter, pastor of queen of peace church in dickinson, wants catholics to do something about. he addressed this issue as the featured speaker last month at the university of mary’s st. hildegard lecture series, explaining that evangelizing is primarily the job of laity.26 in 2013, the barna group did a large survey on the importance of christians who share their faith. the group which had the lowest number of people who actively shared their faith was catholics. here is the truly sad part. they only polled those they designated as ‘people who said they have made ‘a personal commitment to jesus christ that is still important in their life today’ and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted jesus christ as their savior.’ this means they polled the best and most engaged catholics who have had an encounter with jesus. they found that only 1 out of every 3 catholics agreed with the statement, ‘i, personally, have a responsibility to tell other people about my religious beliefs.’ additionally, only 1/3 of catholics who have encountered jesus and chosen to follow him agreed with the statement, ‘during the past 12 months, i explained my religious beliefs to someone who had different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept jesus christ as their savior.’ this means we catholics in the usa are terrible at evangelization the core mission of the church! we aren't christians to merely get ourselves to heaven. we are christians to get others.’27 notwithstanding, the urgency of evangelization today cannot be overemphasized. the perversion in the world today has made those who learn not to understand and possession has constantly led to impoverishment. the announcement and the encounter with the truth are evermore demanded. thus, the urgency of evangelization today is as prevalent as at the time of jesus, when they were advised not to even salute anyone on the road. cardinal dulles made this observation 142 formation of the human person in the 21st century concerning the disposition for evangelization even after the second vatican council: “the commentaries on vatican ii published in the first decade after the council generally overlooked the centrality of evangelization. they focused attention on collegiality, ecumenism, dialogue and social teaching.”28 but now is the acceptable time to wake up with great enthusiasm for the work of new evangelization. resolving deficits in priestly identity through authentic patrology. we speak of the apostolic foundation in the church not just from mere human calculations or wisdom, but because the lord built the church on the apostle that he named peter, the rock. therefore, the faith of the church is foundational and this permeates her activities. the proper understanding of the missionary mandate and evangelization requires that we get in touch concretely with those to whom the message is handed over on behalf of the generation that will come to believe christ through their teaching (jn 17:20). chinua achebe wrote: “a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body.”29 here, we have to present the lasting values of patrology through which we encounter the fathers and even learn from them in order to prepare candidates in formation for the all important task ahead. the congregation for catholic education instructs: observation of the present condition of the church reveals how the needs of the church’s pastoral mission and the emergence of new currents of spirituality call for healthy nourishment and reliable source of inspiration. so many efforts seem sterile, but there is a fresh breath of true wisdom and christian authenticity that flowed from the patristic works. it is a breath which contributed recently to the resolution of numerous liturgical, ecumenical, missionary and pastoral phenomena, which were noted by the second vatican council and which are considered a source of encouragement and light by the church today.30 in a letter to fulton sheen, a priest wrote: “i am convinced that many of our people are searching for many of the old devotions which many of the parishes have done away with, and this is very often because we priests cannot be bordered putting ourselves out.”31 these old devotions motivate the faithful for the missionary activities. patrology helps us to encounter the depth of these devotions, some of which are handed down by the apostles themselves and are inspired by the lord and his spirit. a good example of such devotions is the elongated lenten spiritual practices of the rites of christian initiation of adults and other prayerful pedagogy that accompany the rites. this is also not common again in our churches. another is the adoration of the lord in section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 143 the blessed sacrament, which some parishes have also done away with. but these and many others enliven our soul. the inspiration they (the fathers) offer in terms reflection, and contribution to the explanation of the mysteries communicated through the scriptures is lasting. to this effect, pope benedict xvi in his verbum domini advised that pastoral or missionary activities be inspired by the scriptures.32 the understanding of the sacred scriptures, just as the familiarity with it, is in no little measure germane to the work of evangelization. as a matter of fact, the scripture is the code for every missionary activity. in it we find the example of the lord himself being on mission to evangelize and also learn his principles and strategies which can never fail us. but without the proper understanding, we can do little or nothing humanly speaking. thus authentic patrology helps us to have better understanding of the scriptures, when we encounter the insight offered by the apostles and the fathers, such that they continue to challenge and spur us for missionary actions. “the living tradition is essential for enabling the church to grow through time in the understanding of the truth revealed in the scriptures…”33 the second vatican council fathers offer immense insight: hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and sacred scripture. for both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. for sacred scripture is the word of god inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of god entrusted by christ the lord and the holy spirit to the apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of god faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. consequently it is not from sacred scripture alone that the church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. therefore both sacred tradition and sacred scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.34 as important as the scriptures may be, our knowledge is equally nourished by the study of the holy fathers and other doctors and monuments or tradition. in order, moreover, that they may give apt answers to questions posed by men of this age, it is necessary for priests to know well the doctrines of the magisterium and the councils and 144 formation of the human person in the 21st century documents of the roman pontiffs and to consult the best of prudent writers of theological science.35 evangelization is intrinsically traditional since, evangelization entails the handing over of the faith. to hand over is traceable to the latin word tradere, meaning to handover. it is therefore, historical and traditional. “the new head of a worldwide federation of traditional catholics has stressed that if the new evangelization is to be effective, it’s vital that the faithful know and understand the church’s roots, history and tradition.”36 “in our christian mind, the fathers are always linked to tradition having been both its protagonist and witnesses. they are closer to its source in their purity… the fathers are therefore witnesses and guarantor of authentic catholic tradition.”37 just like we have written earlier, no christian evangelizer is going to announce a new gospel as st. paul wrote to the people of corinth (i cor. 3:11), the primordial message of christ but with a new style, dedication and vigour. patrology then helps us to understand that primordial message of christ as we study the works and life of those who were with them from john’s baptism till when the lord was taken up (acts 1:22). therefore, it is clear that (for) seminarians regular familiarity with the work of the fathers can only strengthen their spiritual and liturgical life by shedding particular light on their vocation by rooting it in the long tradition of the church bringing it to a direct communication with its origins in their wealth and purity.38 another important reason for patrology is that the fathers have bequeathed to us the authentic method of grafting the faith into cultures. they grappled with the heresies of the pagan cultures and were able to impress the faith in the heart of these cultures, although not without difficulty. they were successful. if inculturation that we clamour for today must be successful, we have to consider the fathers who have done it in the past. the fathers have helped to answer the question of how the faith can be explained in the “wisdom and philosophy of people.”39 there is yet another pivotal point to be mentioned concerning the rich patrimony that patrology introduces us to that we may be helped in our mission of evangelization. this is the arena of catholic christian spirituality. “… given this lively spiritual sense, the image of themselves that the fathers offer us is that of men who are not only learning but above all are experiencing divine things. most of the time, they are specialists in supernatural life who communicate what they have seen and experienced in their contemplation of divine things, what they have known through the path of love.”40 any evangelizer who does not learn from the spirituality of the fathers may not be faithful and successful. the fathers are to be our spiritual models after the mind of christ. st. paul says; imitate me as i imitate christ. due to the intellectual poverty section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 145 that some young persons have concerning the lives and works of the fathers, they have come to choose other spiritual models of this age. it shows in the liturgical assembly that they lead. yet, the fathers have more to offer in spirituality than the pentecostal pastors of this age. authentic patrology will help in resolving this lacuna. conclusion this paper calls for an urgent appreciation of spiritual mentorship, father figure and role modeling. this paper is also a clarion call for renewal towards enthusiastic evangelization. as paul vi says: “to make the church of the twentieth century ever better fitted for proclaiming the gospel to the people of the twentieth century”41, this paper aims at making the church in the twenty-first century better active for the proclamation of the gospel to the people of the twenty-first century. “as in early times, today too christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. he needs witnesses and martyrs like st. paul.”42 to actualize this desire of christ we need to be constantly be inspired by the fathers, who were the first recipient of the message of christ and served it in its purity. thus, in the training of a candidate to the priesthood, authentic patrology should be an epicenter of their formation. this will continue to reinvigorate these young evangelizers, buoyed their spirituality and boost their evangelical morale through pastoral outreach. we wish to submit therefore, that with authentic patrology, the misplacement of priority that has led to a kind of identity crisis, being a clog in the wheel of new evangelization, will be reduced to bearable decimal, if not totally eradicated. endnotes 1congregation for the clergy, the priest and the third christian millennium: teacher of the word, minister of the sacraments and leader of the community, 1999. 2john paul ii, pastores dabor vobis no. 82. 3congregation for the doctrine of the faith, doctrinal note on some aspects of evangelization, no. 2, 2007. 4quoted in frank p. desiano, kenneth boyack, creating the evangelizing parish, new york: paulist press, 1993, p. 23. 5ronald d. witherup, saint paul and the new evangelization, p. 10. 6joseph okojie, the eucharistic celebration as an act of evangelization, benin city: floreat systems, 2014, p. 25. 7post second vatican council. 8ronald d. witherup, saint paul and the new evangelization, minnesota: liturgical press, 2013, p. 2. 146 formation of the human person in the 21st century 9joseph a. komonchak, mary collins (eds.) et. al., the new dictionary of theology, bangalore: theological publications in england, 2011, p. 387. 10michael glazier and monika hellwig (eds.), the modern catholic encyclopedia, minnesota: liturgical press, 2004, pp. 625-626. 11charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; proceedings of the national seminaries committee workshops, makurdi 2002, ekpoma 2003 and ibadan 2005, no 2, benin city, floreat systems, 2007, p. 183 12ambrose c. agu, responding to the divine call, bombay: st. pauls, 2009, pp. 158159. 13ibid 14b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 186. 15ibi s. ajayi, “materialism and the nigerian society” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 155. 16john aniagwu, quoted by b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 186. 17hassan kukah quoted by b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” in charles m. hammawa (ed.), new techniques in formation, educating seminarians for healthy sexuality and celibate living and materialism and priestly life in nigeria”; p. 187. 18b. itsueli, “materialism and personal witnessing in priestly life” pp. 188-189. 19paul k. oredipe, st. paul and priestly formation: impetus for today, benin city: floreat systems, 2018, p. 13. 20ambrose c. agu, responding to the divine call, bombay: st. pauls, 2009, p. 157. 21ibid 22john aniagwu, called to act in persona christi: reflections on priestly life and ministry, ibadan: daily graphics, 2014, p. 46. 23pope francis, message on the mission sunday, 2019. 24dwight longenecker, “10 reasons why catholics don’t evangelize” in natioal catholic register, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/longenecker/10-reasons-whycatholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 10:40 pm) 25ibid 26patti armstrong, “evangelizing is the job of the laity”, 2019 https://bismarckdiocese.com/news/evangelizing-is-the-job-of-the-laity (accessed 3/3/2020 12:08 am) 27marcel lejeune, “5 reasons why catholics don't evangelize” in catholic missionary disciples, https://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/reasons-whycatholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 11:16 pm) section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 147 28avery cardinal dulles, evangelization for the third millennium, new york: paulist press, 2009, p. 14. 29chinua achebe, there was a country, usa: penguin books, 2012, p. 1. 30congregation for catholic education, instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 31fulton j. sheen, treasure in clay, bangalore: asian trading corporation, 1980, p. 204. 32pope benedict xvi, verbum domini, p. 88. 33pope benedict xvi, verbum domini, p. 25. 34dei verbum no. 9 35presbyterorum ordinis no. 19. 36edward pentin, “new evangelization needs tradition and history to be effective” https://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/new-evangelization-needstradition-history (accessed 3/2/2020 5:14pm). 37congregation for catholic education, “instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 38ibid 39ad gentes no. 22. 40congregation for catholic education, “instruction on the study of the fathers in the formation of priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 41paul vi, evangelii nuntiandi, no. 2. 42benedict xvi’s homily at vespers for the feast of sts. peter and paul, at the basilica of st. paul the walls on june 28, 2007. 148 11 harnessing our resources for the formation of seminarians to the priesthood in the post-modern age peter egbe, ph.d st. albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran abeokuta, ogun state. revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk abstract formation is a divine assignment and those involved in it must be conscious of the gravity of its demands. no one forms another whosale and no one forms himself all alone. education is a systematic effort between a superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. education environment is an academy of individuals with at least a vision. it is a mission to give birth to another through the process of intellectual midwifery to use the words of plato. its content is a heritage based on set values that humanise and imbued the individual with the character adequate and noble for a set goal. it is harnessing available resources to realise a personality immersed in a world that is experiencing exponential growth in technology, but with less capacity of an authentic integration of the true and needed values. the human person is entangled in the drive to know and improve the self, even unconsciously so as to be able to rule one’s life and possibly dominate others. but since culture regulates this drive and direct human affairs; information becomes both a possession and a heritage. it is about character building and a journey of an entire life of a person in society in diverse engagements. this project seeks to draw attention to the fact that the present circumstance requires a re-evaluation of the system of formation; not just in the seminary but a far-reaching endeavour in the light of a world that is redefining anthropology. it calls for a more rigorous incarnation of the ever-relevant resources of the church and especially the recent document on the formation of candidates to the catholic priesthood. mailto:revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 149 keywords: formation, seminarian, priesthood, education, information, seminary. introduction i am constrained to say that no one forms another whosale and no one forms himself all alone. education is a systematic effort between a superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. education environment is an academy of individuals with at least a vision. it is a mission to give birth to another through the process of intellectual “midwifery” to use the word of plato. in the words of edith stein, “education is not an external possession of learning but rather the gestalt which the human personality assumes under the influence of manifold external forces,…”1 in relation to this claim she further opined that: the first fundamental formation happens in the soul. just as an inner form resides in the seed of plants, an invisible force making the fir tree shoot up here and beech there, there is in this way an inner mold set in human beings which urges the evolution into a certain direction and works towards a certain gestalt in blind singleness of purpose, that of personality which is mature, fully developed, and uniquely individual.2 the drive to know and improve oneself is one that the human person is entangled with and even unconsciously so as to be able to rule one’s life and possibly dominate others. but since culture regulates this drive and direct human affairs, information becomes both a possession and a heritage. it is about character building and a journey of an entire life of a person in society in diverse engagements. the theoretical foundation of the choice of topic the theoretical background to this presentation is the latest official document released by the vatican for the formation of candidates to the celibate catholic priesthood. in the mind of the church; “the intellectual formation of candidates for the priesthood finds its specific justification in the very nature of the ordained ministry, and the challenge of the ‘new evangelization’ to which our lord is calling the church …”3 added to this is the overall formation activities ranging from academic and cultural dimensions. moreover, it should be emphasised that the intellectual dimension, with the prescribed study of philosophy and theology, is not the only factor to be considered when evaluating the journey completed by the seminarian in each stage, and the progress that has been made. rather the overall discernment by the formators regarding all aspects of formation will allow only those seminarians to pass on to the next stage who, in addition to having passed the necessary exams, have reached the level of the human and vocational maturity required for each stage.4 150 formation of the human person in the 21st century the above citations summarize the aim of this paper as the human, spiritual, intellectual and cultural formation of seminarian in the western region and elsewhere in nigeria. i will try as much as possible to pay attention to the new document on formation and harness the possibility of a daring audacity for credible reasons. i wish to, in particular, emphasise the integral link between our various disciplines and then ask for a concerted effort among all to pursue a synthetic formation. this will demand a lot of sacrifice from all of us formators, to create a harmony of knowledge in view of a wholistic education that makes gentlemen and men of the church. the simple rationale for this approach can be stated thus: “to ensure adequate intellectual formation of future priests, all disciplines must be taught in such a way as to make their intimate connection stand out clearly, avoiding fragmentation.”5 this poses a challenge to all formators who should see their duty as a sacred function and humanitarian service to the world in the church. humans learn by fragments, but care must be taken not to yield to the modern tendency to fragmentation. “philosophy [and indeed all disciplines] can reflect the fragment nature of the human ability to acquire knowledge; but when it leads to fragmentation of knowledge it becomes inimical to its wellbeing…”6, and might not augur well for evangelization. the last two quotes are not just good for the envisaged purpose of priestly formation of seminarians to the catholic celibate priesthood; it is also recommended in my opinion as the quintessential requirement for training in any well-founded society of human dignity. it is also crucial to the success and failure of any future endeavour that merits integrity not only in a religious institution in the 21st century. is it possible to attain such a system in our world today? the answer is no and yes. no because, if things continue the way they are now, this will be a mirage. yes because, the only thing it takes is a conscious and honest decision by all stake-holders to make a difference. the state of things at the moment: everything that is known about order, prognosis and prognostications is giving way to chaos, irascibility, uncertainty, rashness and populism. there is a new world order that is emerging in the history of humanity. the world is at a crossroad. capitalism in my opinion has not satisfied the yearnings created at its advent. so, it is becoming more compelling to agree with those who claim that capitalism has failed and there is no certainty of what comes next. the western world is labouring under the yoke of self-imposed scourge that is inflicted by liberalism, unrestrained licentiousness and over-ambitious hedonism. the east block is surging and a new partitioning of the world is crystallizing. here africa is section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 151 experiencing a metamorphosis that is not clear-cut (this is an issue for another research). a region that has been and represented as a figure of endless battle ground for new and potential powers. all known symptoms of a revolution are whimsically present and what emerges from this new interregnum is the problematic that researchers have to deal with and all well-meaning institutions have to follow with keen interest. the world is hungry and confused, but there is no political foresight to the direction that will lead to a more cohesive globe and a safer life. mechanical development is taking a dionysian trend in technological and digital advancements, but the sophistication needed by the human mind to handle the teleological complexity that it requires is not equipageous. there is a lop-sidedness that calls for attention. “at…times we have our talks and end up not implementing anything to the disappointment of millions and millions of people around the world who look up to this body to provide leadership in a world that is constantly oscillating between advancement and doom.”7 this statement reveals a hypocrisy that is discernible in global politics and its complication in an already exacerbated world. stating the problem of the present why is this paper a product of curiosity and concern about the reality of the moment? your guesses can be as good as and even sometimes better than my own. the reason this is true is that there is a subtle but obvious fact of mediocrity and indolence in the world today. the human capacity to know has been broadened in all ramifications. there are great achievements in infrastructural development in terms of technologies for industrial and food productions, but the quality of integral life has not been attained comparatively in its welfare and safety. we live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. breakthrough in science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve. but each day also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we cherish and value. terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and spread to every region of the planet. rogue regimes represented in this body not only support terrorists but threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.8 there are so many meanings one can draw from such statement above and many other presentations during the same assembly. but the question is, if every leader is aware of the difficulty and threat of the time and knows how inimical it is to human progress and the crucial peace that has become more of illusion than a mirage; what is missing? one 152 formation of the human person in the 21st century can imagine that there is need for honest dialogue among leaders and leaders among their people. the seminary and seminarians to state this problem and its extension one needs to look at the problematic from various points of reference. since our focus is the formation of young men for the purpose of ministerial priestly life; it will be right to be specific. the problems highlighted above are not just reverberating only in the political arena, but they are widely diffused in all facets of human life. the seminary is not exempt in this beleaguering and odious world order paradoxically orchestrated by science. science provides the foundation and marks the development of hierarchic power. science is but one of the forms of knowledge, yet it exists today in a manner that makes all other forms of knowledge look insignificant, of little value or even harmful. one of the features of today’s science is the possibility to obtain high-level knowledge in universities. what you can’t learn at the university is not scientific; at best – it can be made scientific.9 today, there is so much information that no one bothers about retention of information. there is hardly any need for profundity. this is a scourge of secularism aided by pragmatism which has made depth and rigour of inquiry anachronistic and abhorrent to the vast majority. the seminary and seminarians are not insulated against such pretexts. the word “seminary” is from the latin word seminarium, which means plots where plants are raised from seeds. a garden where seeds are nurtured and nourished to grow, become strong and bear fruits. it means breeding ground. when this is used in reference to the priesthood, it means breeding ground for priests. it means in my opinion an academy as in the most ancient available record of the socratic peripatetic school and the rabbinic school of discipleship. a seminarian is usually a male member of the faithful (who ought to be baptized and confirmed), who feels called and presents himself or is presented for training as priest. he is then accompanied by those with requisite competence. and so pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work. thanks to an initial and gradual experience of ministry, future priests will be able to be inserted into the living pastoral tradition of their particular church. they will section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 153 learn to open the horizon of their mind and heart to the missionary dimension of the church's life. they will get practice in some initial forms of cooperation with one another and with the priests alongside whom they will be sent to work. these priests have a considerably important role, in union with the seminary program, in showing the candidates how they should go about pastoral work.10 the critical nature of the programme of formation is outlined in the above citation and one can only call the attention of all concerned to reflect sincerely on them so as to be able to truly fulfil the task of formation. one major issue that constitute and could continue to be a problem in formation is the apathy of seminarians. the apathy of seminarians here means a general attitude prevalent among seminarians towards the various levels of formation. in retrospect, i am forced most of the time to question myself about motive when i see the rate of shallowness among young men who present themselves for formation to the priesthood. one is further concerned by a disposition of dismissiveness. here seminarians rather than pay attention to the critical parts of formation; that is aspiration to heroism, they settle for mediocrity and materialism. what is more? in many cases, rather than take instructions and obey them by executing them, there is a general attitude of negotiation of what seminarians choose to do rather than obey and carry out instructions. to cap it all, what seminarians in the major part engage in nowadays is to resort to what they refer to as “psyching” the formators and priests in their dioceses to make their way to the priesthood. many have succeeded in this and they are in the field of ministry. these are disturbing trends. concerns from the above/tendency one of the gravest concerns of today is the fact that for the majority of those trained in the seminary probably believe that the priesthood is the point of arrival. in the ordinary sense, the seminary is the nursery where the seed of the vocation is nurtured and come to maturity. the actual application of the self to the work only begins at ordination. in the major part, from parish experience and the opportunity of having to teach in two seminaries, it is a strong opinion of this paper that many seminarians get retired as soon as they are ordained. from personal experience and from pastors of souls, one can only conclude that personal entertainment in seeking pleasure most of the time take the energy or attention of many young priests. this is because for such people, the priesthood is the point of arrival instead of the beginning of the call to service. for the seminarian, the seminary ought to be a place of dreams and aspiration to self-immersion in the work of saving souls. instead, the seminarian sees 154 formation of the human person in the 21st century the ordination as the end of suffering and sacrifice and the beginning of enjoyment having conquered. here ordination becomes an achievement rather than an opportunity. at the end of the day, there is a suspicion that the aim of the church is contrived from the beginning. each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation...and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account of his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels11 very often the problems that arise can be numerous: in common experience, we have candidates who seem to respond and present themselves for formation who do not really wholeheartedly submit to formation. some also come into the seminary with a disposition that make it impossible for the process of the formation to be authentic and fruitful. cases abound in parishes and dioceses where seminarians who were highly esteemed in the seminary for discipline and maturity turn to have pretended all through their formation process only to reveal their true colours after ordination. some seminarians are also caught in the web of the confusion between the principles of their life in the seminary and the remarkable difference it comes to experience in the parish setting. what could be done to bridge the gaps between the authentic life that the call of the gospel demands on the individual and the reality of the personal experience and his environmental influences? the answer is a structural one. all stake holders are to be diligent in the discharge of their duties from the family to the parish community and the seminary. it will be the responsibility of the individual seminarian to be honest in the search for god and the direction of such a hunger for god in the right direction educational system another problematic that i wish to highlight here is the educational systems world-over. technology with all its beautiful results ought to be at the service of the human person. this is visible in many instances of our world events. but it is also true that technological advancement has led to a laziness that makes rigorous engagement of the human mind a waste of time and obsolete practice as we now have technological elements that can live our lives for us. at the same time and ironically too, we witness how different groups are organizing different programmes of natural brain engagement in complex calculus and rewards awarded to those who distinguish themselves. these, point to serious issues of confusion as a result of a misguided use of human section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 155 capacity in technological investigations. do we have to make people lazy by relying on robots even when they are not needed to lives? the nigerian experience? in the ordinary sense the above problem is true, but as if it were not enough; the decadence of such technological obscurity is further compounded by the inept tradition of penury in the nigerian society. the statement of the catholic bishop’s conference of nigeria after their second plenary session in a communiqué, has the following: “the inability of government to address the inequitable situation in the country has provided breeding ground for violent reactions, protest and agitations, which exploit the grievances of different segments of the country.”12 as member of the comity of nations and actors in a world that is becoming more and more a village, we are left with the refuse of technological advancement at the ‘admiration’ of those who reap the dividends of the victory of the human spirit over the natural world. the major part of ills like the one highlighted here is the lack of targeted educational programme, be it in the theoretical background and in its practical implementation. there is a challenge here and it is again global. in the theoretical world today, science and its method tend to redirect “technology” in a way that the aim of every human endeavour rather than seek the supreme good which is the hallmark of every particular goal now descends to seeking exclusive individual fragments. the negligence of a broader inquiry either by way of induction or deduction becomes the bane of illusive contentment and empty happiness. utility and immediate satisfaction and the empty pragmatic dogmatism have driven the taste of the majority of people. this in itself is transgression of science that has led to the yarning gap between the dionysian progress in mechanical science and the poverty of the fruitfulness of human satisfaction in the midst of the blessings of the earth. “the headlong development of the world and a keener awareness of existing inequalities make for the creation and aggravation of differences and imbalances.”13 this imbalance is the result of an increasing fragmenting bifurcation of reality into scientific and metaphysical. this is a condition that arises from the deep-seated crisis in the human person. “the dichotomy affecting the modern world is, in fact, a symptom of the deeper dichotomy that is in the human person himself. he is the meeting point of many conflicting forces.”14 consequences the symptoms of the above depravity of the human spirit are obvious to a reasonable mind. today more than ever before, human hunger for 156 formation of the human person in the 21st century peace and fulfilment is plenty and the helplessness of institutions as a result of this failure is aplenty. all these point to the fact of failure in the society. one basic fact that plagues the globe today is instability. the next point about the problems the world face is the failure of capitalism. this is linked with the political exigencies of our time. the political terrain is volatile and chaotic. the result of all these encumbrances and the role they play in human psychology is clear. there is a high degree of fear and vulnerability which has given rise to pseudo-populism. what can one hold? we can conveniently assert that the utopic promise of inexistent paradise appeals easily to the malnourished and disgruntled populace. the level of unpredictability of the world politics that our world has known is a clear case of the rot in the human mind that manifests itself in the various ways of our present predicament. the above analysis is simply a red signal in our society today. the least consequence of indifference is only a compound of accumulated disaster. among them are some of the current world affairs. in the world today, terrorism is a part of every household preoccupation and the scourge of civil society. since human wants are “insatiable” as the economic principle states, to use adams smith resources. the world is only at an elementary stage of wickedness and eventually nihilism. what substantiates this position is the fact that because man is naturally proud and power driven, he can descend low to bestiality to prove his capacity. today we are grappling with a nuclearized north korea. we have the power and exotic ego-driven president in the oval office in the united states of america. europe is going through a new metamorphosis with brexit. the middle east is only becoming more and more unreachable and the hope of a solution of a better region with arab-spring is only so far, a mirage. what about communist china? with its new infiltration and ubiquity in the globe. where will africa be left at the end of the current new order? what can be done? these are worrisome indices and to the fickle mind a sign of hopelessness. but the choice we have to make is inescapable. if we refuse to take the necessary though radical decision, we will be worse of. the decision we need to take is to be well equipped to face a new world order and become active players in a post-modern world. the church has and continues to make available opportunities and resources to her members to be well-equipped to engage the world for the good of the human person and the good of the universe. the church as a mother is under an obligation, therefore, to provide for its children an education by virtue of which their whole lives section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 157 may be inspired by the spirit of christ. at the same time it will offer its assistance to all people for the promotion of a well-balanced perfection of the human personality, for the good of society in this world and for the development of a world more worthy of man.15 to stress this further, the pope in his encyclical laudato si, emphasises that: we are always capable of going out of ourselves towards the other. unless we do this, other creature will not be recognized for their true worth; we are unconcerned about caring for things for the sake of others; we fail to set limits on ourselves in order to avoid the suffering of others or the deterioration of our surroundings. disinterested concern for others, and the rejection of every form of self-centredness and self-absorption, are essential if we truly wish to care for our brothers and sisters and for the natural environment…16 the problem most of the time is that it is one thing to have the opportunity and another to know and make responsible use of it. here the words of etienne gilson become crucial. as knowing being, man is able to distinguish between things, to be acquainted with their specific natures, and consequently to determine his own attitude toward things after his own knowledge of what they are. now to be not determined by things but regulated by one’s own knowledge of things is precisely what we call to be free.”17 this is not a task that seminarians by themselves can achieve alone. the need then arises for commitment that promotes a robust response from those who are undergoing formation and the willingness on the part of the formators to be selfless in responding to the demands of the human mind to be equipped for mission. it is the view of the new ration that; the task of the agents of formation can be defined as interior openness, rooted in an intense spiritual experience. it is aimed at constant discernment, which allows one to learn from life and from different circumstances, and to discover in them the providential actions of god in his christian or priestly journey. the quality of the service rendered to seminarians can be measured from the depth of this openness, and, at the same time, a calm formative atmosphere in the seminary depends on it18 the extent to which the formator is open to this task will go a long way to enrich his own life and lead to proficiency in his task as formator. this is so because: 158 formation of the human person in the 21st century while carrying out that mission, the formator has an opportunity for growth, and can discover the specific charism of vocational accompaniment and of priestly life as a call that belongs to him personally. in this way, the seminary can become a school that prepares those who will be responsible for ongoing formation. that is to say, he who has been a seminary formator acquires a particular sensitivity and a rich experience to be able, later, to assist in the ongoing formation of the clergy.19 there are many ways in which this programme can nurture the present for a future turn-around that helps to avert the impending crisis that the current situation of the direction of world event is moving. there are few things that this paper will elaborate as suggestions to help improve the present situation. those in training must seek ways to apply themselves to the current curriculum of their formation to the extent that the desired ‘personal-centred’ formation (auto-formation) can be realized. if seminarians can open up to the programme as it is at the moment; a lot can be achieved in the interim. but even at that there will still be a lot to be done. the new manual that the congregation responsible for the formation to the priesthood recently reviewed and distributed to houses of formation signal a need to overhaul formation outfit to respond to the present moment. “whenever it may prove necessary to make changes to the previously approved ratio nationalis, due to new or unexpected developments, the text may be amended by seeking the further approval of the congregation for the clergy.”20 we have to, in the spirit of this new terrain of world events; prepare ourselves to play our noble roles in rescuing the world that is beleaguered by avoidable crisis. the crisis in the world is only a reflection of the potential of the deep-seated depravity and corruption of the human person. to be able to address the problem is to renew the vigour to heroism and turn around the present disposition of selfenslavement to technology and make science serve the need of man and not make man a puppet to the work of his hands. review of the present programme since it is the conviction of this paper that the present programme needs a review and in consonance with the requirement of the congregation for the formation of clergy; there is so much to be done. besides the need to respond to the universal church, there is also another need as a local church. “each ratio nationalis must also specify the stages of formation and the programme of studies, the objectives and their length, respecting the norms of universal law.”21 that means that nigerian church must quickly realise and respond now to this dual perspective: section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 159 her immediate local needs as well as her effort at missionary activities. in one of my recent vacations besides the conference that took me out of the seminary before closing down for the 2017/2018 session, i participated in two other conferences: one was organized by association of black catholics in america from 6th to 9th of july. the other was organized by african conference of priests and religious working in united states (accrus). it was obvious that the nigerian church is ahead in the population of priests and religious among other african countries who are missionaries. what fascinated me is the fact that the american bishops had prepared a document of integration for such priests and religious when they come into their country. recommendations the need to emphasise our values the world under our watch has gone more individualistic and populistic. whatever interest such promote, one imagines that the dynamics of the present cannot be served by populism. but there is something that is crucial that needs to be emphasised; that is the fact of value. value is an accent to the commonality of a people and the heritage they make to the gamut of global civilization. although it is peculiar, it does not disintegrate the coalition of global alliance when it has to do with human solidarity. the task that humanity faces is to be conscious of and realise the importance of heritage and the endurance of a common experience even when they have to be looked at from different perspectives. this is a position that even some of the most fervent critics of objectivity in values will confirm. the issue is clearer now than of old, because we now have a more explicit standard whereby to decide what ontology a given theory or form of discourse is committed to: a theory is committed to those and only those entities to which the bound variables of the theory must be capable of referring in order that the affirmation made in the theory be true. … but utility need not imply significance, in any literal linguistic sense.22 we have a common experience in which everyone is immersed. but our relation with the objective becomes a matter of our own exclusive lived-experience that colour our worldview.23 1. the value of family and social ties one can still claim today that in nigeria and i believe in most part of africa that notwithstanding the consequence of globalization and western isolationism, there still exists a reasonable social bond. this is not just a family value, but it extends to the society. the importance of this point is to be able to harness this social opportunity in the selection 160 formation of the human person in the 21st century of candidates to the seminary for training as priest. the dioceses, parishes and vocations directors are to emphasise ties with people and employ such as instrument in the process of recruitment for seminary training. the knowledge of the family background for instance can go a long way to assist the diocese in making a well-informed decision on who to admit or otherwise. this is a method that some congregations have used and it has proven to be very helpful. the tendency is to say those values are disappearing in our time and no one really bothers. we can activate such values and let the civil society learn from us. it will not be a novel idea, but a return to the role of the church to the society. in the traditional system, the formator and the formed live out a very intensely close relationship. can we boast of such commitment from our system today? 2. document prepared or received by local church for formation i am aware that there has been a document on formation in the category of ratio fundamentalis by the nigerian bishops’ conference. but as i stand here, i have not set my eyes on such document despite all my efforts to acquire it. this is not the way we should go about our formation. what i am proposing is that, the nigerian church should prepare a document or update what is there to reflect the cruciality of present circumstances in the universal church and its relevance to local needs. the one and only catholic church subsists in the particular churches. even if formation for priesthood will normally take place in the context of a diocese, or in the institutions to which the candidates belongs, the priestly ministry is open to the universality of the church and, thus, carries within it an openness to the more pressing needs of other dioceses24 in the wake of the engagements of the nigerian church in providing missionary activities to the rest, efforts should be made to make allowance in the formation of seminarians who will eventually go for mission. this will from onset prepare everyone for the task ahead. 3. review of academic programme towards master’s degree another proposal that i am putting forward here is that our students be allowed to do professional courses in the relevant areas while they journey within these nine years only to earn first degrees. for instance, the university of benin which all saints and st. albert are affiliated to has and granted opportunity to ph.d programme in the last accreditation, should be a welcomed news to the church of this region. the robustness of the relationship between the seminary of all saints section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 161 and now st. albert contributed to the credit-worthiness that made the request pass for the university. our students can receive masters in relevant areas within their time in the seminary. in fact, the former hod of the department of philosophy in uniben has also discussed this possibility with me as he guaranteed that our materials are sufficient with a bit of adjustment at different levels. let us be audacious here and make history for the progress of the church of our region. for instance, in europe and north america candidates for the priesthood spend less time but graduate with a master’s degree. an upgrade of the academic programme will certainly be a great step forward. besides, the new world order makes it mandatory even to have such a review in the programme. 4. preparation of seminarians towards mission outside nigerian shores just as i talk about the documents above, i believe our seminaries need some more professional touch to the training we give to seminarians who become priests in our time and most of the time without any other training they go for missions outside the country. this will also help prospective formators who will come back to the seminary to teach others. i feel it is better to harvest when the grains are still very healthy and viable than to wait for them to lose all their sap. the principle of human formation will be enhanced if we pay more attention to particular area of interest and expose our seminarians to them while still in the seminary. the thinking might be ‘do not give them too much’ before they are ordained. it could even be that some might elope with such opportunity and the church is the looser. i think the time has come when we do not allow the fear of taking risk determine our decision that will lead to a vicious circle. we should take courageous risks and who knows the fruits that may come could be the solution to our problems. how to achieve these goals all these proposals need so much groundwork to be done and it will call for heavy financial commitment. here, there are at least three groups that must be battle-ready: the people of god– lay-faithful, the formators and the bishops who are proprietors of the seminary. the people of god are already doing a lot. but it is not possible to reach the state of equilibrium when it comes to commitment to the training of seminarians to the priesthood. it is also my conviction that if there were laudable project by the nigerian church, the likelihood is there that our people will be up to the task of rising to the occasion.25 on the part of the formators, we must be ready to step-up our effort to give more so as to be able to meet the need of the requirement that this new programme as proposed will be successful. in the same 162 formation of the human person in the 21st century vein, i address myself to those who collaborate with us in this task to help us with suggestions and resources needed to make this a reality and a pride to them. i am pleased that our mother institution on the academic part of formation is here represented. furthermore, all our lecturers from the different institutions including the university of benin also will agree with me that our students put in so much that our proposal is not overambitious. the next is the proprietors; our bishops need to constantly keep in view and respond consequently to the new world order. seminarians today must be well prepared to face the challenges of the new evangelization which the pope refers to and required the bishops to do something urgently to address the issue. “while safeguarding the authority of the diocesan bishop, the ratio nationalis seeks to harmonise the priestly formation across the country, in this way facilitating dialogue between bishops and formators, to the benefit of both seminarians and seminaries.”26 this is the rationale behind the joint seminaries commission meetings and the various governing councils. these are veritable organs, but there is need to give them more lease of life in the wake of present circumstances. the pope further stresses this point. seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, and not merely doctrinal, formation in the areas of engagement and marriage. their training does not always allow them to explore their own psychological and affective background and experiences. some come from troubled families, with absent parents and a lack of emotional stability. there is a need to ensure that the formation process can enable them to attain the maturity and psychological balance needed for their future ministry. family bonds are essential for reinforcing healthy selfesteem. it is important for families to be part of the seminary process and priestly life, since they help to reaffirm these and to keep them well grounded in reality. it is helpful for seminarians to combine time in the seminary with time spent in parishes. there they can have greater contact with the concrete realities of family life, since in their future ministry they will largely be dealing with families. “the presence of lay people, families and especially the presence of women in priestly formation, promotes an appreciation of the diversity and complementarity of the different vocations in the church27 there is also need for a national body to coordinate the activities of the seminaries on a regular and active basis. prospects nigerians are already making the nation and church proud abroad. my visit to us and participation in the conferences referred to above give me a first-hand experience to testify to the wealth of our nation. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 163 maximizing the gains of what we have and adding a bit of flavour to our present system will only put us at a comfortable position. this i believe because, as good and interesting the stories i heard during my sojourn in america, it was clear too that there are cases of casualties as a result of adjustment problems. a review of what is there and a conscious creation of a column for such programmes in the seminary will go a long way to bettering the chances of good adjustment experience for our seminarians and their readiness to face the work of evangelization at home and abroad as missionaries. there is already a programme of re-entering after a period of missionary activities by nigerian priests and religious. it will be appropriate to also have a programme of exit for such prospective missionaries. what might be useful is teaching the candidates for the priesthood the need to understand the various cultures of people in different continents and cultural experiences. conclusion permit me take a clue from the words of pastores dabo vobis once again. … that in the face of crisis of priestly vocations ‘the first answer which the church gives lies in a total act of faith in the holy spirit. we are deeply convinced that this trusting abandonment will not disappoint if we remain faithful to the graces we have received.’ to remain faithful to the grace received! this gift of god does not cancel human freedom; instead it gives rise to freedom, develops freedom and demands freedom.28 besides, therefore, all of us need to open our hearts to decision that will help build on the progress the church has made in the training of her candidates to the priesthood endnotes 1. edith stein, collected works; woman 2. p. 130 2. ibid, 130. 3. pastores dabo vobis, no. 51…. 4. new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacredotalis p. 10 5. new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacredotalis p. 97 6. peter egbe, harmony a philosophical investigation, from phenomenology to metaphysics, rome, 2008. 26. 7. uno president muhammadu buhari’s speech at the un general assembly, 8. citymirrornews.com/index.php2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of october, 2017. 9. remarks by president trump to the 72nd session of the united nations general assembly. united nations new york, www.whitehouse.gove/the-pressoffice/2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of october, 2017. 164 formation of the human person in the 21st century 10. maija kule et.al., ed. dilema of values and contemporary life-world, latvia-riga, 2007. 37 11. pastores dabo vobis. 58 12. new ratio fungamentalis, no. 130 13. a communique issued at the end of second plenary meeting of the catholic bishop’s conference of nigeria 14. (cbcn) at st. charles borromeo pastoral centre, jalingo, taraba state, 7-15 september, 2017 15. gaudium et spes, 7 december, 1965. no. 8. 16. gaudium et spes, 7 december, 1965. no. 10 17. vat. ii., gravissimum educationis, 28th oct. 1965. no. 3 18. laudato sí 19. etienne gilson, god and philosophy, yale nota bene copy, 2002, p.21]. 20. the new ratio, no. 152. 21. ibid. 22. ibid no. 3 & 8. 23. ratio fundamentalis no 7 24. willard van orman quine, from a logical point of view, harvard university press, cambridge, massachusetts, 2003. 13-15. 25. donald davidson, subjective, intersubjective, objective, oxford university press, new york, 2009. 84-88. 26. ratio fundamentalis no. 126 27. pastores dabo vobis. no. 68. 28. new ratio, p. 16. no. 6. 29. amoris laetitia 203. 30. pastores dabo vobis, no. 1 165 12 the principles of formation of candidates for the catholic priesthood in optatam totius, pastores dabo vobis and ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis as paradigmatic of human formation anthony o. igbekele, sls, sld department of theology, ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodija ibadan. aoigbekele@hotmail.com abstract the catholic church has always considered the formation of candidates for the priesthood and the ongoing formation of her clergy among its greatest priorities and concerns, knowing that her overall good and the success of her mission are contingent on a well-formed clergy. consequently, the church has invested time and efforts to fashion out time tested principles that guide the formation of her candidates. the position of this paper is that these principles, stated in conciliar and postconciliar documents, because of the breadth and reach of their formulations, are paradigmatic of and applicable to the formation of the christian person. these principles, summarized as human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral, when faithfully domesticated and applied, could also be validly utilized for the formation of any christian person for the mission of the church and the good of the society. keywords: church, human formation, pastores dabo vobis, ratio fundamentalis introduction the crisis in the christian life and in the society today is occasioned by the crisis in the formation of the human person for the important roles that are to be assumed in life. in terms of the priesthood, such crisis can 166 formation of the human person in the 21st century be traced to the absence of sound formation or the presence of a faulty formation. the priest is fundamentally a man of sacrifice; a man for sacrifice; a man by sacrifice. the sacrifice motif is fundamental to his essence and nature. priesthood is therefore without soul if sacrifice is removed from it. sacrifice is the heart of worship and cult. it is the heart of liturgy. if sacrifice is the heart of the priesthood because to talk of the priesthood without it is to completely misunderstand the fundamental essence of what the priesthood is all about, then it stands to reason that the fundament of all formation to the priesthood is to form the human person to become a man of cult or worship. formation of a catholic priest is therefore formation for sacrifice. sacrifice here intended is the sacrifice that found its fullest accomplishment by christ jesus in his paschal mystery – that is, the passion, death, resurrection and ascension into glory of jesus christ. the crisis of the priesthood is therefore the crisis of authentic human formation for the roles that are meant to be assumed as priests. the most effective counter measure to this crisis therefore lies in quality of formation of the candidates for the priesthood. the structure of such formation, with some contextualizations and adaptations, are also valid propositions for the authentic formation of the human person in every age, time, season, generation, language, culture. this is because fundamentally, the priest is first of all called to be fully human before he can be fully priestly. the human substratum of his personhood is therefore of fundamental significance, import and relevance to the entire edifice of his formation. if this human edifice is faulty, corrupt, vitiated, corrupted at its fundament, the construction of any formative structure upon this sub-structure cannot therefore but be faulty. the insights and content of formation of candidates for the priesthood can also be seen to be paradigmatic1 of human formation because the church has experience in the formation of the human person. the church can lay claim to the experience of two millenia in which she has consistently and courageously been in the forefront of the formation and promotion of the good of the human person. on the basis of this experience, the church can rightly arrogate to herself the competence of not just formulating the fundamental principles of human formation, that is, the basis on which the formation of the human person should rest, but even more importantly, on the strength of her collective experience, the church is in a position to propose veritable enduring principles that can constitute into the kernel of a program of action for the wholistic formation of the human person in every age, generation, culture, time. the formation must be human, that is, it must proceed from the fundamentals of what constitutes into our humanity, be based on our section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 167 being as persons created in the image and likeness of god, with all our compositions and essence and what makes us who we are as persons. formation must also have a christian character, that is, be based on christian principles and values, ethos, norms. formation must have didactic or instructional character. the didactic aspect of human formation does not and is not circumscribed to the formal classroom environment or situation. it is the experience that a greater and more efficient aspect of the instructional character of human formation takes place in the non-formal sector, especially in the home. within the context of formation for the priesthood, a large aspect of the human formation of the candidates for the priesthood takes place in the substratum: that is, in the non-formal sector, among the candidates themselves. this is especially the locus for auto or self-formation, which is fundamental and indispensable to the overall realization of authentic priestly formation. the didactic nature of human formation makes especial use of the experience of the church in this regard. that experience is founded on the catechetical principles that are foundational to instruction in the faith. what is human formation? formation is from the latin word, formo-formare, which means “form, shape, fashion, model”2 formation, from the latin noun formatio, mean “something possessing structure or form“; “the act of assembling a group or structure.”3 ”an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking form: development.”4 in a general sense, human formation refers to the beginnings of man as homo sapiens, that is, when man came to be made or fashioned or evolve. formation is the entire process in which the human person is moulded, shaped, configured. human formation has to do with all the entire process, procedures, motivations, that are put to bear in the grooming of a human person. it is concerned with a part of human development that takes the entire human person, body, soul, affective self as the point of departure and point of arrival, with a view to promoting the emergence of right character, vision, attitudes, view on life. human formation has to do with the configuration of the human person to a way of life, an ideal, a standard, and well tested patterns; a growth that is gradual, consistent, insistent, practical, effective, based on nature and founded on grace. human formation is therefore a consistent development and cultivation of authentic human values. christian human formation assumes the basics of human formation. taking these basics as its point of departure, christian human formation is the configuration of the human person to the person and life of christ. christian human formation therefore has christ as the https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/structure https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/form 168 formation of the human person in the 21st century fundamental referent, and therefore does not proceed ab nihilo, that is, from nothing. human formation makes use of objective referents that, over time, and with constant and consistent positive usage, have attained universal significance and import and have crystallized into objective norms, ethos and practices. christian human formation is therefore the conformation of the life of each individual christian to that of christ. the importance of formation of priests the priesthood, in the words of pastores dabo vobis 8, [henceforth pdv] 5 is best viewed as a “special witness to the primacy of “being” over “having,” and as a recognition that the significance of life consists in a free and responsible giving of oneself to others, a willingness to place oneself entirely at the service of the gospel and the kingdom of god….”6 furthermore, “the priestly ministry in the life of the church and in the world knows no substitute.”7 the importance and necessity of priests are also stressed, since “without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (mt. 28:19) and “do this in remembrance of me” (lk. 22:19; cf. 1 cor. 11.24), i.e:, an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.”8 pdv emphasized that “the priest is a living and transparent image of christ the priest. the priesthood of christ, the expression of his absolute “newness” in salvation history, constitutes the one source and essential model of the priesthood shared by all christians and the priest in particular. reference to christ is thus the absolutely necessary key for understanding the reality of priesthood.”9 the documents we shall examine individuate four areas that are fundamental to formation of the candidates for the priesthood. these four areas are: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral. when any of these is lacking in the formation of any human person, that person becomes defective in his formative character. the content of formation in pastores dabo vobis the overall aim of pastores dabo vobis is pastoral: the commitment to the realization of the promise of christ not to leave his church without shepherds. it is dedicated to the formulation of principles that would guide the formation of pastoral persons for the mission of christ and his church in the world. formation in the church and christian formation is imitation of christ: christ formed those he called and gathered around himself. christian formation is therefore nothing but a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 169 continuation of the work of christ and in imitation of christ who gathered disciples around himself, taught them and sent them out to preach and cast out demons (mk3,13-15)10 the context, environment and basis of every human formation is the human society. this is because every person who is called to formation comes from the womb of a human society or community and from particular contexts and circumstances.11 formation must have the capacity to confront and provide solutions to the problems, contradictions and potentialities of the society. the situation and condition of man in the world, especially with regards to rationalism, individualism, materialism, secularism, human sexuality and the family, inhuman capitalism, subjectivism, multi-racialism and multi-culturalism, demand that there be a robust and well-articulated formation of the priest for today’s world. formation must lead to the confrontation of values that are detrimental to the gospel and to christian life. for instance, it should confront modern problems identified as wrong interpretation of human existence; consumerism; subjectivism of the faith; a rejection of sacrifice and religious and spiritual values; a distorted sense of freedom that leads to a rejection of god and religious indifference; a debased and degraded interpretation of sexuality, in which sexuality becomes a turning inward to oneself of this precious gift, which results in exploitation and the reduction of this gift to “a consumer good” and is a caricature of a balanced view of sexuality that should lead to affective maturity and “growth in personality”.12 every form of formation of the human christian person must have the ideals of the christian life as its goal and aspiration. these ideals are enumerated as true and genuine freedom; the value of the human person; love for authenticity and sincerity; a new understanding of the reciprocal rapport between men and women; a move towards a just and sympathetic world; openness and dialogue; commitment to peace; the resurgence of ideals voluntary service can help youth and young men to follow the path of complete consecration to god as a priest.13 the fundamental characters and foundation of formation of the christian person the formation of the human person, for it to be christian, must have three indispensable and fundamental characters and foundations: christocentric and christological, trinitarian and ecclesiological. in terms of its christocentric and christological foundation, it must be based on the contemplation of christ, the high priest, in whose priesthood the ministerial priesthood is a participation. the entire ministerial priesthood is a participation in the life of christ himself.14 170 formation of the human person in the 21st century christian formation of the human person must have a trinitarian foundation, origin and source. this is more so for the life of the priest: “the priest, by virtue of the consecration which he receives in the sacrament of orders, is sent forth by the father through the mediatorship of jesus christ, to whom he is configured in a special way as head and shepherd of his people, in order to live and work by the power of the holy spirit in service of the church and for the salvation of the world.”15 the missionary and relational dimensions of priestly formation16, ministry and life are brought out through and in this trinitarian foundation lastly, the christian formation of the human person must have an ecclesiological foundation. the church is mystery, communion and mission. 17 the human person is a mystery based on the connection with god who is mystery in himself. the human person is called to relational communion relationship with others, that is, the communion and sharing of life. the human persons who discover themselves in mystery and communion are the same persons called to express these dimensions in mission, that is, taking the good news out and witnessing to the world. human formation in its discussion of human formation, the ratio fundamentalis (henceforth rf) concentrates on four principal and indispensable dimensions: psychological formation which “focuses on the constitution of a stable personality, characterized by emotional balance, self control and a well integrated sexuality”;18 moral formation which entails the formation of a good conscience, that is, the formation of “responsible persons able to make the right decisions, gifted with right judgement and able to have an objective perception of person and events”19; aesthetic formation which indicates capacity to relate with the environment and appreciation of beauty and goodness; historical formation which involves the personal history of the persons for formation, their socializations prior to entrance into formation and how this has affected the growth of their personality. formation is to help them to guard against attachment or preferences of certain persons over and above others; to be inclusive rather than exclusive in their social and relational preferences and choices. human formation also exposes them to the dynamics of self-formation, that is, a formation of the self that is guided and accompanied by trained formators and experts. in this regard, there must be openness to the formative contributions of women “who, by their witness of their lives, give an example of prayer and pastoral service, a spirit of sacrifice and self-denial, of care and tender closeness to their neighbours”20 human formation is fundamental to and is the first of the dimensions of formation. everything a human person wants to be is built section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 171 upon the human substratum or the humanity of that person. holiness perfects humanity, and does not replace or diminish it. “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation”21. the foundation of all human christian formation is configuration to christ. human formation determines christian and priestly identity. the qualities acquired in human formation are important for candidates to the priesthood if they are to be balanced, strong, free, with the capacity to bear the weight pastoral responsibilities.22 human formation is therefore to be understood as ontological configuration to christ. the priest is called by god. he is chosen by god for a special mission. his human formation therefore has to be christic and christo-centric. his vocation is a gift, and not merited. he therefore has to cooperate with the giver of the gift for the gift to blossom and arrive at its fullest maturity and realization. as a person called to serve the people, the priest needs to “sharpen his human sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their demands, perceive their unvoiced questions and share the hopes and expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people.”23 the human aspect of formation has to do with the ability of the person in formation to be at home with his humanity, personal history and limitations and rise above all of these limiting and militating situations. the person to be formed has a fundamental role to play in his formation. consequently, “each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation … and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into count his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospel”24. formation helps candidates preparing for the priesthood to be “balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities, to be educated to love truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to have genuine compassion, to be men of integrity and especially to be balanced in judgement and behavior.”25 human formation is formation in essential good attributes: courage, magnanimity, humility, common sense, discretion, transparency, right judgement, honesty, love of truth26 both pdv and rf are agreed that the foundation of formation would be faulty if the human dimension of it is not properly taken care of.27 human formation is formation of the humanity of the person, the radical transformation of the core of a human person. 172 formation of the human person in the 21st century the person to be formed is taken from a human community, has a human personality. in terms of the formation of a priest, the humanity of the priest should be a bridge and not an obstacle.28 consequently, human formation should lead to personal maturity, in their spiritual, emotional, physical, sexual, intellectual, psychological and social dimensions. human formation must lead to the perfection of the image of christ in the person being formed and reflect the perfection found in the humanity of christ, the perfect man. a solid human formation makes the relational, relatedness and interactive dimensions of the human person possible. it leads to the development of solid human qualities. human formation should lead to affective maturity, the ability to love and to receive love. this love takes the whole person as its point of departure and forms the candidates in responsible love and the authentic meaning of sexuality, which will also include education to true meaning of friendship and “fraternal affection”. human formation, that leads to human maturity, must also concentrate its creative energy and attention on formation to the responsible use of freedom. this responsible freedom will help the candidates to overcome the problematics of selfishness and individualism and advance the education of the moral conscience.29 human formation should lead to commitment to the truth, respect for others, justice, truth telling, compassion, integrity, balance in judgement, self-control, strength of character, development of a high sense of responsibility.30 it should also focus on self-determination and responsibility for one’s actions, which translates into a balance in relationships. consequently, the entire life history, the ability of the person to be reconciled to and integrate that personal history, family influences, awareness of personal weakness, are very important for human formation. human formation of the candidates for the priesthood should also take into cognizance the importance of interpersonal relationship and relationship with the environment31; relationship with women; the ability to take responsibility; selfdetermination; awareness of personal weakness; the care for physical well-being; cultivation of good habits; emotional stability; development of leadership skills; cultivation of interactive skills; capacity for dialogue; openness; respect; affective maturity; understanding of self and others and sympathy; compassion; patience; tolerance; love of the truth; honesty; moral excellence; transparency. spiritual formation the second important dimension of formation which human formation leads to and in which it finds its completion is spiritual formation. there section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 173 is in every human person the religious “character” or dimension: the openness to transcendence and the absolute.32 spiritual formation has to do with communion with god, with christ, submission of life to the spirit, “in a filial attitude toward the father and a trustful attachment to the church. spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.”33 spiritual formation is the core “which gives life” to the being of the priest and to his activities in the world. it should lead to union with the trinity, drawing close to and living in intimate union and communion with christ, living out the paschal mystery, seeking christ through meditation on god’s word, participating in the divine mysteries of worship, in filial obedience to the bishop and in veneration of the blessed virgin mary.34 spiritual formation opens candidates to the mystery that the christian religion is: “the gift, of a personal covenant of love and life between god and human beings.”35 it is communion with christ, that is expressed in the deepest act of love and friendship with him. it is search for jesus which if assiduously carried out, will lead to finding him, following him and being in communion with him.36 this seeking or search for jesus would be achieved if three important steps or paths are covered: “a faithful meditation on the word of god, active participation in the church's holy mysteries and the service of charity to the “little ones.”“37 the fundamental and primal way of responding to the word of god is prayer,38 which is nothing but that deep intimacy with god, which expresses itself in a total gift of self “to christ and through christ to the father.”39 formation for prayer will include formation for the appreciation of silence. formation for christian commitment to prayer finds its highest expression in the eucharist, the “‘summit and source’ of the sacraments and the liturgy of the hours.”40 spiritual formation will also include formation for the liturgy of the church, the expression and continuation of the paschal mystery of jesus christ. it will include formation and appreciation for the other sacraments, especially penance, the cultivation of the practices of asceticism and self-sacrifice; the understanding of the meaning and centrality of the cross, the heart of the paschal mystery, in the life of every believer and identification with christ crucified.41 spiritual formation will also teach the candidate to seek christ in people, to offer himself as a gift to others, to be a man of charity and to teach others what the commandment of love truly entails,42 and to understand the core spiritual values inherent in the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience as the free expression of the total gift of self in imitation of the charity of christ.43 174 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation this aspect of formation of the human person has to do with the formation of the mind, and the scientific acquisition of knowledge, which is not intended to be a mere acquisition of knowledge but a knowledge that is directed towards knowing and adhering to god. intellectual formation is important because of the nature of the ministry to which the candidates will be called to share in, the need for evangelization and the necessity to defend the faith.44 being called to collaborate with christ in the salvation of their brothers and sisters, they have the responsibility “to seek an ever deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.” owing to the challenges of modernity and post modernity, the formation of candidates must equip them intellectually to have the capacity to proclaim “the changeless gospel of christ.”45 this formation needs a stable institution and a formal atmosphere for it to take place. in the formal environment in which the formation of candidates to the priesthood takes place, there is need for a corp of persons who by virtue of their preparation and training, are equipped to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the intellectual formation of the candidates for the priesthood. intellectual formation must take place in a suitable environment. formation candidates must demonstrate commitment to intellectual formation, 46 which must have focus and content. this intellectual formation is carried out through the study of philosophy and theology, two disciplines that must be coordinated effectively “so that they supplement one another in revealing to the minds of students with ever increasing clarity the mystery of christ, which affects the whole course of human history.”47 this dimension formation must not be simple expression of rarified truths but equally pastoral application of same and concern for the challenges and preoccupations of the times. with a firm intellectual formation, formation candidates are equipped to thoroughly assess the negative teachings and philosophies that are bandied about in the modern world and proffer solution to counteract them, based on the truths of the gospel. intellectual formation must also focus on the “unity of the educational process in its diverse aspects.”48 consequently, the “commitment to study, which takes up no small part of the time of those preparing for the priesthood, is not in fact an external and secondary dimension of their human, christian, spiritual and vocational growth. in reality, through study, especially the study of theology, the future priest assents to the word of god, grows in his spiritual life and prepares himself to fulfill his pastoral ministry.”49 what this implies is that intellectual formation must not be carried out as if it is an end in itself, as pure abstract knowledge that has no bearing with real life, but must be “integrated with a spirituality marked by a personal section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 175 experience of god. in this way a purely abstract approach to knowledge is overcome in favor of that intelligence of heart which knows how 'to look beyond,' and then is in a position to communicate the mystery of god to the people.”50 the study of philosophy will lead to a “deeper understanding and interpretation of the person, and of the person’s freedom and relationship with the world and with god.”51 it will also lead “the students gradually to a solid and consistent knowledge of man, the world and god.”52 it is also vital because of the links that exist between the great themes studied in philosophy that find expression in theology. philosophical studies will also help to dethrone “subjectivism as a criterion and measure of truth…”53 and lead candidates to appreciate the truth that can never be given by man but is a gift from god himself. the second part of intellectual formation of the candidates is theology, the discourse on god. theological studies must have the true faith as its point of departure and point of arrival.54 this faith is one about which questions are asked and answers are given, on the basis of divine revelation, tradition and the living magisterium of the church, in order to arrive at its deeper understanding. this faith is faith in jesus christ, which is expressed and exercised in the church. thus, the faith has christological, ecclesiological and ecclesial foundation, implication and dimension. these dimensions should help the candidate to develop a deep love for christ and his body, the church. intellectual formation must be integrated with spiritual formation and the prayer life, otherwise it regresses into pure abstraction and theological gymnastics and sophistry. the aim of theological formation should be the arrival at “a complete and unified vision of the truths which god has revealed in jesus christ and of the church’s experience of faith.”55 it should integrate the scientific study of theology with its pastoral aim and seek the inculturation of revealed truths within the cultural expressions that the church is called upon to preach the message of salvation.56 pastoral formation the last aspect of formation of the human person for the priesthood is pastoral formation. pastoral formation has to do with the configuration of the candidate to become shepherds after the image of christ, the good shepherd. this is stated so well in optatam totius that recommends that candidates should be trained for the ministry of the word, of worship and sanctification, of the shepherd. the other three dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual should be directed to “a specific pastoral end.”57 pastoral formation should consist of “mature reflection and practical application”58 and taking cue from pastoral theology, must not be seen just as an art, but as “a scientific 176 formation of the human person in the 21st century reflection on the church as she is built up daily, by the power of the spirit, in history; on the church as the “universal sacrament of salvation, as a living sign and instrument of the salvation wrought by christ through the word, the sacraments and the service of charity.”59 it must concern itself with the practical application of the principles encountered and acquired during the scientific intellectual formation that the candidate has to undergo. these principles are to be put into practice in the various pastoral trainings, experiences and services that are to be carried out during the formative years. pastoral formation should lead the candidates to “deeper communion with the pastoral charity of jesus christ”60 pastoral formation is therefore “a type of formation meant not only to ensure scientific, pastoral competence and practical skill, but also and especially a way of being in communion with the very sentiments and behavior of christ the good shepherd: “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in christ jesus” (phil. 2:5).”61 pastoral formation, which is not mere apprenticeship, should “seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work.”62 it should expose the candidates to living out the charity of christ in terms of the care for the less fortunate, the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the normads, and to various forms of social works, all with the intention of expressing the closeness and the love of christ to those who are most in need of it. it should teach the candidate to defend the rights and dignity of man, created in the image and likeness of god, wherever such appear to be jeopardized, and inculcate in the candidate the capacity to live out his mission as a service in the community.63 it should help the candidate to understand and see the church as mystery (work and presence of the trinity), communion (community, collaboration, cooperation) and mission (the missionary dimension of the life of the church).64 the formation for the priesthood as paradigmatic of formation of the human person the four principal areas that are foundational and fundamental to the formation of candidates for the priesthood could also be validly contextualized and utilized as paradigms and directional principles for the formation of any human person in order to arrive at fullest christian maturity and attain the deployment of their latent potentials and the realization of their possibilities. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 177 human formation the insights gained in the documents studied can be validly proposed for the formation of any human person, and especially of a christian, in any circumstance. the documents proposed that human formation is the bedrock of all formation. the formation of any person is fundamentally based on human formation. human formation is the formation of the humanity of the person, the radical transformation of who a person is. this human formation has the ontological configuration to christ as its principal point of departure and arrival. it involves sensitivity to the needs of others, ability to be at home with one’s humanity and rise above personal history and limitations. human formation has to do with formation to be balanced persons, to love truth, justice, be loyal, respectful, compassionate, to be persons of integrity and be balanced in judgment and behaviour. human formation will therefore include formation in affective maturity, self-responsibility, self-determination, development of leadership skills, cultivation of interactive skills, moral excellence and transparency. these are foundational principles that should form the bedrock of the formation of human persons for the good of society and humanity in general. consequently, the insights of the documents are very valid in this regard for the authentic formation of persons. spiritual formation in the formation of the human person the important insights and guiding principles used in the spiritual formation of candidates for the priesthood are equally of valid importance in the formation of the human person. the documents describe spiritual formation as predisposition to transcendence and the absolute, communion with god and with jesus christ, the good shepherd and submission of life to the holy spirit,65 and that it is central to the life of the faithful and “unifies their being and living as christians, that is, as new creatures in christ who walk in the spirit...”66 it consists in living the life of christ, living in union and communion with christ, communion with christ, search for jesus, meditation on god’s word, participation in the mysteries of worship, and dedication to the service of charity. these ideals of the spiritual formation of candidates for the priesthood are also important in the overall formation of the human person in terms of cultivation of the ideals of self-sacrificial love, love of the cross, dedication and commitment to the paschal mystery, participation in the liturgy of the church, living out ascetical practices that help in the promotion of the life of man in the world. the insights in these documents clarify the fact that man’s push towards transcendence can be validly assisted through authentic formation in spiritual values that are cognate to his nature. 178 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation the documents studied emphasized the formation of the mind and the indispensability of the scientific acquisition of knowledge, which should, however, not be for the sake of mere acquisition but a knowledge that is god-centred and directed towards knowledge of god and the good of others. the formation of the mind is important in today’s world. this need is especially seen in the propagation of the culture of death, moral relativism, flight from commitments; consumerism; hedonism and pleasure seeking. intellectual formation will equip the human person to make differential judgment and determine in a personal, informed way, the course of action to take. we are aware and are living witnesses today to the power and influence of the modern means of communication in the shaping of behaviour and conduct. a well-integrated, well informed, balanced and systematic presentation of truths within the programme of intellectual formation, will help every human person to make the right decisions about the course of actions to pursue. pastoral formation every human person, to arrive at full maturity, needs the important insights on the formation of the pastoral person as enunciated in the documents and teachings of the church. the person and character of the church through history, the lessons the church has learnt, will be of invaluable aid in the pursuit of such a pastoral endeavour. pastoral formation principles could be used in the development of certain values in the human person: the charity of christ in the care for others; commitment to social work; work for the promotion of human dignity with christian principles; living out one’s christian mission as a form of service that benefits other people; recognition of one’s identity and that of others; capacity for communion, collaboration, cooperation, coresponsibility; understanding; trust and love for the church. the principles of pastoral formation could also be validly deployed in the search and actualization of the different vocations, for instance, “marriage, social services, apostolate, ministries and other responsibilities in pastoral activity, the consecrated life, involvement in political and social leadership, scientific research, teaching.”67 the fruits of pastoral formation will be valuable in teaching the lay faithful “in their vocation to be present in and to transform the world with the light of the gospel, by recognizing this task of their and showing respect for it.”68 the principles of pastoral formation of the candidates for the priesthood are equally important in the area of the missionary content of the life of every baptized and of every human person. every human person should live with the self-recognition that life has a mission. in the context of the christian person, that mission is christ himself, the way and the truth section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 179 and the life. that mission of christ is prolonged and carried on in the activities of the church, called upon to continue and carry on the mission of the saviour until the end of time. that mission includes living out and proclaiming the gospel of christ in the events of life and even sometimes as lay missionaries, witnessing to the truths of the gospel, in cooperation and collaboration with the ministerial priests. conclusion the four formative principles, pillars or dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral, formulated and stated in conciliar and postconciliar documents on the formation of the candidates for the sacred priesthood, especially optatam totius, pastores dabo vobis and the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis and used for the training of candidates in preparation for the assumption of responsibilities as catholic priests, are valid instruments that could also be used for the formation of any human person. the underlying strength of these timetested formative principles lies in the fact that they would ensure, in a wholistic way, the configuration of the human person, to the person of christ, the perfect model of formation. the reasonability of these principles reveals the church as that great teacher that strives to make disciples for christ, since everyone who encounters the church, cannot but be formed after the image of christ, the bridegroom of the church. however, as consistently maintained in this paper, the wholistic formation of the human person gives absolute premium to the humanity of the human person who is called to witness to jesus christ. the humanity of every individual sets the fulcrum or pivot around which the other dimensions turn. thus, a faulty human formation cannot produce a formed individual in the wholistic sense. the dependability of the other dimensions of formation on human formation is clearly cut. the point of divergence between the dimensions of the formative processes under the jurisdictions of human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral indicates the various cardinal aspects of the human person; the point of convergence is largely the integration of these aspects of the human person, to be formed in the image of christ, thus, becoming another christ in the society. these formative principles, though insufficient in themselves, when taken together, become sufficient in building up the candidates for the sacred priesthood and the human person called to live out their mission in the society. hence, there must a successful synergizing of the results of the various dimensions of formation to attain holistic formation of the human person. 180 formation of the human person in the 21st century endnotes 1 the word paradigma is originally a greek (and later latin) word. etymologically, the word paradigma is from two greek words, ‘para’ meaning ‘beside’ and ‘deiknynai’ meaning ‘to display or show’” and these two words “were combined to form ‘paradeiknyai’, which possessed the literal meaning ‘to display side by side’”. the word “was used to refer to 'a model or pattern',” [“paradigm” in https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/paradigm, accessed 08.03.21, 08.45 am]. it could also mean a method, a well-tested and proven to be reliable form that could be replicated. paradigm is thus “a standard, perspective, or set of ideas” [“paradigm” in https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=paradigma &sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8, accessed 08.03.21, 09.16 am.] paradigmatic is the adjectival form of paradigma and it means “serving as a typical example of something” and “of or denoting the relationship between a set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.” it is also “a fancy word for describing something that is an ideal or standard. ... you'll come across it if you study the subject of linguistics, where "paradigmatic analysis" is one way of analyzing a text, by examining patterns within it.” “paradigmatic” in https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=v8y&ei=a9pfylwolbho1fapki mnya8&q=paradigmatic+meaning&oq=paradigmatic&gs_lcp=cgdnd3mtd2l6eae yatikcaaqkqiqrhd5atifcaaqkqiyaggamgiiadiccaayaggamgiiadiccaayagg amgiiadohcaaqrxcwa1dmhqnyqoodyjdva2gbcaj4ayabwwoiadmikgejmc4x ljiumc4xmaeaoaebqgehz3dzlxdpesgbcmabaq&sclient=gws-wiz, accessed 08.03.21, 9.34 a.m 2 “latin definition for: formo, formare, formavi, formatus” in https://latindictionary .net/definition/20903/formo-formare-formavi-formatus, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.31 p.m 3 “formation”, in https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/formation, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.39 4“definition of formation”, in https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/forma tion, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.15pm 5 pastores dabo vobis is the post synodal apostolic exhortation written by pope john paul ii at the conclusion of the eighth ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops, from 30 september to 28 october, 1990, dedicated to “the formation of priests in circumstances of the present day. this post synodal apostolic exhortation has as its focus the formation of priests for the modern age and time. formation must know the present situation of the world full of ambivalence and contradictions, difficulties and potentialities, and have genuine courage to discern, interpret and find solutions to it [cf. pastores dabo vobis 10] formation of persons for the priesthood must therefore have gospel discernment at its heart: the ability to discern and interpret the situation of the world in the light of the gospel of jesus christ, that is, in the light of christ himself [cf. pastores dabo vobis 10] 6 pastores dabo vobis 8 7 pastores dabo vobis 10 section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 181 8 pastores dabo vobis 1 9 pastores dabo vobis 12 10 pastores dabo vobis 2 11 pastores dabo vobis 5 12 cf. pastores dabo vobis 8 13 cf. pastores dabo vobis 9 14 cf. pastores dabo vobis 11h 15 pastores dabo vobis 12 16 cf. pastores dabo vobis 12 17 “as a mystery, the church is essentially related to jesus christ. she is his fullness, his body, his spouse. she is the "sign" and living "memorial" of his permanent presence and activity in our midst and on our behalf. the priest finds the full truth of his identity in being a derivation, a specific participation in and continuation of christ himself, the one high priest of the new and eternal covenant.” pastores dabo vobis 12 18congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocationratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, liberia editrice vaticana, vatican (2016), n. 94 19 ibid. n. 94 20 ibid. n. 95 21 pastores dabo vobis 43 22 optatam totius 11 23 pastores dabo vobis n. 72 24 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, 130 25 optatamtotius 11 26 ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, no: 93. 27 pastores dabo vobis, no: 43. 28 pastores dabo vobis, no: 43. 29 cf. pastores dabo vobis 44 30 cf. optatam totius, no: 11. 31 cf. ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, no: 94. 32 pastores dabo vobis 45 33 cf. pastores dabo vobis 45 34 cf. optatam totius 8 35 pastores dabo vobis 46 36 cf. pastores dabo vobis 46 37 pastores dabo vobis 46 38 cf. pastores dabo vobis 47 39 pastores dabo vobis 47 40 pastores dabo vobis 48 41 cf. pastores dabo vobis 48 42 cf. pastores dabo vobis 49 43 cf. pastores dabo vobis 50 44 cf. pastores dabo vobis 51 45 pastores dabo vobis 51 182 formation of the human person in the 21st century 46 congregation for the clergy, ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, n.141 47 the second vatican council, optatam totius 14. 48 pastores dabo vobis 51 49 pastores dabo vobis 51 50 pastores dabo vobis 51 51 pastores dabo vobis 52 52 optatam totius 15 53 pastores dabo vobis 52 54 cf. pastores dabo vobis 53 55 pastores dabo vobis 54 56 cf. pastores dabo vobis 55 57 optatam totius 4; cf. pastores dabo vobis 57 58 pastores dabo vobis 57 59 pastores dabo vobis 57 60 pastores dabo vobis 57 61 pastores dabo vobis 57 62 pastores dabo vobis 58 63 cf. pastores dabo vobis 58 64 cf. pastores dabo vobis 59 65 cf. pastores dabo vobis 45 66 pastores dabo vobis 45 67 pastores dabo vobis 59 68 pastores dabo vobis 59 183 13 the dialectics of “auto-guided” formation: the seminarian as an agent of formation anselm k. jimoh ph.d. department of philosophy ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary p.m.b. 5171, bodija, ibadan. jimohanselm@gmail.com abstract formation is an intricate phenomenon involving the interaction of the different agents of formation. at the centre of this interaction is the formandi/seminarian who is, himself, an agent of his own formation. the input of the formandi is fundamental to the overall output of the formative process since the output of the formative process is a synthesis of the inputs of all the different agents of formation. understood in this sense, formation is a dialectics. the formandi, being the central focus of formation, and at the same time an agent of his own formation, his response and/or disposition to formation either compliments or negates the inputs of the other agents of formation. therefore, the formandi can single-handedly make or mar the formative process. the dialectical dynamics of formation is not just between the other agents of formation and the formandi (external), it also internal, as the formandi struggles to resolve his personal ideas with the quadruple requirements of priestly formation. this paper adopts the method of critical analysis to evaluate the dialectics of auto-guided formation, it investigates how the formandi interacts with the agents of formation towards achieving the character of another christ, and concludes that the extent to which the formandi is properly formed depends on the extent to which he positively disposes himself to formation. the aim of the paper is to encourage the formandi to dispose himself appropriately towards formation and get the maximum output from his programme of formation. mailto:jimohanselm@gmail.com 184 formation of the human person in the 21st century keywords: agent of formation, auto-guided, dialectics, formandi, formation. introduction priestly formation is meant to equip a candidate aspiring towards the catholic priesthood through a continuing conversion of heart, mind and soul that would enable him carry on an effective ministry in serving god and the people. it is a demanding and intensive programme of human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation that requires the interaction of different agents of formation, viz: the formators, the fomandi, the environment and the curriculum of formation. these agents interact continually to shape the fomandi into the character of a priest as an alter christus; one who acts in persona christi capitis and in nomine ecclesia. the central focus in the formation process is the candidate who is undergoing formation – the seminarian or formandi. his disposition towards formation, which involves his docility or indocility, is key to how he is formed because formation is a “give and take” phenomenon. when the given is not taken, there would be no formation and the way and manner the given is taken determines the extent to which the formandi is formed. herein lies the dialectics of auto-guided formation. the present paper relies on existing literature on the subject and adopts the critical analytic, conceptual and hermeneutic approach to examine the dialectics of auto-guided formation. that is, how the formandi interacts with the agents and factors of formation, which includes himself, towards achieving the character of another christ. the paper elucidates the idea of priestly formation as a basis to examine the concept of auto-guided formation. it carefully but critically interrogates the role of the formandi in his self-formation. based on the analysis herein, it concludes that whether a formandi is appropriately formed or not depends on how his docility. the primary aim of the paper is to encourage the seminarian to positively dispose himself towards formation and get the optimal from his programme of formation. priestly formation even though priestly formation is not the primary focus of this paper, it is nonetheless, important to expound the concept of priestly formation because the concept of auto-guided formation, which is the primary focus of this paper, takes its meaning and modus operandi within that of priestly formation. priestly formation is a very important and demanding task aimed at developing the priestly character. it is a holistic, integral, and inclusive process that involves the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral development of the candidate in formation.1 it requires the seminarian to open up for a personal encounter with the lord and be section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 185 transformed by the lord.2 the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacedotalis (rfis) n. 35 describes it as a process that implies the configuration of the seminarian to christ, who is the head, the shepherd, the servant and the spouse; bringing the seminarian into a mystical identification with the person of christ as described in the gospels. according to carlos wong, archbishop emeritus of papantla and secretary for seminaries, congregation for the clergy, it is “the process of internalisation, in the proper sense, a priestly lifestyle, which aims to ingrain the values that are proper to life and to priestly ministry in the personality of the candidates for the priesthood.”3 paraphrasing evangelica testificatio n. 32, bishop donatus ogun of the diocese of uromi, describes formation as “the honest confrontation with the self of the way of life of jesus christ, his teaching and example. it is about building up of the inner man, it is the care you have for the inner man which will help you to recognise, in the midst of so many different and attractive possibilities, the most suitable way to live your vocation.”4 the second vatican council’s (vc ii) decree on priestly formation: optatam totius (ot), clearly identified the basic principles of priestly formation, and the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis (pdv) by pope st. john paul ii provides a blue print for priestly formation in the circumstances of a fast-paced digital world.5 a simple summary of pdv, in the words of john anaigwu would be: priests need to be “balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities.”6 specifically, pdv n. 43 states that, they [seminarians] need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgement and behaviour. pdv nos. 43 – 45 identify the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral aspects as the four basic components of priestly formation. and further emphasised that the human formation is the basis of all priestly formation because it is the human person that becomes the priest. the spiritual formation is the centre that holds and provides life to the being of the priest and his function as a priest. intellectual formation, which is apparently the most visible, transcends the acquisition of degrees in philosophy and theology to include educating the priest to be “knowledgeable in all human sciences and even the history and culture of the nations within which they are expected to minister.”7 such a holistic education recognises the positive development of the iq and aptitude of the seminarian and equip him to respond appropriately to enquiries from the faithful who seek guidance and counsel to resolve their faith and moral crisis in the face of new scientific and technological 186 formation of the human person in the 21st century discoveries that tend always to remove god from the picture.8 according to ot n. 4, the trifold of human, spiritual, and intellectual formation aims at making the priest a pastor. one who is a true shepherd of souls after the example of jesus christ; trained in the ministries of the word, worship and sanctification, and shepherding just like christ who did not come to be served but to serve (mt. 10:45 and jn. 13: 12-17) and win souls by becoming servants of all (1 cor. 9:19). the pastoral formation has both the theoretical and practical aspects. the former is acquired in the classroom in the seminary, and the latter is acquired on the field (dioceses) during apostolic work and pastoral year. the apostolic work and pastoral year periods provide the opportunity for seminarians to learn the praxis of the ministry through exposure to parish life and setting. needless to say, as anaigwu impressively analysed, that the practical aspect of pastoral formation seems to be riddled with abuses these days judging from the way it is handled by priests in the dioceses. it has been misconstrued as a time for probing the seminarian, getting a wage-free houseboy, and at times, considered an unnecessary burden on the priest or parish.9 priestly formation takes place essentially in a seminary, therefore, it can also be described as seminary formation. it differs from the regular secular education, schooling or job training, hence it is not called seminary education but seminary formation. “it is an activity of cooperation with the grace of god where by god himself works in the man to form him into christian man and sharer in the priesthood of jesus christ.”10 in the seminary, the formation of the seminarian is integrated with the wider ecclesia understanding of the church. thus, bishop ogun says, “it is in the discovery of who the church says he [christ] is you [the seminarian] are then able to meet him and say ‘here i am, send me.’ this is the purpose of catholic formation in our seminaries.”11 based on the foregoing, it behoves on the seminarian to open-up and entrust himself to the church in his formation while he recognises the fact that he is primarily responsible for his own formation.12 this last point introduces the core of this paper; the seminarian as an agent of formation, which is to be properly understood within the notion of auto-guided formation. auto-guided formation the concept of “auto-guided” is compounded from the dual concepts of “auto” with the prefix (auto-) and “guide.” the former (auto-), from its greek root translates as “self” and often used in the formation of compound words like autograph, autobiography, automatic, etc. the latter (guide), as a verb means to indicate the way, and as a noun, it describes someone who shows the way to others. literarily therefore, section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 187 “auto-guided” would be self-guidance or to guide oneself, which implies that the seminarian guides himself in his formation. the way it has been applied in seminary formation since its evolution a little over two decades ago, implies more than just self-guidance or to guide oneself. it means that the seminarian forms himself following the guidance of others. these others are his formators and the other agents of formation. the holy spirit is principally the agent of formation and all other agents of formation are mediators through whom the holy spirit forms the seminarian. the other agents of formation include the following: (i) the bishop, who is ultimately responsible for the entire formative process. (ii) the diocesan community and the presbyterate, which constitute the privileged environment for the transmission of priestly values. (iii) the educational community of the seminary, which consists of the formators, lecturers and employees. (iv) diocesan priests who play a vital role in the interactions with the seminarians during the latter’s apostolic work and pastoral year experience. even though it is not usually stressed, the laity and women play special roles in the seminarian’s discernment of his priestly vocation, so they are also agents of formation. these human agents of formation should help the seminarian to open himself up personally and profoundly to the sanctifying action of the spirit by helping the seminarian to take his formation seriously and assist in sustaining him to make his ‘yes’ response to the lord every day.13 the role of the formators and lecturers in the seminary as agents of formation within the context of auto-guided formation is ineliminable. therefore, it is important to emphasise it, even if just briefly. they constitute the “guidance” aspect in the process of formation, for by their way of life, instructions, and lectures, they guide the seminarian. in this wise, the seminary must be adequately staffed. to be adequately staffed does not just mean quantity in terms of the number of priests on the formation team or lecturers in the various departments. neither does it just mean academically intelligent formators and lecturers. it means having qualitative formators and lecturers. qualitative here describes priests who in the honest judgement of their bishops are tested and trusted; “priests whom their bishops can vouch for in terms of commitment to responsibilities, sound doctrine, spiritual, moral and social maturity, priestly decorum, intellectual soundness, economic and financial discipline, with ecclesiastical personality.”14 the same applies at its own degree to the lecturers employed to teach the seminarians. they must be of good moral standing and ideas, matured and disciplined in their choice of expressions, dress code, and should have respect for the church’s teachings and hierarchy, as well as be able to keep their 188 formation of the human person in the 21st century personal opinions to themselves when they deliver their lectures. inappropriate guidance would lead the seminarian to malformation. all said, the seminarian is the first person responsible for his own formation. pdv n. 69 asserts that, “we must not forget that the candidate himself is a necessary and irreplaceable agent in his own formation: all formation, priestly formation included, is ultimately a self-formation. no one can replace us in the responsible freedom we have as individual persons.” in the same wise, the new rfis n. 130 emphasises that: each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation, …and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospels. in the above statement, the new rfis directs attention to the formative attitude of the seminarian, which is the personal input or selfguidance inclusive in the notion of auto-guided formation. the personal input of the seminarian requires that he must be “available and docile to learn from the various circumstances of his life, in all the dimensions of his personality.”15 the concepts of “availability” and “docility” are imperative here. a seminarian who lacks availability just goes to the chapel, the class, the play field, the refectory and the library because he should be there according to the horarium but does not personally and actively participate in what goes on at these places. consequently, he just goes through the activities without the activities going though him. in other words, even though the seminarian is guided, he refuses to apply himself to guidance – he has been given formation by the design of the horarium but he has not taken formation. it is one thing to be guided and another thing to apply oneself to guidance. a seminarian’s unavailability implies his lack of formation because he refuses, ipso facto, to be formed. availability and docility are complementary. to be docile is to open oneself to learn. a seminarian who goes to class with his mind already closed to whatever the lecturer would say cannot learn. such a seminarian sits in positions where he cannot be noticed, stares at the lecturer all through the lecture with the grimace that may be translated into “finish and leave joor,” he takes no notes in class, asks no questions and avoids been noticed to be asked a question. sometimes, he is reading through some other materials of interest to him that have no relevance to the lecture going on. such a seminarian is not docile and he is lacking in the aspect of self-formation. even when the aspect of the guidance is there, the seminarian would be malformed. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 189 the availability and docility of the seminarian enables him to achieve the fundamental openness required to advance the necessary freedom to allow oneself to be accompanied and to receive positively the help of his formators. seminarians that are selective of the formator they want to listen to are doing harm to their self-formation. in the same vein, formators that play to the gallery with seminarians; who would overlook formative issues because they do not want to disturb the seminarians or make them think they (formators) are “wicked” (to use the common term of seminarians), are not only obstructing the self-formation of the seminarians but also neglecting their role in the dialectics of auto-guided formation. dialectics of auto-guided formation dialectics refers to “a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.”16 it is a form of reasoning that involves a dialogue of arguments and counterarguments that results in a synthesis of advocating propositions and counter-propositions. it is an inquiry into the truth of opinions with the aim of seeking a resolution or reconciliation. as a philosophical method, it is a discourse between two or more discussants who hold different opinions, but aim at establishing the truth of their positions through reasoned arguments. within hegelianism – georg w. f. hegel’s system of thought, with which dialectics is mostly associated – dialectics has a specialised connotation; it describes the contradiction between ideas that ultimately determines the relationship between the ideas. it consists of three stages of development. the first stage is the thesis or statement of an idea, it gives rise to the second stage, which is a reaction or antithesis. the antithesis negates the thesis. to resolve the negation of the thesis by the antithesis, the third stage, which is the synthesis is produced, thus, the synthesis resolves the differences between the thesis and the antitheses. it is in this sense that dialectics is understood as “the tendency of a notion to pass over into its own negation as the result of conflict between its inherent contradictory aspects.”17 this is exactly the sense in which karl marx and friedrich engels popularised it in their social and economic analysis referred to as dialectical materialism. it is characterised by the interaction between the thesis and antithesis in the production of the synthesis. by the dialectics of auto-guided formation therefore, i mean the interaction between the formation-given, which constitute the thesis of the dialectics, and the formation-received, which is the antithesis, in the production of the formed – that is, the output of the resolution between the thesis and antithesis – is the synthesis. the formation-given is the input of all the agents of formation, moderated by the formators, in the 190 formation of the human person in the 21st century formation of the formandi. the formation-received is the way and manner the formandi receives the inputs of all the other agents of formation. in particular, it describes the formandi’s positive or negative disposition (availability and docility) towards formation. the formed is what the formandi turns out to be at the end of his formation. the thesis alone (formation given) cannot constitute the synthesis; the way and manner it is received, which is either favourably or nonchalantly or rejected (antithesis) determines the end-product of the formed, which would be either properly formed, malformed or not formed at all (synthesis). in the dialectics of auto-guided formation, the seminarian’s role as an agent of his own formation is crucial to how he is formed. if the seminarian is positively disposed, he will be open to the inputs of the other agents of formation and he would allow himself be guided by such inputs. he would mould himself; intellectually, spiritually, pastorally and humanly, into the character and person of christ, following the template of the formation-given. with determination and commitment to be properly formed, he would courageously confront the negativities that constitute antithesis to the formation-given. these negativities include: not wanting to be told what to do, wanting to be like other young men outside the seminary, wanting to sleep a little longer in the early hours of the morning rather than having to get up for morning prayers, questioning the rationale for manual work and the necessities for the mandatory lectures, dress code, etc. on the hand, the seminarian that is not positively disposed, would not only lack the determination and commitment required to confront these negativities, but would rationalise and justify them. consequently, he would react, in one way or another, against the inputs of the other agents of formation. even though formation is given, the seminarian would be malformed because of his negative disposition and lack of openness to accept the inputs of the other agents of formation. because he disagrees within himself with the manner of formation, he would not be properly formed. it is germane at this point to consider some of the possible attitudes towards formation by seminarians. there are, at least, four easily discernible possible attitudes that a seminarian can have towards formation. i. lack of interest towards formation. ii. pretentious interest towards formation. iii. uncommitted interest towards formation. iv. genuine interest towards formation. for those in group one, there is nothing about the seminary that interests them; they grudgingly do everything, from going to the chapel for prayers to going out for games. they are interested in such things section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 191 that give them pleasure or make them free, for example, outing and lecture free days. whatever the formators say does not make sense to them, they just stare at the formators and say “thank you fr” when the formator is done talking to them. deep in their heart, they mean “leave me alone.” their minds are made on what they want to do and how they want to be priests, they are in the seminary to count the years as they roll by and get out there for ordination. from the day they finish their oral b.th. exams, chapel is a no-no for them. they go around with an air of freedom thereafter. seminarians like these cannot be properly formed because they lack the basic fundamental disposition of availability and docility. for group two, they are of the same category in terms of disposition as those in group one but sneaky and more dangerous. they are very good seminarians in the presence of their formators and anyone who matters as far as their seminary formation is concerned. when no one is looking they do everything they should not do but which is actually what they desire to do. they can have a very strong negative influence on their fellow seminarians, which makes them dangerous. they are like the biblical wolves in sheep’s clothing. the third group have the genuine interest in being formed, but on their own terms. they listen and participate in formation activities and programmes as it is convenient for them. when it is not convenient for them, they participate all the same but without any attention at all just to be counted as present. seminarians in this category have a fair idea what the priesthood should be, but more often than not, their idea is orientated towards their “ideal priest” who is usually not jesus christ as it should be but one priest somewhere that they admire so much, for whatever reasons. if their ideal priest is one of those striving to do the right thing, those in this category have chances of being well formed, but if he is one of those doing his own thing in the priesthood, they are not likely to be well formed. the fourth group involves seminarians who are wholeheartedly positively disposed towards formation. they actively participate in formation activities and programmes with the genuine intention of getting the maximum results in terms of acquiring knowledge and the priestly character after the mind of christ and the church. they are attentive in class and eager to learn. they do not hide in the crowd because they have no intention to break the rules and regulations of formation. they feel free with their formators and share their worries with the hope of being assisted to overcome their difficulties. those in this category are, unfortunately not many. those in groups one to three would hardly ever see themselves to be wrong, they always consider themselves victimised and would 192 formation of the human person in the 21st century always justify themselves. if they are accused of any wrong doing, especially those in groups one and two, they are quick to tender and apology – “i am sorry fr”, what they are sorry for, you do not even know because they have not accepted that they were wrong. it is usually an indication of seminarians who are not ready to learn or improve. if for any reason, they are expelled from the seminary, they consider themselves as victims of injustice. those in group four are, at times unfortunate to be expelled but even then, they never hold grudges against the seminary or any of their formators. conclusion the aim of this paper is to analyse the dialectics of auto-guided formation and emphasise the fundamental role of the formandi/seminarian as an agent in his own formation. no matter the formation given and the wholesome role of all other agents of formation, the seminarian is only formed to what extent he makes himself available for formation. where he lacks the requisite docility towards learning and polishing his character to conform or configure himself to the person of christ, the activities of the other agents of formation will have no positive impact in his formation. aniagwu avers that we should always note the contradistinction between “formation given” and “formation received.” he asserts that it is not always the case that the formation received corresponds to the formation given and the reason for this lies in the quality of the response of the seminarian to formation.18 i am not unaware of the claim by some liberalists that we are in an age where youths have a high tendency towards unrestrained freedom and would want to do what they want, when they want and how they want. based on the excessively permissive nature of today’s society, they argue that seminarians should be allowed some latitude. i am not taking a position on this in this paper, however, i insist that allowing seminarians latitude or not is not a primary issue, what is primary is the disposition of the seminarian towards formation. irrespective of societal and environmental influences, a seminarian that does not make himself available with the required docility for formation would not be properly formed. therefore, the seminarian should evaluate how he forms himself under the guidance of the other agents of formation. the measure a seminarian puts into his own formation determines the effectiveness of the measure his formators and other agents of formation put into his (seminarian) formation. pdv n. 69 affirms this with the words, “the actions of the different teachers become truly and fully effective only if the future priest offers his own convinced and heartfelt cooperation to this work of formation.” section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 193 endnotes 1 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis (vatican city: libreria editrice vaticana, 1992), 43ff. 2 t. h. akaabiam, “seminary formation,” the aquinas’ journal 5 (june 2012), 1. 3 jorge carlos patrón wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” www.clerus.va>clerus>dox, pdf, 1. (accessed 2/9/2019). 4 donatus ogun, “being true disciples in a changing world,” homily delivered at the ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary, bodija, ibadan on the occasion of the celebration of the solemnity of saints peter and paul and installation of the ministries of lector and acolyte (june 28, 2019). 5 john k. aniagwu, faith and social action: perspectives on the church and society (iperu remo: ambassador publications, 2011), 214. 6 aniagwu, faith and social action, 213. 7 anselm jimoh, “priestly formation in the face of contemporary challenges in nigeria: lessons for consideration in auchi diocese,” in diocese of auchi at 10: history, growth and perspectives edited by j. a. onimhawo and f. e. ikhianosime, 31 53 (ibadan: safmos publishers, 2013), 44. 8 jimoh, “priestly formation,” 44 – 45. 9 anaigwu, faith and social action, 222-223 and jimoh, “priestly formation,” 46. 10 “what is seminary formation?”, https://vocationsboston.org, 2. (accessed 2/9/2019). 11 ogun, “being true disciples in a changing world.” 12 “what is seminary formation?”, 3. 13 wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” 3. 14 jimoh, “priestly formation,” 48-49. 15 wong, “foundations of priestly formation,” 2. 16 julie e. maybee, “hegel’s dialectics,” stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegeldialectics. (accessed 29/2/2020) 17 “dialectics” in http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectics. (accessed 3/9/2019). 18 aniagwu, faith and social action, 211. https://vocationsboston.org/ https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegel-dialectics https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegel-dialectics http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectics 194 14 formation to the priesthood: forming the formators edwin n. omorogbe, ph.d parish priest of st. paul catholic church benin city and adjunct lecturer, department of philosophy, university of benin, benin city eddyomorogbe@yahoo.com abstract there have rightly been so much emphasis on formation to the priesthood whenever a priest performs his pastoral duties properly, the formators in the seminary are applauded. but when a priest fails in his pastoral ministry, formators in the seminary are queried for why they did not identify the flaw in the process of formation. formators of candidates to the priesthood are very instrumental to healthiness of the faith of the people. how is it possible that a seminarian who was always faithful to the church’s teaching in the seminary suddenly becomes a priest who is almost like a “soothsayer” in the name of prophecy? how is it possible that this priest no longer sees the needs to observe the liturgical rubrics? from ‘alter christus’ to an ecclesiastical entertainer. how is it possible that the priest trained to form others in the faith is almost becoming an instrument of deformation of the faith others. this is precisely why our paper wants to examine the formation of those responsible for the formation of these candidates. if the formators must discern and help in the conscience formation of the candidates to the priesthood, the formators also must be engaged in on-going formation to keep abreast with the new challenges facing priests in pastoral ministry. what are some of the areas of on-going formation that may be helpful to formators to enhance their efficiency? this research will draw insights from magisterial documents and psychological findings on the need to form the formators. failure to form the formators leads to deformation of the candidates for the priesthood. keywords: formation, formator, priesthood section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 195 introduction every profession requires ongoing formation in order to acquire knowledge and expertise that will make the persons more efficient in their various disciplines. it is even more important in the disciplines that have to do with human formation. the vocation to the sacred priesthood in the catholic church requires lengthen years of human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation. in all these areas of formation, the human formation is considered the bedrock upon which all other aspects of formations are to be built upon. the church holds that she has the exclusive right and duty to form those who are designated for the sacred ministries.1 every diocese is to have a major seminary and where it is not possible an inter-diocesan seminary is to be established. the establishment of inter-diocesan seminary requires the approval of the episcopal conference and the approval of the holy see.2 since the formation of priests is intrinsically connected to the proclamation of the gospel of the lord, the church claims the innate right to establish program for the formation of the candidates for the priesthood. each nation is expected to established its own program of formation but it must follow the template provided in the ratio fundamentalis of the holy see.3 anyone involved in the formation of candidates to the priesthood must be familiar with all four areas of formation. the person must have the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to assist the students to develop the necessary virtues and to drop the unhealthy incompatible vices with the ministerial priesthood.4 the changes in the method of the proclamation of the gospel, the introduction of revised rituals for the sacraments and sacramentals, the evolution of the pastoral needs of the people of god, and the contemporary doctrinal challenges are just some of the few areas that require ongoing formation for the formators. formators who are not familiar with the sociological changes and the “new mindsets” of the people of god towards reception of the proclamation of the gospel will not be very effective in the art of formation. objective of the paper this paper will therefore, attempt to show that it is as important to train the formators as much as it is important to train the candidates for the sacred priesthood. the possible areas of ongoing formation of formators will be examined. the entire presupposition of this research is anchored on the fact that there is no fullness of knowledge in any human creature. growth in knowledge is continuous until death. the gospel of luke 2.52 says jesus grew in wisdom and stature. if christ who is divine can because of his human nature be subjected to growth in wisdom, all those 196 formation of the human person in the 21st century who are incorporated into christ by baptism also have the obligation to seek ways to grow in wisdom and knowledge. for those who train candidates for the sacred priesthood, the ways to grow in wisdom and knowledge is through formation of the formator. let us now briefly examine some possible obstacles to ongoing formation of formators. forming the formator it is important to always keep in mind that every human being requires ongoing formation. this ongoing formation comes in two ways. first, it comes through practical knowledge acquired from years of experience. the second way is through a formal or an organised program for the formator. the two should normally co-exist. the law established that all christ faithful do have the obligation to ensure that the message of salvation is spread to every part of the world.5 the direct implication of this is the fact that the church must provide the means and the opportunity for the message of salvation to reach the entire world. priests do have important functions in the fulfilment of this obligation of christ entrusted to the church. this is the context in which we must understand the great importance of the process of forming those who provide the leadership in the field of evangelization. those responsible for the formation of priests take up a very important tasks that is at the heart of the mission of the church. making provision for the ongoing formation of seminary formators should therefore be rightly seen as ecclesiastical obligation that flows from the mandate of christ to the church to go into the world and make disciples. in a recent symposium on the gift of priestly vocation for formators in english speaking canadian seminaries, the archbishop secretary of seminaries for the congregation for clergy underscored the need for formators to be engaged in ongoing formation.6 he noted that formation involves gradual and progressive stages as outlined in the ratio fundamentalis. this gradual and progressive formation requires formators to be well prepared to assist the candidates.7 in the same symposium, carlos presented a paper on how formators are to accompany and help seminarians discern their vocation.8 in this paper, carlos writes: “the high quality formation of formators (with ongoing formation and of all priests, makes possible the integral formation of seminarians). (initial formation) who are in the initial stages of their journey and gives it a sure footing.”9 the integral formation of seminarians will depend upon the quality of the formators. the quality of the formators improves based on-going formation. carlos explained thus: “the degree of growth achieved by the formator is what allows him to help the young seminarians in their own growth process.”10 any seminary that has no program for on-going formation of the formators is doing a great section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 197 disservice to the church because of the quality of priests that will come out of the seminary. two specific areas that formators must focus ongoing formation are accompaniment and discernment. in the area of accompaniment, the formator must improve on establishing a true bond with god by listening to his word. the formator must also have a systematic bond with the one who accompanies us in god’s name.11 engaging in programs that enhances the listening capacity of the formator will help to make the formator more efficient in his work. priestly formation there have been several magisterial documents on priestly formation.12 our research will only deal with a few that we consider relevant to the area of our study. priestly formation in this research refers to the preparation of candidates for the priesthood. although, such preparation requires multiple intervention from the family to the parish, to the lay apostolate group the person may belong to, to the diocesan program of formation through pastoral work or other forms of formation, our research will however, be primarily based upon the seminary aspects of formation. it will be concerned about the four areas of priestly formation and how specifically formators are trained to be competent to help candidates in these areas of formation. therefore, in dealing with priestly formation our attention will not such much be on the candidates for formation but on forming the formators. the second vatican council on 28 october 1965 pope paul vi published the decree optatam totius, on priestly formation. the decree stated that program of priestly training should be set up by episcopal conferences but always keeping in mind the universal law on priestly training.13 the major seminaries are the places where candidates to the priesthood are trained to be shepherds of souls after the model of christ the chief shepherd. all the forms of the training in the seminary are to be ordered towards the pastoral end.14 the intellectual and spiritual training are for pastoral effectiveness. in order to be successful in the formation of candidates, seminary formators are to be obedient to their bishops.15 given the high primum place on the formation of candidates to the sacred priesthood, the fathers of the council stated: since the training of students depends both on wise laws and, most of all, on qualified educators, the administrators and teachers of seminaries are to be selected from the best men, and are to be carefully prepared in sound doctrine, suitable pastoral experience 198 formation of the human person in the 21st century and special spiritual and pedagogical training. institutes, therefore, should be set up to attain this end. or at least courses are to be arranged with a proper program, and the meetings of seminary directors are to take place at specified times. administrators, however, and teachers must be keenly aware of how much the success of the students' formation depends on their manner of thinking and acting. under the rector's leadership they are to form a very closely knit community both in spirit and in activity and they are to constitute among themselves and with the students that kind of family that will answer to the lord's prayer "that they be one" (cf. john 17:11) and that will develop in the students a deep joy in their own vocation. the bishop, on the other hand, should, with a constant and loving solicitude, encourage those who labor in the seminary and prove himself a true father in christ to the students themselves. finally, all priests are to look on the seminary as the heart of the diocese and are to offer willingly their own helpful service.16 the fathers of the council took ongoing formation of formators seriously enough to decree that institutes for forming formators be set up. such institutes will help to keep formators abreast in the new pedagogical ways of discerning and accompanying a candidate towards the priesthood. the regular meetings of rectors and other formators are to be focused on improving ways of on-going formation of the formators. the decree makes an important point by stating the strong connection between the success of the priests in the ministry and the nature of formation received in the seminary. it will also mean that to some extent, the failure of the priest in the ministry can be traced to the nature of the formation and discernment received at the seminary. this further underpin the argument for ensuring proper on-going formation of the formators. another essential element expressed by the council fathers is the community in which the seminarians are formed. formators are to establish a closely-knit community in which they work in solidarity under the leadership of the rector. formators must keep in mind that the seminary environment is a community. one of the distinguishing factors of a community is a shared goal and a shared means of achieving it. the rector is expected to help guide the formators to use a common means to achieve the common goal of forming candidates for the priesthood in the church. programs that will enhance community living should be provided from time to time for formators to access. this is one way of forming the formators to enable them provide and sustain conducive atmosphere for the formation of candidates for the section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 199 priesthood. a formator who is manifestly unable to live in a closely-knit community should be assisted to develop the capacity to live in a community with shared goals. in the unfortunate situation where the formator is still unable to abide by community life, a pastoral solution that will strongly include the possibility of exiting the seminary formation system should be explored. pastores dabo vobis on forming the formators john paul ii in this famous apostolic exhortation stated that without priests the church will not be able to fulfil the fundamental obligation christ entrusted to the church, which is to go out and preach the gospel to the entire world: without priests the church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of christ: "go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (mt. 28:19) and "do this in remembrance of me" (lk. 22:19; cf. 1 cor. 11.24), i.e, an obedience to the command to announce the gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.17 the church must therefore place great importance on those who form candidates to the priesthood because they are participating in the core of the mission of the church. the formation of the formators is therefore part of the essential mandate of christ to the church. pdv describes the work of the formators as follows: the church's work of formation is a continuation in time of christ's own work, which the evangelist mark illustrates in these words: "and he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. and he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (mk. 3:13-15).18 the seminary community constitutes a sort of mountain place. it is a place of prayer and discernment. the process of identifying those who are suitable for the priestly ministry is one that should be done with all the seriousness it deserves. the formators in the seminary must have the necessary knowledge and skills to assist in the four areas of formation mentioned in pdv. the document stated that the entire work of priestly formation rests on a solid human formation: “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation. […]. future priests should therefore 200 formation of the human person in the 21st century cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry. these qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. they need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgment and behaviour.19 formators must first of all possess these qualities in themselves in order to be able to discern them in the candidates for priesthood. ongoing formation of formators should consider helping in the area of developing personal self-respect for the truth and respect for dignity of the human person and the diversities of opinions. a rigid approach to every aspect of human life is unhealthy. to have balance judgment, a formator will have to be capable of making assessment that are not influenced by their ethnicity. on-going formation of formators should also focus on how to work in a multi-ethnic diverse society. the candidates for the priesthood are expected to display a great sense of affective maturity and sound human sexuality. this will enable the person to be able to minister as a celibate priest to everyone in the pastoral field. the life style of formators most times constitute the model upon which seminarians build their future upon. formators should be role models in the area of affective maturity. the formation of the conscience of the candidates should be sound.20 spiritual formation requires that the candidates have a deeper communion with christ who is inviting them to work in his vineyard. “spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.”21 formators are to be concerned with the spiritual life of the candidates for the priesthood. a spirituality that is devoid of communion with the suffering christ must not be promoted. the current trend of seeking miraculous healings in almost every case of illness point to an unhealthy spirituality especially by priests who promote such beliefs. although, spiritual directors are primarily responsible for the spiritual formation of the seminarian, all other formators must have some rudimentary knowledge on spiritual formation. the provisions of optatam totius should be observed in the area of spiritual formation: spiritual formation should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with god the father through his son jesus christ, in the holy spirit. those who are section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 201 to take on the likeness of christ the priest by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives. they should live his paschal mystery in such a way that they will know how to initiate into it the people committed to their charge. they should be taught to seek christ in faithful meditation on the word of god and in active participation in the sacred mysteries of the church, especially the eucharist and the divine office, to seek him in the bishop by whom they are sent and in the people to whom they are sent, especially the poor, little children, the weak, sinners and unbelievers. with the confidence of sons they should love and reverence the most blessed virgin mary, who was given as a mother to the disciple by jesus christ as he was dying on the cross."22 the intellectual formation of candidates to the priesthood is rooted in the fact that human beings are called to participate in the light of god’s mind.23 through this way, the human being is able to confront the new challenges that comes up in evangelization. the educational formation of the formators is essential in the area of intellectual formation. it is expected that formators continue to engage in further researches in their respective area of discipline. attending conferences, seminars, symposiums etc are some of the ways of ensuring on-going formation of the formator as it relates to intellectual formation. there should be reasonable financial budget to encourage formators to seek ongoing formation in their respective disciplines. in this way, they will be able to proffer new solutions to contemporary pastoral challenges in an intellectual manner to the students. in the area of intellectual formation, formators should be able to help with a balanced sense of inculturation of the faith. christianity should not be presented as foreign to any culture.24 the resurgence of many superstitious beliefs within the christian community is a sign of lack of proper intellectual formation. the growing trend of exorcising none possessed persons, the preaching of prosperity gospel in order to raise fund to complete some projects that in some cases are not even essential to the life of the church, and the personalization of sacramental celebrations are just a few indicators that the intellectual formation is deficient in these priests. formators must engage rigorously the culture of the people and identify unhealthy elements and promote healthy elements as tools of evangelization. pastoral formation is the goal of the entire formation. the formators must seek ways to truly prepare the candidate to be able to work effectively in the pastoral field: pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. the seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the 202 formation of the human person in the 21st century candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work25 whenever there is a disconnect with pastoral theology and practical experience, the faithful are confused. whenever there is a disconnect between magisterial teaching and the practices promoted by priests the faithful are confused. the parish life presents the faithful with various challenges regarding the faith. there are so many contradictory doctrines promoted outside the church and unfortunately now even within the church. the churches moral teaching rooted in humanae vitae, the observance of well-formed conscience and spirituality that are in line with the traditional teachings of the church are often being tactically discarded and replaced by new trends in doctrine. these new trends preach a life that is empty of the cross and one filled with abundant material blessings with a robust health. the new trend promotes spiritual destruction of ones’ human enemies, with selective scriptural citations from the old testament. giving the constant fluctuation of life styles in behaviour, in taste, in fashion, and modes of living, the question has always been raised as to whether the formators should also change some essentials in the area of formations. the nigerian society today is greatly saturated with prosperity gospel, proliferation of healing ministries and diverse style of programs. wide publicity through the various social media and banners where the pictures of the ministers dots every nukes and crannies of the city. the opinion of some catholics have been; will the church not change the method of training priests so that they can at least acquire the skills of these pentecostal preachers. for such persons this is an existential question for the church. they often argue that there is a constant migration of catholics to the new ecclesial communities or churches because they provide them with the kind of spirituality that they like. although, there is hardly any convincing statistics to back up such claims, the fact that they are constantly being made, demands attention of every well-meaning catholic. formators in the seminary must be conversant with on-going pastoral dimension. the seminary should not be so cloistered that the formators are completely unaware of the new development in parish life. the goal of the formation process is to prepare candidates to becoming priests and who will work in the ministry. it will therefore be necessary that strict observance of the policy that require formators to spend some time in parish ministry during the long period of seminary vacation be adhered to. it is perhaps relevant to note the emphasis pope francis section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 203 places on pastoral experience of members of the vatican diplomatic corp. pope francis recently directed that those who are to become papal nuncio are to undergo at least one year of pastoral ministry. in this way, they will have personal experience of pastoral life. the same principle should be applied to formators in the seminary. at least a period of oneyear pastoral work as a priest should be required before a formator assumes office in the seminary. obstacles to forming the formators this research to a great extent assume that seminary formators are priests. although, this assumption is not absolutely true, because there are very good religious sisters involved in formation as well as welleducated lay faithful. but our research will be primarily concerned about formators who are priests. let us briefly highlight some of the challenges or obstacles to ongoing formation of formators. the “final goal” syndrome many professions that have long years of training do have ongoing education fatigue. when there is no financial remuneration for embarking on further education in the area of specialty, the person is further less motivated. priests who are formators in the seminary have all gone through close to ten years of seminary formation and pastoral work. many of them have also completed several post-graduate studies. although, there are no well-known publications of the numbers of seminary formators with doctorate degree, but a cursory look at the number of formators in most of the seminaries in nigeria will indicate that close to 90 percent of these formators do have doctorate degrees. those without it are in most cases in the process of obtaining the degree. this is expected in every academic community and the seminary should not be an exception. however, the need for ongoing formation still remains even after obtaining a doctorate degree in the various relevant disciplines. there is a general believe born out of perception that once a person is ordained a priest, the person has “arrived.” this arrival mindset can impede openness to further education and formation. for any priest to consider the priesthood as end in itself can become a challenge towards growing in wisdom and knowledge as it was reported by the gospel of luke 2:52 regarding christ human nature. the anti-dote to the final goal syndrome is to imitate christ who grew in wisdom. there is no final goal for any human being on this earth. 204 formation of the human person in the 21st century lack of mandatory ongoing formation of formators there is hardly any well-articulated demand for ongoing formation of formators. the knowledge of the formators in their respective disciplines such as scripture, systematic study or dogma, moral theology, pastoral theology, liturgy, philosophy, psychology, spirituality, canon law and other relevant secular disciplines is not sufficient to be effective formators. these disciplines do not in themselves provide the priests formators with all the necessary skills to accompany and discern the vocation of the seminarian. there should be mandatory ongoing formation in the area of discernment and accompanying of the candidate towards the priesthood. we had earlier pointed this out when we discoursed the presentation of jorge carlos patrong wong. lack of proper enforcement of promotion based on publication and research in the academic community, the people are concerned about researches and publications. promotion is based upon publication of well researched papers on reputable journal that enjoy blind rigorous peer review. participation at international conferences and regular ongoing research are all taken seriously. in fact, it is sometimes put in sayings like: “publish or perish.” this goes to underscore the value placed upon ongoing formation of lecturers. however, with a somewhat equal priestly status that the sacramental order establishes, there is less motivation to publish. the perception of a priest with several publications and one who has no publication is not different in the eyes of many faithful. it may be time to review establishing merit-based promotion following the nuc regulation. formators with more publication should have their papers assessed and the appointment and promotion board of the seminary should help to ensure that there is reward for such efforts of formators. the proper academic hierarchy should be well entrenched. the template provided by the institutions that the seminary is affiliated to will help in this area. in other words, a formator who has enough publications to move from lecturer ii to lecturer i, to senior lecturer to associate professor (reader) and to full professor should be observed with corresponding financial remuneration. although, priests are expected to live out the promise of poverty, it is nonetheless desirable to enhance their capacity to do charity to others from their legitimately earned income. performance review most establishments do have performance review system. performance indicators or indices are established to be used in the evaluation of persons. some establishments will have indices such as productivity, section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 205 punctuality, impact on the live of the people, compatibility with fellow workers, health condition, mental fitness etc. it is true that all these indices may not be applicable to formators in the seminary, but it will be of great service towards helping to form formators if a general template that could be adopted is established. performance indices such as openness to pastoral availability, accessibility of a formator by students, readiness to comply with seminary statutes, moral uprightness of the formator, the psychological mindset, the physical health etc. it may also be of help if students are allowed to make objective impute in the process of this assessment. conclusion the pastoral ministry of the priest is very essential to the fulfilment of the mission of christ to the church. therefore, the formation of candidates to the priesthood is of great importance to the vitality of the church. the quality of formators in the seminary greatly influences the quality of candidates for the priesthood that the seminary trains. the ongoing formation of formators becomes essential to the faith formation of the faithful. if the formators impact knowledge that are relevant to the pastoral challenges the seminarians will face in the priestly ministry, the latter will be able to render effective pastoral services to the faithful. forming the formator is part of the call to go out and make disciples of all nations. part of the response of the church to the mission of christ therefore includes making provisions for ongoing formation of formators. endnotes 1 canon 232. all citations from the 1983 code of canon law are taken from, codex iuris canonici, auctoritate ioannis pauli ii promulgatus, fontium asnnotatione et indice analyticoalphabetico auctus, libreria editrice vaticana, 1989, english translation code of canon law: latin-english edition, prepared under the auspices of the canon law society of america, washington, canon law society of america, 1999. 2 canon 237. 3 see canon 247. 4 for a comprehensive reading on formation of virtues during seminary formation, see, mercitta kannampuzha, “the role of virtues in formation programmes: seminaries and religious houses,” in the living word, 124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 5 canon 211. 6 see carlos patron wong, “the gift of priestly vocation,” symposium for formation teams english-speaking seminaries of canada 4-7 april 2019. 7 ibid. 206 formation of the human person in the 21st century 8 8 see carlos patron wong, “accompaniment and discernment of priestly vocation,” symposium for formation teams english-speaking seminaries of canada 4-7 april 2019 9 ibid. 10 ibid. 11 see ibid. 12 see, rajakumar joseph, “ministerial priesthood and integral formation. revisiting ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis (the gift of priestly vocation),” in vidyajyoti, 83 1/18, (2020), pp. 24-47; john mcareavey, “the formation of a celibate clergy.” in itq 64 (1999), 261-275; antony valungal, “spiritual formation to become a missionary disciple and pastor in the document of the gift of the priestly vocation,” in the living word, 122/6 (2016), pp. 334-352;james j. conn, “reflections on some recent norms on priestly formation,” in periodical 98 (2009), pp. 1-32; gordon read, “seminary formation and the discernment of priestly vocations,” in canon law society newsletter, (2011), pp., 35-40; rajesh pollayil, “psychological dimensions of priestly formation,” in the living word, (2017), pp. 30-48; mylo hubert c. vergara, “pastoral charity: goal of priestly formation in the light of deus caritas est,” in immaculate conception school of theology journal, 9 (2007), pp. 5-15; orlando b. quevedo, “notes on the human formation of priests,” in philippine canonical forum ix (2007), pp. 251-257; michael nobel, “academic aspects of priestly formation in the 1983 code of canon law,” in studia canonical, 42 (2008), pp. 437-471; j. ponnore, “spiritual formation of the diocesan priest,” in vidyajyoti,, 68 (2005),pp. 595-605; jobi thomas thurackal, “role of values in personality and spiritual development of catholic seminarians in india,” in the living word 124/3 (2018), pp. 95-122; mercitta kannampuzha, “the role of virtues in formation programmes: seminaries and religious houses,” in the living word, 124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 13 op, no. 1. all citation of optatam totius decree on the training of priests are taken from www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html. 14 op, no.4. 15 op, no. 4. 16 op, no. 5. 17 john paul ii, apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, no. 1, from www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html (=pdv) 18 pdv, no. 2. 19 pdv, no. 43. 20 pdv, no. 44. 21 pdv, no. 45. 22 op, no. 8. 23 pdv, no. 51 24 pdv, no. 55. 25 pdv, no. 58. http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html 207 15 promoting a seminary formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry idahosa amadasu, ph. d department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma. idahosaamadasu37@gmail.com abstract pope john paul ii’s encyclical, pastores dabo vobis, is most renowned for the four areas of priestly formation it proposes. but one who picks up this document and intends to immediately read about these areas might by disappointed. the document first examines the current situation of the priest today and the nature of the priesthood. only in the fifth of the six chapter work did the work discuss the areas of formation of candidates for the priesthood. the loud message of the structure of this document is that formation of future priests must be attentive to the nature of the priestly ministry and the context where it is to be exercised. considering the challenges facing the priestly ministry in nigeria today, especially a religious context characterised by an aggressive pentecostalism and a militant islam, this paper wishes to show that a sound theological formation, a spirituality that is informed by the great masters of the catholic tradition motivated by a strong pastoral zeal, marked by sincerity and openness and imbibed in a way that is continuous and not discontinuous with seminary formation is indispensable for a sound priestly formation today. keywords: seminary, formation, ministry, priesthood, pentecostalism introduction pope john paul ii’s pastores dabo vobis is well known for the four areas of priestly formation it outlines. with this vision, the post-synodal apostolic exhortation wishes to state that the seminary formation of the future priest should be anchored on human formation, spiritual formation, 208 formation of the human person in the 21st century intellectual formation, and pastoral formation. but one who picks up the document and hopes to immediately read these four areas of formation might be disappointed. it is only in the fifth of the six-chapter work that these areas of priestly formation are enumerated and discussed. the earlier chapters of the text are focused on the contemporary context where the priest would work today, and on the nature and mission of the priestly vocation. the clear message of the structure of the document is that the meaning of the priesthood and the contemporary context of the priestly ministry must inform the formation of candidates for the priesthood.1 this message also implies that the candidate for the priesthood should be trained in a way that seminary formation flows into priestly ministry. but the pontiff writes with an awareness of certain hindrances that might militate against this continuity when he states about the ongoing formation of priests: “with priests who have just come out of the seminary, a certain sense of "having had enough is quite understandable when faced with new times of study and meeting. but the idea that priestly formation ends on the day one leaves the seminary is false and dangerous and needs to be totally rejected.”2 what the pope identifies here is not a passing problem confronting the priestly ministry. in our own nigerian context, this problem resonates in the mentality of ‘i have arrived’ that often characterises how some view their priestly ordination. this mentality frequently promotes a certain rupture with seminary formation. we therefore often have the exhibition of certain characters in the priesthood whose modes of priestly ministry and service are alien to the formative program of the seminary. an example of this is the mad rush of many newly ordained priests to take up healing and deliverance ministries and to exhibit styles and patterns of preaching and the celebration of the liturgy that are inconsistent with their seminary formation. religious figures far from the practice and tradition of the catholic church are easily taken up by these priests as models. it is not books on the lives of saints and their teachings, church documents, classical catholic books, sound theological texts that dot their shelves; rather, the books and religious materials they consume are works of popular pentecostal pastors. while stating that the discontinuity between the way some priests exercise their ministry and their seminary formation expresses the heart of our problem, it however does not tell it all. it should be asked: what is responsible for this discontinuity between the way some exercise their priestly ministry and their seminary formation? if the seminary formation ought to have had the necessary formative ingredients that should help the priest exercise his ministry with integrity, then why has it failed to follow the priest into his ministry? or more concretely, one section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 209 may ask, is there something lacking in the seminary formation that facilitates its easy discontinuity with the priestly ministry? might we also ask if there are other causes beyond the seminary formation that contribute to this discontinuity? this paper wishes to respond to these problems by first examining the current style of priestly formation with special attention to the nigerian context. after a discussion of the problems inherent in the formation of priests, we shall proceed to propose a way forward on how this discontinuity can be overcome in order to have a credible seminary formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry. seminary formation of future priests the institutionalisation of priestly formation began in the middle ages, specifically, with the council of trent. it was precipitated by the problems that plagued the priesthood at that time, especially as it concerned the moral life of the clergy. there was, therefore, a certain vision of forming the future priest in a way that protects him from the dangers of the world. the idea of the seminary was thus envisaged with the model of a monastery. but with the pastoral renewal that vatican ii called for, while retaining the classical model of formation, there was a shift to a more pastoral style of formation. what this means is that while the enclosed system of seminary formation remains, there is also the need to form the candidate in a way that would make him equipped for the challenges of the priestly ministry in today’s world.3 pastores dabo vobis’ (pvd) outline of the four areas of priestly formation shows this post-conciliar emphasis that significantly builds upon the conciliar document on the training of priests, optatam totius (ot). it should be noted that in the decades before the council, as katarina schuth recalls from most published articles of seminary formators, the formation of seminarians was perceived to be too isolated and they were, therefore, not equipped to face the world and its challenges. one of such authors, stafford poole, a vincentian, recommended that “if the seminary is to keep abreast of the modern world, it is going to have to be reunited organically with lay education.”4 it was therefore not surprising that ot saw pastoral formation as the framework for all other aspects of formation.5 spiritual formation “should be closely connected with the doctrinal and pastoral.”6 the study of philosophy and theology should be taught in a way that their connection with the mysteries of christ and the faith and life should be evident.7 there is, however, no specific mention of human formation in ot. nevertheless, elements of human formation are present when it asks for the need to ascertain the freedom of the candidate, his ability to 210 formation of the human person in the 21st century bear the burden of the priesthood and also the maturity needed to undertake the obligation of celibacy.8 it is instructive to note that human formation, which was not clearly explicit in ot, was taken as the basis for all other areas of formation: spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral in pvd. while ot presents pastoral formation as the framework for all other aspects of formation, in pvd, human formation is taken as the foundation of all other aspects of formation. in fact, citing the synod fathers, pvd notes that “[t]he whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”9 pvd believes that a thorough human formation that is open to the truth comes to completion in spiritual formation.10 it shows how human formation is at the foundation of intellectual formation when it notes that the latter is a fundamental demand of the human intelligence by which one participates in the light of god’s mind.11 here one could read the intimate link between philosophy and theology. after affirming how human formation leads to spiritual and intellectual formation, pvd then shows how these form the content of pastoral formation, which “cannot be reduced to mere apprenticeship aiming to make the candidates familiar with pastoral techniques.”12 one can say that ot and pvd sought to harmonise the classical seminary training of monastic model with helping the future priests face the challenges of the contemporary world. ot shows how this is to be achieved by proposing that pastoral formation should be the framework of all other areas of formation. pvd seems to shift this framework to human formation, while at the same time giving more substance to pastoral formation. this did not however, concretely remove the tension between the monastic model and facing the challenge of the world that was already present in the introductory pages of ot.13 perhaps it is for this reason, that despite its clear vision of how priestly formation should go, ot asks that each bishop or episcopal conference should domesticate or inculturate its proposal on priestly formation.14 some countries and dioceses have attempted this domestication of the vision of the council by the periodic publication of a program for priestly formation.15 in nigeria, what is mainly obtainable in this regard are the handbooks/rules and regulations of the seminaries.16 they are usually anchored around the seminary horarium, content of courses, social behaviour of seminarians, and a brief philosophy of formation. the presentation of the four areas of priestly formation usually defines the seminary’s philosophy of formation. this presentation also tends to be elaborate in showing the formative principle behind each rule. here, one could find the tension between the monastic model of formation and training the candidate for the world. for example, one of the rules section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 211 and regulations published by ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodija, ibadan, states: “to avoid a diminution of their fervour for the interior life, and the distraction of their attention from sacred studies, seminarians shall not go out except at set times for outings, and in exceptional cases for a grave reason and with the approval of the dean of students. however, after christmas break, the year vii students have a general permission daily after lectures.”17 the seeming opposition that this rule reflects between the residency of the seminarian in the seminary and his outings is revealing. when this is put bluntly, it can be said that the seminarian who goes out often risks losing the fervour of his interior life and distracting himself from his seminary studies. anyone who has been to the seminary or is familiar with seminary formation would know that there is some truth in this rule. the ordinary horarium of the seminary is quite tight. so, if a seminarian goes out often or indiscriminately, then he may not properly apply himself to the seminary program. while this is a given fact, the way the rule is worded presumes some inability of the seminarian to make use of his discretion in going out, hence he is advised to only go out on outing days or with permission for a grave reason. only those seminarians in the final year, and after the christmas break, when they must have been promoted as deacons or deemed fit to be ordained deacons, can enjoy some general permission in going out. however, one could argue that since only adults are admitted to the seminary, that is, students presumed to be qualified for a university education, should they not be given more discretion in deciding when to go out, and thereby facilitate growth in training in freedom that ot and pvd speak about? here, one who is familiar with how some seminarians perceive the seminary as a prison yard would see how this impression resonates in the tension between the monastic model of formation and openness to the world. it can be said that this impression, justified or not, is what gradually grows to facilitate the discontinuity that manifests itself between seminary formation and priestly life. just as the tension between outing and residence in the seminary resonates the difficulty in harmonising the monastic model of formation and openness to the world, another area that reflects this challenge is the ban on the possession and use of private mobile phones by seminarians. like the presupposition on the rule on outings above, it is reasoned that the possession of a personal cell phone would greatly distract students from applying themselves to their program of formation. one thing clear about the ban on personal cell phones is that despite the strict punishments that go with possessing one, such as a probation or expulsion, some seminarians still keep their personal phones. there seems to be a deep lack of inner conviction about why they should not 212 formation of the human person in the 21st century have a personal cell phone. the consequence of this is that it could promote a subculture where the seminarian hides certain aspects of himself so that the whole self is not brought out for formation. such subculture could promote a general lack of sincerity towards formation. at this point, beyond the ban or permission of private cell phones, we could anchor a major reason why there is often a discontinuity between seminary formation and priestly life in the existence of a subculture in the seminarian that does not make the candidate fully open to formation. the lack of realization of the harmony that should exist between the monastic model of formation and openness to the world is the context for the growth of this subculture. generally, one could describe a subculture as the presence of some beliefs and practices that are at variance with the belief of the larger group. in this case, it means the existence of certain beliefs and practices in the seminarian that are at variance with the practices and expectations of elements of his priestly formation and priestly ministry. it could be credibly said that it is this subculture that comes into the open at ordination and manifests itself as a rupture between priestly life and seminary training. for example, what is also at stake in a seminarian possessing cell phones against a clearly stated ban by the seminary’s rules and regulations is the grooming of a subculture of disobedience. if the candidate is to be formed in learning how to obey for supernatural reasons, he should be ready to obey a law that is not sinful, even though he is not personally convinced about the reasonableness or validity of that law. no one can practice ecclesiastical obedience if he only wants to obey what he is convinced about. but it is one thing to state a problem and its consequences, while it remains a task to confront the root cause of a problem and work towards a solution. let us now move towards more effective ways to find a continuity between seminary formation and priestly life. continuity between seminary formation & priestly life the major cause of the discontinuity between seminary formation and priestly ministry that we have identified is the tension between the monastic model and facing the challenges of the world. this can also be described as the context of the problem. but it is not a context that is detached from the substance of the problem. there is need to harmonise the strength of the monastic model and the relevance of openness to the world. this is indispensable for domesticating a credible formative program that would be well assimilated and lasting. a significant point of departure here is that the monastic model or the isolated seminary environment should not be considered as existing against the world, the way the aforementioned rule of ss. peter and paul on outing seem to section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 213 have been phrased. one central message that the future priest would have to teach the people is how lay persons in the middle of the world can have an interior life. the interior life is not something that should exist outside the world, but it must form how we live the world. this fact can be explained by the way joseph ratzinger understands the model of an open church. he first notes that there should not be opposition between the church and the world, because the church is not worldless (weltlos). the world is not a place that exists besides the church, just as it does not exist for itself because its history and development is closely tied to the history of humanity. the biblical picture, however, shows that the history of human relationships exists in ambiguity because of the goodness and the evil present in human history. for this reason, ratzinger notes that the dialogue between the church and the world should reject a one-sided demonisation of the world, and a onesided glorification of science and technology. the crucial element of this dialogue is not a matter of the degree of the church’s openness to the world, but how the church is open to the world.18 in the same vein, the enclosed set up of seminary formation should not be conceived as a place designed in opposition to the world. rather, it should be viewed as a place to prepare the future priests for the world they will live and exercise their priestly ministry in. when this is concretely understood, it would be easy to see that for example, it is more profitable that the seminary environment teaches the seminarian how to use and keep a personal cell phone than to have a ban on keeping one because of perceived abuses. in this way, a vital aspect of the self, that is, the use and possession of a personal handset, is made open to formation. such efforts at formation would be directed to drawing out formative ethics on the use and ownership of cell phones rather than disciplinary measures to ban them. in this way, one would be able to avoid the growth of a subculture that is at odds with the formative culture of the seminarian. what this example of the cell phone points to is that the more seminarians are made to be open, the better they can be formed. the affirmation of pvd that human formation is the basis of all other areas of formation can be interpreted along this line: only when the seminarian is open or the enabling environment is created for him to be open, can he be formed in all areas of priestly formation. when pvd states that human formation entails the capacity to relate with others, it implies that only one that can relate with others can also relate with god. if god is personal, without a capacity to form personal relationships the candidate will not be able to deal with god as a person. it is for this reason that the ratio fundamentalis says that a well-structured humanity is indispensable for a true spirituality.19 when a true openness leads to the development 214 formation of the human person in the 21st century of a sound spiritual life, the seminarians’ intellectual formation will be driven by love for the truth. it is a love for the truth that is founded on a genuine human inquiry and faith. in this case, fidelity to the church’s teachings or orthodoxy will not be viewed as a mere adherence to some prescriptions. rather, they will be a motivation of the human inquiry for the truth. just as being critical does not turn one to being sceptical, so being faithful to the church’s teachings does not make one uncritical or unable to ask mary’s question to archangel gabriel’s message: “how shall this be done, since i do not know man.” (lk. 1:34). in this respect, the seminarian will not see the expectations of his state and the priestly ministry as mere rules and regulations to keep. rather, they will be seen as truths to live out. he will not see himself as doing something extraordinary in taking up the obligation of celibacy. rather, when celibacy is understood and accepted with formation in the four areas, it will first be seen as a specific way to live out the virtue of chastity. the well-formed seminarian knows that every christian, including married persons are called to live that chastity. it is in this respect that celibacy will be understood as a joyful renunciation of what one considers great and beautiful. this frame of mind makes its easy to exercise vigilance and avoid any occasion of sin or compromising situations out of a firm conviction, and not simply to put up some external appearance. it is precisely for this reason that pvd identifies the formation of conscience and maturity as indispensable for human formation. this formation is the best guarantee for exercising authentic freedom and responsibility. the emphasis on formation must seek to address the conscience of seminarians, make them always recognise their freedom to be priests, and how that freedom could also make them to properly discern a choice for a different state of life. with such a mindset, just as the seminarian could in freedom decide not to continue in the seminary, so does the seminarian that looks towards the priesthood prepare himself beyond priestly ordination. the seminary horarium would be seen as a means for that formation, an aid to developing a plan of life. one significant fact of the horarium is the daily recitation of the divine office, which only clerics and religious are obliged to recite. seminarians recite it daily as a way of helping them to form the habit that would enable them to take up this future obligation. but on certain days in the week, like their free days and outing days where the regular horarium does not apply, seminarians are asked to say these prayers privately. this, i believe, is one of the best ways to gauge whether seminarians are imbibing a prayer life that will lead them into the priestly ministry. there are slim chances that the seminarian who does not say his prayers on those free days will do so in the priestly ministry. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 215 such days that seminarians are asked to do their prayers privately cannot be assessed by external disciplinary measures. this is where a good culture of spiritual direction is indispensable in the seminary. here, many seminaries in nigeria would need to do better. some don’t have sufficient number of spiritual directors compared to the number of their seminarians, and quite often, most spiritual directors do not have the training that is comparable to that of their other colleagues. it is not so common to find spiritual directors who have studied up to doctoral level as we have in those who teach other courses in philosophy and theology. there is need for more time, personnel, and resources to be invested in spiritual direction in our seminaries. a good culture of spiritual direction will help the seminarian assimilate the elements of his formation in greater depth. a seminarian who does not go for spiritual direction often, or who lacks a good culture of spiritual direction, will also not be able to give spiritual direction to others. little wonder that there are frequent complaints that most priests are not disposed for spiritual direction. what we often have are problem centered counseling sessions. a systematic culture of spiritual direction, where the christian is led to live a balanced interior life with the goal of holiness of life is frequently lacking for many lay persons. the root cause of this problem might be traceable to how seminarians have been formed in the culture of spiritual direction. this point on spiritual direction already draws our attention to how a good human and spiritual formation also leads to a good pastoral formation. this pastoral formation will be supported with clear ideas that are informed by a sound intellectual formation. philosophical studies must prepare the mind to think clearly; to appreciate the foundation of objective truth and knowledge and the subjective dimensions in which these have been expressed throughout history. such an opening creates the enabling environment for a theological formation that is orthodox and at the same time critical. with the guidance of scripture and the church’s teachings, in critical dialogue with other human disciplines, the seminarian will be equipped with the content of his pastoral ministry. such content cannot be a mere acquisition of knowledge to be dispensed, but it must always have depth in the candidate’s personal conviction and way of life. it is for this reason that the seminarian’s intellectual and spiritual formation must be sufficiently exposed to catholic tradition in a way that every seminarian would adopt models from the great spiritual masters and saints. this exposure, which should already begin in the spiritual year program, would help the seminarian to have tested guides and their rich experiences to draw from. when this is lacking, as people always look for models, in their craze for relevance, the seminarian or priest easily picks up models that are at variance with his formation as we see in 216 formation of the human person in the 21st century the corrupt pentecostalism that is afflicting the priestly ministry of some today. this lack of having true models is not helped by the fact that many of these practices that are contrary to a sound priestly ministry as we find in the preponderance of healing and deliverance ministries, seem to be tolerated in the dioceses. the seminarian could therefore grow with a mentality that certain practices not in tandem with his seminary formation could be practiced as priests. little wonder that one often hears that seminary formation is not practical for the pastoral ministry. but the fact is that it is a seminary formation that has not been well imbibed and the existence of a certain subculture groomed within and outside the seminary that is ultimately responsible for the rupture between seminary formation and priestly ministry. finally, one cannot rule out the role of formators in helping seminarians inculcate the seminary formation. it is a time-honoured recommendation of the church that only the best of priests or those who exercise their priestly ministry with integrity should be sent to be seminary formators.20 this must be followed religiously. while on-going formation of formators is important, the seminary system should have an internal system of accountability where formators can always have personal and communal review of their participation in the formation program. for example, at the end of every course, there should be a way of evaluating or getting feedbacks about how the course has been taught by the formator or lecturer. this helps to maintain a certain standard among formators. conclusion in this paper we have shown that the discontinuity that exists between seminary formation and the priestly ministry can be traced to the tension between the monastic or enclosed seminary set up and openness to the world. both dimensions have strengths that can be harmonised when they are not seen in opposition: the enclosed seminary set up is to prepare the seminarian for the world he is going to serve. therefore, rather than seeing the world as something to protect the seminarian from, he should be prepared to live in the world. as advised by pvd, human formation should be taken as the basis of this formation. here the emphasis on formation in conscience and openness would allow the seminarian grow in a maturity that would enable him to exercise his freedom responsibly. this would avoid the growth of any subculture, within and outside the seminary, that leads to hiding aspects of the self that become manifest after ordination to create a rupture between seminary formation and priestly ministry. with such a strong human formation, the candidate is disposed to having a personal relationship with god which makes him imbibe his prayer life beyond the mere section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 217 observance of routine or seminary horarium. the prayer life should be founded on an interior life that is open to the truth and founded on an intellectual formation that is orthodox and critical. this helps to shape a pastoral formation which flows from a deep interior life. the role of spiritual direction in helping the seminarian grow in this interior life cannot be overemphasized. the seminary must always be equipped with well formed spiritual directors, just as it should be for other formators who must have a systematic program of on-going formation. it is hoped that when the right environment is created for the seminarian to open up himself for formation with an exposure to the tested models of catholic spiritual and intellectual traditions, the seminary formation will find a continuity in the priestly ministry. endnotes 1 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis [post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests], vatican website, march 25, 1992, accessed february 23, 2020. 2 ibid, 76. (sic) 3 cf. katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history— current circumstances— new directions (collegeville, mn: liturgical press, 2016), 11, john w. o’malley, trent: what happened at the council (cambridge, ma: harvard university press), 201 4 poole, seminary in crisis, 14, 28–29; also as quoted in white, the diocesan seminary in the united states, 413. all cited in katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 23 5 vatican ii, optatam totius, 1 6 ibid, 8 7 ibid, 16-18 8 ibid, 4 9 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 43; synod proposition, 21 10 ibid, 45 11 ibid, 51 12 ibid, 58 13 katarina schuth notes how this tension was expressed: “from the first paragraph onward considerable disagreement is evidenced between the traditional and the progressive council fathers about the direction ot should take. in the introduction, the document first acknowledges the “supreme importance of priestly formation” and in the same sentence goes on to assure the more traditional bishops that it would strengthen the regulations that had long been in use and shown to be sound. at the same time, it promises those who see the need for a new kind of seminary that it has added new elements that “correspond with the constitutions and decrees of this council and with the changed conditions of our time” (ot introduction). the prescriptions of the decree directly concerned the training of 218 formation of the human person in the 21st century diocesan clergy but were to be appropriately adapted to all clerical training, including religious and monastic priests.” katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 14 14 vatican ii, optatam totius, 2. 15 for an example of such programs in the united states, for example, see katarina schuth, seminary formation: recent history, 19-32. 16 see for example, catholic major seminary of all saints, handbook of the seminary of all saints (benin city: floreat systems, 2014); seminary of ss. peter & paul, rules & regulations (bodija, ibadan: claverium press, 1987); seminary of ss. peter & paul and seminary of all saints, handbook on the social behaviour of seminarians (benin city: floreats systems, 2015) 17 seminary of ss. peter & paul, rules & regulations, 44 18 joseph ratzinger, “der christ und die welt von heute.” in dogma und verkündigung, (donauwörth: eroch wewel verlag, 1973, reprint 2005), 179-189 19 congregation for the clergy, the gift of the priestly vocation: ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, vatican website, december 8, 2016, accessed february 28, 2020, 93 20 john paul ii, pastores dabo vobis, 67 219 16 catholic social teaching on immigration and the movement of peoples prof. ikechukwu anthony kanu department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & mike boni bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com & immaculata olu omojola (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile, osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk abstract this paper interrogates the catholic social teaching on immigration and the movements of peoples. the discourse does this, by first of all stating that, the rights of migrants (refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and internally displaced persons-idps) begin with the foundation of catholic social teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity of the human person. the paper submits that right to life and the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root causes, give rise to the right to migrate. it argues that unity in diversity is firmly grounded in the church's social teaching and understanding and appreciating this helps us to put our faith into action. this paper, further evaluates the principles of catholic social teaching using specific quotes from church documents that address the most common misperceptions about church teachings. the purpose of this discussion therefore, is to provide a brief, mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 220 formation of the human person in the 21st century concise, and useful compilation of information on authentic roman catholic teaching regarding the areas of immigration and the movements of peoples that currently concern most christians. the body of this work consists of quotes from documents and statements originating only from those men who are authorized to speak for the catholic church, namely, the popes and those bishops and theologians in union with them. thus, following this methodology, these quotes are extracted from encyclicals, pastoral letters, and addresses by these representatives of the magisterium (teaching authority) of the catholic church. keywords: migration, catholic social teaching, magisterium, church documents introduction in advocating on behalf of migrants, immigrants, and refugees, it is important to understand that the catholic position is based on catholic social teaching, which is derived from the gospels and the words of christ; statements and encyclicals of the popes; and statements and pastoral letters of bishops around the world. the rights of migrants (refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and internally displaced persons-idps) begin with the foundation of catholic social teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity of the human person. the right to life and the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root causes, give rise to the right to migrate.1 as pope john xxiii explained: every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the confines of his own country; and, when there are just reasons for it, the right to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there. the fact that one is a citizen of a particular state does not detract in any way from his membership in the human family as a whole, nor from his citizenship in the world community.2 this is a right to both emigrate from one’s own country and immigrate into another country. in 2003 for example, the catholic bishops of the united states and mexico named five principles3 that have emerged from the “rich tradition of church teachings with regard to migration”: first principle: persons have a right to find opportunities in their own homeland this principle reflects the responsibilities of all citizens and governments for the common good, creating the political, economic, and social section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 221 conditions for persons to live in dignity, raise their families, use their god-given gifts, and find employment that provides a living family wage a fundamental principle of catholic social teaching (cst) dating back to the 19th century. wealthy and powerful nations are obliged to assist less developed nations in creating the conditions for people to live dignified lives. second principle: persons have the right to migrate to support themselves and their families pope pius xii declared in 1952 that both natural law and devotion to humanity required that international migration be opened to people forced from their countries by revolutions, unemployment, or hunger. he explained: “for the creator of the universe made all good things primarily for the good of all.”4 when people cannot find adequate work, they have a natural right to work elsewhere to attain the means of survival for themselves and their families. third principle: sovereign nations have the right to control their borders our tradition recognizes the right of nations to control their territories, a right arising from their responsibility for the common good. however, as pope pius indicated, this right is not absolute. state sovereignty “cannot be exaggerated to the point that access to this land is, for inadequate or unjustified reasons, denied to needy and decent people from other nations….” balancing rights then becomes critical. in fact, according to the bishops, individual rights and state responsibility for the common good are complementary. while the sovereign state may impose reasonable limits on immigration, the common good is not served when the basic human rights of the individual are violated. in the current condition of the world, in which global poverty and persecution are rampant, the presumption is that persons must migrate in order to support and protect themselves and that nations who are able to receive them should do so whenever possible.5 in 2000, the bishops, reflecting on the tension between border control and the individual right to fundamental dignity, declared the latter to “give rise to a more compelling claim to the conditions worthy of human life.”6 fourth principle: refugees and asylum seekers should be afforded protection those who flee wars and persecution have a greater claim for protection from the global community. as the fathers of the church would urge: 222 formation of the human person in the 21st century “this requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee status without incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by a competent authority.”7 fifth principle: the human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected according to the bishops, it is noteworthy that: “regardless of their legal status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent dignity that should be respected.”8 this applies to punitive laws, enforcement practices, detention conditions, abuse and neglect, and policies that tear families apart. even undocumented workers, often subject to inadequate wages and demeaning conditions in a shadow economy, are entitled to basic human rights in terms of wages and working conditions. immigrant workers, even ones without documents, do not lose their status as human persons made in god’s image. demeaning wages, inhuman conditions, and the denial of workers’ natural rights assault the dignity and sanctity of the human person. biblical vision of love for strangers both the old and new testaments tell compelling stories of refugees forced to flee because of oppression. exodus tells the story of the chosen people, israel, who were victims of bitter slavery in egypt. they were utterly helpless by themselves, but with god's powerful intervention they were able to escape and take refuge in the desert. for forty years they lived as wanderers with no homeland of their own. finally, god fulfilled his ancient promise and settled them on the land that they could finally call home. the israelites' experience of living as homeless aliens was so painful and frightening that god ordered his people for all time to have special care for the alien: "you shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of egypt” (lv. 19:33-34). the new testament begins with matthew's story of joseph and mary's escape to egypt with their newborn son, jesus, because the paranoid and jealous king herod wanted to kill the infant. our savior himself lived as a refugee because his own land was not safe. jesus reiterates the old testament command to love and care for the stranger, a criterion by which we shall be judged: “for i was hungry and you gave me food, i was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” (mt. 25:35). the apostle paul asserts the absolute equality of all people before god: "there is neither jew nor greek . . . for you are all one in christ jesus" (gal 3:28). in christ, the human race is one before god, equal in section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 223 dignity and rights. in addition to the five principles articulated by the catholic bishops of the united states and mexico in 2003 as mentioned above, three other basic principles of catholic social teaching on immigration is given due attention here. although catholic theology has always promoted human rights rooted in natural law and god's revelation, it was the encyclical rerum novarum (on the condition of labor) in 1891 that developed a systematic presentation of principles of the rights and responsibilities of people.9 rerum novarum commented on the situation of immigrants; in later documents, popes and bishops' conferences have synthesized the catholic theological tradition to articulate three basic principles on immigration. first principle: people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. at the end of world war ii, with the fall of the nazi empire and the subsequent creation of the soviet "iron curtain," europe faced an unprecedented migration of millions of people seeking safety, food, and freedom. at that time, pope pius xii wrote exsul familia (the emigre family), placing the church squarely on the side of those seeking a better life by fleeing their homes. when there is a massive movement of people such as during a war, natural disaster, or famine, the lands that receive these displaced people may be threatened. the influx may make it impossible for the native population to live securely, as the land may not have enough resources to support both. even in more orderly migrations, such as in the united states, citizens and residents of the land may fear that newcomers will take jobs, land, and resources, impoverishing the people already present.10 because of the belief that newcomers compete for scarce resources, immigrants and refugees are at times driven away, resented, or despised. nevertheless, the first principle of catholic social teaching regarding immigrants is that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. this is based on biblical and ancient christian teaching that the goods of the earth belong to all people. while the right to private property is defended in catholic social teaching, individuals do not have the right to use private property without regard for common good. every person has an equal right to receive from the earth what is necessary for life: food, clothing, shelter. moreover, every person has the right to education, medical care, religion, and the expression of one's culture. in many places people live in fear, danger, or dehumanizing poverty. clearly, it is not god's will that some of his children live in luxury while others have nothing. in luke’s gospel, the rich man was condemned for living well while the poor man starved at his doorstep (lk. 16:19-31). the native does not have superior rights over the immigrant. before god all are equal; the earth was given by god 224 formation of the human person in the 21st century to all. when a person cannot achieve a meaningful life in his or her own land, that person has the right to move. second principle: a country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration. the overriding principle of all catholic social teaching is that individuals must make economic, political, and social decisions not out of shortsighted self-interest, but with regard for the common good. that means that a moral person cannot consider only what is good for his or her own self and family, but must act with the good of all people as his or her guiding principle. while individuals have the right to move in search of a safe and humane life, no country is bound to accept all those who wish to resettle there.11by this principle the church recognizes that most immigration is ultimately not something to celebrate. ordinarily, people do not leave the security of their own land and culture just to seek adventure in a new place or merely to enhance their standard of living. instead, they migrate because they are desperate and the opportunity for a safe and secure life does not exist in their own land. immigrants and refugees endure many hardships and often long for the homes they left behind. as human beings, we should cherish and celebrate the contributions of immigrants and their cultures; however, we should work to make it unnecessary for people to leave their own land. because there seems to be no end to poverty, war, and misery in the world, developed nations will continue to experience pressure from many peoples who desire to resettle in their lands.12the catholic social teaching is realistic, thus, while people have the right to move, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life is jeopardized. for this reason, catholics should not view the work of the federal government and its immigration control as negative or evil. those who work to enforce our nation's immigration laws often do so out of a sense of loyalty to the common good and compassion for poor people seeking a better life. in an ideal world, there would be no need for immigration control. the church recognizes that this ideal world has not yet been achieved. third principle: a country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy. the second principle of catholic social teaching may seem to negate the first principle. however, principles one and two must be understood in the context of principle three. and all catholic social teaching must be understood in light of absolute equality of all people and the commitment to common good.13 a country's regulation of borders and control of immigration must be governed by concern for all people and by mercy and justice. a section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 225 nation may not simply decide that it wants to provide for its own people and no others. a sincere commitment to the needs of all must prevail. in our modern world where communication and travel are much easier, the burden of emergencies cannot be placed solely on nations immediately adjacent to the crises. justice dictates that the world community contributes resources toward shelter, food, medical services and basic welfare. even in the case of less urgent migrations, a developed nation's right to limit immigration must be based on justice, mercy, and the common good, not on self-interest. moreover, immigration policy ought to take into account other important values such as the right of families to live together.14a merciful immigration policy will not force married couples or children to live separated from their families for long periods. undocumented immigrants present a special concern. often their presence is considered criminal since they arrive without legal permission. under the harshest view, undocumented people may be regarded as undeserving of rights or services. this is not the view of catholic social teaching. the catholic church teaches that every person has basic human rights and is entitled to have basic human needs met: food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care. undocumented persons are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by employers, and they are not able to complain because of the fear of discovery and deportation. current immigration policy that criminalizes the mere attempt to immigrate and imprisons immigrants who have committed no crime or who have already served a just sentence for a crime is immoral. in the bible, god promises that our judgment will be based on our treatment of the most vulnerable. before god we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given by the creator. conclusion finally, immigration policy that allows people to live here and contribute to society for years but refuses to offer them the opportunity to achieve legal status does not serve the common good. the presence of millions of people living without easy access to basic human rights and necessities is a great injustice. it is the position of the catholic church that pastoral, educational, medical, and social services provided by the church are never conditioned on legal status. all persons are invited to participate in their parishes, attend our schools, and receive other services offered by their institutions and programs. in the course of this discourse thus far, this paper has successfully interrogated, examined and evaluated the principles of catholic social teaching on migration and movements of peoples. using specific quotes from church documents that address the most common 226 formation of the human person in the 21st century misperceptions about church teachings in areas immigration, it was noted that the excerpts quoted in this work focus on the dignity of human person. as such, they are most suited for use to educate those who are ignorant of the church’s social teachings on the movements of people as a whole. in order to comprehend the beauty, richness, and wisdom of the quoted church documents, we conclude by saying: it is necessary for the reader to take the time to sit down, read them, and contemplate their messages. endnotes 1. catholic bishops of mexico and the united states, strangers no longer: together on the journey of hope, joint pastoral letter concerning migration, january 2003, nos. 28-29. 2. pope john xxiii, pacem in terris, 1963, no. 25. 3. strangers no longer, op. cit., nos. 33-39. 4. pope pius xii, exsul familia, apostolic constitution, vatican city, 1952. 5. strangers no longer, op. cit., no. 39. 6. u.s. conference of catholic bishops, welcoming the stranger among us: unity in diversity, washington, d.c., 2000, p. 11. 7. strangers no longer, op. cit., no. 37. 8. ibid., no. 38. 9. this resource was written by fr. thomas betz, ofc, director of immigration and refugee services for the archdiocese of philadelphia, and is used with permission. scripture texts used in this work are taken from the new american bible, copyright © 1991, 1986, and 1970 by the confraternity of christian doctrine, washington, d.c. 20017, and are used by permission of copyright owner. all rights reserved. 10. pope pius xi, acta apostilicae sedis, xliii, 1951, p. 843. 11. pope john xxiii, mater et magistra no. 193, may 15, 1961. 12. fr. thomas betz, ofc, op. cit. 13. ibid. 14. pope john paul ii in his address on responsible procreation, september 17, 1983. " the wanderer, september 29, 1983, pp. 1-3. 227 section 2 philosophical perspectives and human formation 228 formation of the human person in the 21st century 229 17 man, religion and philosophy: towards a normative vision of the human person anthony ifechukwude akalue department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma, edo state ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com abstract this paper seeks to give a formidable normative structure that is geared towards human development. this is premised on the fact that the human person has a composite nature. that is, man, having a material and a spiritual nature. these natures cum dimensions in the human person does not in any way reduce the religio-cultural and social dimension of the human person. in fact, they enhance it the more. this paper argues that man is yet to fully realize some level of satisfaction in the way it relates with its fellow human being as a social being; this is evident in the different crimes against humanity that are perpetuated everyday for instance, abuse of minors, rape, robbery and other sexist practices. these anomalies are still very much evident in the religious palace wherein religion that ought to give a kind of solace to humanity, is being used as a tool for exploitation thereby creating an unhealthy religious belief system in the way religious beliefs are being handled. the paper further argues that the human person will only progress if there is a perfect use of reason to actualize his belief system, and further enhances the best way to relate well with his fellow human being. this is where the irreplaceable tools of philosophy come in as it will help in no small measure in sharpening the belief system of the human person on how to leave a sound life in the society and to get rid of the unhealthy sexist tendencies, abuses of minor and other atrocities. keywords: man, religion, society, philosophy, ethics, interactionism mailto:ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com 230 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction the different theories on the origin of mankind like that of charles darwin, big bang, creation story of the semitic tradition as recorded in the holy bible and a host of others, have presented an aspect of the human person that cannot be denied by any successive theories. this aspect is the fact that the human person is a social being that interacts. many social institutions like the family, school, age grade, political party and so on, have laid credence to this fact. in other words, the different evolutionary theories have further proven that the human person is a relational being. as the human person continues to evolve, this relationship continues to spread also; both from the vertical perspective and the horizontal perspective. this simply means that man who is a social being is also a religious being; this is where his vertical relationship with the supreme being is also a cause for concern. this is so because it is believed that the supreme being has strong influence in the daily growth of the human person and as such, an effective relationship with him becomes expedient. be that as it may, there are certain actions and activities that have posited threats to the sincerity of these interactions and relationships judging from the fact of negative socio-religious trends: where the human person no longer values the sanctity of their relationship with the supreme being; where people use the name of the supreme being to cajole and deceive people; where human beings no longer have fear of the sacred and of sacred places; where humanity no longer appreciates the uniqueness of their interaction and relationship with their fellow beings. while some have tailored these disappointing acts to modernism, some others have said that all of these atrocities have long been there and as such there is no remedy. the question now is, is it really true there is no remedy to the atrocities that have threatened peaceful coexistence? can there be a remedy to the way people are easily deceived to do things in the name of the supreme? can human relationship ever improve in the light of modernism? or is it the case that the older the crime, the somewhat impossibility of a solution? now, this work does not intend to dwell on what has been in the past and in the present but to suggest that there is a remedy in view. this remedy is borne out by the rich tools of philosophy as a normative discipline that helps in interrogating certain anomalies in the society. the method to be adopted in this work is speculative, prescriptive and critical. a close look at the methods that will be employed in this work shows that they are methods that are sole exclusive of philosophy. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 231 however, let it be known here that the use of the term ‘man’ is for both sexes. it means human kind or human being as the case may be. these are names that are all inclusive, in embracing both sexes-male and female of this species of organisms, known by the biological name of homo sapiens1. following, the descriptive dimension of man, dualists holds that man is a composite being that is made of matter and spirit. this means that man is believed to have a material body and a nonmaterial soul. while, the dualists are of the view that both dimension of man are parallel, the integrationists say that both dimension constitute one substance, man. be that as it may, the underlining truth is that man who has a material aspect, is known to have a vital force that is nonmaterial. man and the society: three sociological theories will help present the path through which this aspect will be taken. the sociological theories are structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and conflict theory. there is no doubt these theories have their shortcomings because of their adherence to scientific principles and methods. however, attention will be paid to their sociological principles and how they apply to societal interactions. structural functionalism depicts the society as a social system consisting of various structures, organizations and institutions, influencing each other and affecting the whole system. it focuses on the function of the institutions and their contribution to the continuity of the social system.2 this theory is suggestive of the function or the role an organization play in the growth of a society. symbolic interactionism is interested to know how an individual acquires personal and social characteristics, in particular, self-identity. the theory concludes its assertion that people were not born with the sense of the self. they acquire it through interaction that takes place between them in the society3. there is no doubt, therefore, that this places primacy on the indispensable role of the society as it is the one that is responsible in forming the self-identity of the human person conflict theory presents society as an arena of widespread conflict and struggle at every level of it. thus, conflict theory sees society to be structured on the patterns that retain the discriminatory status quo. it favours some sides and side-lines others. however, the aspect of conflict theory that will be of utmost concern here, is the one that is open to reconciliation in the area of conflict resolution; wherein parties disagree to agree. a close look at all of these theories, show the reality of interaction and how the society is necessary for the growth and development of the human person. it shows the strength to which every 232 formation of the human person in the 21st century institution is built. these theories carries with them a normative character in that the society or if you like the community has a strong influence in determining the integrity of the human person. man we all know is a social animal. the reality of this assertion is in its ability to be able to interact with its fellow peers. the different areas of socialization are fully suggestive of this reality in the human person. primarily, man learns cultural discipline and societal norms from the family community which is very important for influencing the human person. sociologists have postulated different theories of society. this ranges from the fact that the society is a structurally built system that helps to empower the human person in ascertaining his set goals. a close look at most of the theories of societal development, will help discover that it is centered on the human person. a. spirkin itemized collective interactions that further strengthens man’s existence in the society. according to him, they include the family, the play or instruction groups, the production team and other types of formal and informal collectivity.4 it is important to note that the family plays an important role in the psychological development of the human person. the family is a crucial instrument for the development of personality. this is because it is here that the child first comes to know about the basics of existence. in other words, it is here that the child first becomes involved in social life, absorbs its values and standards of behavior, it ways of thought, language and certain value orientations. from the family, the child finds itself in some other association as he grows older. apart from the family, other groups and institutions play significant roles in the social development of the human person. these groups or associations have a way of influencing an individual’s personality whether for good or for bad but one thing that is sure, is the fact of an influence. such a group can be the school institution or peer group. all these are societal institution that the human person cannot shy away from because they produce a kind of interaction that is needed in human development. in the different schools for instance, they meet another level of interaction under the influence of non-family members. this is not to say the family level of socialization is in sharp contrast to this institution’s form of socialization rather, both run concurrently in that the child while in school realizes that they are judged by their performance and no longer being accepted unconditionally. this is where a partial level of independence emerges from the human person. this is so because they learn a new culture that extends beyond their narrow family culture. this new culture requires a high level of efforts in learning outside the scope of a family but to the wider community. upon finishing from this institution, are lunched into a more intense section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 233 level of socialization that sees them responsible for forming and building the interaction of younger generation. here most of them are lunched into the life of full adulthood in marriages, work and even colleges. here they take full responsibilities for all their actions. the human person is a being that is always in touch with his environment or society as the case may be. this is why it is impossible to separate an individual from the society; because the individual is a product of the society. their relationship is very cordial. the individual lives and acts within the society. man is biologically and psychologically equipped to live in the society. this is where the social life of the individual is formed; f.m anayet hossain & m. d. korban ali note that “social life are dependent on the following such as political life, economic life, voluntary associations, educational associations, method of communications and family 5. this is why man is at the center of every political system like the unitary or parliamentary system. this same also holds way in the economic palace where man is at the center of every economic policies like socialism, capitalism, communism and communalism. man is said to have survived all of these economic systems in their own uniqueness. man, who is a social being, is said to be religious too. in fact, some scholars refer to man as a religious animal. some traditions and culture have opined that you cannot separate religion from their ontology. for instance, the africans see themselves as notoriously religious. the question now is what is this religious dimension of man all about? this will bring to bare another important aspect of this work. religion and man since the main thrust of this work is to build up a healthy religio-social dimension of the human person, it is fitting that having discussed man and his place in the society, man and the notion of religion be also explicated. the word religion means different things to different people since there is no universally accepted definition of religion. however, from its etymology, the word religion according to bernard haring is derived from three latin words as its root namely, ligare which means ‘to bind’ relegare which means to unite, or to link and religio which means relationship”6. from the etymology, one can immediately see that the underlining truth about the term religion is that it has to do with interaction that fosters relationship in order to bind and to link people together. however, the link or relationship here is one that exist between a person and a supreme being that is believed to exist. this divine supreme being that is transcendent is an object of worship by the human 234 formation of the human person in the 21st century person. this is what truly constitutes the essence of religion as joseph omoregbe argues: religion is essentially a bi-polar phenomenon. on the one end is man (religious man) while on the other end is the transcendent being, the deity he believes to exist and which he worships. whether such a deity really exists or simply the figment of his imagination of the religious man is not important to the concept of religion, as long as the deity is really believed by the religious man to actually exist. for him, the deity is a reality. the concept of deity is essential to the concept of religion. hence, where a belief in a deity is lacking, there can be no religion since religion, as we have said, is essentially a relationship established between man and a deity, that is, a transcendent personal being, believed to exist.7 the point therefore is that religion carries with it a relationship between man and the supreme. this simply means that the truth of religion is centred on the existence of a supreme being that is transcendent. this supreme being is said to be very powerful in that it can determine the life of man to a very large extent. since this is possible, man is supposed to have good rapport with the him by a sincere worship of him. this is where some persons also feel that religion is also a human activity. this is because religion also affects the human person. the belief and reliance on the supreme being is an indication of the limitations and weaknesses of the human person. this worship and appeal done to the supreme being further shows man’s dependence. this is where gallowaay’s definition of religion becomes necessary. according to him, “religion is man’s faith in a power beyond himself whereby he seeks to satisfy emotional needs and gains stability of life, and where he expresses in acts of worship and service”8 religion is likened to a law that is inseparable from man’s nature just as the laws of physics and life are inseparable from matter and living beings. this is because the supreme being who is believed to be the creator of the world (as evident in many traditions), has given man the longing for his creator and directed man towards him. ever since the history of mankind began, man has been practicing different forms of worship and piety. in fact, some scholars say there was no nation on the earth that was unattached to a religion and performing its rites in oneway or another. this is because piety is an instinct, a natural feeling deeply rooted in man’s being. it can neither be hushed, nor muted in an individual’s conscience, nor can the human conscience be prevented from sensing it, or going towards it9 different theories have been postulated for the evolution of religion. we have the sociological, psychological theories of religion and anthropological theories of religion. the anthropological theory of religion is propagated by ludwig feuerbach in his work, the essence of section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 235 christianity. here, he states that religion is the creation of man and worship of a projected human self. this projection of himself is a product of the mystery of religion where one seeks help from a higher being. for feuerbach, the higher being that is projected is man himself whose good deeds or evil deeds are not indifferent to god. he argues thus: manthis is the mystery of religionprojects his being into objectivity, and then again makes himself an object to this projected image of himself thus converted into a subject; he thinks of himself, but as the object of an object, of another being than himself. thus, here, man is an object to god. that man is good or evil is not indifferent to god.10 the psychological theory of religion is advocated by sigmund freud in his works, totem and taboo (1913), the future of an illusion (1927), and moses and monotheism (1939). in all of these works, freud argues that religion is a projection of man's childhood neurosis, the continual need of a father and a reflection of infantile mentality. this simply means that for freud, religion projects man's inability to grow up; it is like a puerile fixation and stagnancy where man depends on his parents for everything and this have so affected him that he has extended this dependency to an unknown supreme being for help. there exist different sociological theories of religion, but the most prominent of them is in the works of e. b. tylor tiltled, primitive culture (1871) and emile durkheim's, elementary forms of religion (1912). tylor concludes that religion evolves from ancestor worship. he says: "using the phrase ancestor worship in its broadest sense, as comprehending all worship of the dead, be the of the same blood or not, we conclude that ancestor worship is the root of every religion"11. joseph omoregbe states that religion for emile durkheim, is a principle of control by the society to continually dominate her citizens. it is the principle of influence, which personified social forces of control in society into a god with all the attributes of society as its qualities12. giving the fact that these three theories of religion are of different perspectives, yet one striking thing is that they have the reality of man as their subject matter. religion and its role in the society religion plays an important role on culture of a society. every religion is the product of a particular culture within which it grew13. it is hard to comprehend any religion without understanding the culture from which it developed. every culture would certainly have impact in the methods of religion. certain trends in history will help accelerate this view. for instance, christian religion grew from the jewish culture and 236 formation of the human person in the 21st century one can understand why there is somewhat interrelatedness in both religion notwithstanding some differences though. this is because every society is unique in her cultural displays. religion is said to play very vital aspect in the human society where human person interacts in the different institutions whether domestic, economic and political institution. in fact, shanjendu nath gave some instances on how religion affect the social structure of the human person. they are in the realm of internal feelings, an external form of social control, and to help in the character formation of the human person.14 according to him, an important aspect of religion is prayer and different classes of people belonging to different castes of society assemble in religious institutions for performing prayer and worship15. this praying and fellowshipping together has a way of building the sentiments among themselves and this further influence what they do as a group in the building of the different social institutions. religion also has a form of social control following the second aspect of nath’s bifurcation of the roles of religion to society. this is because according to him, the different activities and their different spheres of social life are still influenced by religious rites and ceremonies; such that it becomes possible for people to express their religious feelings through rituals and ceremonies. this is evident in the different occasions of social life like marriages, birth, harvesting, hunting, death and so on. here, you see the reality of ritual and other ceremonies performed in these occasions. this same rite can be extended to the economic aspect of the society and even in the aspect of the inauguration of a building structure and oath taking. all of these points to the fact that religion plays an important role in the further structuring of the society and its institutions. nath went on to state that religion also help to shape the character of an individual16. according to him, religion brings a sense of social value in the mind of people. this will enable the human person to work in tandem with the norm of society that coheres with basic religious belief. he expresses this thus “in obeying the social laws or to respect the elders and to show sympathy towards the feelings of others, or to discharge the social obligations faithfully, the role of religion is immense”.17 this further proves the indispensable role of religion to the character formation of man wherein he is able to show civility in the ethical dictates of social life. this view can be liken loyal rue’s description of the function of religion. he sees the function of religion in the achievement of personal wholeness and social coherence18. for him, the mythical and the ancillary strategies of religions, shape the emotions and motivations of individuals section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 237 in a way that allows them to overrule the innate intuitive morality of their biological heritage in favour of the culturally defined values encoded in myths. this is premised upon the notion that religious myths actually do promote a morality that induces behavior leading to personal wholeness and social cohesion. looking at the above roles of religion within the context of human interrelationship, one can see that the role of religion to human society is to lead to a healthy humanity. be that as it may, there exist some maladies that threatens this strength of humanity. the next session of this work will deal with some challenges that posit threat to human interrelationship. factors militating against human interrelatedness in the society this aspect will bring to bear the different ills that are in the society and religious institution that further proved that man is yet to attain the full realization of socio-religious essence. a close look at society, one will notice certain mishap which can be translated as man’s inhumanity to man, the ‘survival of the fittest’ instinct and certain corrupt practices, that have tied down man’s destiny from the will of progress. it is in the identification of all of these deficiencies that we now ascertain the role of philosophy in enhancing a formidable structure for the formation of the human person. the assessment of these maladies will be taken from different perspectives. sexist practices. there is no doubt that the society in which we live is characteristics of different agents, agencies and institution. however, outside this reality is the fact of gender awareness. according sandra bem, a psychologist “one cognitive process that seems nearly inevitable in humans is to divide people into groups. we can partition these groups on the basis of race, age, religion, and so on. however, most of the times we split humanity on the basis of gender. the first thing we instantly determine when meeting someone new, is their gender”19. this view shows the reality of gender consciousness, where people make a great divide of humanity on the basis of gender. with this in mind one is tempted to say this gender realization at people to be done is almost habitual and automatic as issabela crespi puts it “this process of categorizing others in terms of gender is both habitual and automatic. it’s nearly impossible to suppress the tendency to split the world in half, using gender as the great divider”20. it is interesting to note that this great divide is not bad it in itself since nature has made it so. but the part that seem problematic is the reality of subjugation and denigration. where a particular sex claims to be superior than the other; where a particular sex sees itself as the only qualified sex to attain a particular 238 formation of the human person in the 21st century height. this has led to the contention between what i call feminism and masculinism. in a society where the reality of sexist practices abound, one can lay claim to the sad scenario of denigration. this is evident in burial rites, ownership of properties, domestic chores, political position, naming ceremonies and the likes. ceremonies like these in some cultures are avenues for such sexist tendencies to be shown. rape: this is another act of man’s inhumanity to man. it is a violent and forceful sexual act on another. some to adult, while some others to minors. a. s hornby defines rape as the crime of forcing somebody to have sex with one especially with violence”21. this means that rape involves the use of force. in other words, it is against the will of the person who is under compulsion to do so. in the same vein, briganeti and egbonimali see rape as an act of sexual violence that involves intercourse without consent or against someone being willing to engage in the act22. samuel okafor-udah brought about another dimension of rape that occurs. according to him, this does not have to do with physical violence as such but a deception of a kind with the use of gift. he argues thus “an adult of any age range tactfully seduces a child of a tender age for either marriage or sex with an enticing gift and the child after collecting same willingly gives in for it with the adult, it is said to be rape as well23. he also went further to state that this form rape is viewed as “a sex crime carried out by pathological men or women who were unable to control their own sexual desires24. in a nut shell, rape is an unlawful sexual intercourse with someone with or without the use of force inorder to achieve sexual gratification. different countries and societies have had a share of this anomaly. samuel okafor gave the nigerian situation on rape when he noted: rape is a global problem with women and children being mostly vulnerable. they are the ones bearing the brunt of this evil in every society of the world … there are several cases, which are very irritating. now and then, it is reported that a teacher has raped a student. a religious leader his flock. robbers have raped their victim. a man has raped a sister-in-law or daughter –in-law. a master has raped a housemaid. a security man has raped his master’s wife. a boss has raped his staff. a father has raped his daughter. a young man has raped his grandmother. a minor has raped a fellow minor. a traditional ruler has raped a subject. an 80 year old man has raped an 8 year old girl.25 a close look at the above shows that the case of rape has crossed through different sections of a society, ranging from the political, religious, social, traditional sphere. such exploitation have eaten deep into the fabric of section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 239 the system. thus the progression of the percentage over the cause of years has always been in the increase. child abuse: this another anomaly that has threatened societal cohesion. a child is one who has not attained the status of an adult. the child is often judged as one between the age brackets of 7 to 14. any harm done to persons of this age bracket is termed child abuse; however, it is interesting to note that the society have been guilty of this over time. according to slavka michancova, research reveals that about twenty percent of women and five to ten percent of men worldwide were victims of child sexual abuse (csa)26. beauty, following the scope of child abuse problem u.s. 2005 data, asserts that: child abuse is a worldwide problem which is carried out by the strong on the weak, affecting children from birth to 18 years plus of age. the most recent us data on the scope of child abuse problem dates from 2005, during which 3.3 million reports of abuse and neglect were filled. about 60 percent of these reports warranted investigation with one-half of these allegations substantiated. it further stated, that these data indicate the incidence of child abuse and neglect to be 12.1 per 1,000 children; 1,460 children (four percent per day) died in 2005 as a result of inflicting trauma with more than 77 percent of these deaths in children less than 4 years of age.27 from the above, it shows that child abuse cuts across different states of the world giving the fact that it is a worldwide affair. this act is often done by the strong to inflict pain on the weak. it should also be noted that parents are also part of those who abuse their children. they do this on the ground that they have absolute control over the affairs of their children as such, their biddings must be obeyed. care must be taken because this act is a crime that is punishable by law. thus, michancova states that child sexual abuse is a serious crime that represent massive violation of human rights and generates long-term negative impact in various aspects of victims’ lives.28 violence: religious and social violence have become the order of the day where conflicts between people of different religions and social sects reigns and where the different religions try to prove the supremacy of their religion via violence. for example, in some areas of nigeria, muslims cannot live peacefully with christians. commenting on the bane of ethno-religious crisis, george asadu says: 240 formation of the human person in the 21st century though religion has played vital role in the society, and has contributed immensely to the national development of this country, it has also been wrongly used by some ethnic groups to afflict this country severally with conflicts leading to wanton destruction of properties and loss of human lives. obviously, there has been too much blood letting in this country resulting from ethnic and religious conflict which is threatening the very foundation of nigeria’s corporate existence as a nation. the menance of ethno-religious conflict in nigeria is fast eroding the core socio-cultural and religious value which forbids murder, coverteousness … this has hampered the economic growth of this country to such a great extent that poverty has engulfed the majority of the citizen. worst still, the mayhems have produced many disabled persons, orphans and widows and (widowers) …29 the same is true of the political sphere of the state, where political actors do not really understand what political rivalry is all about. people see the differences in party alliances as differences of humanity and as a result all forms of violence are being perpetrated to pull the other person down. the same is true of the educational and social sectors. this is evident where members of a particular schools resort to violence to prove the supremacy of their school. where some school proprietors resort to blackmail and give negative and unfounded reasons why students should not be enrolled in another school due to unhealthy competition. racial discrimination/tribalism: racism and ethnic bigotry are another forms of malady that has affected the society. this is almost synonymous with religious and social violence. this is where people gets what and how due to cultural affiliation. where a black man feels comfortable with his fellow blacks and does not want to associate with the white. on the other hand, when a white man sees himself as superior to the blacks. this is also evident in a multicultural state like nigeria for instance. in a situation when there is social hegemony and nepotism about who get a particular position. where a yoruba man feels comfortable with yoruba people alone, or hausa people do same with their fellow hausa. or the igbo the same with theirs. this racist cum ethnic biases further strengthens the wrong use of son of the soil syndrome. such a myopic view about life has a way of playing negatively in the normative vision of the human person other maladies include deception and exploitation by some religious ministers on their subjects. this is evident when so called ministers of god blackmail the conscience of their faithful in order to get something material from them. where the sacrilegious acts have become section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 241 the order of the day. the sin of simony have so rocked some religious institutions that you now begin to ask the way forward about authentic worship. is it the case of the parading of a white man in kenya whom they claim is jesus? or the one who asks his believers to eat grass and serpent? or the religious leaders who ask his followers to kill in the name religion? all of these threaten societal cohesion. even the different corruption practices in the different states are not left out. this ranges from stealing, robbery, kidnapping, electoral fraud; academic fraud and other social menaces. all of these menaces serves as clogs in the will of progress in any given state. philosophical principles and religio-cultural relationship: towards a normative vision of the human person here, the irreplaceable tool of philosophy will be harnessed. philosophy as a normative discipline is from two greek words, philos and sophia, meaning love of wisdom. a close look at the nature of philosophy will show that man is placed at the center of it all. this is as a result of man’s quest to know more about reality. williams aso captures this clearly when he says “man as the subject of philosophy has unquenchable thirst for knowledge not only for empirical realities alone but also phenomenal realities and everything that concern human experience and the universe in general”.30 it is in this quest for the normative vision of the human person that the ethical principles of philosophy will be harnessed. the ethical principles will help in carving out a normative vision of the human person; this is because ethics which is a core branch of philosophy is one that permeates virtually all aspect of life. it is a descriptive, prescriptive and normative discipline. its normative vision will see to the formulation of the moral order of actions that are not adjudged by personal feelings or emotions, but within the overall ground of moral values and norms. morality is not ruled by what a person feels alone or think alone. there must be an objective way of looking at morality that will help get rid of socio-religious maladies. in doing this, there must be a consideration for others. this is where the moral justification of ‘otherness’ comes in. in paul ricoeur’s work titled oneself as another, ‘otherness’ is tied to the self and this self has a responsibility of preserving ‘others’31. martin buber’s intersubjectivity philosophy of dialogue, came up with the i and thou interaction that presents the human person that is always in constant interaction with themselves giving the fact that all are of one substance. edmund hurssel gave a phenomenological approach to this normative vision when he came up with the theory of experiencing ‘others’ as myself32. here, the consideration of the well being of others must first be considered. 242 formation of the human person in the 21st century anyone who thinks of this will not rape, or cajole people in the name of religion. even the case of unhealthy sexist practices is not left out in the struggle to build a normative vision of the human person. thus, in simeone de beauvoir’s work the second sex, it clearly stated that she was out rightly against patriarchy supremacy and labeling of women. in this work, simeone argues that women is the other. it is from this notion, othering as a philosophical term takes on the notion of prejudice, inequality, marginality33. this is so because while othering is used to describe those who belong to a subordinate social category, otherness on the other hand, refers to the characteristics of the other that is not to be stereotype as inferior. as for the case of racial discrimination and ethnic bigotry, our knowledge of substance and accidents in metaphysics (a branch of philosophy) shows that every human person shares one substance – the humanity of the human person. the humanness of the white man or the black man or as evident in the different ethnic groups in nigeria, the hausa, igbo, yoruba, efik or ijaw is not lesser or higher than the humanness of the fulani, tiv, idoma, esan or egede as the case may be. we all share one humanity. the fact that one is a white man or a black man or igbo, yoruba or hausa is simply accidental to the being of the individual person.34 emmanuel levinas theory of alterity and otherness is not out of place. the french philosopher highlighted the need to think of the other. his alteririty expresses yet again a normative vision of the human person. this means considering the wellbeing of others. it is in doing this francis ikhianosime says that levinas in his alterity is “trying to safeguard the other from violation, oppression and inferiorization, hence, his use of alterity begins with a sense of responsibility to the other”.35 levinas preoccupation here is in the case of having a responsibility towards the well being of others and not for the other to be discriminated upon all subjected to all forms of denigration. a furtherance to this normative formation of the human person can be assessed from immanuel kant’s categorical imperative. “act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”36. this formulation seeks an objective method of doing things in the society and in religious palace. the second formulation of his categorical imperative “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only”37 since we live in a society, the wellbeing of others must be considered. none should let his non-challant attitude or negligence to cause harm to another as richard wollheim says argues “every action that occurs within a society and rises at all above the level section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 243 of triviality is bound to impinge upon other members of that society”38 this simply means that any act of neglect done by one is capable of causing damage to everyone. wollheim went further to state that “ the only actions that are unconditionally exempt from the jurisdiction of the state are of the order of brushing one’s teeth”39 however, i beg to disagree here that not brushing a teeth affect the individual alone, it also affect those he communicate with; that is, those of low immune system. john. s. mill’s philosophical influence is evident in his defense of utilitarianism and liberalism. mill’s utilitarianism assesses actions and institutions in terms of their effects on human happiness and enjoins us to perform actions and design institutions so that they promote in one formulation, maximize human happiness40 this further shows that mill’s utilitarianism is a progressive theory for human development. although, mill’s utilitarianism has its own shortcoming, yet his principle on liberty, individuality and solidarity has much to say on the dignity of others. it should be noted that human freedom is not meant to be an impediment to authentic relationship between persons rather it should be a bridge to aid human advancement and foster morality. it is painful to note that people use freedom in the wrong way. for some the freedom of the will is an avenue for them to be violent and as a result see their views as the most superiror. the normative vision of the human person here calls for a proper harnessing the rational ethics of freedom. this means the kind of freedom that is guided by rationality. it therefore means that the human person must continually live in a manner that justifies rationality. this is because, if man does not take advantage of his rationality, he may be steeped on a path of self-annihilation”41 philosophers down the ages have been passionate about doing a defence for an authentic relationship of the human person. they do this because of the belief that the human person is a relational being. even the african traditional society recognizes this interaction of the human person. this is because africans conceive of the human person from the descriptive point of view and the normative point of view. while the descriptive point of view refers to the biological frame work of the human person; but the normative aspect of the human person draws strength from the sense of the community. in order words, africans holds that for one to truly realize himself, he must be a part of the community. african ontology is communalistic; it is part of the unique identity of africans thus frank ndubuisi says “in african metaphysics, the self is conceived essentially towards others; that is, a ‘being-with-others’. the african is not just a human being but essentially a ‘being-with’. consequently it is the community who makes the individuals, because of his relationship with others in the community’42. 244 formation of the human person in the 21st century jack aigbodioh on his part holds that, .african traditional (i.e. indigenous) cultures are noted by anthropological and sociological scholars alike for their communalistic form of life, which emphasizes the humanistic values of the co-dependency ethos with its universalistic appeal to equality and intersubjective recognition43. in fact, in african ontology, the human person fully realizes itself in the community. when mbiti says that, the african says to himself, "i am because we are, the “we” referred to here is not an additive 'we' but a thoroughly fused collective 'we'44. to further buttress this, aigbodioh concludes that communalism, or its cognate communitarianism (from community), is a term used to express the peculiar cohesive and integrative character of african traditional society45. it becomes pertinent to state that man relates as long as he exists and keeping with the norms of authentic relationship will help make the society a better place conclusion in this work, we have succeeded in making an exposition of the notion of man and how he cannot be separated from the activities of the society. this is translatable from the perspective of the domestic interaction that exist in the family, the school and other social institutions. all of these sociological strata depicts the reality of interaction. the work also made an assessment of religion from its etymology to the different theories that are associated with it. in fact the sociological theory as exposed by emile durkheim, the anthropological as espoused by ludwig feuerbach and the psychological as espoused by freud shows that the religion has man as its subject matter and this man in in constant relationship whether with his fellow men or with the supreme. the work also argues that although man is seen as a being that is in constant relationship, yet this relationship has not be fully realized judging from the fact that different ills are perpetrated daily in our world. ills like rape, sexist practices, ethnicism, violence, nepotism and the likes. be that as it may the paper concludes that only the principles of philosophy can provide a normative tools from the enhancement of the relationship and interrelatedness of the human person. to achieve this, there must be a proper adoption of some ethical moral principles that helps to foster cohesion in all strata of humanity. this principle is the need to consider one’s good and the good of the ‘others’. this means seeing others as having the same essence with set goals. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 245 endnotes 1 ayo fatubarin & olusegun alokan, “religion, man and his environment” british journal of education vol. 1, no.2 2013 pp48-61 2 hayatullah laluddin “a review of three major sociological theories and an islamic perspective”. international journal of islamic thought vol. 10: 2016 8-26 3 bryjak & soroka in hayatullah laluddin “a review of three major sociological theories and an islamic perspective” 1992 ibid p. 24 4 alexander spirkin dialectical materialis. moscow. progress pub. 1983 p.88 5 f.m anayet hossain & m. d. korban ali “relation between individual and society” open journal of social sciences. vol. 2 n. 8 2014 6 bernard haring, the laws of christ, (new york: newman press, vol iii, 1964 p.119 7 joseph omoregbe: a philosophical our look of religion lagos: joja educational research and publishers limited, 2000 p.3 8 geroge galloway: the philosophy of religion, new york charles scribner’s sons 1914 p.184 9 http://www.ezsoftech.com/akram/manandreligion.asp lassed assesed 21st january, 2020 10 ludwig, feuerbachthe essence of christianity, trans. by george eliot, new york: harper touchbooks, 1956 pp 29-30 11 henning, charles. "on the origin of religion" in american anthropologist, 11(12), 1898. 374 12 joseph omoregbe. a philosophical look at religion opcit p.10 13 ibid p.300 14 shanjendu nath. religion and its role in society”. iosr journal of humanities and social sciences vol. 20 2015 pp 82-85 15 ibid 83 16 ibid 17 ibid 18 michael stausberg, contemporary theories of religion: a critical companion. london: routledge taylor & francis group london and new york 2009 p.233 19 sandra bem. the lenses of gender: transforming the debate on sexual inequality. new haven: yale univerity press 1993 p.9 20 issabella crespi “ socialization and gender roles within the family: a study on adolescents and their parents in great britain” http://www.mariecurie.org /annals/volume3/crespi.pdf 21 hornby, a. s. 2006 oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current emglish, 7th edition, new york: oxford university press p.2 22 brigneti, p & egbonimali, s. 2002 “rape in nigeria: theory & reality retrived from: http://www.quardian.co.uk/world/2002/auq/20/qanda.islam on july 4, 2013. p.4 23 samuel okafor-udah “ ethical problems of rape as a social cnkerworm in our present day society” retrived from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrhr/article/ viewfile/119696/109156 p. 161 24 ibid 25 ibid 162 246 formation of the human person in the 21st century 26 slavka michancova “ ethical dilemmas in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse” in sorbye, l. w. (ed) ethical challenges in professional praxis: experiences from slovakia pressov: 2011 pp 119-137 27 beauty o. biokoro. “the bane of child abuse and the rights of the nigeria child to education” journal of resourcefulness and distinction, volume 8 no. 1, august, 2014 p. 2 28 slavka michancova “ ethical dilemmas in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse” in sorbye, l. w. (ed) ethical challenges in professional praxis: opcit p.135 29 george asadu. “ethno-religious conflict: the bane of nigeria unity” hofa: african journal of multidisciplinary research hajmr. vol. 3, no.1, 2018, p. 38-51 (38) 30 william aso. rudiments of philosophy for undergraduate; lagos. fropiel international ltd 2018 p. 3 31 paul ricoeur, oneself as another, trans. k. blamey (chicago & london: the university of chicago press, 1992 p.26 32 moran dermot, introduction to phenomenology, london: routledge taylor and francis group, 2000. pp 337-338 33 jimoh anselm “justice and the othered minority lessons from africa communalism” in elvis imafidon (ed), handbook of african philosophy of difference: switzerland: springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-049416_12-1 34 j. o. ndubuisi ‘the role of philosophy in contemporary society: the nigerian experience’ humanity & social sciences journal 10 (1): 40-46, 2015 35 francis ikhianosime, “levinas’ theory of alterity and the sketching of an epistemology of otherness”. ekpoma review vol 5 n. 1 2019 p.128 36 immanuel kant, foundations of the metaphysics of morals, translated by lewis white beck, indianapolis: bobbs-merill, library of liberal arts, 1959 p.39 37 ibid 38 richard wollheim “john stuart mill and the limits of state action” social research vol. 40 p. 1-30 39 ibid 40 david brink. “mill’s moral and political philosophy” https://plato.stanford.edu /entries/mill-moral-political/.lassed assessed 1/03/2020 41 francis ikhianosime: “fundamentals on ethics and their consequential imperative” unpub 2019 p.14 42 frank ndubuisi “the philosophical paradigm of african identity and development,” open journal of philosophy vol.3, no. 1a, 2013 p.224 43 jack aigbodioh. “stigmatization in african communalistic societies”. cultura: international journal of philosophy of culture and axiology. viii . 1 (2011): p. 27. 44 menkiti, j.‘‘person and community in african traditional thought,’’ in r. wright (ed.), african philosophy: an introduction (lanham, md: university press of america). 1984 p. 1 45 jack aigbodioh “stigmatization paradigm of african identity and development” opcit p.28 247 18 husserlian ‘epoche’ and the expansion of human knowledge sylvester idemudia odia, ph.d senior lecturer, dept. of philosophy, university of benin sylvester.odia@uniben.edu; slyodia2002@yahoo.com website: https://sylvesterodia.com abstract husserlian ‘epoche’ requires the researcher to intentionally set aside prejudices, biases, presumptions and presuppositions previously acquired from culture, religion, and society. this 'epoche' will enable the individual to have his or her own personal unbiased or unprejudiced assessment of the phenomena – objects, persons, events. most, if not all cultures, religions, and society seem rigid and dogmatic in imparting knowledge to younger generations. most persons who can reproduce the knowledge imparted to them are often celebrated as intelligent persons even when they may not have expanded the knowledge in question; thus ignoring those who may produce an unbiased or unprejudiced assessment of the phenomena – persons who may contribute to and expand knowledge. while the reproduction of cultural or communal knowledge by a given generation has historical values, it limits the generation in question to the limits of the knowledge community. this paper, using the analytical and phenomenological methods, argues for the expansion of human knowledge by encouraging researchers to have their encounter with the phenomena using the husserlian ‘epoche’. such knowledge acquired by the individual should be seen as an expansion of or additional knowledge to that of the knowledge community. keywords: epoche, knowledge, proposition, phenomenology, testimony introduction knowledge is essential to human survival. what to do or not do, what to eat and drink, the best environment to live in towards enhancing human life, the extent of what we know of other persons, objects, places and things, and so on are essential to human survival. mailto:sylvester.odia@uniben.edu mailto:slyodia2002@yahoo.com https://sylvesterodia.com/ 248 formation of the human person in the 21st century now, nature seems to be evolving. and humans, as part of nature, seems to be acquiring more skills by the day which enable humans to have a better knowledge of nature as well as other persons. thus the knowledge we currently possess of the nature of the person and reality, in general, seems to be the best of all knowledge hitherto produced by the human race because we have further expanded, via our own experiences, the knowledge we acquired from our predecessors. with all sense of sincerity and commitment to the survival of the human race, the knowledge we possess today we will also pass on to other persons (scholars or researchers inclusive). however, despite our genuine commitment to the survival of the human race, humans are still plagued with viruses, natural and manmade disasters, famine and hunger, poverty and premature death, terrorism and wars due to our inability to manage ourselves as temperamental and sensual beings who, more often than not, are prone to be irrational than rational. finding solutions to the above challenges require handing over or transmitting knowledge from one generation to another. this is often done through the propositional knowledge of scholars or researchers. such knowledge helps the scholar or researcher to be up to date with the historical development of the knowledge in question. but if all that the scholar or researcher does is to memorise and reproduce the knowledge imparted to him or her, then meeting the challenges of the seemingly changing nature and human behavioural patterns may be difficult. there is, therefore, the urgent need to impart knowledge to scholars or researchers at all levels in such a way that they will be able to have their own experiences of the phenomena. such experiences of theirs will be their contribution to the knowledge community and expand their knowledge of reality. to adequately expand human knowledge and resolve now challenges that threaten human existence, the phenomenological method of husserl, especially his epoche is of great importance. thus, this paper will expose the phenomenological method of husserl as captured in his epoche towards revealing how it can help expand human knowledge. before doing this, it will expose what knowledge is and argue that knowledge, as taught in schools, are fundamentally propositional, historical and ultimately testimonial in nature. testimonial knowledge attests to the need for epoche in expanding knowledge for the survival of the human race. what knowledge is to the epistemologist, the knowledge that is of importance is propositional knowledge, which is often in the form of ‘i know that...” section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 249 such knowledge presupposes that the knower has experienced phenomena – persons, objects, things, events and state-of-affairs. from a phenomenological point of view, especially as espoused by husserl, such knowledge also include things like universals or essences, numbers, values, and so on. knowledge here is an expression of the knower’s experience (directly or indirectly) with a phenomenon via sense perception, rational or cognitive inference or judgment, testimony (knowledge from other persons’ experiences), revelation, authority or experts, memory, and so on. traditionally, knowledge has been defined as ‘justified true belief ’ (plato, theaetetus, 201 c-d). the main challenge with this definition, especially as captured by gettier's counterexamples (gettier, 1963: 123), is how to justify knowledge claims. it is not enough to claim to know something, to claim to have an experience of something, to claim to have come in contact with something or to claim to have reflected on something and, thus, have an idea of it without providing a satisfactory and reasonable explanation for one’s knowledge claim. attempts to justify knowledge claims have led to different criteria of justification which largely depend on the school of thought of the knower. materialists are likely to limit themselves to that which is perceptible to the senses and, if they are scientists, they are generous enough to include the conclusions reached by the senses with the aid of scientific instruments that help to meliorate the limits of sense perception. idealists seek the certainty of knowledge beyond the limits of sense perceptions. they are likely to place more trust in reason or inferential knowledge in their search for essences or universal qualities that can endure through time. if they are religiously inclined, certainty in knowledge will be sought for in the relationship they have with the divine or supernatural being who is believed to have created all things that can be known, and who infuses into the human mind the lacuna in sensual and cognitive knowledge via revelation, intuition, dreams and feelings. for instance, as it concerns an idealistic conception of knowledge, abanaku (2018: 52) is of the view that the ultimate reality (the one or the supreme being) is the sole criterion of truth for the one is truth itself. the most humans can know of reality is to some certain degree of certainty. thus “human knowledge could be described as characterized by degrees of clarity, distinctness and truth as it deepens from individual through communal to ultimate knowledge.” (abanaku, 2018: 53) but teichman and evans (1991: 65) negate the idealistic notion of knowledge because it seems to ignore the notion of propositional 250 formation of the human person in the 21st century knowledge. propositional knowledge is seen by them as the testimony of a knower about an event that took place at a time in history, and the event is about nature that seems to be evolving. however, irrespective of the school of thought one may adhere to, once the subject of knowledge (a knower) believes that he or she knows anything, the knowledge acquired becomes propositional at the point of communicating or transmitting it to others. propositional knowledge as testimonial knowledge the subject of knowledge (the knower or epistemic agent) believes that he or she knows when there is some reasonable degree of conviction. this reasonable degree of conviction is put to the test when the knower presents the knowledge he or she claims to have to another person or group of persons. this presentation of a knowledge claim is in the form of a proposition, that is, the knowledge claim is presented as a claim that can be true or false, even though the knower presents it with the conviction that the claim he or she makes is true. on propositional knowledge, hegel (1892: 144) is of the view that it gives us a partial picture of reality; partial idea from the perspective of the knower. while a full knowledge of reality can be attained at the level of 'absolute knowledge', before attaining absolute knowledge via dialectic, the knower produces propositional knowledge from a given perspective and groups things into different classes. now, propositional knowledge allows other epistemic agents (who are being presented with the knowledge claim of the knower) to verify whether or not the knowledge claim of the knower is true or false. it also brings to the awareness of epistemic agents that the knowledge in question is as understood and expressed by the knower; that is, it is the testimony of the knower concerning the knowledge claim. propositional knowledge, therefore, becomes the testimony of the knower at the point of dissemination. if epistemic agents (hearers) are convinced of the veracity of the knowledge claim or are reasonably satisfied with the justification provided by the knower, then it becomes knowledge for the epistemic agents based on the testimony of the knower. but if epistemic agents doubt the knowledge claim of the knower, then the knowledge claim becomes probable. furthermore, testimonial knowledge is historical in the sense that it is the proposition of a knower containing a knowledge claim of phenomena or state-of-affairs acquired in some distant or immediate past. since reality is interpreted differently from the experiences of different epistemic agents, and what we claim to know seems to constantly evolve, then there is a need to constantly keep track of what we can know of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs. but if we section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 251 bring into our experience of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs the previous conclusions we deduced from our past experiences or previous conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, other researchers and epistemic agents from previous phenomena or similar state-of-affairs, then we may fail to detect what the present phenomena or present state-of-affairs is revealing or has evolved into. these previous experiences of ours or conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, other researchers and epistemic agents are what husserl referred to as biases, prejudices, presuppositions, etc. to experience phenomena or a present state-of-affairs as it currently is or as it is currently revealing itself without bias, prejudice or presuppositions requires one to practice husserl's epoche. the practice of husserl’s epoche will lead to a meaningful growth of knowledge. husserlian epoche and the growth of human knowledge for husserl, viewing the world from the opinions and conclusions of others is the “natural standpoint”. the natural standpoint is the conventional way of learning or imparting knowledge to others. also, this conventional way of perceiving reality limits reality to sense perception and trivializes our ability to know things inferred by reason – the idea of the mind, universals or essences. to attain knowledge of things as they are (which is not possible for plato and kant), husserl developed a method that requires the bracketing away of the opinion, bias, prejudice, and presuppositions of the natural standpoint to be able to experience the phenomena as it is. this method is known as epoche or the “phenomenological reduction”. it is the reduction of experience to the level of not being influence by the judgments and conclusions of previous epistemic agents. this "phenomenological reduction" also known as "transcendental reduction" leads to the experience of the pure act of consciousness about the phenomena or state-of-affairs. according to lawhead (2002: 530 footnote) "epoche was the term used by the greek sceptics when they recommended we withhold our commitment and suspend judgment about things that were uncertain." thus, we can say that husserl is challenging us to suspend all previous judgments, conclusions, opinions, and presuppositions about a phenomenon or state-of-affairs. we should approach the phenomenon or state-of-affairs with the mindset of allowing the phenomenon or stateof-affairs to reveal itself to us. with the revelation we have experienced we can form our judgment about the phenomenon. the phenomenon is explicated from one’s own experience without the bias or influence of any philosophizing (husserl, 1960: 151). such an experience of the phenomenon is pure and will help us know things as they are in 252 formation of the human person in the 21st century themselves because it brackets away biases and attitude acquired at the level of the natural standpoint. this method of epoche also known as ‘bracketing’ is an intuitive process similar to descartes methodic doubt. descartes, armed with experience, doubted the knowledge of reality he previously had on the bases that the sources of such knowledge had limitations. during this process, he could not doubt that he was doubting or thinking. thus he concluded that essentially he was a thinking being that exists. this idea of a thinking being that exists was something he could not doubt and he believed that the sceptics, no matter how much they try to doubt it, will not be able to doubt it (descartes, 1912: 26 – 27). descartes method of doubting everything he used to believe to be knowledgeable to be able to arrive at the "thinking being" with all clarity and certainty is similar to husserl's epoche. husserl believes that with the method of epoche he can arrive at the knowledge of things as they are. looking at the limitations of the senses and reason as sources of knowledge, and given that propositional knowledge is dated for they are about past experiences, in order not to live in the shadows of the past (especially if we want to know things as they are today), we must bracket away from the knowledge of the past. ojong and ibrahim (2011: 185) have both stated the problems with some sources and theories of knowledge and, taking a clue from the works of kant and kuhn they opined that today's knowledge claims are a product of the experience of the knower with interpretation arrived at by the workings of the mind of the knower. and, given that reality changes, the interpretation arrived at when reality changes produce new paradigms that "make us see the world from a different perspective." besides, ojong (2010: 39, 44) encourages any epistemologist who is experiencing "epistemic loneliness" (egocentric predicament) over false ideas, to overcome his or her fears and scepticism by engaging in epistemic discourse with other epistemologists. he or she will effectively engage the external world using the tool of language to avoid the challenge of 'private' language. but given that the idea of the epistemologist is relative to some degree, the researcher or scholar need not bother too much about objectivity or truth as defined or presented to him or her by the epistemic community. his or her main concern is to explain reality as currently experienced or as it currently presents itself. furthermore, from kant and kuhn's idea of a paradigm shift, one can infer that if indeed, reality undergoes changes, each major change will produce a new paradigm. every new paradigm will produce new knowledge. thus the researcher or scholar needs to bracket away section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 253 previous paradigms to enable him or her detect possible new changes of reality to be able to acquire knowledge current to the reality of his or her time. such knowledge acquired becomes a contribution to the knowledge of the epistemic community. knowledge, as collectively owned, has thereby expanded or grown. glorifying the past husserl does not condemn the past. he did not play down the importance of customs and traditions. he also did not condemn the knowledge of our past experiences or from experts. he was, however, against dogmatising or canonising the experience of the past to the detriment of what the phenomena or state-of-affairs is currently revealing. thus, if we are to find new patterns in the phenomena or state-of-affairs, if we are to solve today’s emerging problems and challenges, and if we want to expand the frontiers of knowledge then we need to include our own unique experiences through the practice of husserl’s epoche. conclusion humans are communal beings. we live in communities and share things in common with members of the community in which we live. knowledge is one major thing we share in common especially as it is essential to the survival of the human race. however, as beautiful and essential the knowledge we acquire from the epistemic community is, it is dated. if the researcher or scholar is to contribute meaningfully to the epistemic community he or she belongs to, he or she should practice the husserlian epoche especially since the world in which we live seems to be evolving. whatever the pure act of consciousness intuitively deduces or produces from epoche is, according to husserl, the way the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. this knowledge from the pure act of consciousness will further be implemented by reason and senses in our everyday experiences. such knowledge, if different from what was previously thought about the phenomena or state-of-affairs, will be a genuine contribution to knowledge. it will be an advancement of knowledge. but then, it will not be proper to dogmatise it or to canonize it as the ultimate truth as far as the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. to dogmatise or canonize will amount to using this conclusion to assess subsequent or similar phenomena or state-of-affairs, and this will be against the principle of husserl’s epoche. in other words, each time we approach familiar or strange phenomena or state-of-affairs we should apply epoche so that the pure state of consciousness can intuitively know the phenomena or state-of254 formation of the human person in the 21st century affairs as it is. if the phenomena or state-of-affairs has evolved, the subject of knowledge that is investigating it phenomenologically will detect it and add the experience to that of the knowledge community. if the phenomena or state-of-affairs has not evolved, it will reveal itself as it did the previous time it was experienced. however, as difficult as it is for many to practice epoche or “transcendental reduction,” it produces and expands the frontiers of knowledge, conquers new challenges, and keeps humanity surviving. references abanaku, b., 2018. fundamentals of human knowledge: echoes of reality and individuation and other writings, onitsha: spiritan publications. descartes, rene 1912. a discourse on method, meditations on the first philosophy, principles of philosophy, trans. j. veitch, london: j. m. dent and sons, ltd. gettier, e. l. 1963. “is justified true belief knowledge?”, analysis, 23, june, p. 123 hegel, g. w. f., 1892. the logic of hegel, translated from the encyclopaedia of the philosophical science by w. wallace. oxford: clarendon press. husserl, edmund, 1960. cartesian meditations, trans. d. cairns, netherlands: the hague. lawhead, william f., 2002. the voyage of discovery: a historical introduction to philosophy, 2nd ed., belmont, ca: wadsworth. ojong, k. ayiba, 2010. the story of epistemology, calabar: jochrisam publishers. ojong, k. ayiba and adekunle a. ibrahim, 2011. fundamental problems of epistemology, calabar: jochrisam publishers. plato, theaetetus, 201, c – d. teichman, j. and evans, k. c., 1991. philosophy: a beginner’s guide, oxford: basil blackwell ltd, p. 65. 255 19 an ethical appraisal of the family as an agent of priestly formation in africa gregory ebalu ogbenika ph.d lecturer, seminary of all saints, uhiele ekpoma, edo state, nigeria. oshokwe67@gmail.com & mr gideon adeniji (ph.d cand.) university of benin, benin city etrophodon17@gmail.com abstract the family is the first unit of human formation among the various units of formation in every age. it is a unit that is indispensable in the grooming of the child. the way a child was brought up within a particular family can go a long way to influence his general attitude towards life. if the child was exposed to a good and favorable formation within family, the child is bound to be positively disposed toward others, because the child would not only have passed through the system, the system would have passed through the child. if it is the other way round, then it will manifest in the child’s general attitude towards life as a whole. it has been discovered that with the disengagement of moral and religious education in schools, the moral fabric of societal life is progressively depreciating at an alarming rate. a lot of children and young people are now living without the basic and rudimentary knowledge of morals and religion. the only emphasis on education in many developed countries is intellectual knowledge, devoid of human formation. most modern societies depend so much on the positive laws of the state to groom children and direct the affairs of their lives. this is having a toll on products of post primary schools, which are the raw materials for formation at the level of the seminary. it is against this backdrop that this paper attempts an ethical appraisal of the role of the family in the formation of the candidates for the priesthood. this paper adopts the analytical and hermeneutical methods of analysis. it concludes mailto:oshokwe67@gmail.com mailto:trophodon17@gmail.com 256 formation of the human person in the 21st century that a proper attention to the role of the family, will produce better candidates for formation and reduce incidences of behavioural dysfunctions in priestly ministry within the society. keywords: family, formation, agent, seminary formation, and africa conceptual elucidation. family: the concept ‘family’ depicts a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.1 the family plays the role of development with the relationship of the parents and the children; it is basically the “original cell of social life”2, where values are transmitted, and the basic level of socialization from which the human person gets the first bits of education. the family is the key and basic unit of development, a key aspect of the family is the role of formation, the family serves to form the members of this social unit, a place or ideal situation where the more experienced members, the parents and over time, elder siblings pass on the necessary basic values and ideas that require proper and adequate cultivation. the family passes on the first form of education to the young ones,3 helping them form their primary and basic conceptions of the human life. “it is the most basic unit of the church”4 formation: the concept of ‘formation’ basically references development, in context, the process of shaping a person. further, formation basically is a series of holistic developmental strategies aimed at improving the human person in different and basic facets of life, as the advanced english dictionary would refer to formation as fabrication into a particular shape, this is the basis of the formation of the human person, forming the person into a particular and certain shape, a shape of primarily, all round brilliance. formation, as implicitly stated earlier is an all-round activity which implies that it covers varying aspects of the personality be it emotional, physical, moral, social, cognitive, behavioural etc. also, the instruments of formation are diverse, there are varying social groups that have a role to play in the formation of the human person, the family being the basic unit that helps forms the perception of the human person, that presents the lenses by which the person sees the world, it is as though the grassroots, as though the background from which the development process takes its root, the human person would always have other instruments and factors, the peer groups and other social institution but a pivotal agent would always remain the family. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 257 the seminary formation: the formation in the seminary is one that is structured to meet all areas that are necessary for a holistic human formation. the four cardinal areas of formation in the seminary are the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. these are areas that are sacrosanct and intrinsic to ensure a balanced and full grown man, ready for the priestly vocation. these areas of formation are very integral to the actualization of the goal of an authentic formation. the human formation: according to the synod fathers, “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.5 “this therefore reveals the importance of human formation, as it represents the foundation upon which every other formation is built. the young men are first human beings, and would in their vocation deal with human beings. the letter to the hebrews notes that “every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to god” (heb. 5:1). in order that his ministry may be humanly as credible and acceptable as possible, it is important that the priest should mold his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with jesus christ the redeemer of man.6 future priests should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry3. the seminary hand book adds that maturity in human formation entails a two-fold demand, namely, increasing knowledge of oneself in all humanness as a creature, with particular strengths and weaknesses and understanding this within the framework of the relationships which forms the context of the priests life.4 an understanding of humanity of an individual, and a conscious acceptance of the human nature, towards a conscious effort to be better, and to grow helps in undergoing a human formation devoid of pretense and hypocrisy, one that is open to learning. as the priest grows both in the knowledge of himself and in his relationship with others, he will be more deeply formed into his priesthood. the seminarian is therefore formed to work on himself and mold himself better into the image of christ, and by extension, work on his relations with men, so as to become a healthy and lovable conduit of god’s mercy and love for humanity. in pastores dabo vobis the holy father, st. john paul ii of blessed memory talks about “affective maturity”, which for him, is the result of an education in true and responsible love, and notes that it is a significant, and decisive factor in the formation of candidates to the priesthood.5 affective maturity presuppose an awareness that love has a central role in human life.6 in his encyclical, redemptor hominis, st. pope 258 formation of the human person in the 21st century john paul ii notes that man cannot leave without love. he remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is meaningless if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate innately in it.7 this therefore implies that the seminarian is groomed and grows in love in all its entirety, physical, psychic and spiritual, with a human maturity subsumed in clear training in freedom, expressed in heartfelt obedience to the truth of one’s own being, and to the meaning of one’s own existence.8 spiritual formation: the formation of the human person, finds its fullest expression in spiritual formation. when it is carried out in the context of an anthropology which is open to the full truth regarding the human person, it leads to and finds its completion in spiritual formation.9 the hand book of the seminary of all saints adds that spiritual formation sets the foundation for the attitudes, habits and practices of the spiritual life in a lifetime of priestly ministry especially as regards priestly celibacy.10 as a result of this, the new ratio fundamentalis institutionis sarcedotalis, notes that initial admission to the seminary should be preceded by a spiritual and ecclesial programme, in which a serious discernment of the motivation in responding to a vocation can be undertaken.11 this programme which is referred to as the spiritual year is a programme that is set aside for the spiritual formation of aspirants to the priestly vocation. for one year, the aspirant is engaged in spiritual exercises that also help in his discernment of his vocation. the major seminary, however, continues in this spiritual grooming as the daily schedules of the seminary contain different spiritual activities that are a necessary ingredient of his vocation. the seminarian also has access to a spiritual director to whom he meets for guidance and counseling, on spiritual matters. the essential content of spiritual formation specifically leading towards the priesthood is well expressed in the vatican council’s decree optatam totius: spiritual formation (…) should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with god the father through his son, jesus christ in the holy spirit.12 those who are to take on the likeness of christ, priest by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives.13 prayers and study of the word of god and the attendance of holy mass are core spiritual activities for all seminarians and priests in formation. pastoral formation: the whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of christ the good shepherd. hence their formation in its section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 259 different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character.14 this means that one major aspect of formation in the seminary is the pastoral formation, where students are trained to be true shepherds of soul after the example of the lord jesus christ. therefore seminarians are engaged in evangelical activities and are also posted to parishes. the handbook of the seminary of all saints notes that seminarians are introduced to the apostolic life by hands-on-experience in areas such as parish and campus ministry, counseling, parish religious education programmes, diocesan tribunals, vocation offices, hospital ministry, serial ministry to the poor and the disadvantaged etc.15 through these field experiences the seminary is helped to understand the apostolate, and is prepared to make a more matured commitment to the priesthood of christ. intellectual formation: this aspect of formation is, perhaps, central to the whole project of formation in the church. this is a very vital aspect of the priestly formation that cannot be overemphasized. in pastores dabo vobis, st. pope john paul ii of blessed memory notes that “intellectual formation has its own characteristics but it is also deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation: it is a fundamental demand of human intelligence by which he participate in the light of god’s mind and seeks to acquire wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards knowing and adhering to god.16 the challenges of the rapidly developing world and the intellectual demand of a highly knowledgeable society makes it important for the priest to be a man of great intellectual fecundity and knowledge to meet the challenges of evangelism to highly intellectual people. the synod fathers notes that “if we expect every christian to be prepared to make a defense of the faith, and to account for the hope that is in us (cf 1 pet. 3:15), then all the more should candidates for the priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity. for the salvation of their brethren and sisters, they should seek an even deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.17 the seminary is not only a place for spiritual and human formation, but also a place where there is a rich investment in intellectual rigor and exercises. the peculiarity of the priestly vocation is one that demands that the seminarian is equipped with philosophical and theological knowledge. the young man in formation is exposed to the different schools and areas in philosophy that helps him delve into existential questions and rationalizations about the world and creation in general. the seminarian is exposed to a high level of education and academic activity befitting of every higher institution of learning, to learn 260 formation of the human person in the 21st century undergraduate courses in philosophy, so as to come out a philosopher of refinement, knowledge and understanding, balanced intrinsically by studies in theology, (knowledge of god) which is in fact the goal of his philosophical endeavor. therefore, like all other young men and women undergoing undergraduate studies in philosophy, the seminarian undergoes rigorous intellectual exercise in philosophy, but this rime with a purpose and a goal to be able to wither the storm that comes from a proliferation of knowledge that could pose a challenge to faith and learning in the knowledge of god. the holy father, john paul ii of blessed memory explains this further when he notes that “the theologian is first and foremost a man of faith. but he is a believer who asks himself question about his own faith (fides quarens intellectum), with the aim of reaching a deeper understanding of the faith itself.18 this is what philosophy helps to do, as it asks so many questions on existence and god. the need for philosophical studies geared and channeled towards a better understanding of the christ is of the essence, as the philosophical traditions of the seminary are studied up to the point of supplementing theology, through the inclusion of various christian philosophers and their philosophy that possesses a theological touch. theological formation is therefore very vital as it is the destination of all philosophical studies and the focal point of the intellectual studies of a seminarian. for john paul ii, theological formation is both complex and demanding. it should lead the candidate for the priesthood to a complete and united vision of the truths which god has revealed in jesus christ and of the church’s experience of faith.19 who are the agents of priestly formation? throughout the course of the formation of an intending priest, there are various persons, structures and institutions he comes in contact with which shape his personality and necessary qualities that place him in a better position to exercise his clerical responsibilities. the role of these agents cannot be treated with levity because in the long run, the impact of these agents go a long way to influence the candidate’s conception of what the priestly ministry entails and how he is to go about the exercise of the ministry. there are so many people involved in the work of formation. but for the purpose of this paper, we would like to identify the main agents or units involved in the work of priestly formation. they are the key instruments being used by the god and church to ensure the formation of future priests for the church. we shall examine some of these salient agents which shape and influence priestly formation and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 261 their respective roles in the whole formation process. these are as follows: the family as stated earlier, the family plays a pivotal role in the early upbringing of the child. it is the primary or primordial unit or agent of formation of the child. the attention paid by the family to the upbringing at the early stage of the growth of a child makes a lot of difference in the maturity of the child. the more attention given, the better for the child, the less attention given, goes a long way to affect the development of the child. this does not apply to the early stage alone, but at every stage of the development of the child. the whole gamut of formation should be wholistic. there is this tendency for some families to pay attention one or some aspect(s) of the child’s formation to the detriment of the others. a lot of parents pay particular attention to the intellectual formation at the expense of human and spiritual formation, which is so important in the life of the child. they do this by sending their wards to the best school that are famous for academic prowess in the society without minding what they are able to offer in the areas of values and their relationship with the creator. it is of paramount importance for the family to give priority to the wholistic formation of the child till the child attains the age of fending for himself or herself, which is the age of reason, the age at which they can now take complete responsibility for their actions: the fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. the role of parents is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. the right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable20. having enjoyed tutelage under the guidance of their parents in a wholistic manner, it is most likely that the child would take the path for which he has been brought up while growing up. this also applies to the seminarian who is in formation. while on holidays with the family, the onus is on the family to guide and support him as he undergoes formation. in the most of numerous distractions that could arise while on holidays, it behooves of parents to ensure that attention is paid to the seminarian’s well-being so that he may not be swallowed by the negative influences that abound all over our contemporary african society. the diocesan bishop/presbyterate: the diocesan bishop is first and foremost the one who discerns the vocation to the priesthood of any candidate. he is responsible for the seminarian from the beginning to the end of the formative process and ultimately decides if the candidate is fit 262 formation of the human person in the 21st century enough to be ordained and to exercise the priestly ministry.21 although, he may not directly carryout these functions, the bishop puts the necessary personnel and mechanisms in place to help him carryout this responsibility and that is where the role of the diocesan presbyterate (especially the vocations director) comes in. during the course of the seminarian’s formation, he is bound to come in contact with various priests in the diocese who through such encounters help to shape the personality of such seminarian.22 the vocations director is primarily saddled with the responsibility of formation of seminarians in the diocese whenever they are away from school (the seminary). under the overall supervision of the bishop, he monitors the growth of priestly qualities in aspiring candidates and inspires the blossoming of these necessary qualities. as an illustration, here in our nigerian clime, it is the practice to send seminarians on pastoral work during their holidays or break from the seminary in which the priests in question are required to observe the seminarian and write a report of what has been observed during the period of his work. it is also the responsibility of the priest to guide and direct the seminarian on what it entails to possess the necessary priestly qualities. this shows in no small measure the great responsibility placed on the shoulders of the diocesan presbyterate in the formation of candidates. the bishop also intervenes from time to time to examine the progress candidates are making in their formation in all aspects of their formative life. the seminary: the seminary, which is a place where seminarians are trained, plays a very crucial role in the formative process as an agent.23 the seminary which is not only an educational institution for the intellectual formation of priests also coordinates the various elements which culminate in a holistic priestly personality. in this sense, this means that even if the seminary is an educational institution where seminarians bag degrees in philosophy and divinity, it is not just all about that. if not, it would not be different from the secular institutions where people study for degrees. apart from the intellectual formation, the seminary also takes into cognizance, the spiritual, human and pastoral aspects of the candidate’s formation which are geared towards the effective exercise of the priestly ministry24 the seminary carries out its function through the instrumentality of formators (basically priests) and other lay members of the community, including the lecturers and other relevant persons who contribute to the day to day activities of the seminary. the formators, though, play a very crucial role as through their actions and encounter with the seminarians, ideas and conceptions about what the priesthood section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 263 entails are formed in the minds of the candidates. this is not exclusive of their encounter with other priests, such as those in their respective dioceses. the laity: the laity of the diocese from where the seminarians come also play a crucial role in the discernment process. during his formative years, the seminarian will be privileged to work with various segments of the laity in his diocese and beyond. he will be actively involved in the affairs of pious societies, associations, lay ministers and other lay ministries in the church. his encounter with these various categories of persons go a long way to help him stand better prepared to relate with these various segments of christ’s faithful by furnishing him with experience and concrete problem solving tools that will help him in the exercise of the ministry in the future. on the other hand, the laity also helps the seminarian to sustain himself and give an appropriate assent to the call of god’s work.25 they also serve as guardians and can be helpful in helping the seminarians to focus on their call. they can serve as advisers, dialogue partners and counselors to the seminarians which in the long run go a long way to shape the candidate’s disposition towards the priesthood. the subject of formation: apart from the aforementioned, kit is pertinent to note that the candidate is primarily responsible for his own formation, as other attempts to form him will result in futility if the candidate remains closed-in to himself and wrongly disposed to the whole process. this point is well expressed in where it states that: each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation, as he has already been mentioned and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account his own personal and family background. seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of the gospel.26 hence, the seminarian should develop what is referred to as “formative attitudes” such as availability, openness and docility to learn from the different circumstances he comes across in life and in various dimensions of his personality.27 the communitarian climate of the seminary also plays a crucial role in helping the candidate to internalize vocational values interwoven in inter-personal relationships. the family: the family’s role, which is sometimes downplayed, is of utmost importance in the shaping of a candidate’s personality. the 264 formation of the human person in the 21st century family serves as the foundation on which every other attempt at building a formidable priestly character springs. a christian family can truly assist candidates to discover and nurture a call to priestly vocation in the candidate.28 the spirituality of the family could either foster or mar a candidate’s desire for priestly service while a dysfunctional family or a family which pays little or no attention to spiritual matters can create a warped mindset in the consciousness of the candidate which further influences his disposition and openness to formation. while it is true that through the extra-ordinary grace of god, genuine vocation to the priesthood can spring from even the most despicable situations, we cannot overlook the influence of environment and family on character formation. if the foundation of the family is shaky, all other agents or institutions of formation will have a hell of a time molding the candidate to suite his call. the all important role of the family will be discussed in subsequent sessions. the holy spirit: while discussing the various inputs of human agents in the formation of a candidate, we must not leave out the necessity of grace and god’s intervention because the whole enterprise of priestly formation is controlled by god himself who chooses. this fact is all exemplified in christ’s admonition to his apostles “you did not choose me; i chose you…” (jn 15:16). hence, it is the holy spirit who forms the candidate through the instrumentality of these various mediators (patron wong, 2014). as a result, it is very necessary that all requisite agents of formation should teach the candidate the importance of openness and docility to the actions of the spirit which inflames the heart with sincerity and clarity of purpose. an assessment of the family as an agent of formation as earlier stated, the role of the family as an agent of priestly formation cannot be over-emphasized. this fact is re-echoed in prominent church documents on priestly formation. emphasizing the foundation-laying responsibility which accrues to the family, a second vatican document says: since the reality of the christian family is endangered nowadays, much importance should be given to pastoral work on behalf of the family, in order that the families themselves, generously accepting the gift of human life, may be ‘as it was a first seminary.29 in line with the above stand, and in consideration of all necessary elements which promote priestly vocation, another salient document on priestly formation states: a very special responsibility falls upon the christian family, which by virtue of the sacrament of matrimony, shares its own unique way in the section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 265 educational mission of the church, teacher and mother. families can become a first seminary in which children can acquire from the beginning, an awareness of piety and prayer and love for the church.30 the above statements from the church’s magisterium accentuate the importance of the family as an agent of priestly formation. the life of piety, the consciousness of the importance of prayer, the ability to learn submissiveness to god’s will and respect for the church and authorities all spring forth from the spiritual tradition of a family. if the father and mother in the home develop a culture of family prayers and devotion, the children do not need to be told of the importance of prayers in their lives as christians. other salient points that need to be examined are the vocation-friendly nature of the family, how they encourage members to open themselves to a life of service and tolerance by listening to the cares and needs of each member of the family, how much support members get from the family in pursuing a career or vocation which is in view of the happiness of such individual.31 all these elements combine to either foster or discourage the sprouting of the vocational seed in the hearts of aspiring candidates to the priesthood. as a way of diversion, it is pertinent to assess the concept of the family in our traditional african culture. the average african is always concerned with inculcating certain societal values and morals in members of his or her family basically for the preservation of the family’s integrity in the society which in turn fosters respect among society members for such family. african families do not joke with the moral formation of their wards which are often tied to the religious practices of the family and the communities at large because they recognize that such persons will someday go out as an ambassador of the family or cultural heritage. it is a common african saying to their wards that ‘they should know the child of whom they are wherever they go’. this goes a long way to demonstrate the importance attached by africans to the preservation of the family name which is only possible if the members of such family have a sound moral foundation. each individual in the family is considered as an ambassador of the family. hence, the family takes the duty upon itself to embark on extensive social, religious and cultural education of its members so as to avoid the situation where members become deviant in the society as a result of poor education. if families generally hold forth to this african model of the family, the task of formation of candidates to the priesthood will be much easier. not only will they be good priests but good christians and patriotic citizens for those who may eventually not make it to the priesthood. another important consideration is that the holy family of jesus, mary and joseph should continue to serve as a reference point to all families. 266 formation of the human person in the 21st century fathers and mothers should look up to joseph and mary in the upbringing of their wards. jesus christ, in his sovereignty, subjected himself to the headship of joseph his foster father and learned the dignity of labour as a carpenter. from his foster father, christ must have experienced how hardworking his foster father was, who provided for his family and lived in accordance with the commandments of god. in his human nature, christ learned the relevant skills and the use of the necessary tools in carrying out manual labour.32 as a result, st. joseph and his wife, mary should be honoured and invoked in the attempt to plant and cultivate the seed of vocation to the priesthood as he can truly become the head of our domestic churches which are ‘the family’. the role of the family in the formation of future priests it is worthy of note that the role of the family in the training and molding of a child’s character is un-negotiable irrespective of the vocation such child wishes to embrace. hence, we shall examine certain duties and responsibilities of the family in the training of their wards which could in the long run sow the seed of the vocation to the priesthood in their minds. religious education of children: the church’s teaching since the commencement of the second vatican council explicitly states that the duty of religious education of children is a shared responsibility between the ministers and parents. according to the code of canon law, the right and obligation of parents to procreate and educate their wards arise from the meaning and significance of marital union itself.33 since they have given life to their children, parents have a most grave obligation and possess the right to educate them. therefore, it is for christian parents particularly to take care of the christian education of their children according to the doctrine handed on by the church. the second vatican document, gaudium et spes, also emphasizes this point when it states that “parents are consecrated by the sacrament of marriage to a specific function: they are active co-workers in the salvific and evangelizing mission of the church, a service they perform by their educational duties towards their children.”34 these following documents all add up to the point that parents are responsible for the moral upbringing of their children which serve as foundations for their views about life and principles. a faulty moral upbringing will surely lead to a faulty personality so will a faulty personality lead to a faulty formation of the necessary priestly qualities in a candidate. the formators can hardly work on a candidate with a faulty personality due to a faulty moral foundation except by the extra-ordinary intervention of the holy spirit. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 267 assist in the process of discernment: it is the role of the family to ‘assist’ the candidate in the process of discernment and not to determine or enforce the vocation to the priesthood on the candidate or discourage him from embarking on such a journey. with prayer, advice, mentoring and counseling, the family can play a very important role of formation of the candidate’s attitude towards the priesthood. by the very fact that the candidate grew up in the midst of his family, it is expected that the parents, guardians and siblings understand his character, disposition, principles and attitudes better. this fact places the family in a very good position to help the candidate discern if truly the vocation to the priesthood is his calling. in the whole process, the family must be wary of imposing their wishes on the candidate as this in itself could backfire. it is common knowledge in nigeria that some candidates are answering the call of their parents or guardians and not their own call. in some places where the priesthood is regarded as a status symbol or some kind of reputation which brings dignity to the family, some candidates can be placed under unnecessary pressure to become priests without the family members bothering to understand the candidate’s true disposition towards the whole process. on the other hand, some families do not want some candidates to embrace the call to the priesthood and regard it as a wasted life. these perspectives are a misconception of the role of the family in the process of discernment. collaboration with other agents of formation: it is the responsibility of parents who have candidates aspiring towards the priesthood to cooperate and collaborate with other agents of formation such as the bishop, vocations director, seminary, parish priest, among others. this collaboration could be in form of material or spiritual support. it is the practice in many dioceses that the bishops are in charge of the financial responsibilities of the candidates. however, it is not out of place for parents of seminarians to come together once in a while and donate towards the training of seminarians in order to ease the burden on the diocese, especially in developing regions like ours in nigeria. apart from the material support, it is the duty of parents to pray for the candidates and all those in charge of their formation that the holy spirit will guide them in making the right decisions. in conclusion, parents can also play a crucial role in the encouragement of others, even if not their own children, who have expressed interest in the vocation or call to the priesthood, to embrace the vocation by being sources of testimony to others of the beauty and the dignity which comes with the service of god and his church. in nigeria where we have vocations committees saddled with the responsibility of fostering vocations in the diocese, parents of aspiring 268 formation of the human person in the 21st century candidates can volunteer to be a part of such initiatives, which in itself can be a sign of encouragement to others. endnotes 1 the new encyclopaedia brittannica ,vol 14, 15th edition, 1988, s,v, “family” 2 catechism of the catholic church, london, geoffrey chapman,1994, no. 2207 3 vatican council ii, decree on the apostolate of lay persons, apostolicam actuositatem, no. 11 4 mitch finley, “family” in richard mcbrien, ed,, encyclopedia of catholicism, 1st edition, new york, harper collins publishers, 1966, 5 message of the synod fathers to the people of god at viii ordinary general assembly on the “formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day” (september 30th 28 october, 1990) 6 i will give you shepherd, apostolic exhortation pastorers dabo vabis of john paul ii, no. 43, 1992, pp. 69. 7ibid. 8 handbook of the seminary of all saints, 2005, benin city: ava printers, p. 6. 9 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 43, 1992, pp. 70. 10 ibid. no. 44, 1992, p. 70. 11 encyclical letter redemptor hominis (4th march 1979), 10:aas71 (1979), 274. 12 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 44, 1992, pp. 70-71. 13 ibid, no. 45, p. 72. 14 handbook of the seminary of all saints. 2005, p. 6 15 the gift of the priestly vocation, new ratio fundamentalist institutions sacerdotalis, paulines publications african daughters of st. paul, nairobi, 2017, p. 27. 16 i will give you shepherds, apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis of john paul ii, no. 45, 1992, pp. 73. 17ibid., p. 73. 18 ibid. no 57, p. 88. 19handbook of the seminary of all saints 2005 – 2008, ava printers, benin city, p. 8. 20 catechism of the catholic church, no. 2221 21patron wong j.c. (2014) “foundations of priestly formation” conference on priestly vocation organized by the congregation for the clergy http://www.clerus.va (retrieved 18th march, 2020). 22 ibid, 23szczesny, w., (2015) families play important role in vocation, (article) http://www.wnycatholic.org/news/article/featured/2015/02/26/100511/familiesplay-important-role-in-vocation. 24 patron wong, 2014. 25patron wong, 2014. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 269 26 ratio fundamentalis in sacerdotalis, no. 130. 27 patron wong, 2014). 28 szczesny, 2015. 29 optatam totius no. 2 30pastores dabo vobis, no. 41. 31szczesny, 2015. 32fr. aytona, j., (2018) family life: the first seminary, (article) http://fathersof mercy.com/family-life-first-seminary/ 33the code of canon law, no 226 ⸹2. 34 gaudium et spes no. 6 270 20 personhood and formation: a philosophical insight from african perspective francis fabidun department of philosophy, st. albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran francisfabidun@gmail.com abstract the paper identified a direct link between the concepts of personhood and formation. the establishment of this link is warranted by the interdependency in their functionality analogous of the metaphysical theory of matter and form. formation does not take place in vacuum; human beings are the ones formed for the office of the shepherds of souls in the church. it follows necessarily, therefore, that the person of the seminarian avails the formation program the bedrock for its functionality. the paper acknowledged the importance of formation as it is obvious in the plenitude of documents from the church at different levels and epochs emphasizing that the seminarian be formed after the mind of christ. moreover, it noted that such documents are very often grounded on various perspectives and theories on the human person from philosophy and theology. nevertheless, the paper argued strongly from the african purview on the human person that understands the human person as a being ontologically connected and in a relational existence with other realities. recognizing this in the formation process will go a long way in enhancing the formation program of seminarians. to achieve its aim, the paper consequently employed the tools of critical, analytical and comparative methods of inquiry. this revealed that with a philosophical insight from an african perspective, there exists an understanding of the similarity between personhood and formation, the latter being a series of conscious activities which an individual is not born with, but something one sets out intentionally to achieve. mailto:francisfabidun@gmail.com section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 271 keywords: personhood, formation, matter and form, african perspective, christ-like shepherds introduction an individual is usually considered in african culture in relationship with others in the community. the relational consideration among africans always emphasizes the need to consider others. mbiti’s philosophy of inclusiveness rightly captures this communal orientation in the expression – ‘i am because we are’. this constitutes an underlining factor in african postulation on personhood. this paper considers the african notions along different perspectives on personhood and formation noting that the african consideration on the issues of personhood and formation of an individual might prove to be more insightful and fruitful when applied to the formation of african seminarians than what is bequeathed to us in western philosophy. furthermore, the paper uses the aristotelian theory of form and matter to show the connection on how african consideration of an individual person informs the nature of the formation given to him. personhood in the general parlance, the term, person is considered as an individual. it is a term which is employed to give a comprehensive name to man’s being – a name expressing itss entire reality in an unequivocal way. it never refers to animals or plant but only man.1it is a term that describes man in a unique manner, and as possessing abilities which are exclusive to the human race. such abilities include reason, morality/freedom, consciousness and personal identity among others. this is in line with the philosophical consideration of man as a being characterized by consciousness, rationality, and a moral sense, and traditionally thought of as consisting of both a body and a mind or soul.2 aristotle aptly captures this that among animals “endowed with sense” humans were distinct in that “the human race exists by means of art also and the powers of reasoning”. batista mondin traces the origin of the concept of personhood to christianity where man is understood as a being with his singularity, unique and unrepeatable, with substantial equality and dignity one created in the image of god (imago dei).3 this “image and likeness” of god in man is understood as be a man’s soul. the christian notion explains what is generally held in greek philosophy that there exists in personhood is a manifestation of the combination of the spiritual and the no-spiritual. the greek and latin cultures existed before christianity but do not recognize the absolute value of the individual, rather absolute value depend essentially on class, ranks, wealth and race.4 hence race 272 formation of the human person in the 21st century superiority was common before the christian era when personhood attained an important position as against race because of the effect of the salvific events of christ's paschal mystery on the salvation of the soul of an individual regardless of race, colour or tribe. interestingly, early greeks philosophers have a long history of postulations on the human person. for instance, plato presents a dualistic theory on the human person as comprising of the body and the soul. he goes to say that the soul is the principle of life and movement – the essential core of the human person, while the body is inanimate and therefore susceptible to physical actions by this principle of life.5 furthermore, plato holds that the soul is not completely unified, because there are competing forces warring within the human person which are known by personal inner experience. consequently, he divides the soul into three factions: the appetitive soul which pulls man to the direction of physical gratification and material acquisition; the rational soul which is the voice of reason; and the spirited soul which is the willful and dynamic faculty within the soul.6 plato found intelligence as “the most divine thing in man, the most essentially human attribute because (it is) the only part of himself which he does not share with the animal kingdom.7 augustine, in line with the platonic understanding of the human person, holds that the human person is composite of the body and soul. he also further attributes specific roles to the soul such as the self on which the highest truth can be attained. it is the soul alone that can attain communion with god – the highest truth. it is the image of god and is immaterial.8 this was the beginning of using philosophical principles for christian postulation on imago dei that which augustine defined as “that principle within us by which we are like god, and which is rightly said in scripture to be made ‘after god's image”’9 rene descartes, the father of modern western philosophy, also argues along the dualistic conception of man, namely that the human person is a composite of soul (mind) and body. the body for him is made up of physical substances that interact with the physical world, while the soul is a spiritual substance; it is the “i” (ego), the thinking self, the seat of pure thought that generates ideas.10 this power of the soul enables man to be conscious of himself without at the same time being conscious of the world. this view will be rejected later on by the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century, particularly martin heidegger who conceives man as a-being-in-the-world.11 battista mondin broadened the understanding on the human person beyond issues of man's composition, noting that the human person can be understood on the ontological, dialogical and psychological levels. the ontological understanding entails the person as an individual of the human species; a unique individual substance with a rational nature. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 273 this involves the “i” in my being that can neither be represented by another nor inhibited in another – the person as he remains in himself. on the psychological level, the person is the fact of consciousness, which is being aware of reality pertaining the existence of the ‘’i’’. on the dialogical level, the person is understood as a relational being that interacts with the world and other beings.12 mounier supports mondin’s claim on the dialogical person by introducing the concepts; vocation, action and communication. for mounier, the person has a meaning that cannot be substituted, his place in the universe of persons cannot be occupied – this is his vocation. action explains that the life of a person is a research until death, an anticipated unity that cannot be actualized – a person is an incessant action. he further points out that communication explains that the person is a being that encounters others, a being who interests himself with another in such a manner that he respects his “i”.13 furthermore, martin buber in contributing to the discussion on man proposes that the meaning of the person lies in his relational ability with things other than himself. in other words, man derives meaning through the rapport man has with things. this is because man lives on the shoulder of things; he alters them, uses them, and governs them14. in a nutshell, the person is the “i” – the individual that is composed of body and soul and constantly interacts with other beings and with world. formation formation is a common practice in human communities. it consists of series of activities geared toward making an individual or communities imbibe certain knowledge, tradition, morals and value system. in the earliest times, formation was mostly meant for those to be charged with leadership responsibilities to prepare them for governance. in the ancient egyptian civilization, for instance, princes were given special and exclusive education by the priests serving at pharaoh’s palace. amedeo cencini posits that formation has three dynamisms which are the educative, formative and the accompaniment. the educative dynamism seeks to draw out the level of awareness of what the person is, so that the person gets the maximum fulfillment of his potentialities; this leads to self-awareness and self-fulfillment. the individual is assisted to develop his natural potentials and encouraged to perfect them for the enhancement of his personality. the formative action implies that the subject is trained to acquire a new identity – formation becomes a discovery of the new and truer self, molded with the truth of the ideal.15 this is the result of a process marked with shelling of certain aspects of the individual and acquiring positive qualities of the task in view. 274 formation of the human person in the 21st century a consideration of how the church views formation will enhance this discuss; the second vatican council emphasizes the importance of formation in its remark that the renewal of the church depends in great deal upon the priestly ministry animated by the spirit of christ; hence priestly formation is of critical importance to the church.16 furthermore, formation is not a private affair or instantaneous; it does not take place at a particular moment, like a season. rather, it touches upon the past, present and future of the individual as a pedagogical, theological, initial and permanent process that prepares one to consecrate oneself to god. formation is offered to whoever has discovered a plan from on high for the self. this is because it is a mystery and divine action which shapes the image of christ in the heart of those called by god.17 this entails being accompanied in a journey of transformation. accompanying means a journey of faith; formation then entails helping the subject to journey towards god and to experience god18 furthermore, pope john paul ii in pastores dabo vobis highlighted four areas of formation; human formation, intellectual formation, spiritual formation and pastoral formation. human formation helps the individual to attain affective maturity, form his moral conscience, attain series of good human qualities, balanced personality, and good use of freedom. this is the bedrock for other aspects of formation. according to the document, “the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”19 a balanced human formation cannot be substituted for or with anything. spiritual formation helps the seminarian to share in the holiness of christ by entering into an intimate relationship with christ. along with other faithful, the candidate to the priesthood strive towards deeper communion with god. according to the holy father, the educational process of a spiritual life, seen as a relationship and communion with god, derives and develops from this fundamental and irrepressible religious need.20 spiritual formation, as we have just seen, is applicable to all the faithful. nevertheless, it should be structured according to the meanings and connotations which derive from the identity of the priest and his ministry.21 an integral part of the spiritual formation is prayerful contemplation of the word of god (lectio divina) through which the seminary is familiar with the god whom he humbly listens to, and he response to him in prayer. this will be his guide as he seeks christ in the people. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 275 next is the intellectual formation which seeks to help the individual acquire academic knowledge; it requires proper training in philosophy and theology. according to the pope, intellectual formation is deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation: it is a fundamental demand of the human intelligence by which one "participates in the light of god's mind" and seeks to acquire a wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed toward knowing and adhering to god.22 these three areas of formation are geared towards pastoral formation which seeks to build the candidate into a priest – shepherd of souls, after the example of christ, the good shepherd.23 the whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of christ the good shepherd. hence their formation in its different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character.24 this is the most practical aspect of formation. it is the most vivid expression of how well other aspects are properly integrated in the individual. it will be the manifestation of an inner disposition to make christ in a way that is peculiar to the people he pastors. hylomorphism this section is important because it provides the theoretical framework for this discuss. aristotle developed the concept of hylomorphism as he completed issues connected to the process of “changing” and “becoming”. while rejecting the atomist conception that everything is made up of tiny fundamental building blocks of matter, and that change is a rearrangement of these fundamental units, aristotle holds that all things in nature are composed of form and matter – they are intrinsic principles that make a body come to be as what it is understood to be.25 put succinctly, hylomorphism is the theory that all physical things are composed of two principles of being: the prime matter which is an undefined primitive, and a substantial form, which is a definite mode of existence.26 for aristotle, all material things are characterized by two elements of mutability and the different individuals of a species. form also called formal cause is the essence which accounts for the actual existence of a thing. it is that which determines matter – it defines matter to a particular individual substance. it is also conceived as the design or arrangement of a body in nature. matter – material cause, indicates the material constituents of a body. it is substance by which a body is made. matter is indeterminate in itself but determined by form. it is a principle that makes form physical.27 these two principles are co-dependent and 276 formation of the human person in the 21st century intrinsically necessary to the existence of a natural body. they share a key relationship simply expressed in the position that form actualizes matter.28 as regards the human person, the soul or the mind; which is the principle of life, is regarded as the form, that is, the essence of the human person. the body is understood as the material cause of the human person. this is because the body is the substance or material aspect of the human person and the soul is the principle of individuation that defines what it means to be human; it is that which primarily makes the human different from other natural bodies.29 the formation process vis-à-vis aristotle’s hylomorphism it is with this understanding of the complexity of the human person that formation is discussed here. formation is aimed at the salvation of souls, but this salvation is achieved through the discipline of the body (1cor. 9: 27). hence the body serves as a necessary and indispensable channel to the salvation of the soul. as regards the person to be formed, this principle of form and matter helps the understanding that the body is intrinsically connected with the soul. so, the final point of formation is the mind of the individual – it is formation of the mind. the mind holds the basic principles that inform the voluntary operations – human actions, of the rational man. this emphasizes the position that the body is not the end point of formation but the soul that bears the rational capacity of the human person. all the elements of formation are internalized in the nonphysical aspects of an individual. the priest – shepherd of souls the goal of priestly formation can be expressed in the phrase “until christ is formed in you”. the church expresses this as being formed into another christ – alter christus and even in the exercise of the sacraments, the priest is not only another christ but ipse christuschrist himself. the various activities in the years of formation prepare the candidate for the catholic priesthood, a position that places him at the service of god’s people to humbly and carefully guide them to attain the salvation of their soul. this explains why formation necessarily concentrates on providing the human, spiritual, academic and pastoral development required to enable the ordained priest to respond faithfully and effectively to both god’s call and the needs of the church represented in the pastoral demands of his flock. priestly formation must provide the spiritual and personal growth guidance that elicits from the candidate for priesthood, a prayerful and mature commitment to the way of christ. this is so that he may speak from the context of the church tradition; fully and authentically section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 277 articulate the gospel of christ; and appreciate god’s word and the efficacy of the sacramental life of the church.30 the emeritus pope benedict xvi, however sounds a note of warning on the tendencies of being drawn away from focusing on these when, in his homily at a priestly ordination on the 3rd of may 2009 in rome, commented that the priest is in the world, but runs the risk of also being “of the world”. this emphasizes also that formation must instill in the priest the discipline of detachment from the material things of the world. an essential element of the priestly formation is clearly pointed by pope benedict xvi in his remark that catholic priests appear to spend most of their days serving catholics, but the role and mission of the priest includes the service of all of humanity. according to him, the priest works to translate the elements of the faith into a language that is accessible to all in the society; he dialogues with and expresses the truth of god, that the human consciousness may be nourished with the fullness of life only attainable through christ. by preaching christ, the priest is called to be a peaceful, uniting and joyful presence among christians and all people of goodwill. and in living the mission of christ, he further participates and serves in christ's threefold office as priest, prophet and king, already shared through baptism.31 there are further insights from the present pope who opines that priests must be deeply involved in the daily experience of the flock. for pope francis, the priest being a shepherd must ‘smell like the sheep’. this means that he is to be out amongst the flock entrusted to him – he should be personally close to them. he is not to just available for the office of celebrating the sacraments alone as central and primary to the priesthood that might be, but be engaged in the lives of parishioners and others in the community entrusted to him.32 the pope further emphasizes that a priest is not ordained for his sake but for the sake of god’s people. following the example of christ the true shepherd, the priest must be a shepherd ready to lay his life for the flock through selfless service; he must not only feed the flocks with spiritual food but be sensitive enough to their physical needs. by this the gospel message of love will make more sense; in practice and not just spoken words.33 a priest is a good shepherd when his motivation is the salvation of the people. hence, he makes the doctrines of the church available and teaches the true faith. pope saint john paul ii had emphasized this saying that the supreme act of a priest is the direction of souls: he must be available to his flock; impart the faith; and be humble to the prompting of the holy spirit that he may transmit fruits of love and peace.34 finally, federico suarez puts this in another way when he says that the success of 278 formation of the human person in the 21st century the priestly ministry is not judged based on its efficiency but on the impact it has on the lives of people.35 the african perspective on personhood and formation personhood the african understanding of the person has two dimensions; the normative-social and descriptive-metaphysical. the descriptivemetaphysical dimension explains that the human person is made up of a material aspect (body) and an immaterial aspect (soul) which are inseparable while on earth.36 this is exemplified in the igbo conception where man is made of ahu (body) and mmuo (spirit).37 from the yoruba perspective, man is a composition of at least three elements namely the soul, the spirit and the body. the body is material while the other two elements are non-material. furthermore, in their metaphysical postulation, man is a composition of body (ara), soul (emi) and innerhead (ori), the last being the metaphysical symbol of human destiny which is externally represented by the physical head.38 the normativesocial dimension explains the person in relation to the community – it is the communitarian perspective. here, the person draws his identity and essence from the already existing values of the society; this has a social and moral derivation.39 this goes with both social and moral commitments as an individual within a community. hence, ifeanyi menkiti opines that a person can only be explained with reference to the environing community. as far as africans are concerned, the reality of the community takes precedence over the individual world and history. it is in an ongoing human community that the individual comes to see himself as a man; it is in first knowing his community as a fact of the psycho-physical world that the individual comes to know himself as a durable, more or less permanent fact of this world. the sense of identity of an individual only makes sense with reference to the community.40 from the above it is clear that human relationship is a primary element in the determination of the personhood of an individual. this goes a long way to emphasize and show that the human person in african thought system is one that is inherently and intrinsically connected to other individuals in the society – founded on community. this is also built on the belief that the physical is inherently connected to the spiritual in the african worldview. the activities of traditional or native doctors will make this vivid. even when he lives in isolation and far from the main community settlement, the native doctor is kept abreast with the happenings in the community and constantly intervenes as situations warrant. he is dutiful and maintains a sense of the sacred in an appreciable distance, and yet very close to the people as an section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 279 intermediary and a check to the community. above all, he does not neglect the people in their need or fail to provide prompt directives. formation formation in africa is centered on how personhood is achieved. this is because personhood is not something that is given but shown by the society and accepted by the individual. an african has to go through processes of incorporation or initiation. through initiation an individual is transformed from what he was into who he ought to be. according to ifeanyi menkiti, to attain personhood, the individual must undergo a long process and ritual transformation until he or she attains the full complement of excellence seen as truly definitive of man. during this long process of attainment, the community plays a vital role as catalyst and as a prescriber of norms. as far as africans are concerned, personhood is something the individual could fail to attain.41 this implies that the individual must take the ritual of incorporation serious in order to learn the social rules by which the community lives and then attain the necessary excellence in character. formation is not just about growth in wisdom as one ages, it is in gathering of the traits considered to be definitive of full personhood which necessarily affect the very core of one’s being. in other words, for africans, formation is internalization of traditional or societal virtues to the decree ascertainable that one is qualifies for the appropriate rite in the process of initiation. hence, dominic umoh writes that in africa, initiatory rites constitute a crucial mechanism which guarantees the authentic growth and development of individuals in their communal settings.42 moreover, augustine nwoye puts it that formation of the person in africa is influenced by a number of cultural groups. according to him, socialization occurs through dance, songs, story-telling and heroic recitation. these are avenues through which africans are taught individually to reflect high level of emotional maturity as projected by the community. the formation program in an african setting include teaching of virtues like, verbal sobriety, diligence, perseverance, patience, moderation among others. these virtues help young africans to be active and responsible members of the society. the agents of this formation include older adults, school leaders, and social models. hence, there is a saying among the yoruba that oju meji li n b’imo, igba ojo lo n wo d’agba (it takes two pairs of eyes to bear a child i.e father and mother, but two hundred eyes are required to train him). this expresses the traditional belief and practice that a child is not just the child of the parents, but he is the child of the community. therefore, the upbringing and training is the responsibility of all. 280 formation of the human person in the 21st century in line with this, dama mosweunyane holds that formation in africa is done within the platform of communalism; children are formed within the community, their wellbeing seen in the welfare of the group and society. children are trained to participate in the culture and work for the sake of common good. formation is characterized by transmission of skills and attitudes from generation to generation by words of mouth and the mode of apprenticeship. the teachers are individuals with lifelong learning and experience. hence, the children learn from their teachers by listening to them and imitating their actions in the society.43 formation in african traditional society is done within the community and for the good of the community. the individuals learn the values that are necessary for active participation, sustenance and growth of the society. formation is seen as initiation into the society to attain personhood. it is pertinent to note that personhood is possible through dialogue because it through dialogue that the moral vision of culture is transmitted44 in the community. an insights from african insight into the formation of the catholic priest through the varied activities that complimented the seed of faith sown by the early missionaries characterized by unceasing evangelization, catholicism has grown and has reached many lands of the earth with a variety of cultures. africa is one of these lands that have received the catholic faith despite having a culture that is uniquely different from the jewish and roman culture in which it grew. many africans have imbibed the culture of the catholic faith in their african societies. for the catholic priest to get to the heart of the african society, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of the peculiarity of his flock– its philosophy, methods of socialization and the ideology that feeds its actions. this community orientation would help the priest to better understand his role in the society as one sent to work for the growth of the immediate society he finds himself and the community of the church at large, after all, every high priest is chosen from among men to represent men in their relationship with god. (hebrews 5:1) being aware that he is intrinsically a being connected with others will help him to acknowledge that he is equal with others in the sight of god and still a man like others. this help the priest to consider himself as a servant and not a king or master over his flock. this will enhance his interaction with the people even outside the celebration of the sacraments. the emphasis here is that the priest needs to be one among the people – like christ, participating in their life, constantly communicating with them in preaching the gospel and leading all to god. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 281 furthermore, african traditional practice of formation is largely be imitation “watch and do-as-i-do”. the entails that apprentice focus on the master to understand and be able to do what he has seen the master do. this type of formation is not based on theories. in the same way, the african paradigm suggest that priestly formation should can go beyond theories but lived principles applied in practically lead the people to god. another way to consider formation is i regards to how africans see reality as a whole and ultimately sacred; there is an ontological connection between the visible and the invisible. this understanding when put into formation would help the seminarian develop a deeper understanding of the sacred. this understanding would also inform a deeper understanding of communal existence through which he learns to share in the community life respecting the customs, traditions, ethics and social boundaries of the people. conclusion the various perspectives of examined in the paper show a connection between personhood and formation. in this paper, personhood refers to what it means to be a human person, while formation can rightly be referred as a conscious activity to fortify personhood, which can simply be expressed as the nature and nurturing of an individual. from the african perspective, it is emphasized that priestly formation, like initiation rites, always focus on grooming priests to be human, insightful, mature, instructed, developed and community oriented persons. this is line with the catholic bishops’ conference of nigeria’s advocacy that “seminary formation should enable priests to lead a truly priestly life and at the same to be men of their people. it is in the bid to achieve this that the paper posited that formation should be taken to the hearts and custom of our people to enable the priest/seminarian to adhere to beliefs and practices that, in spirit of the gospel, help him to maintain a communal-oriented individuality as entrenched in traditional african heritage. endnotes 1battista mondin, philosophical anthropology, bangalore: theological publications,1985, p. 243. 2 "person (philosophical)." the great soviet encyclopedia, 3rd edition. 1970-1979. the gale group, inc. 23 mar. 2020 https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictiona ry.com/person+(philosophical) 3battista mondin, history of medieval philosphy, bangalore: theological publications in india, 1991, p. 7. 4ibid,p. 244. 282 formation of the human person in the 21st century 5 samuel stumpf& james fresier, philosophy: history and problem, new york: mcgraw high education, 2003, p. 59. 6william f. lawhead, the voyage of discovery, a historical introduction to philosophy, 4th ed, usa: cengage learning, 2015, p. 65. 7 g. m. grube, plato's thought, boston: beacon press, 1958, p. 121. 8samuel stumpf and james fresier, op.cit., p. 130. 9 augustine ca. 397/2002. 10william lawhead, op. cit., p. 257. 11martin heidegger, being and time, new york: 1962, p. 25. 12 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology,p. 255. 13 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology,p. 255. 14 battista mondin, philosophical anthropology, p. 255. 15amedeo cencini, spiritual and emotional maturity: guiding young people in religious and priestly formation, nairobi: paulines publication africa, 2004, p. 9. 16 “presbytorum ordinis”, austin flannery, o. p., vatican council ii, vol, i, usa: ambassadors publications, 1988, p. 863. 17amedeo cencini, spiritual and emotional maturity, p. 9. 18ibid,p. 11. 19 pastores dabo vobis. no. 43. 20 pastores dabo vobis, no. 45. 21 ibid. 22 pastores dabo vobis, no. 51. 23pope john paul ii, i will give you shepherds: apostolic exhortation: pastores dabo vobis, nairobi: paulines publications africa,2004, pp. 67-88. 24 pastores dabo vobis, no. 57. 25s. v. aristotle, robert audi, the cambridge dictionary of philosophy, second edition, cambridge: cambridge university press, 1999. 26www.catholicculture.org 18/03/2020. 27william f. lawhead, the voyage of discovery, a historical introduction to philosophy, 4th ed, usa: cengage learning, 2015, pp. 82-84. 28block, irving. “the order of aristotle's psychological writings.” the american journal of philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable/ 292006. accessed 11 mar. 2020. 29block, irving. “the order of aristotle's psychological writings.” the american journal of philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable /292006. accessed 11 mar. 2020. 30paul kehinde oredipe, saint paul and priestly formation: impetus for today, benin city, floreat publication, 2018, p. 17. 31https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/priest-as-pastor-servant-and shepherd-9183, accessed on the 10th march 2020. 32dennis coday, pope quotes: the smell of sheep, http://www.ncronline.org /6l0gsfrancischronicles,pope-s-quotes-smell-sheep, october 29, 2013. (8/3/2020) 33paul kehindeoredipe, op.cit., p. 59. 34johnpaul ii, novo incipentenostro, 6th april 1979 in austin flannery op, vatican ii,vol ii, mumbai: saint paul,p. 377. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 283 35 federico suarez, about being a priest, london, scepter publication, 2005, p. 18. 36ikuenobe, polycarp. “relational autonomy, personhood, and african traditions.” philosophy east and west, vol. 65, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1005–1029., www.jstor.org/stable/43831225. accessed 12 mar. 2020. 37isiguzo, andrew i., et al. “the igbo concept of a person.” africa: rivistatrimestrale di studi e documentazionedell’istitutoitaliano per l’africa e l’oriente, vol. 59, no. 2, 2004, pp. 231–243. jstor, www.jstor.org/stable/40761740. accessed 12 mar. 2020. 38 samuel ade ali, human destiny, reincarnation and personal identity 39.ikuenobe, polycarp. op. cit. 40ifeanyi menkiti, person and community in african traditional thought, in richard wright (ed), african philosophy; an introduction, 3rd edition, lanham: university press of america,1984,p. 172. 41 ibid., p. 173. 42 dominic umor, rites of passage and priestly formation (a compendium for theologians, philosophers and the lay faithful), akwa ibom: akwa ibom university, 2016, p. xi. 43damamosweunyane, the african educational evolution: traditional training to formal education,bostwana: department of adult education: university of botswana, 2013. 44 scielo.org.za/pdf/pins/n54/o4.pdf accessed on 10/03/2020. 284 21 a philosophical inquiry on the place of virtue ethics in human formation for the catholic priesthood in the 21st century williams olorunfemi, aso, ph.d seminary of all saints uhiele-ekpoma edo state, nigeria olorunfemi6697@gmail.com abstract the inquiries concerning the ontological status of man and its implications for human formation for the nobility inherent in human nature become evident have been deliberated and scrutinized by diverse philosophers that defined human nature. it is palpable that plato accentuated that man is a fallen soul imprisoned in a body and needs liberation. aristotle called him a rational animal while severius boethius and thomas aquinas admitted that man is a rational subsistent being. moreover, max scheler and karol wojtyla sustained that the human soul makes him an incarnate spirit. a systematic and comprehensive examination of philosophical anthropology of these philosophers unambiguously affirmed that human nature is ontologically composed of body and soul, emotion and reason, material and spiritual entities in such a way that man is neither an animal nor spirit but a rational animal. this unique status serves as a foundation of human formation that can facilitate the attainment of human personality suitable for the candidates of the catholic priesthood in 21st century. this paper explores how aristotelian-aquinas’ understanding of human nature and virtue ethics can help human formative processes for the seminarians that will later become the intermediaries between god and his people in the field of evangelization, bringing christ to all and bringing all to christ. keywords: human, ontology, nobility, priesthood, formation, virtue mailto:olorunfemi6697@gmail.com section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 285 introduction human formation is a generally defined as a process of helping teenagers to recognise, appreciate and cooperate with available means of developing their inherent behavioural capacities into excellent characters to the admiration of others in the society. in the context of this paper, catholic major seminary is the nursery bed of the church to give appropriate human formation to the candidates for the sacred priesthood of christ. in this perspective, the primary goal of human formation in the seminary is to rationally cultivate the personal and emotional maturity of each seminarian and nurture the human qualities that are necessary to be rationally balanced and capable of bearing the weight of priestly responsibilities in our contemporary world. these responsibilities are often evident and evaluated in the ability “to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity…balanced in judgement and behaviour” (pastores dabo vobis no. 43), hence, the seminary programmes of formation are defined, designed, determined, justified, practiced, promoted and preserved by the church authority in such way that seminarians are well-oriented and naturally behaved like those set apart from others in the society. it is the responsibility of the seminary authority in conjunction with the respective seminary commission to develop the fundamental contents and supervise the application of the needed principles and moral qualities of human formation for the seminarians of their region and time. as a matter of fact, there is need for regularly scheduled human formation conferences to address issues surrounding the seminarians’ physical well-being, habits of good nutrition and exercise, freedom from addictive behaviours, as well as addressing the essential issues in the development of a healthy emotional life, the establishment of mature friendships, maturity in dealing with qualities necessary for leadership and positive social interaction within community (nos. 43-44). the onus is on the dean of seminarians’ affairs in collaboration with other formators to assist the rector in the development of programmes for human formation in the seminary. this is because the collaborative efforts and adequate monitoring of formators are necessary in all the various levels of human formation in the seminary. the efforts, progress and maturity of each candidates to the priesthood are often nurtured and supervised by the community of formators through lectures, seminars, conferences and tested effectiveness of acquired skills and talents through academic, social and liturgical engagements. the appropriate human formation for the candidates of a particular nationality, region, culture and generation before ordination and incardination into a specific diocese is non-negotiable because noble 286 formation of the human person in the 21st century characters expected of a priest cannot automatically derived from the grace of ordination. in his summary of pastores dabo vobis, cardinal pio laghi maintains, “in the normal run of things,…priestly ordination does not put in place a new humanity. in a personality which has not been moulded, in a character which has not had its rough edges smoothed off, in an individual who is not capable of calm and appropriate human relationships, the grace of ordination is discredited. in a mature personality, on the other hand, it shines out in all its fullness”. (https://smseminary.org-human-formation). therefore, this paper attempts to demonstrate how the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, courage and justice obtainable from the providence of the natural law can smooth the rough edges of human traits, reason and emotions to generate excellent habitual characters that can make the nobility in human nature of seminarians of our time undoubtedly evident. the order of expository and evaluation of the concepts and issues involved in this paper are largely based on platonic understanding of cardinal virtues. while the articulation of arguments evident in aristotelian-aquinas tradition will be employed for the justification of the place of each cardinal virtue in cultivating excellent habitual characters appropriate for the candidates of the sacred priesthood. human formation and the moral character suitable for human personality a comprehensive anthropological study of man shows that human beings have some characteristics that are similar with other animals like gorillas and chimpanzees as evident in the need for food, reproduction and social life. however, the distinguished rational abilities of man that are fundamentally rooted in advanced technology and deliberative choice of action set him apart from other animals in the same genus (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 1, art. 1). a closer look at the anthropological foundation of aristotelian-aquinas’ moral philosophy explicitly shows that objective standard for evaluating if a man has adequate human formation is based on the ability of the man to practically live and act excellently well the actions that are ontologically entrenched in human nature. this is a reality that is unanimously acknowledged, cherished, preserved and promoted in every culture of the world. hence, there is need to scrutinize and evaluate the fundamental structures of the system that aquinas defined, analyzed, justified and promoted to elucidate the process of human formation that can facilitate a practical demonstration of human personality suitable for the seminarians of our time. thomas aquinas in the second part of his summa theologiae clearly argued beyond any reasonable doubt that the core of the rational element that actually distinguished human beings section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 287 from other animals in the same group is found in what is known as synderesis [practical reason]. the term synderesis is described by aquinas as the basis of inner principles (conscience) regulating the moral consciousness of every man ‘to do good and avoid evil’. it is obvious that synderesis has two distinct natural powers governing human cognitive and appetitive dispositions (summa theologiae, first part, question 79, article 12). the cognitive disposition is the seat of intelligibility of the goodness that is rooted in the physical and metaphysical entities while the appetitive disposition is the power of desirability for the goodness that the rational power recognizes to be good and necessary. as fagothey clearly upholds, “what appeals may supply a need, satisfy a desire, arouse an interest, stimulate an emotion, provoke a response, motivate a deed, or merely draw an approval” (70-71). this implies that in the process of human formation and character development, an action is good when it agrees with the rational nature of human beings and vice-versa (aquinas summa theologiae, first part of second part, q. 18, art. 5). in human formation, therefore, what is morally valuable is whatever action that man judges to be honorably good, just, worthy, desirable and has inherent values that correspond to the nobility in human nature. aquinas has come up with arguments to show that appropriate human formation is impossible without cultivating the necessary integration of animal and rational elements of man to generate characters needed to demonstrate to others the excellent characters that are feasible in human nature. in aristotelianaquinas moral tradition, this feasibility is achievable through the use of four cardinal virtues [courage, temperament, prudence and justice] to build a solid foundation suitable for admirable characters expected of candidates for the sacred priesthood. it is pertinent to examine the contextual meaning of habit to provide a robust foundation on which the relevance of cardinal virtues in the formation of human characters can be evaluated and justified. habit and attainment of moral character for human formation the term habit is ordinarily known as human way of life that has the capacity to enhance human to act either morally or immorally about himself and others in the society. in the primary sense of the word, habit is a disposition of man toward actions that are possible in human nature. as aristotle posits, “habit means a disposition according to which that which is disposed is either well or ill disposed, and either in itself or with reference to something else” (aristotle, metaphysics, bk. v, chapter 20). in the context of this paper, habit becomes natural capacity of man that can improve and strengthen the consistency of traits inherent in human nature. in human formation, good habits are cultivated into maturity to 288 formation of the human person in the 21st century form good characters through subtle, gradual and dynamic processes that are spread through a period of time before it can be evident in human society. in the understanding of chukwujekwu, “habit becomes one’s second nature in the sense that one now performs or acts in the way of the already acquired character with ease” (chukwujekwu 78). judging from this quotation, the failure to recognise the nitty-gritty of the processes and dynamism involved in the cultivation of habits into good characters is responsible for odious actions of moral deviants that are contrary to the nobility inherent in human nature. it is obvious that, “habits are corrupted or weakened by contrary habits. even mere neglect or laziness can weaken a habit” (gratsch 105). hence, in human formation it is necessary to give adequate attention to good human habits that can facilitate moral characters appropriate to seminarians that are preparing to embrace the celibate priesthood of christ. aside, rational sanctions are necessary to deter bad habits that are capable of becoming the sources of inhuman tendencies and abhorrent characters in their lives. thomas aquinas demonstrated the nuts and bolts of four cardinal virtues in the formation of honourable characters achievable in human nature. thomas aquinas and the relevance of virtue ethics in human formation it is reasonable to briefly examine the historical background and origin of the four cardinal virtues before going to the definition and relevance of each of them in human formation for honourable characters that behove sacerdotes inferi, priests in the making in our major seminary. it is on record that the training of young minds with ten habitual virtues for moral integrity and nobility were at first known with the ancient egyptian priests and neophytes that came all over the world of that time to learn from them (james 30). as evident in the work of g.g.m. james, virtues were not mere…ethical sentiments, but were positive valour and virility [powers] of the soul. temperance meant complete control of the passional nature. fortitude meant such courage as would not allow adversity to turn us away from our goal. prudence meant the deep insight that befits the faculty of seership. justice meant the unswerving righteousness of thought and action (30 and 171, elders 454). plato was one of the greek neophytes that visited ancient egypt to learn about the egyptian mysteries and seboyet [wisdom] between the sixth and seventh century bc. he later condensed the ten egyptian virtues recommended for domesticating human emotions for man to attain appropriate moral insights inherent into four: courage, temperance, prudence and justice (james 3). these four cardinal virtues were considered as the intellectual and moral powers of human soul to section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 289 provide solutions to practical questions of day-to-day relationship with the gods and others in a dignified manner. in a nutshell, the four moral cardinal virtues that serve as the foundational stones of aristotelianaquinas’ formation of human character are perceptible in plato’s republic (aso the place of virtues in attainment of final end, 125-126). it is apparent that aristotle, a student of plato, learnt about the four cardinal virtues in plato’s academy and elucidated more on the nittygritty of their interrelatedness in human formation for deliberative choice of action. thomas aquinas cherished the scholastic definition, analysis, justification and evaluation of the place of each of these cardinal virtues in human formation for noble characters that honour and respect human dignity (summa theologiae, part one of part two, q. 55, art. 4; q. 61, art. 2). as a way of establishing a solid foundation of human formation in any contemporary catholic major seminary in nigeria, it is pertinent to give analysis of how each identified virtue can contribute to the growth and development of characters that befit the candidates for the sacred priesthood in our contemporary world. aquinas and the place of prudence in human formation for seminarians the focus of human formation in the seminary revolves around the aim of helping seminarians to cherish synderesis or practical wisdom to behave excellently well according to the noble and moral potentialities that are naturally realistic in human life. aquinas in his philosophy of human action defined, analyzed, justified and promoted prudence as the virtue that governs the details of factors that are involved in the phenomenology of deliberative choice of human character. as thomas hibbs gathers from aquinas “prudence involves not simply the subordination of particulars to appropriate universals, but the appraisal of concrete, contingent circumstances” (hibbs 92). if this is indisputable, it follows that human acquisition of appropriate knowledge of the principles and circumstances surrounding attainment of noble characters for seminarians is highly cumbrous. consequently, aquinas in his wisdom heightened the obligation of every human being, including seminarians, to previously “grasp what is pertinent and to assess what ought to be done in complex circumstances” (98) before carrying out any deliberative choice of action. judging from this perspective, “the virtue of prudence becomes the source of excellence performances evident in memory, intelligence, foresight, circumspection, caution and shrewdness (summa theologiae part two of second part, q. 47, art, 8) of human beings before noble actions inherent in human nature can be excellently demonstrated for others to cherish. again, it is incontrovertibly evident that any man that ignores the relevance of prudence and its subsidiaries 290 formation of the human person in the 21st century in human formation will definitely end up in moral blunders that often lead to improper characters that are not in tandem with human formation necessary for candidates to the sacred priesthood. this is obvious when unreasonable and cosmetic lifestyles overlaid human judgment and make deficient object of deliberative choice seems more genuine than they really are in themselves. hence, in a house of formation for the sacred priesthood, aquinas would underline the fact that seminarians need to know and cherish the virtue of prudence and employ the same to govern their emotional drives for characters that enhance noble characters. nonetheless, there is need for the virtue of temperance to drive prudence to take its place of importance in honorable characters of man. aquinas and the significance of temperance in human formation for seminarians in part two of his second summa theologiae, aquinas philosophically defined the virtue of temperance as necessary restraint of bodily pleasures like the desire for food, drink, lifestyle, sexual activity and other emotional needs that are capable of making ignoble and inhuman characters abound in human life. he is quite aware that human beings often indulge in short-lived pleasures at the expense of honorable choice of action accessible in human nature because of deficient human formation. in his study of human nature, aquinas authenticated the requisites to nurture virtues that restrain what he called concupiscence drives in the eletrico-chemistry of human body that excessively indulge in pleasure and avoidance of displeasure. in this context, aquinas is not actually condemning bodily pleasure in its entirety. instead, he articulated arguments to heighten the fact that the virtue of temperance is essentially necessary to moderate the way and manner man enjoys pleasures that is not contrary to the nobility concomitant with human nature (art. 3). in other words, whenever the satisfaction from emotional drives are sufficiently governed, the attainment and demonstration of noble characters for others to see and admired will be adequately safeguarded. therefore, it is palpable that abstinence, chastity, humility and similar dispositions that govern the impetuousness of bodily desires of man are derived from the virtue of temperance (summa theologiae part two of second part, q. 161, art. 4). in human formation for the candidates of celibate priesthood, the place of temperance and correlated virtues in governing the resilient urge for activities that are repulsive in human society and endanger to their vocation cannot be overemphasized. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 291 aquinas and the relevance of courage in human formation of seminarians the role of temperance as one of the cardinal virtues is very clear in taming excessive impulse coming from any bodily appetite for pleasure and habitual consequences. it is quite obvious in the phenomenology of human behavior that some emotional dispositions that are polygonal in their unique operations as often evident in emotional feeling of dilemma in which available options of action are equally desirable and undesirable chukwujekwu 151 and gratch 191). in the opinion of aquinas, the virtue of courage and its corollaries are fundamentally meant to govern irascible appetites that are awkward to achieve or avoid like hope, daring, fear, despair and restraint (aquinas summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 23, art. 1; plato the republic, bk. iv, 439c). judging from this background, aquinas wanted us to know that sometimes certain objects of good have associated risks and fear that can inhibit human beings from obeying the command and impulse coming from synderesis of prudence. for instance, the fear and risk associating with giving a helping hands to a victim of accident or arm robbery especially in nigeria of today. in this circumstance, it is worthwhile to do good and avoid evil but any attempt to throw caution into the wind, one’s effort can result to stupidity and extraordinary regret. therefore, aquinas justified courage as the virtue that has all it takes to moderate human irascible appetites that can hinder human being from obeying the moral command of practical wisdom to prefer noble over ignoble characters in human relationship (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 123, art. 3). the knowledge and appreciation of the virtue of courage is necessary in human formation of seminarians for discernment in following the impulses of practical wisdom to courageously behave according to the nobility inherent in human nature and vice-versa. the upshots of the virtue of courage in human psychology includes: endurance, patience and confidence. hence, in aquinas’ human formation, a courageous seminarian is morally equipped to persistently evaluate and confront obvious direct and indirect obstacles against his deliberative choice of honorable character with a firm hope emanating from confidence and doggedness derived from a resolution to be a man of integrity. justice is the virtue that insists on harmonious interrelatedness of all contrivances derive four cardinal virtues to generate conventional characters in human society. it is appropriate to examine how the necessary harmony among the virtues are practically attainable in human formation. aquinas and the role of justice in attainment of noble characters for seminarians in plato’s republic the virtue of justice is fundamentally defined as the 292 formation of the human person in the 21st century habitual disposition to determine, justify, promote and preserve the harmonious relationship with others in a given community without making anyone subservient to others but giving each member a justified place of honour. this is a replica of plato’s thought on the distinct role of each cardinal virtue and interrelatedness among them in the generation of a deliberative choice of characters that are unique to human beings. aquinas employed the platonic-aristotelian taxonomy of moral virtues to demonstrate that the function of justice is to ensure whatever is fundamentally desirable for any of the virtue is equally appropriate for the good of others and the harmony expected to exist among them (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 58, art. 5). in the final analysis, it is apparent that the virtue of justice is basically concerned with the harmony that ought to exist in a community where individuality and equality are cherished, promoted and preserved from any aberration; the virtue of prudence approves necessary motivation for deliberative choice of action; the virtue of temperance controls concupiscent emotions and courage fortify emotional drives against fear and despair in carrying out noble action in the society. judging from this standpoint, it is palpable that “people fulfil their natural end by adhering to the cardinal virtues of justice, temperance, courage and prudence, of which justice is the summum bonum” in accordance with the essential principles enshrined in the natural law. in other words, natural law becomes the knot that naturally tights up the bond that exists among these cardinal virtues and their complementary influence in the growth and development of habitual and noble characters of man. it is necessary to examine the importance of natural law in the coordination of cardinal virtues for human formation. the importance of natural law in human formation of seminarians in a common parlance, the idea of law in human society is designed and preserved to guide man to achieve his desirable goal and to restrain him from circumstances that can encumbered the fulfilment of any anticipated objective. aquinas in the first part of his summa theologiae rationally defined a law as “a rule or measure of human acts, whereby a person is induced to act or is restrained from acting” (summa theologiae, part one of second part, q. 90, art. 1). the fundamental principle of law and its relationship to human action is based on the fact that the criteria of a good character is logically depends on its conformity with rational justification traceable to eternal law. this is a providential reality for every created being to act naturally according to the proper end that is ontologically established in their respective nature. in actual fact, aquinas clearly showed that the rational and uninhibited participation of human section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 293 beings in this eternal order is acting in conformity with the natural law. this implies that natural law is the ontological platform established by god for human beings to naturally recognize the characteristics of what is good, desirable and commendable and vice versa. it is obvious in aquinas understanding of human action that natural law is indisputably the ontological source of synderesis, the practical wisdom needed all the time to know what is good and do it and recognize what is evil and avoid it. therefore, the rational capacity of synderesis in seminarians are to be cultivated and nurtured into habitual and virtuous capacities for noble characters. in the seminary formative processes, any attempt to overlook the ontological basis and contributions of the cardinal virtues to human deliberative choice of action, nobility will be deficient in the characters of the candidates to the priesthood. integration of rational abilities and emotional feelings in human formation for noble characters the philosophical understanding of human emotions shows that they are natural drives of the animal cravings toward the object of desire and human beings share these yearnings with other animals as perceptible in the sensitive part of the soul (kadankavil 160). as a matter of fact, anthropological studies of human formation have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that human emotions are neither morally good nor bad until the willpower, evaluation and intentional choice of action becomes obvious. this implies that human nature is naturally porous for both honourable and dishonourable human traits and characters. hence, the waywardness that is abound in human nature needs to be tamed through a process of human formation to liberate human beings from barbarity that is capable of obstructing attainment of noble characters (desmond 92). without mincing words, a closer look at aristotelian-aquinas anthropological theory of human action clearly shows that when emotions are govern with reason towards a good end, the action derived from such end becomes morally good, appropriate and correspond to the dignity inherent in human nature. it is also perspicuous in the aforementioned theory that when emotions are allowed to run wild, the action sourced from such disposition automatically becomes immoral, inappropriate and divergent to the nobility that ontologically characterised human nature. if this claim is incontrovertible, it implies that adequate integration of emotional and rational feelings in human formative processes basically serves as the foundation of noble characters associated with a gentleman in human society. a systematic analysis and evaluation of the four cardinal virtues already examined illustrated the fact that each of them has prominent place in the processes of the internal and efficient principles of noble 294 formation of the human person in the 21st century action excellently evident in the habitual character of a man (aristotle nichomachean ethics, bk. ii, chapter 6). in the context of this background, the four cardinal virtues become the software while human habits become the hardware of actions that define, determine, substantiate, demonstrate, facilitate, promote and preserve the dignity entrenched in human nature. hence, a virtuous man or gentleman is the one that knows how to tame those emotions that are contrary to reason and yield to emotional derives that are sourced from rational feelings to form the basis of the deliberative choice of action in human formation (gratsch 108; garrette 67). a strict observation of the processes involved clearly shows that the animal and rational natures of man are integrated together through human formation to arrive at the appropriate actions that befit human beings. as a matter of fact, it is evident in the writings of some metaphysicians like plato and aristotle; philosophical anthropologists like thomas aquinas, max scheler, battista mondin, karol wojtyla and religious existentialists like paul recour, emmanuel levinas, martin buber and gabriel marcel that only human beings among other creatures are endowed with a character in which rational abilities and emotional tendencies are coalesced together as one. in other words, human beings are not totally spiritual to lack element of bodily structures and emotions as palpable among the spirits neither are they like other animals that have no rational abilities except instinctual drives. as a matter of fact, these two aspects of human personality are so intermingled and jointly responsible for human characters. as joseph omoregbe cleverly encapsulates, “man is a harmonious blend of reason and the passions. he is neither pure reason without instincts nor pure instincts without reason…as a result of this fact, man’s instincts are rational instincts, i.e, instincts permeated with rationality (103). hence, no one can easily separate the influence of the two factors in human character and able to justify the ontological basis of human formation and personality with associated values in human society. as omoregbe further claims, “it is because man is a blend of reason and passions that he is capable of weeping (sympathy, love, hatred, benevolence, judgment etc.), neither a god nor a beast is capable of weeping; the former is incapable because it is a disembodied being without passions while the latter is incapable because it lacks reason” (104). judging from this milieu, it means that the instinctual tendencies apparent in ordinary animals are guided purely by regular emotional instincts whereas the ones ostensible with human beings are imparted by rational emotional dispositions. this implies that any attempt to have unblended foundation of rational abilities with emotional feelings in human formation would section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 295 automatically lead to characters that are depraved and contrary to human dignity. it is appropriate that every youngsters especially those in the house of formation and formators to remember and appreciate the fact that human nature is not purely emotional, spiritual, rational or irrational but fundamentally involved in the aforementioned aspects of man and obviously integrated into natural inclinations necessary for human characters. in other words, “human formation is all about the development of a well-rounded and competent man, possessing personal maturity. the basis of this is the fact that we human beings are physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, social, intellectual and spiritual with the potentiality of each being fully realized by our efforts of co-operating with god’s grace”. therefore, the necessity of human formative processes for candidates to the priesthood can never be overstressed because seminarians are not angelic beings with the nature and character that is already determined, structured, universal, logical, fixed, immutable, eternal and perfectly composed to remain the same all the time like those in a mathematical world where 3+3 constantly equals to 6. it is unmistakably clear that human beings including seminarians are composed of body and soul, reason and passion by which they are exceptionally different from other creatures and need to pass through a process of human formation before attaining excellent characters. this implies that, “since the charism of celibacy…leaves man’s affections and his instinctive impulses intact, candidates to the priesthood need an affective maturity which is prudent, able to renounce anything that is a threat to it, vigilant over body and spirit, and capable of esteem and respect in interpersonal relationship between men and women” (pastores dabo vobis no. 44). in the context of this paper, seminarians are obliged to learn how to guide themselves with rational moral calculus to gain foresight for avoidance of any fundamental bad habit that can primarily hinder honorable characters ontologically concomitant with human nature become evident in them. after all, “the goal of the entire seminary formation…should be the development of moral leadership and witness the seminarian manifest to others” (no. 44). this is not easily attainable without some disciplines, sacrifice, practice, pain, patience, perseverance, determination and hope. therefore, it is required that seminarians assiduously cultivate the integration of four cardinal virtues to have appropriate human formation so that the nobility associated with human nature can be exceptionally obvious in their character for their good and the good of the church. 296 formation of the human person in the 21st century conclusion in conclusion, for an appropriate human formation of seminarians to reach an appreciable end, rational abilities are needed for dignified moral choice and precision while emotions are necessarily guided for moral impetus and moral virtues are gradually cultivated for habitual dispositions for noble characters conceivable in human nature (harman 1). the habitual dispositions sourced from the phenomenological interrelationship of reason, emotions and cardinal virtues will eventually become the repository of noble characters expected to characterize the personality and moral ideals of whoever successfully allows human formative processes of the major seminary to pass through him. there is no doubt that human nature is morally promiscuous and can easily wandered into habitual dispositions that are capable of disfiguring the ontological nobility that clearly sets man apart from other animals. however, the conceivable clashes between reason and emotions, good and bad habits, desires and deliberative choice in the process of forming human characters can easily dissolve into a moral disposition that transcends the purported phenomenological conflicts among all the factors that play indispensable roles in the formation of human character provided discipline, sacrifice, assiduousness, perseverance and nobility are appreciated by the seminarians of our time. references aso, w.o. (2017) the place of virtues in the attainment of final end: an appraisal of thomas aquinas’ scholastic ethics. ibadan dominican studies, 3, 117136. aquinas, t. (1947) summa theologiae. translated by the english dominican fathers, new york: benziger brothers. _________ (1993) commentary on aristotle’s nichomachean ethics, translated by c.i. litzinger. notre dame: dumb ox books. aristotle, (2001) the basic works of aristotle. (edited by richard mckeon). new york: random house. chukwujekwu, s. c. (2007) a basic course in ethics: a survey of ethical values. nimo: rex charles & patrick ltd. desmond, w. (2001) ethics and the between. albany: state university of new york press. elder, leo j. (2006) thomism today, annuario filosofico, xxxix, 2, roma, p. 454. fagothey, a. (1989) right and reason ---ethics in theory and practice, edited by milton a. gonzales; 9th edition. new jersey: prentice hall. james, g.g.m. (1954) stolen legacy: greek philosophy is stolen egyptian philosophy. reprinted by molefi kete asante. philadephia: african american images. garrett, a. (ed.) (2014) the routledge companion to eighteenth century philosophy. routledge. gratsch, e.j. (1985) aquinas summa: introduction and interpretation. bangalore: theological publications. http://philpapers.org/rec/gartrc-3 section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 297 harman, g. (1986) change in view: principle of reasoning. massachusetts: bradford mit press. mondin, b. (1985) philosophical anthropology. rome: urbaniana university press, 1985. omoregbe, j. (1998) ethics: a systematic and historical study. lagos: joja educational publishers limited. rearden, m. (1976). deed and truth. dublin: the doctrine commission of the church of england. thomas, hibbs (2001) virtue’s splendor: wisdom, prudence, and the human good. new york: fordham university press. 298 22 sex slavery as dehumanisation: a contextual appraisal in martin buber’s dialogic approach benedict egbuchunam department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma emechunam@yahoo.com abstract sex slavery is an evil that denigrates the human person. it is a criminal form of enslavement which limits one’s autonomy, freedom of movement and power to decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. unfortunately, this apparent evil has become widespread especially in nigeria and has reached an alarming rate. despite modernization and technological advancements, this modern form of slavery has taken another dimension. this paper discusses sex slavery in nigeria and seeks to demonstrate how it not only denies full humanness to others but is accompanied by cruelty and suffering; the human person is treated as less human and women, who are mostly affected by this evil, are stripped of their dignity. martin buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relationship as an approach to resolving the dehumanisation of the female gender is the essence of this paper. the fundamental fact of human existence is simply a person with another person, a man with a woman and a human being is a creature capable of entering into living essential relations with others. this paper attempts to show that buber’s philosophy of dialogue serves as a means of resolving sex slavery in nigeria and beyond. it requires the reorientation of the human mind in seeing the other person as a thou instead of an it’ this paper, which is basically expository, descriptive and analytic, approaches this issue from an existential perspective using buber’s philosophy in understanding the human person as relational for authentic human relationships. keywords: sex slavery, dehumanisation, sexual activity, dialogue, interpersonal, relationship. mailto:emechunam@yahoo.com section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 299 introduction slavery is a practice that militates against the human person because through it, a person or group of persons are subjugated, oppressed, victimized, objectified and discriminated against. it is an evil that goes against man’s essential nature which is to be relational and his purpose of existence. being intensely engaged in a relationship with another person is one of the greatest joys of being human. human communication is at the core of our existence. it is an indubitable fact that being-with-others fundamentally characterizes our existence. we come into existence and notice other human persons as co-existents, and as persons we must have to deal with in one way or the other. unfortunately, slavery is a form of cruelty that denigrates an individual and is symptomatic of the inability to fully exist as genuinely human. this negative trend that slavery portends raises questions such as: how may i understand the other person, who is different from me? how may i relate to this other with whom i must have to deal in my concrete everyday existence? what is the philosophical basis for interpersonal relationship? how is person to person relationship different from person to things? to what extent can we enhance respect for human relationships so that we built a society that is more egalitarian, free and healthy? what is at issue here is the question of the relationship between persons. interpersonal relationship is something we experience daily. that is what keeps us moving forward. that is what makes us human. this paper, is therefore, an attempt to address the evil of sexual slavery/exploitation using the philosophy of martin buber. this paper advocates a reordering of our mindsets and modes of thought in seeing the human person for what he or she really is – a dignified being that is to be respected, loved and treated as an existential subject. this reorientation is to be done and achieved through the lens of the relational existentialist, martin buber. for the purpose of this work, the terms, sex slavery and sex trafficking, will be used interchangeably. overview of slavery slavery could be said to be as old as man. it refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others who control where they live and what they work; to the legal, economic, political and social rules that allow one group of people to own people belonging to another group for their own benefit. essentially, slavery involves domination, oppression, control and so on. it existed in many cultures in early human civilizations and has continued to exist in some form for thousands of years in societies around the world. although, it could be found in almost every society, slavery, as we have studied in our history lessons, has its legacy in colonialism and imperialism which served as fuel to agricultural 300 formation of the human person in the 21st century industries till end of the of the 19th century. the freedom granted to slaves by governments in europe and america were not followed up by social, economic and psychological supports. consequently, slave like conditions and mentalities persisted. according to the economist, october 30, 2016, more than 200,000 adult slaves remained in africa’s sahel until the 60s. the negative consequences of slavery are obvious when one looks at the uneven social and economic development of nations that were not only victims of slavery but were suppliers of labour to these countries that have now being termed ‘developed’. hence, the compartmentalization of the world into categories of first and third, developed and under-developed, rich and poor. it is very probable that there are probably more slaves now than at any other point in history because, in all its forms, slavery has always existed in modern societies long after the 19th century.1 the most common form of modern slave trade is referred to as human trafficking. trafficking in human beings is a “phenomenon that involves a variety of areas and diverse aspects and its multidimensional extensiveness contributes to an often unfocused perspective”. human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation."2 this definition has three essential constituents: first, the action of trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons; second, the means of trafficking includes threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability; and third, the purpose of trafficking is geared towards exploitation. exploitation includes, “at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”3 in other words, human trafficking has many forms of exploitation. the objective of this essay is to examine the form of exploitation that has to do with a person’s sexuality. sex-trafficking is said to be the most common form of humantrafficking in the world today. it refers to the “recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years.”4 from the foregoing, sex trafficking is a sub-category within the wider framework of human-trafficking and is for the purpose of sexual exploitation including sexual slavery. so, sex trafficking necessarily includes sexual slavery but not all forms of sexual slavery fall under the umbrella of sex trafficking. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 301 sex slavery/trafficking sex slavery, which could also be described as sexual exploitation, is the attachment of the right of ownership over one or more persons with the intention of compelling them to engage in sexual activities. in other words, the victims are deprived of their sexual freedom, choice and rights and are subjected to the sexual manipulations of their enslavers. according to mark klamberg: sexual slavery is a particular form of enslavement which includes limitations on one’s autonomy, freedom of movement and power to decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. although it is listed as a separate offence in the icc statute, it is regarded as a particular form of enslavement. however, whereas enslavement is solely considered a crime against humanity, sexual slavery may constitute either a war crime or a crime against humanity. it is partly based on the definition of enslavement identified as customary international law by the icty in the kunarac case.5 from the above, sexual slavery is seen as a form of enslavement with a sexual component. it includes the wielding of any or all of the powers attached to ownership over one or more persons, such as by buying, selling, lending or bartering such a person or persons, or by imposing on them a similar deprivation of liberty. also, the person would have been made to engage in acts of a sexual nature. the evil also includes forced marriages, domestic servitude or other forced labour that ultimately involves forced sexual activity. in contrast to the crime of rape, which is a completed offence, sexual slavery constitutes a continuing offence.6 sex slavery has its roots in ancient history. in the ancient world, the greeks and the romans amongst others made a practice of forcing captured young women to be consigned to a life of servitude as concubines or domestic servants. in the 13th century, african slave trade was not limited to slaves for servants, agriculture, or the labor industry but also extended to women who received a higher price than men, primarily because of the sexual appetites of their owners.7 however, in recent times, the rise in the harm and suffering associated with transporting women and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation has taken an alarming rate. the trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual purposes lies in the expansion and ever growing sexual entertainment industry, which is most importantly a demanddriven phenomenon. unfortunately, women and children are perceived as the most exploitable and controllable and are therefore deemed to be the most in demand to contribute to this expanding and very competitive economic market, driven by maximum profit gaining.8 302 formation of the human person in the 21st century there have been a significant rise in the magnitude of this form of trafficking and it is said to be reaching severe dimensions worldwide in the recent context of globalization despite the laws and sanctions that have been put in place. several reasons have been adduced for the continued rise in trafficking including gender discrimination, war and armed conflict, poverty, persistent unemployment, lack of education, lack of information, gender discrimination, poverty and deprivation, lack of legislative and policy protection, harmful socio-cultural practices, and economic inequality, which is said to be the most convincing factor because it results in neighbouring cities, regions or countries being attractive destinations for people in poverty stricken cities, regions and countries. these factors in themselves are, however, not regarded as the causes of trafficking in persons; rather, they merely contribute to the vulnerability of victims and render them more prone to a variety of harms.9 the likelihood that a country will become a source of trafficking is greatly influenced by the economic and political instability of that country. internal armed conflict, civil unrest and natural disasters furthermore displace populations and increase their susceptibility to exploitation and abuse. enslavers and traffickers make false promises of good working conditions and higher wages in foreign countries to lure victims into their traps.10 the unsuspecting victims, who seek a better life for themselves and their families, are easily deceived by these lies and they fall prey to the enslavers and traffickers and become objects of dehumanization and indignity. even though victims of sex trafficking crime are encouraged to leave the economic struggles of their home countries in search of better opportunities, movement itself is not what constitutes the crime of trafficking. the force, fraud or coercion that is exercised on a victim by another person to perform sexual activities and remain in the service of that person, are the determining and defining elements of this crime of trafficking. sex slavery involves a variety of crimes and exploitation including violence, cruelty and ill-treatment of victims. the exploitation of victims for profit through the use of force, fraud or coercion remains the common denominator of this crime and the trade of human beings continues to evolve into new and more multifaceted forms of exploitation, using debt contracts and other means to coerce people for the purpose of profit gain.11 the victim’s human rights are taken away and the person is stripped of dignity and is reduced to a level below that of animals. this is what constitutes dehumanization and objectifies the human person. the concept of human rights is based on the belief in the dignity of the human person. it recognizes that the human person requires section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 303 certain minimum standards in order to fulfill a basic life of dignity. furthermore, as they are derived from the dignity of a human being as such, these rights belong to all human beings and cannot be removed by any authority, under any circumstances. human rights are held by every human being, simply because one is a human being and for no other reason.12 in other words, no one, for whatsoever reason, has the ‘right’ to take away the rights of another human being. unfortunately, the human rights of the victims of sex slavery are trampled upon, taken away and made to perform indignifying acts. this is what criminalizes the actions of sex enslavers and traffickers and renders their actions evil in itself. the cost of the sex slavery industry is most difficult to measure. the cost is more than just dollars being spent on sex. it also includes the damage done to individuals. there is also the cost in both physical and mental health with sex slavery. the self-esteem of the unfortunate victims is usually extremely low. it only takes a few days to break a woman; it takes many years to help her to rebuild her life. victims of sex slavery/trafficking go through physical, psychological and emotional trauma associated with the exploitation. those who are trafficked face violence that may occur during various stages of the trafficking process – from recruitment to destination which has a profound impact on the health of the victim. the physical, sexual and psychological abuse experienced by victims of sexual exploitation, combined with the forced or coerced use of alcohol and drugs, isolation and manipulation has longterm implications for victims’ overall well-being and present a challenge for rehabilitation. the psychological harm experienced by victims exposed to severe and persistent trauma and abuse are similar to those observed in victims of torture and repeated sexual abuse. escaping from the slavish or trafficking situation does not free the victim from the consequences of the period of exploitation, which she or he has endured. chronic physical, psychological and social issues often affect sextrafficked victims throughout their lives, whether they are free or enslaved.13 in his nicomachean ethics, aristotle developed the concept of human flourishing or eudemonia. for him, the aim of ethics and politics is to show people how to achieve eudemonia, which can be interpreted as well-being. the well-being of an individual is to be achieved by living a life in society and living a life concerned with the society. aristotle’s consideration of well-being, human flourishing and fulfillment is firmly situated in the context of society.14 thomas aquinas, like aristotle, situated his consideration of harm and liberty in a social context. the frustration of basic needs or potentialities of human beings is perceived to be morally bad and harmful, for it reduces the ability of a person to be fully actualised as a human being. thus, harm consists in not just the 304 formation of the human person in the 21st century absence of physical injury but also obstacles or lack of resources that prevent us living fully human lives. harm, then does not just occur at the one to one level, which is often easily visible, but at the institutional and systemic level whereby human flourishing is constrained.15 thus, sex slavery militates against the flourishing and fulfillment of the human person. where the human person is not allowed to flourish, dehumanization takes place. and as such, sex slavery, trafficking, and every form of exploitation are evil per se that is, they are intrinsic evils. martin buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship martin buber was a jewish-german existential philosopher; and as a theologian and a biblical translator, he was said to be one of the most influential figures in the twentieth century intellectualspiritual life. his ontology or theory of existence revolves around a concept of relation. persons and things are seen to exist only in relation to other things and persons. the word, relation implies a state of affairs which connects two separate entities. the very essence of any existence is this connecting state of relation which buber calls the between.16 relation, as an event or action, occurs between two entitles, that is, between a person, whose attention is completely turned toward someone or something other than himself, and another person or thing who confronts him. buber says that essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relation. the individual is a fact of existence in so far as he enters into relation with other individuals.17 he defines man as a creature capable of entering into living essential relations with the world and things. the fundamental fact of human existence is that an individual steps into a living relation with other individuals. the essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relation.18 according to buber, the principle of human life is not simple but twofold, being built up in a twofold movement which is of such kind that one movement is the presupposition of the other. he calls the first movement the primal setting at a distance and the second, entering into relation.19 so, man is man in virtue of his sense of distance and relation. it is obvious that entering into relation presupposes the primal setting at a distance. man can only enter into relation with a being that has been set at a distance which has become an independent opposite. only man can perform this act of setting at a distance because only man has a world an unbroken continuum which includes not only all that he and other individuals know and experience but all that is knowable now and in the future.20 in other words, one can only enter into relation with that which is not himself an independent other, a being which has been set at a distance. the primal setting at a distance involves the self understanding itself as being separate and apart from the being which is section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 305 not the self: the self identifies the other as an other. identifying the other as an other allows the self to enter into a relationship with it. this setting at a distance which makes entering into relation possible is proper to the human category.21 man's two basic relations to the world from the foregoing, entering into relation means entering into an ithou relation, and at the same time one cannot identify distance with iit. when an individual fails to enter into relation, however, the distance thickens and solidifies, so that instead of being that which makes room for relation it becomes that which obstructs it. this failure to enter into relation corresponds to i-it, and distance thus becomes the presupposition for both i-thou and i-it.22 the underlying principle in buber’s philosophy is the idea that man has two modes available to him through which he can engage the world. the first mode (i-it) is that of experience, while the other mode (ithou) is that of relation/encounter.23 according to him, there is no i taken in itself but only the i of the primary word i-thou and the i of the primary word i-it; and when a man says i, he refers to one or other of these. the i to which man refers is present when he says i. the existence of i and the speaking of i are one and the same thing. the i of man is both the i of the i-it and the i of the i-thou and thus the i of man is twofold. man's two basic relations to the world are fundamentally different modes of self-expression and so the 'i' in these relations has different meanings. the i of the i-it is spoken where and when the beings around are observed and treated as mere objects of observation; and the i of the i-thou relationship is spoken where and when one stands with the whole of one's being over against another and enters into essential relationship with him. buber opines that the i-thou precedes i-it, both logically and in the history of the human consciousness. through the thou a man becomes i, and this implies that man’s i-consciousness develops only gradually from relational events. this means too that the abstracted i, which is the prerequisite for the primary word i-it, is inextricably embedded in the web of relation, in the relation to the thou. the first primary word can be resolved, certainly, into i and thou, but it did not arise from their being set together; by its nature it precedes i. the second word arose from the setting together of i and it; by nature it comes after i. this is why buber declares that in the beginning is relation.24 buber makes a distinction between the person and the individual. the person is the man who has become truly or authentically human, that is, attained being or spiritual existence as the i of the i-thou relation, through his encounter of the other as thou. the individual, 306 formation of the human person in the 21st century however, is the i who has only experienced or used the other as his it, the object of his intent or purpose.25 the life of dialogue the heart of buber's philosophy might be considered to be in his conception of dialogue. in the buberian conceptual scheme, then, genuine dialogue is not simply a conversation, a way of communication, a means towards other goals. dialogue becomes the goal in itself, the central purpose of human life. it is quite obvious that dialogue typifies, in a superlative way, what buber has described as an i-thou attitude towards an other. a dialogic relationship is one where genuine dialogue occurs between partners.26 buber identifies certain defining features of the life of dialogue which are the constituents of the structure of i-thou relationship. the absence of any of these will mean the absence of relationship. these features include accepting and confirming the otherness of the other. such confirmation does not mean approval; but no matter what the person has against the other, by accepting that person as a partner in dialogue, the person has been affirmed.27 the act of acceptance and confirmation belongs to the very structure and actualization of real human existence of i-thou relationship. another feature buber identifies is mutuality or reciprocity of relationship. only in the mutual or reciprocal saying of thou, relationship comes into being and i and thou become co-partners. the mutuality is the mutual participation of both the partners in each other's existence. the mutual conditioned nature of relationship is not one sided; and i-it is unilateral.28 a third feature buber highlights is opening up and making present of everything, that is, not investigating the other but courageously and intensively stirring one's own being to enter into other's life. the exclusiveness of relationship is another feature which refers to total and unlimited presentness. the other (thou) in relationship is not more a thou beside other thous' but he becomes a thou who cannot be replaced or exchanged.29 the encompassing or inclusion of everything is the last feature buber highlights which means living or experiencing through what the other is living or experiencing through. application of buber’s philosophy to sex slavery and trafficking buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship is a salient panacea to the evil of sex slavery and sex trafficking in nigeria and by extension, the entire human society. buber promotes a philosophy of mutuality, reciprocity, genuine relationship and genuine dialogue. it is a philosophy that generates peace through mutual interaction and conversation, that is, section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 307 ‘i-thou’ relationship. the concept of dialogue perceives the human person as ‘thou’. in a society where genuine relations that ought to exist between individuals has been largely obliterated by the objectification of the human person through sex slavery and trafficking, buber proclaims that man can achieve authentic human existence only by turning to one another as a whole being in the posture of i-thou, in which the other is made really present in his concrete wholeness and uniqueness and where there is a genuine response to the irreducible claim of the encounter itself. at a time when mutual understanding and intimacy of communion are threatened by sexual exploitation, buber has with earnest insistence appealed to those healing powers which may be awakened by man meeting his fellow man and woman. buber’s central message and insight is, therefore, that human beings are ordained to find fulfillment and authentic selfhood by living with each other in a relationship of genuine life of dialogue.30 it is important to note that underlying the practice of sex slavery and sex trafficking is the objectification of the human person where an individual is seen as tool to be used. so, the evil of sex slavery, sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation persists because the human person and probably the female sex are not perceived as ‘thou’; instead, they are perceived as ‘it.’ according to buber, the i-it relationship is a subject –object relationship which does not possess genuine dialogue, listening and response. in this relationship, an individual is regarded as an ‘it’ that is tossed around as a mere thing other than thou. buber’s philosophy would orientate individuals in upholding human dignity and foster respect for human rights and by inclusion, women and children.31 buber’s concept of confirmation which can be described as acknowledgement and recognition of the other would go a long way in curtailing sexist tendencies. in confirmation one meets, chooses and recognizes the other as a subject with the capacity to actualize one’s own potential. in order for confirmation to be complete one must know that he/she is being made present to the other. there must be this reorientation by individuals that recognizing other including women and children as subjects actualizes their own potentials and is a tonic for positive growth as an individual and the life is not about greed, money, making profit while disregarding the dignity of fellow human beings. unfortunately, they may exist this fear that confirming others may lead to poverty or a lack. this is a problem of mistrust which buber considers mistrust as one of the hindrances of dialogue. mistrust leads to oppression, discrimination and criminality. the issue of mistrust can be resolved with mutual dialogue which brings trust and love. 308 formation of the human person in the 21st century furthermore, the notion of i-thou relationship stems from mutuality, reciprocity, relation and genuine dialogue. it is a concrete encounter, because individuals meet one another in their authentic existence, without any qualification or objectification of one another. buber’s i-thou relationship opens an avenue for encounter in which people could engage with each other fully through dialogue. in other words, human beings – both enslaver/traffickers and victims can encounter each other authentically without objectifying one another. when such occurs, the victims and every individual would be treated with utmost respect as fellow thous who have the right to experience life and contribute to it. buber’s notion of inclusion and relation becomes relevant here. inclusion, according to buber, means the ability to develop a dual sensation among those engaged in dialogue: experiencing oneself and simultaneously perceiving the ‘other’ in its singularity. the inclusion of a person causes one to experience and know one’s fellow human being. that quality of inclusion will help those involved in sexual exploitation to experience and understand themselves as well as experience and understand what their fellow existents go through in their situation and experiences. accordingly, relation is mutual. my ‘thou’ affects me as i affect it.32 there is deep sense of reciprocity and mutuality in relation. it is only when people overcome their self-centredness, greed and lust and see one another as thou that mutual, inclusive, reciprocal, relational and genuine dialogue in love would occur which would promote peaceful harmonious co-existence and human beings to flower, flourish and contribute uniquely in a no small measure to the development of the entire human society. to have a genuine relationship of dialogue, both men and women must recognize the “thou” of the other: only persons who are capable of truly saying thou to one another can truly say we with one another. conclusion this essay has been concerned with the application of buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relationship to the evil of sex slavery and trafficking with a view to resolving it. the basic foundation on which buber’s whole project is built is his insight that man has two distinct ways of engaging the world i-thou and i-it. modern society largely ignores the i-thou mode of encounter through which man enters into relation with the other; and canonizes the i-it mode of experience through which man treats the other as an object to be analyzed and utilized. buber’s contention is that inasmuch as the latter (mode of experience) is important and indispensable for human survival, it is not section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 309 sufficient. as a matter of fact, a human being is not fully human unless he also opens himself up to the mode of relation (i-thou). in buber’s philosophy, men and women are essentially relational beings. all true living is meeting, and dialogue is the ridge on which we meet. in dialogue, men and women penetrate the polite superficialities and defenses with which they habitually armor themselves; they listen to one another with an authenticity that forges a bond between and among both sexes. upholding and respecting the human person and entering into a living and essential relation with another is an act of incredible bravery. this is because it requires leaving behind false notions of selfishness, dominance, superiority and arrogance in a realm of experience in which we can understand and predict and master and enter into a realm that cannot easily be predicted and manipulated, and which exposes us to grave risks such as betrayal and exploitation. man becomes what he essentially is in relation to others. a pragmatic application of buber’s concept of dialogue would definitely go a long way in curbing sexual exploitation of different forms. it will encourage a spirit of mutual togetherness, genuine conversation, genuine wholeness, and genuine connection between individuals men and women. there is need for confirmation and inclusion of one another through dialogue which brings closeness, mutuality and reciprocity. there is emphatic need for recognition of the dignity of women and children who are mostly victims of sex slavery and trafficking. thus, the human person should be seen as an end in itself and never as a means to an end. buber’s philosophy does not in any way suggest that there would not be failures, errors and mistakes considering the fact that it is human nature that is being dealt with but it simply entails that in the midst of friction and tension, there could be need to understand one another as persons with dignity and essence. sex slavery and trafficking is difficult to curb. despite the numerous laws and attempts to stop it which are commendable, it still thrives. while appreciating the efforts of the government, non-governmental organizations, religious institutions and individuals, there is a need to go back to the source; the education of the young which buber emphasized greatly in his works. while individuals in the society need a reorientation in seeing one another as ‘thous’ the young one – the future of the society – need to be educated and taught to build up a society where mutual respect is upheld, the dignity of the human person is held holy and fellow existents treat one another as thous. that would mean introducing the young to philosophical ideas especially what we may refer to as relational existentialism and inculcating in them the values of the i-thou relationship. 310 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the “i-it” relation, the individual deals with the world and other persons functionally, manipulatively as things to be investigated and used. this type of relation is wrong as it has been a major cause of many problems in modern life as reflected in the educational systems of nations that see schooling as a production factory. in the i-thou relationship, the individual encounters other persons and god as thou (you). this involves interpersonal dialogue, an encounter which opens up the true depths of reality that engenders direct connection and a sense of unity for the individuals and the community with the necessary ethical underpinnings. to buber, education is relational between the teacher and the learner on one hand between the educational system and the community on the other. education is subjective. the active role of the learner in selecting and building his/her own knowledge as to be effective in his relations or encounter with people. education should generally be seen as a relation based enterprise in that the nature and the direction of the society determines the essence of its educational system.33 endnotes 1 jennifer clark b. and sasha poucki, human trafficking and modern day slavery, (london: sage publications ltd, 2018), p. 51. 2 gabriel temesgen, “root causes and solutions to human trafficking in ethiopia,” international journal of science and research 3 (2012): gabriel temesgen, “root causes and solutions to human trafficking in ethiopia,” international journal of science and research 3 (2012): 1578 3 ibid. 4 lisa connell, human-trafficking for sexual exploitation in australia: the deafening silence on demand, (melbourne: centre for strategic economic studies, 2012), p. 42. 5 mark klamberg, ed., commentary on the law of the international criminal court, (brussels: torkel opsahl academic epublisher, 2017), p. 51. 6 ibid. 7 victor, lewis & james larson, “sex slavery: a new look at the world’s oldest profession,” journal of international business and cultural studies 9(2015): 3 8 juanida suzette horne, a critical analysis of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, (pretoria: university of south africa, 2014), p. 100. 9 ibid. 10 ibid, p. 99. 11 ibid. 12 ‘connell, human trafficking, 141. 13 connell, human trafficking, 45-47. 14 aristotle, nicomachean ethics, bk. 1, 1102. 15 connell, human trafficking, 145. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 311 16 maurice friedman,. martin buber: the life of dialogue. (chicago: the university of chicago press, 1960), p. 57. 17 martin buber, i and thou. (edinburgh: t & t. clark, 1937), p. 6. 18 martin buber, the knowledge of man: selected essays. (amherst: humanity books, 1998), p. 7. 19 ibid., p. 50. 20 friedman, martin buber 80. 21 ezeihejiofor, uchenna, martin buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship. (ibadan: dominican institute, 2004), p. 45. 22 friedman, martin buber 83. 23 buber, i and thou 3. 24 buber, the knowledge 3. 25 winright, elaine. martin buber's i and thou as model for relationship between artist and visual artwork. (texas: texas tech university, 1991), p. 38-39. 26 buber, martin. between man and man. (london; routledge classics, 2002), p. 24. 27 buber, the knowledge 75. 28 buber, i and thou 11, 33. 29 ibid. 78. 30 ezeihejiofor, martin buber’s philosophy 88. 31 ezeogu, uchenna a., john u. ezugwu & daniel u. obi. “herders-farmers conflict in nigeria: applying martin buber’s dialogic approach.” nnamdi azikiwe journal of philosophy. 11:1 (2019), 141. 32 buber, i-thou 15. 33 akinkuotu yemi ambrose and quadri, y. ayodele, “martins buber’s philosophical idea of “i – thou (you)” and its relevance to modern education in nigeria”, british journal of arts and social sciences. 8:1 (2012), 89. 312 23 what can a woman know? epistemic bias as depersonalization francis eshemomoh ikhianosime department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. franklmore@yahoo.com abstract since such publications like lorraine code’s essay, “is the sex of the knower epistemically significant?” and sandra harding’s “is gender a variable in conceptions of rationality: a survey of issues” the conversation of the relation between gender and knowledge has remained an intellectually polemic area of discussion in epistemology, particularly, feminist epistemology. the relation between gender and knowledge is not merely theoretical, but it also involves power relations. power dynamics have a lot to play with knowledge acquisition and how we accord truth values to an epistemic agent. although, mainstream epistemology pretends to be gender neutral with the knowing subject, such claim can arguably be said to be nominal rather than practical. this paper interrogates particularly how we determine knowing subjects. it argues that the female gender or woman has sometimes been treated with discrimination in determining whether she is a knowing subject or not. this paper further situates this discrimination as fallouts of biases or prejudices. far from creating an unwholesome epistemic situation such biases are associated with power. epistemic bias against women apart from showing how gendered-power structure of societies affect the shape and possibilities of knowledge production, it further argues that such epistemic bias also depersonalizes the woman and this is a form of dehumanization. this paper concludes with an argument for an inclusive gender-balanced structure of epistemic relations as a pathway that can create a more robust epistemic relation for knowledge. it is believed this can further strengthen the understanding of the human person as an epistemic agent. mailto:franklmore@yahoo.com section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 313 keywords: epistemic bias, depersonalization, gender, human person, power dynamics. introduction the goal of every cognitive or philosophical inquiry is the desire to know. aristotle begins the opening line of his, metaphysics, stating this fundamental truth, saying, “all men by nature desire to know.”1 this desire to know is not just fundamental to human nature it is also part of man’s evolutionary make up and destiny. man as homo sapiens (intelligent being) is also homo quaerens (thinking and knowing being). the history of epistemology in the western tradition from plato till date is largely concerned with “how do we know what we know?” “do we really know anything at all?” much of the efforts in traditional epistemology have focused not on the knower, per say, but, on what the knower can know. the concern was more on what can pass as knowledge to make it legitimate or genuine in the face of skeptical opposition which argues that we cannot know anything at all or what we can know is limited. it is this challenge that gave direction to epistemology for a long while. however, from the 1970s and more robustly, around the 1980s new epistemic questions have been asked about who this anonymous “we” referred to in the common interrogatives? the critical interrogation basically seeks to know, like lorraine code asks, “is the sex of the knower epistemologically significant?”2 it further seeks to find out whether gender has any role to play with the way knowledge is acquired or accepted. for a long time, orthodox epistemology claims that in the search for knowledge, the gender of the knower was significantly neutral. however, this assumption has been exposed by these critical interrogations, which has come under the umbrella of feminist epistemology as hypocritical. code, for instance, argues that “the fact of being male or female seems to be fundamental to one’s way of being a person in such a way that it could have a strong influence upon one’s way of knowing”3 she argues that in the pursuit of knowledge, there are sometimes gender biases and discrimination at least historically speaking. women sometimes are not allowed access to certain aspects of learning. from this, at least, biological makeup creates a limitation of cognitive capacity. thus, there is both a type of knowledge that a woman can acquire and what is accessible to her. miranda fricker has argued vigorously in her book, epistemic injustice, ethics and the power of knowing, that this politics of epistemic practice “has an irrepressible connection to social power, or that social disadvantage can produce unjust social disadvantage”4. the point is that is there is such politics of social stratification; it also leads to situations of cognitive authority or powerlessness. thus, gender plays a role in knowledge acquisition and 314 formation of the human person in the 21st century this sometimes creates an air of imbalance. apart from an imbalance in power relations, knowledge leads to how we are conceptualized, classified, or personalized. this paper, which seeks both to address issues in this epistemic imbalance, also seeks to expose how biases in epistemic relations and conceptualization lead to depersonalization. it seeks to further argue ways in which there can be epistemological inclusivity. the end point is to both have a normative vision of epistemology as well that of the human person. this paper adopts analytic and expository methodologies. understanding the feminist thesis and philosophy feminist epistemology is a form of social epistemology. social epistemology refers broadly to the evaluation of social dimensions of knowledge. knowledge within social epistemology is not taken solely as an individual activity but sometimes as a social or a collective achievement. thus, social epistemology deals with those social means of arriving at knowledge or social justification for our knowledge claims. feminist epistemology “examines the relations between gender and knowledge, where gender is understood not as an attribute of individuals, but rather as an axis of social relations.”5 the concern of feminist epistemology is based on social bifurcations along lines of gender. society is conceived, at least from this biological point of view of things existing either as male or female. the concern of feminist epistemology is an examination of the connection between power relations of gender and knowledge.6 this concern is different from feminine epistemology which concerns itself what ways women can know. although, the broad scope of feminist epistemology concerns all such discussions include those hitherto known as feminine epistemology. heide grasswick notes that the scope of analysis for feminist epistemology is broadened beyond gender, but involves all such divisions of race, class and sexuality and all such axes of oppression. feminist epistemology becomes a face of ‘liberatory epistemologies’. feminist epistemology is a reaction to an overall social class grouping arguably created by radical systems like marxism. it seeks to overcome the epistemic disadvantage for belonging to a particular class or gender, in this case, the female gender. marxism with all its variants, helped to create social and class divisions in society and this had its own power play of one group having superiority over the other; the bourgeoisie over the proletariat. this class system reinforced an age-old division and domination like patriarchy and androcentric biases arguably perpetuated by some world religions, where women are given a secondary or an inferior class position. this class oppression saw the rise of women's liberation movement (wlm) and other forms of self-actualization section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 315 movements like feminism. from movements to philosophy, feminist epistemology seeks to address situations of imbalances created by class, race or gender superiority. the concerns of feminist epistemology are not just about the power imbalance, but also involve some aspects that are moral. the imbalances caused by class bifurcation are also moral. they impede on the virtues of such purportedly epistemic inferior other, like women. if women are regarded as inferior, they are less likely to be trustworthy and their testimony easily dismissed on the grounds of a default class stratification that deflates their epistemic credibility. the concern of trustworthiness bears on the virtues of agents. therefore, gender imbalance has a crystallizing effect not just on power relations, but also on virtues. feminist epistemology seeks to interrogate all these issues that are the fallout of gender and their relations with knowledge. the effects of gender biases have an overarching aftereffect in many areas within the overall epistemological framework. the scope of feminist epistemology thus deals with the many intersecting areas of women’s lives and feminist philosophy. the goal of feminist philosophy is not just for justice, but to give meaning to women’s history and to seek an inclusive philosophy or epistemology. nevertheless, critics against the foundations of feminist philosophy argue that feminist philosophy generally begins with an assumption that women are oppressed or marginalized and the same experiences of women are universalized rather than taken within contexts.7 no matter how the arguments go, we cannot deny that feminist epistemology is radically transformative of how women are seen and their experiences evaluated and also that the issues of epistemic marginalization on the grounds of gender are no longer left to silence. the starting point for a meaning discourse is the question of biases in epistemic relations. knowing subjects and biases in epistemic relations knowing is a function of different variables and how one can know and what a knower can also know are also impacted by different variables. the main thrust of feminist epistemology is an interrogation into the role and place of gender in knowledge practices. kristen campbell argues that for feminist theories of knowledge, the gender of the knower is epistemologically significant and that deconstructive feminist epistemologies maintain that the western subject of reason is not sexually neutral but presupposes a masculine knower.8 this is why feminist scholars like sandra harding and patricia hill collins argue for a reconstruction of new models for knowledge with the woman as a 316 formation of the human person in the 21st century knowing subject. therefore, we cannot really ignore the sex of the knowing subject. be that as it may, within feminist epistemology, there is the question of who the knowing subject should be whether the female knower or the feminist knower, or both? but, to pursue this would be creating another imperfect situation that first gave birth to feminist epistemology. lorraine code has elaborately written on how the female knower can be impeded and rendered epistemically inaccessible to some knowledge. constraints on the sex of the knower can lead to constraints in knowledge in general. this creates a situation of ‘epistemic obscurity’. this kind of situation can be warranted with certain kinds of knowledge limited or designated as strictly for male. in responding to the interrogative, what can a woman know? it seems that the process of socialization sometimes, limit what certain persons can know based on their gender. this kind of situation creates a biased epistemic situation. some of these social systems or epistemic situations are reinforced by male chauvinistic teachings and philosophy. for instance, aristotle in his republic regards woman as irrational, higher than slaves and lacking in authority. he even argues that women are meant to be subject to their husbands and that they are sometimes deceptive.9 the danish philosopher, soren kierkegaard holds that “the attainment of the ethical and religious levels of existence to be open to men only; women are aesthetic being”. in roman mythology, women are regarded as dionysian creatures, meaning they are for merrymaking and wining. the putative designation of women into inferior catalogues to that of men is a function of epistemic biases. biases are “persistent and widespread psychological tendencies that can be detrimental to objectivity and rationality.”10 in logical thinking, when a premise is implicitly accepted in our theories and methods, it becomes a philosophical bias. philosophical biases are acquired from professional practice and other disciplinary traditions that defines a scientific paradigm. thus, when we have used a basis for a long time, implicitly, it becomes foundational, and this makes one undermine the strength or foundation upon which such claim rests. biases could either be cognitive, conflict of interests, statistical, or prejudices. biases could also be understood in different contexts, like biases in the media, academia, etc. biases could be explicit or implicit. it is explicit when it is intended and implicit when it is not intended. gender bias against women and androcentric cataloguing of women can arguably fall under implicit bias. philosophically, implicit bias suggests that “people can act on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so”.11 implicit bias lead to discriminatory behaviour in favour or against a subject, and these raise metaphysical, epistemological and ethical questions. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 317 evaluative judgments based on implicit bias or any such biases can be termed epistemic bias. epistemic bias can be implicated in epistemic injustice. the wrong labelling of women has epistemological implications, including epistemic injustices. jules holroyd and katherine puddifoot12 identified five types of epistemic injustice that can be due from such epistemic relation. the first is testimonial injustice, where a person is given less credibility than they deserve due to stereotypes about the competence or sincerity of those with their social identity. this thought is explored in miranda fricker’s book, epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing, 2007. the second is epistemic appropriation where the contribution to knowledge provided by a person is not recognized as their contribution and is instead attributed to someone else. this form is deeply explored by emmalon davis.13 the third type of injustice from epistemic bias is epistemic exploitation and this occurs when members of a marginalized group are expected or required to educate members of privileged groups about injustices that are faced by those who share their social identity. this form is explored by nora berenstain.14 the fourth form of injustice due from epistemic bias is what miranda fricker identified as hermeneutical injustice when some people are unjustly excluded from contributing to the shared conceptual resources that are widely used in a society. the fifth kind of injustice is contributory injustice, which occurs when an agent is wilfully ignorant in using conceptual resources that thwart the ability of others to contribute to the knowledge community. this form is elaborately explored in the thoughts of kristie dotson.15 women arguably suffer all the forms of injustices outlined above by epistemic biases against them. be that as it may, biased epistemic labelling of women imparts on the qualitative difference in how we accord trust or truth-worthiness to women as knowing subjects or not. with man given a status of an epistemic superior, it renders without interrogation, that women’s knowledge are inferior and subjective. in traditional epistemology, the gender of the knower has, for the most, been treated as a “featureless abstraction,”16 while for the least, this knower, in an uncontested given, has presumptuously been an imaginary male. this gender-biased situation presents a problem of knowledge, granted that knowing is a combination of both the objective and subjective factors. while the objective component of knowledge is what is known, the subjective component is the knower. john bewaji has argued that the subjective component has mostly been ignored in classical epistemology and this has largely resulted in impartial accounts of knowledge.17 arguably, the undermining of the subjective component of knowledge, in this case, the female knower, can be due to how the objective component has been appreciated. what is known is a product 318 formation of the human person in the 21st century of many factors, including individual creativity, social conditions, location of the knower, affective sides, etc. these conditions have also generally led to social roles and how men and women apply themselves to different tasks or activities. this in turn imparts on what can be known. for instance, women are more inclined into sewing clothes, cooking, doing domestic chores, etc., while men are generally disposed to doing some more mechanical and physical jobs and roles like fixing stalled cars, mowing the laws, etc. these polarised gender roles impact what particular people are inclined to knowing. the consequence is that it leaves knowledge for the most to be sexually differentiated by practical expectation. nevertheless, the fact that men have applied themselves to particular roles does not mean women lack the cognitive capacity to do so and vice versa. hence, knowledge being a sexually differentiated product by practical expectation does not necessarily mean a logical necessity, that is, because men are expected to always mow the lawns, for instance, does not mean women cannot do it. hence, to completely delimit women’s knowledge based on practical expectation, or social default on certain issues, for instance, is to create a lopsided account for knowledge situation ab initio. the consequent effect is that this affects the overall subjective component or condition for knowledge. the challenge of epistemic biases to the subjective component of knowledge mirrors the overall questions of marginality discussed in feminist epistemology. there are different forms of gender marginality or exclusion that affect knowledge production. for instance, when women are refused admission into certain schools of learning, they are marginalized both institutionally and epistemologically. this is one of the forms of marginality which affects what a woman can know and it only resurfaces the question of who a knowing subject should be. lorraine code surmises, that “as long as the view prevails that women cannot know according to the highest criteria for establishing knowledge, it seems that they are in fact not just marginalized but excluded, confined somewhere beyond the limits of both marginality and centrality”.18 therefore, the sex of the knower is epistemologically significant. the sex of the knower is important because in a certain way, it gives grounds for justification of what we claim to know and epistemic justification aims at the truth in a very strong way. for instance, we are more likely to ask, someone a question that we think is likely to produce the right answer. if we were to ask the time for mass today, we are more inclined to ask the priest, because we believe, he would be a more justified epistemic agent. these are the issues about the subjective component of knowledge. the properties of a knowing subject are not just on account of his cognitive capacity, but also by its location, position as well as gender. these add up to what makes the knower a viable section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 319 epistemic agent or a truth-bearer. if women have been largely marginalized and this is allowed to gain enough ground, then, we we cannot claim that the sex of the knower is not epistemically significant. ordinarily, proposing the sex of the knower casts doubt on the autonomy of reason. in our commonsense assumption, we really do not require the gender of a person to determine the rationality of a claim; rather, it is a function of the coherence in thought, logic and strong appeal to reason and truth. this assumption that gender is unimportant has nevertheless been contested by scholars like edward craig19 and miranda fricker.20 the epistemic duo has argued that matters of truth and rationality are inextricably tied to power and social identities. fricker tries to explain how social power enters into epistemic practice by explaining who knows? fricker uses craig’s framework to explain this relationship. craig in explaining the meaning of “know” imagines a case of an epistemic “state of nature” in which we seek true belief in order to survive. in this state, we have a fundamental need to acquire true beliefs. this desire for truth drives our practice and this, in turn, leads to seeing “good informants” people who would tell us the truth as whether p in order to multiply our epistemic resources.21 therefore, to distinguish a good informant from a bad one, three features are identified, namely, (i) competence (ii) trustworthiness (iii) indicator-properties. knowledge in this case is enshrined in a good informant. what it means is that someone who is trustworthy and competent is said to have rational authority. these properties are for the most social properties. hence, if we take a woman on the basis of some social exclusion and epistemic marginalization as being a bad informant, she, therefore, is being excluded from rationality or being a good sources of knowledge. hence, rationality is generally a function of social factors, not just some internal epistemic properties. in this wise, if a woman is disdained as a bad informant, then, she is already excluded from being a good source of knowledge. miranda fricker has argued that rational authority has a lot to do with social power or powerlessness. when we find a credible person who has rational authority, he also possesses some social powers, because of the ability to tell the truth. the contrast to this is someone who lacks social authority is one who is powerless. this is not the only dimension that rational authority presents. the powerlessness due from lack of rational authority leads to a kind of depersonalisation. it leads to a metaphysical obscurity or oblivion. we are not likely to recognize as a person, someone we think lacks rational authority. the context of being a person goes beyond the physical features, but, one we strip of qualities enabling a person. being a person goes beyond a biological make up, but also to some other extraneous factors, hence, we regard institutions 320 formation of the human person in the 21st century sometimes as a juridic person. from an ethical point of view, a person can be conceived from the point of responsibility. if we deny that an individual is incapable of truth or knowledge, we absolve him of responsibility to any such claim; hence, we do not hold him accountable. ethically, a person goes beyond biological features. the point here is, epistemic biases against women, have inadvertently led to some form of powerlessness and this kind of metaphysical obscurity leads to depersonalisation. powerlessness diminishes one’s social and epistemic relevance as well as its authority. while, biases in epistemic relations are sometimes a function of historical androcentrism; seeing women from uninterrogated social misconstructions, this limitation depersonalizes. it suffices to examine the phenomenology of personhood briefly. the phenomenology of personhood and depersonalization the question of personhood is essentially philosophical. the quality of being a person is metaphysical and even controversial. there are several theories on personhood and the term contrasts strongly with other related terms which are sometimes used interchangeably with it. boethius as cited by frederick copleston defined the person as “an individual substance of a rational nature”.22 the implication of this definition which long dominated the whole of medieval philosophy holds that every human being is a person. for aquinas, the disembodied soul is not a person because he loses at that point what gives it rationality. in thomas aquinas, the person is made up of body, soul and mind. aquinas placed emphasis on the rational substance. with descartes on the other hand, the emphasis was changed. a person consists in self-consciousness. this is the naturalist epistemological tradition which is reflected in the writings of locke and hume. it does not place a premium on the body, but on consciousness and its ability to relate to the world and performing actions and being able to represent them. this naturalist position places emphasis on what a person can do. the emphasis is on ability rather than on any ontological criteria. a person is one on account of a consciousness that can be; a consciousness that can produce something or is doing something. some critics have argued that a person is not brought into being on account of his functions. the non-embodiment view of personhood contrasts with the position of embodied and embedded in the world. this is first captured in the philosophy of edmund husserl, but more concretely expressed in martin heidegger’s phenomenology of being-in-the-world. dermont moran argues that “in husserl’s phenomenology, the heart of embodied selfhood is the person, understood as the unified, goal-directed center of action, bearer of rights and status, responsibilities and moral standing”.23 section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 321 for heidegger, we are more defined on account of our experiences. thus, persons are those whose experiences are meaningful in the world. meaning, therefore, defines a person. the contributions of modern thinkers generally tend to regard freedom as the chief characteristic of the human person.24 the idea of person for the most in modern philosophy has a moral connotation unlike the metaphysical connotation that was emphasized in the scholastic and the medieval period. the personalists view of personhood begins with a primordial distinction between “an individual” and “a person”. copleston explains that the term “individual” is used in a pejorative sense, one that is essentially egocentric. the individual is the egocentric man.25 the individual is described on the biological level, a practical materialist, no moral vocation, a member of the crowd. the person, on the other hand, contrasts with this view and has a moral vocation. copleston gives the personalist manifesto which expressly defines a person as: …a spiritual being constituted as such by a manner of subsistence and of independence in being; it maintains this subsistence by its adhesion to a hierarchy of values, freely adopted, assimilated and lived, by a responsible self-commitment and by a constant conversion; it thus unifies all its activity in liberty and develops, moreover, by means of creative acts, its own unique vocation.26 with the personalists, a person is tied to a vocation which is fulfilled with social interaction and beyond. a person is a transcendental being, one who is an embodiment of collectivity. a person for the personalist is beyond being a member of the human species, but also one that can contribute to a purpose or vision. a person is beyond biology. whereas an individual is anti-social being, a person is a social being. as a social being, “he is more than a mere being in the group, but one oriented towards a society of persons, and a society of persons is a society of free, morally responsible human beings”.27 this personalist view of a person is opposed to marxism which creates both a social caste system and regards man only within his economic value or benefit. however, man is not conceived not from a parochial plane, but, from a holistic plane. personalists like emmanuel mounier and even karol wojtyla are doctrines antithetical to individualism. the personalist creed is a reaction to the perceived depersonalisation created by such philosophies which undermined the creative vision of man, his transcedentalness, axiological relevance or teleological goal of man, yet conceives him from a limited sense or on account of some metaphysical values. personalism tends to give dignity to the human person and correct the darwinian error that the difference between man and other terrestrial being is in degrees and not in kind. darwinian 322 formation of the human person in the 21st century evolutionary vision and the social engineering places man not at the centre of the cosmos but like every other creatures seeking survival. in personalism, a fundamental difference in the classification of all beings is the distinction between person and non-persons. thus, in the words of jacques maritain: “whenever we say that man is a person, we mean that he is more than a mere parcel of matter, more than an individual element in nature, such as is an atom, a blade of grass, a fly or an elephant…man is an animal and an individual, but unlike other animals or individuals.” 28 personalist thesis also holds man as having a dialogic relationship with the world like the i-thou of martin buber. personalists also hold the dignity of the person of the individual. the quality of being a person is not dependent by this on variables such as intelligence or social prowess. also, the quality of being a person cannot be derived by a cosmological reduction of any sort, but are functions of some irreducible conditions. it means that being a person is not a function of what one is able to do or not. also, in personalism, the human person is relational and always in communion. he is never always alone. “relationship is not an optional accessory for the human person, but is essential to his personhood. he is a being-for-relation.”29 personalist see the human person’s strive for communion as a function of his rationality. thus, the human person is never judged in isolation. to evaluate him in isolation from relationality is to both deny him rationality as well as depersonalize him. the personalist view of a person is very metaphysical, conceiving of man beyond his physical features. however, epistemologically, the starting point for conceptualisation on personhood is rationality and epistemic responsibility. this understanding of personhood is more fluid beyond metaphysics. the fluid conception of personhood is one that makes us conceive of a person in other senses like ethical, moral or legal. as an ethical term, it may refer to a mode being and as a legal term, it may refer one as a human individual, a partnership or a cooperation. epistemologically, a person is not just a human being, because, the conception of a person would invoke the idea of an epistemic agency. an epistemic agent goes beyond a human person, but include also nonhuman epistemic agency including collectivities like groups or institutions. this is the ground for discussing non-human epistemic agents as having group beliefs. therefore, to depersonalise in the epistemological sense is to deny an epistemic agent of the ability to hold epistemic belief, at least, or knowledge at best. when, therefore, we deny an epistemic agent the privilege of having epistemic claims or knowledge, we depersonalise them. in this wise, when, women, as a consequence of epistemic bias suffer epistemic injustices, they at some level are depersonalised. this depersonalisation which is due from epistemic bias section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 323 is not on account of women being incapable of certain epistemic belief, truth or knowledge, but, that such biases have unjustly impaired, marginalized or circumscribe them from such. the consequence is that, we limit the possibility for a wholesome picture of what is possible in a knowledge situation. knowledge situation is understood as the “interaction of factors that directly or indirectly contributes to the knowing process it concerns the question of the relation of the knower, sense data experienced and things known.30 if we must have a wholesome knowledge situation, epistemic justice to the knower is important. this first helps establish prima facie ground that he is a viable, credible or truth-worthy epistemic agent. if he is denied this quality, not on account of any sufficiently grounded incapacity, but, one on the basis of implicit or epistemic bias, then, we are poised to have a shaky foundation, on whatever is established by the subject of knowledge. biases in epistemic relations, especially of women, raises further the challenges to having genuine knowledge or a wholesome knowledge situation. concluding remarks: what can a woman know? from the discussion above, we have seen that epistemic biases are sometimes default thought patterns which skew our judgements in favour or against a person, class of persons or situation. the concern of feminist epistemology is one that aims to correct this imbalance epistemic relation. persistent gender inequality has affected how the subjective component of knowledge affects areas of what can be known and unknown. why this seems to spiral the skeptical challenge, it has also left the efforts to gaining purity, balance and wholeness in what we can know. biases are the stumbling blocks to what we can know. as long, we pretend that the gender of the knower is unimportant, the female knower will continually be disdained by implicit biases, and this will continually ferment the grounds of epistemic injustices in epistemic relations. the analysis above shows there is a need to improve the dynamics of our epistemic practices, one that seeks to eliminate all forms of marginalization. if we wish to raise the quality of knowledge production and authorization, we must seek to be all inclusive of the composition of epistemic communities, one that seeks to give equal grounds for male and female knower. our attention must be properly paid to a robust appreciation of the epistemic advantages that can accrue to those who are otherwise marginalized. a useful way which has been advanced by feminist epistemology is feminist standpoint theory. feminist standpoint theory is a transformative shift that holds three principal claims to correcting the epistemological imbalance and impasse occasioned from 324 formation of the human person in the 21st century biased epistemic relations, namely, “(1) knowledge is socially situated, (2) marginalized groups are socially situated in ways that make it more possible for them to be aware of things and ask questions than it is for the non-marginalized, and (3) research, particularly that focused on power relations, should begin with the lives of the marginalized”.31 feminist standpoint theory advocates that the lived experiences of the knower, in this case, the woman, cannot be discounted. it also analyses the effect of power structures on knowledge production. the feminist standpoint theory offers new methodological starting point and approaches to knowledge situations which generally eliminate such forms of epistemic injustices due from a marginalized knower in mainstream epistemology. the framework advanced by feminist standpoint theory, makes the question, what a woman can know as almost superfluous, if it is not asked in the same way, what can a man know? this is because, when a woman is given equal chances bereft of biases in the epistemic community, a woman can know as much as a man, given the same epistemic context. therefore, feminist standpoint theory privileges social contexts and experiences of the knower, precisely, female knower. the extant of biased epistemic relations in knowledge communities mirrored in the typical anonymous knower of s knows p in mainstream epistemology, have helped to reduce the credibility of women as knowers. when women are so biased, the starting point is to doubt their competence or epistemic credentials. what this means in the first instance is that, they are denied rational authority and this is epistemologically tied to personhood. when we raise the question, what can a woman know, we are entering into the polemic waters of epistemic injustice and this can only cause systemic gaps in the interpretive resources available to epistemic agents and knowledge gaps in the epistemic community. feminist standpoint theory, therefore, resolves this impasse, which is also the position of this paper, for a situatedness of knowledge. situated knowledge which is a feminist thesis, holds that all forms of knowledge reflect the particular conditions in which they are produced and at some level reflect the social identities and social location or gender of knowledge producers. this position deflates the myth of scientific objectivity. this position advances that all knowledge must take into cognizance the perspective of the knower. the knower is always a combination of functions, including idiosyncratic skills and talents. alison wylie expresses this intent more robustly: what individuals experience and understand is (contingently) shaped by systems of social differentiation that structure and are, in turn, structured by the material conditions of their lives, the relations of production and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 325 reproduction that condition their social interactions, and the cultural and conceptual resources available to them for representing interpreting these relations.32 therefore, to interrogate, what can a woman know, is to begin with a prima facie unbiased recognition of the woman as an epistemic agent imbue with credibility and rationality; a person whose situation must be be cognized, taking her experience in context as well as social conditions in perspective. this can only help to enrich the epistemic community, granted that all knowers, male and female, are equally appreciated. the synopsis of the above submission for our conversation is that to further close the gaps caused by skewed epistemic relations from biases, women's experiences should be taken into context as well as their experiences. each time we advance the embers of epistemic exclusion of women as knowing subjects we further rupture the challenge of scepticism or increase the chances of having a wholesome and a more warranted knowledge and knowledge production. apart from the many epistemic advantages these have, epistemologically, it restores personhood to the woman as a knowing subject, as epistemic injustice and biases depersonalizes. endnotes 1 aristotle, metaphysics, book a (1) in louis pojman (ed), classics of philosophy, second edition, (new york: oxford university press, 2003), 267. 2 lorraine code, “is the sex of the knower epistemologically significant?” in metaphilosophy, vol. 12, no. 3 & 4, july/october 1981, 267276. 3code, “is the sex of the knower ” 267. 4 miranda fricker, epistemic injustice, power and the ethics of knowing, (oxford: oxford university press, 2007), 2. 5 heidi e. grasswick, “introduction: feminist epistemology and philosophy of science in the twenty-first century” in heide e. grasswick (ed), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, power in knowledge, (london: springer, 2011), xiv. 6 grasswick, “feminist epistemology”. 7 linda martin alcoff and eva feder kittay, “defining feminist philosophy” in the blackwell guide to feminist philosophy, linda martin alcoff and eva feder kittay (ed), malden: blackwell publishing ltd, 2007, 8. 8 kristen campbell, jacques lacan and feminist epistemology, (london: routledge taylor and francis group publishers, 2004), 59. 9 aristotle, republic. 10 “fallacies and biases” critical thinking web, accessed march 25, 2021, https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/fallacy/ 326 formation of the human person in the 21st century 11 michael brownstein, “implicit bias” in stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, accessed march 25, 2021, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/. 12 jules holroyd and kathering puddifoot, “epistemic injustice and implicit bias” in an introduction to implicit bias knowledge, justice and the social mind, erin beeghly and alex madva (eds), new york: routledge taylor and francis group, 2020), 116133. 13 emmalon davis, “on epistemic appropriation”, in ethics, 128 (4), 2018: 702-727. 14 nora berenstain, “epistemic exploitation” in ergo, 3, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0003.022. 15 kristie dotson, “a cautionary tale: on limiting epistemic oppression”, in frontiers: a journal of women studies, 33 (1), 2012: 24-47. 16 lorraine code, what can she know? feminist theory and the construction of knowledge (ithaca and london: cornell university press, 1991), 1. 17 john bewaji, an introduction to the theory of knowledge, a pluricultural approach (ibadan: hope publications, 2007), 59. 18 lorraine code, “feminist epistemology and the politics of knowledge: questions of marginality”, mary evans, et. al. eds, the sage handbook of feminist theory (los angeles: sage publications, 2014), 10. 19 edward craig, knowledge and the state of naturean essay in conceptual synthesis, oxford: clarendon press, 1990. 20 miranda fricker, “rational authority and social power: towards a truly social epistemology” in social epistemology: essential readings, alvin goldman and denis whitcomb (eds), oxford: oxford university press, 2011. 21 fricker, “rational authority and social power” 56. 22 frederick copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, london: bloomsbury, 1972, 103. 23 dermont moran, “the phenomenology of personhood: charles taylor and edmund husserl”, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266173189_the_ph enomenology_of_personhood_charles_taylor_and_edmund_husserl/link/547f73430 cf250f1edbdc686/download, retrieved march 19, 2020. 24 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 104. 25 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 109. 26 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism, 110. 27 copleston, a history of philosophy, logical positivism and existentialism,112. 28 thomas d. williams and jan olof bengtsson, “personalism” in stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/personalism/#chap ertho, retrieved march 19, 2020. 29 williams and bengtsson, “personalism”. 30 aja egbeke, elements of theory of knowledge, enugu: auto-century, 1993, 28. 31 t. bowell, “feminist standpoint theory” in internet encyclopedia of philosophy, accessed march 25, 2021, https://iep.utm.edu/fem-stan/ 32 alison wylie, “what knowers know well: women, work and academy” in heide grasswick (ed), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, new york: springer, 2011, 162. 327 24 the human person in yoruba culture and philosophy prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract the question: who is a human person? has remained a perennial question in the study of philosophy and religion. in spite of the fact of the establishment of the fact that the human person is an individual substance of a rational nature, different cultures continue to reflect on the question of the human person from the particularity and peculiarity of their cultural category. thus, this paper investigates the concept of the human person from the perspective of the yoruba people. the yoruba believe that a human person consist of a body, which is physical, and a soul which is spiritual. at creation, yoruba mythology of creation has it that olodumare worked in collaboration with some gods to bring the human person into existence. these gods are orisanla (god of creation) who was responsible for molding the body, ogun (god of iron) was the beautifier; who for example cut the hands into fingers and olodumare gave the soul. this paper is aimed at giving an explanation to what makes mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com 328 formation of the human person in the 21st century a human person among the yoruba. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: human person, yoruba culture, body, soul, olodumare, orisanla, gods. introduction the purpose of this work is to discuss human person in yoruba culture. a human person is a living being that contains a real and existing power to direct its own development toward fulfillment through perfect, unconditional, and infinite truth, love, goodness, beauty, and unity, and will do so if all the proper conditions are met. a human being is referred to as “eniyan” in yoruba context, which connotes a good or responsible person hence the saying “kii se eniyan” that is person is not responsible or reliable. this by implication means that a human person must be dependable with total sense of readiness to be there for others. if a human person is not making any contributions to the community in which he or she is part, then to yoruba people, he is not a human person per se. although he has the features but not the competence. this idea has earlier been presented by gbadegesin (1983) that “the normative concept of a person evolves from the way in which man is understood in a given community in terms of his relations to other living beings and his role among other men.” therefore human person in yoruba context mean somebody that is part of the community in all ramifications. this is in line with the understanding of akan people about human person. “in fact, a person of high moral standards or conduct would be described approvingly as oye onipa paa—literally; she is a real (human) person. in contrast, an individual who fails in his striving in the akan community may be judged as onipa hun, which literally means “useless person,” an opprobrious expression. (wingo 2006) in the lesson note of open university on person and persons, there is an agreement that “someone who has suffered some catastrophe that has put them in a permanent coma, a ‘persistent vegetative state’. their biological classification has not altered; they are still a human being. they have lost something, however. in a sense, they have ceased to exist…. a being in a persistent vegetative state is a case of something human that might not be a person.” therefore a human person must be alive, active and productive. who are the yoruba? yoruba people according to atanda (1989) constitute one of the major ethnic groups in modern igeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 329 a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). in agreement, omojola (2015) states that, the yoruba live in the south-western part of the present day nigeria and they occupy the states of ogun, oyo, osun, ondo, lagos and ekiti. they are also found in some parts of kogi, kwara and edo states and beyond the lower niger northwards into nupe land. they could also be found beyond the boundaries of the present day nigeria in dahomey (republic of benin) and togoland. since the result of the last census in nigeria is controversial, it is difficult to give the accurate total population of the yoruba people. all that is known about them is that they are regarded as one of the most advanced communities in west african in; religion, agriculture, commerce, education, art, intelligence, government and warfare. this group of people has as part of their values collective community development, cultural observes reflecting in their interaction with othersmode of dressing and diets. they also value honesty, humility and diligence. and more importantly, they value communal life. all these are taught in their informal training beginning from home. according to kanu and omojola (2018), yoruba values are inherent in their formation as they assert that “at rising, children are taught to greet elders, sweep the surroundings, they are also taught from time to time to respect elders, to have value of honesty, charity, industriousness, cleanness, humility, supportmembers helping themselves in developing someone’s project, as a group or people of the same trade helping themselves. formation of children was even taught to be done collectively. most africans gain this knowledge ever before they grow up to form associations according to age groups and they begin to compete and use themselves as yardstick for success, development and progress. all these are taught through proverbs, songs, art, communal life, and folk tales/ lore during moonlight play. the human person in yoruba culture and philosophy the understanding of human person in yoruba culture therefore is seen beyond ordinary because it has to do with physical and spiritual. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) put it this way “yoruba religious thought makes a distinction between the physical body (ara) and the spiritual elements that inhabit it and give it life and individuality. still, there is the conception that the two are inseparable entities that make up human personality. the spiritual elements consist of both the head (orí, the inner head) and breath (èémí), which are the vital components without which the body dies. orí, which is more than a physical head that carries human brain, controls one’s destiny and direction through the use of one’s ẹsẹ̀ (legs). ese (legs) is regarded by the yorubas as a vital part of the 330 formation of the human person in the 21st century human personality make-up, both in a physical and spiritual sense. this is the symbol of power and activity. it is therefore an element which enables a man to struggle and function adequately in life so that he may bring to realization whatever has been marked out for him by the choice of ori. makinde (1983). orí also guides one’s deeds and actions; a bad and good choice depends on one’s choice of orí. in essence, orí is the element that predetermines a person’s success or failure in the world.” therefore, human person consists of physical in body (ara) and spiritual body in head and breathe (orí and èémí). abimbola (2006), added that one's oriinu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must grow in order to consummate union with one's "iponri" (ori orun, spiritual self). makinde (1983) alludes to this by saying that “apart from the body and soul which, in yoruba thought, are the two main elements (the physical and the spiritual) of a person, there is a third element, also spiritual, of a person, known as ori (inner head) whose function it is to determine human destiny.” makinde went further to say that the yoruba concept of the choice of destiny through ori also emphasizes the need for hard work to bring to fruition the potentiality for success represented by the choice of a good ori. this leads us to believe in ese (leg) as an important ingredient of human personality. this means to a very large extent, success determines a human person. this success in human person is what yoruba people refer to as “eniyan” not just the person with features of a human being. reflecting on what make a human being (eniyan) and how they come about, gbadegesin (1983) is of the opinion that “eniyan” is the combined effort of “olodumare”, the supreme deity, and some subordinates. yoruba conception of a human person refers to all the tangible elements that make a person both externally and internally such as brain, intestine, liver, and so on. emi (soul) is believed to be the immaterial element that provides the energy without which a person is said to be living or being conscious. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) in their attempt to draw the relationship between body, soul and head referred to ifá verse that the body (ara) was molded by òrìṣà-ńlá, the orí (head) is provided by àjàlá and the ẹ̀mí is provided by ọlọ́run (olódùmarè), god in yoruba believe. this relationship has been grouped into physical-material and mental-spiritual by gbadegesin (2003) as follows: “ara” – body belongs to the first, èmí –soul, to the second, and “orí”head and “okàn”-heart has physical and mental aspects. in another version, makinde (1983) asserts that the yoruba people believe that the human personality has two main elements: the physical and the spiritual body and mind (soul). and that the creation of the physical elements of a person by orisanla does not include hands and section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 331 legs. it was the duty of ogun (the god of iron) to cut the hands into fingers and also cut the legs out of the shapeless trunk. the researcher finds this ogun assignment as beautifier very interesting. being the god of iron according to yoruba people, he would have enough instruments like cutlass and others apparatuses to do the separations. the physical head which is said to be the first to be molded is regarded as the beginning of all things from which the body was made and gbadegesin (2003) explained the importance of this (ori) as follows “the idea of orí as a spiritual component, chosen by the individual and having the power of a guardian and protector over him/her, seems too deep-rooted in the yoruba world-view to be given up. it is therefore the “ori” so chosen, with the destiny wound up in it that determines the personality of the individual. and though the orí is symbolized by the physical head, it is not identical with it. for the orí is construed as the inner—or spiritual—head (orí-inú).” from these two versions of the creation of human persons, it can be deduced that olodumare (god) worked in collaboration with some gods to bring forth man. they were orisanla and ajala according to akíntúndé and fálọlá. makinde says orisanla and ogun. as an extension to the above concept of human person in yoruba culture, abimbola (2006), opines that yoruba belief holds that all human beings possess what is known as "ayanmo" (destiny, fate) and are expected to eventually become one in spirit with olodumare. also, the thoughts and actions of each person in ayé (the physical realm) interact with all other living things, including the earth itself. each person attempts to achieve perfection and find their destiny in orun-rere (the spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things). impact of the community on human person taking lead from the fact that a human person must be responsible and reliable, indigenous yoruba community comes together to raise a child for his good and good of the community. at pregnancy, ‘ifa’ priest is consulted to know the type of child that should be expected. even at times, a prediction of a particular type of child may come to a family and how to prepare and care for such a child will be discussed along with the announcement before pregnancy. a woman who is carrying a future king will know before birth for example. at arrival, naming ceremony will be done to welcome the child to the community and everyone in the community has it as a responsibility to care for him through proper formation or informal education. hence the saying in yoruba that “eniyan kan lo n bimo, igba owo lo n to” literally means that it is only one person that gives birth to a child and two hundred hands bring him up. 332 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the typical yoruba culture, a diviner must be consulted before any serious decision is taking because as idowu (1966) opines …the full responsibility of all the affairs belongs to the deity…through all its changing scenes, its joys and troubles; it is the deity who is in control”. sacrifices are used regularly to appease the gods because it is equally believed that evil world can change destinies. therefore regular prayers in form of sacrifices are important to one ori as will be needed in the mind of abimbola (2006). “iwapẹlẹ (or well-balanced) meditative recitation and sincere veneration is sufficient to strengthen the “ori-inu” of most people. well-balanced people, it is believed, are able to make positive use of the simplest form of connection between their oris and the omnipotent olu-orun: an adura (petition or prayer) for divine support”. what happens in this type of prayer is this: “eshu elegbara” (a god) initiates contact with spiritual realm on behalf of the petitioner, and transmits the prayer to ayé; the deliverer of ase or the spark of life. he transmits this prayer without distorting it in any way. thereafter, the petitioner may be satisfied with a personal answer. in the event that he or she is not, the ifá oracle of the orisha orunmila may also be consulted. all communication with orun, whether simplistic in the form of a personal prayer or complicated in the form of that done by an initiated babalawo (priest of divination), however, is energized by invoking ase. (so shall it be) abimbola (2006) the community guides individual to a matured age and at times initiate them especially male children to a cult for support and protection. human person are guided through choosing a trade that is suitable as dictated by the diviners. even in marriage, the community still pays attention to the choice of partner. in times of trouble, they still run back to their family and community for solutions. in case there is any failure after all these efforts have been put in place, they resign to “ayanmo” (destiny or fate) hence, the saying that “ayanmo ko gbo oogun”. (destiny has no remedy). this is as well related to the choice of ori (head), hence those with difficult cases without remedy are termed to be “oloriburuku” that is, having a bad head. this however will lead us to whether yoruba believe that human person lives after here, that is, the physical realm (heaven) that abimbola (2006) is pointed at earlier. human person and after life primarily, africans believe in life after here or live beyond here or ancestral world. in the explanation of abanuka (1994), that “ ancestors are an aspect of the african experience of the universe… the dead are not considered as very far removed from the living, and those who are still living are conscious of their journey to join those who have gone before them to the land of the dead”. in the mind of mbiti (1969) however, “a section ii: philosophical perspectives and human formation 333 person dies and yet continues to live: he is a livingdead, and no other term can describe him better than that”. to the family members, the diseased continues to live as and remembered as if he travels. keeping the dead in the temporal sight by his loved ones is what mbiti describes as the cult of the living –dead in all african societies. ige (2006) added that they even move round and “it is only those who possess special power or medicine that can notice their presence.” being particular about yoruba people, mbiti insists that “they are uncertain about the final lot of the departed: some are put in a good place, others in a bad place; the first group meets relatives and lives more or less as the people did in this life, but the second group is thought to suffer without end.” this is the story of the ancestral world that the researcher heard in the oral tradition of yoruba people. the second group may not be able to survive and they disappear without attention hence, they emphasize good relationship here on earth so that they can reunit with the ancestors and continue to live here after. also, yoruba believe that after a while, the diseased will leave the ancestral world and return to their families to live again or to fulfil some uncompleted assignments hence they have names like“yetunde”, “yejide”, “yewande” or “iyabo” – mother has returned, and “babatunde” “babajide” or “babade” – father has returned. in the mind of idowu (1966), ancestral world exist and there is an annual festival in their honour especially for those that have been deified. remembrance of the ancestors is not only particular to the deified members because that is what is being celebrated annually in “egungun” festival as opposed the idea of idowu (1966). ige (2006) attests to this that “communal ceremonies are done in honour of the ancestor and to remind the people of the great deeds of their ancestors. some of these festivals include ‘oro’ and ‘egungun’”. apart from this, ige continues “the ancestors have shrines where sacrifices and prayers are offered to them. among the yoruba it is called igbo igbale’. there are priests and priestesses attached to the shrines. the priests and priestesses are usually the most elderly men and women in the family. it is however not a woman married into the family. the above consequently establish the fact that human person continues to live here after. it implies that life is not end by death as mbiti (1969) affirms “death stands between the world of human beings and the world of the spirits, between the visible and the invisible.” conclusion an attempt had been made in this paper to discuss the understanding of human person in yoruba culture and philosophy. the physical element of a person is collectively known as ara (body), a creation of orisanla (the yoruba god of creation) who is charged by olodumare (god of heaven) with the responsibility of molding human beings out of clay, with ogun 334 formation of the human person in the 21st century (god of iron) to beautify the body while olodumare gives the breath “eemi”. in the analysis, “ara”, (body) “ori” (head), “emi” (spirit), and “eemi’ (breath) form a human person. prayer to one's oriorun is important regularly as it produces an immediate sensation of joy. this must work directly with “ese” legs to bring to fulfillment all that one has been destined to achieve. it was equally established that the community in which one is part must have influence on human person from the beginning to the age of maturity for his good and the good of the community at large. however, even after death, a human person lives on in yoruba land especially those who have lived well and they are regularly celebrated as ancestors. finnally, in the yoruba belief system, olodumare has ase (final say) over everything hence, it is considered supreme. references abanuka b. (1994). a new essay on african philosophy. nigeria, snaap press. abimbola, k (2006). the yoruba concept of human personality. birmigham, iroko. abimbola, kola. (2006). yoruba culture: a philosophical account, birmigham, iroko. 2006. atanda j. a. (1980). an introduction to yoruba history. ibadan. the caxton press. balogun, o.a. (2007). “the concepts of ori and human destiny in traditional yoruba thought: a soft deterministic interpretation” nordic journal of african studies 16 (1). gbadegesin, o. (1983). the yoruba conception of a person and its implications on fatalism, determinism and human destiny. https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/person idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba culture. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ige a (2006). the cult of ancestors in african traditional religion. https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html. kanu i.a and omojola i.o. (2018) mitigation of african indigenous knowledge. tansian university journal of arts, management and social sciences (tujamss). issn: 2449-0334. vol. 5. learning from open university. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-thearts/culture/philosophy/philosophy-the-nature-persons/content-section-1 makinde m.a (1983). an african concept of human personality: the yoruba example. nigeria journal of cultures and ideas 1: no. 1 (december). mbiti (1969).african religions and philosophy. britain. morrison and gibb. omojola. l. t. (2015). catholic church in ekitiland: yesterday, today and tomorrow. akure: don bosco. wingo a (2006).akan philosophy of the person. standard encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/akan-person/ idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba belief. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. 335 section 3 religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 336 formation of the human person in the 21st century 337 25 religion and human values: an inquisition of the afro-centric imperative. prof. john afiagbokai onimhawo department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma. edo state, nigeria. jonimhawo@gmail.com & cyril osilama adamu ph.d college of education, ekiadolor, benin city. cytechsystem@yahoo.com abstract contemporary debates by scholars on the relevance or otherwise of african values system and thought process had further opened the floodgate of the ambivalence between those scholars seeking to define african values and morality within the parameters of a conventionalized western religious epistemological hegemony, thereby accentuating the superiority of western values. on the other side of the debate are scholars pursuing an “africanist” explanation which embraces an authentic mode of african knowledge construction of human values and morality. the objective of this paper is to examine the afro-centric imperative of the african thought process in the current moral discourse, in order to extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a hybrid of moral reconstructions between christianity and african indigenous religion and thought process. this study is cached within the theoretical framework of the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm (acdp) which encapsulates african indigenous religion and human values. however, within the grindstone of spotlighting african human values, is the inevitable project of decolonization. this paper therefore explores the task of decolonizing african thought against the backdrop of the ontological normative dialectics of superiority and inferiority. this paper argues against the superiority of western thought and values over african values. in order to argue for this conclusion, this discourse finds mailto:cytechsystem@yahoo.com 338 formation of the human person in the 21st century it expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of african thought process; an investigation that leads to the interplay between the decolonization of african thought and the decolonization of the african intellectual landscape. this paper disturbs and unpacks the colonial project and calls to contestation western hegemony and the continuous dominance of western thought even amongst african scholars (theologians and philosophers). this paper concludes by asserting that the differences that exist between african religious human values and western values must not necessarily have normative consequences; as things can be different without having to be placed within a normative hierarchy. the contention that african values should be of less worth than western values is therefore repudiated. the paper advances the understanding of religion and human values from the perspective of african indigenous worldview. the recommendation is that there should be an integrated approach to resolving the current crises of human values. keywords: religion, human values and afrocentricism. introduction the deadweight of accentuating african indigenous religious and human values in contemporary scholarship is fraught with many difficulties punctuated by fluctuations, oscillation, and occasional regressions. although some progress is being made, this progression has not always been rectilinear but nonetheless exhibiting some level of advances. vivaciously this process has been set in motion by the aspirations of many african intellectuals like kwame anthony appiah, kwasi wiredu, henry odera oruka, john mbiti, bolaji idowu, frantz fanon, and aimé césaire; and many other african activists like steve biko and nelson mandela. interestingly the project of decolonization of the african thought process has also been the preoccupation of non-african contemporary scholars like björn freter1 and very few others. these antecedents should suggest that the crusade before african contemporary scholarship is the acceleration of the contention to decolonize african thought process, including the valuation and transvalution of indigenous religious and human values. the crisis of values pervading contemporary nigeria moral space is inexorable, which requires a high level of critical reflection in the search for ways through which the moral challenge posed by the agents of western acculturation can be adequately addressed. the tremendous impact of western acculturation on the nation and the speeding erosion of well enacted afro-centric religious and human values are readily seen in the ways many african indigenous normative systems are being seriously undermined even by some african intellectuals and african section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 339 converts to non-indigenous religions. this situation has led to the waning away of african values system in the face of alien values. therefore the enterprise to underscore african religious and human values is one that must not be taken lightly, because every society has set of values covering the whole ramifications of the society, and these values apparently play regulating roles in human relationships and act as stabilizing factors of the society. as asserted by kanu “value system is the cultural outlook of a people and the understanding of the value system of the people is the understanding of the belief system and cultural system of the people in question.”2 in proffering solutions to the misadventure of the nigerian project, the dominant tenor within the public space is the narrative that posits that the solution to the nigerian question is at the narthex of formulating the right economic policies and fashioning a suitable political ideology. this line of thinking has reached a crescendo that any contrary opinion is often repudiated. while some level of truth resides in the above assertion: that economics and politics play undeniable importance in the development of any nation, public discourse tends however to discount the most fundamental aspect of the society: namely its ethical dimension. therefore, an accurate design of economic policies and the adoption of the proper political ideology, without a corresponding attestation of an ethical value system are most unlikely to yield any meaning human development. ethical behavior in every area of the public space should provide the fundamental philosophical foundation for authentic human development, because: “economic and political choices as a society are ultimately determined by moral values.”3 plato said, “states are as men are; they grow out of human character.” so the nigerian state is a product of the nigerian character as a nation cannot rise above the values of her citizens. what is profoundly and eminently obvious is that there is a crisis of values in nigeria, which has led to the agitation and clamour for invigorating and maintaining durable and lasting positive values in nigeria. the draught of positive values is made manifest in all sphere of public life. there is the abuse and perversion of teachers-students relationship which is supposed to be a vital mentoring relationship. religious institutions have fallen into moral disrepute owing to a number of high profile scandals with the attended disdained for the emissaries of organized religion. religious leaders are increasingly vulnerable to the criticism that they are far more comfortable courting the rich and the powerful than speaking truth to power. the postmodern nigeria society is increasingly being typified by instant gratification that feeds on short-termism, profiteering, fraud, sexual irresponsibility and perversion. without making hasty and unsustainable 340 formation of the human person in the 21st century generalizations, the consensus is that the nigeria public space is suffused by inordinately disproportionate returns on noninvestments (which in popular palace is called corruption), cheating, predatory exploitation and feverish individualism at the expense of the common good. arriving at a broadly agreed upon set of values that will launch nigeria into the path of moral rectitude is one of the most urgent tasks for nigerian public intellectuals and social thinkers. the objective of this paper therefore is to examine the afro-centric imperative in the enthronement of positive religious and human values in order to extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a hybrid of moral reconstructions. conceptual clarity religion religion is a victim of definitional pluralism as there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. for the purpose clarity, the paper adopts émile durkheim definition of religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things".4 by sacred things durkheim meant things set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices and all those who adhere to them. sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. on the contrary, a sacred thing can be a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house. religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are attributed to them. antoine vergote on his part defined religion as “… the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings.”5 vergote took the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency. therefore religious values are ethical principles founded on religious traditions, texts and beliefs. these values are usually considered to be the high moral and ethical values that people of faith aspire to achieve. in contrast to human or personal values, religious-based values are based on the scriptures and or a religion's established norms. for example, judaism has the ten commandments. christianity has both the ten commandment and the teachings of jesus christ. islam provides spiritual guidance through the quran and hadith, while african traditional religious values are expressed through the customs, culture, beliefs and practices of the africans. christians and muslims comprise the predominant religious groups in nigeria. christianity is more common in the southern region of the country, while islam is the dominant religion in the north. indigenous traditional religion accounts for about 10 percent of the population. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 341 these traditional religions are specific to certain rural or indigenous areas and are usually intertwined with either christianity or islam. each of these religious groups has various religious values which serve as a guide and control of human behavior, dictating right from wrong. human values many social scientists have tried to give meaning to the word “value” by articulating many definitions. among these are: allport, jones and gerald, and rokeach. allport in his publication titled pattern and growth in personality sees value as: “a belief upon which a man act by preference.”6 jones and gerald in their join text defined value as: “any singular state or object for which the individual strives or approaches, extols, embraces, voluntarily consumes, incur expenses to acquire as positive value.”7 according to these social scientists, values sensitize the person; they move him around his environment because they define his attractive and repelling nature and particular cognitive categories. therefore a value offers a motivational force, defines, sustains and modifies attitude and behaviour. another attempt to create a more lucid meaning of the word “value” is found in the work of rokeach titled the nature of human values. rokeach says “a value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.”8 experts in the humanities have described human values as “our very core, the especial essence of who we are as human beings.”9 human values are the virtues that guide us to take into account of the human element when we interact with other human beings. human values are, for example, respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, openness, affection, empathy and love towards other human beings. these are the demonstrable and authentic values on which any human society should be built upon. some human values in traditional african society include honesty, morality, respect for elders, respect for fellow citizens, communality and family loyalty. one of the most significant values that traditional africans hold to be of great importance is the wisdom of its elders. age is a symbol of experience and intelligence, and the mistreatment of said elders is viewed as taboo. afrocentricism and afro-centric cultural distinctive theoretical framework louis gates and anthony appiah view afrocentrism as a cultural ideology or worldview that focuses on the history of the people of african descent. it is a response to global eurocentric attitudes about african people and their historical contributions; it revisits their history 342 formation of the human person in the 21st century with an african cultural and ideological focus.10 in most studies, afrocentrism is usually interchanged with afrocentricity which deals primarily with pan-african ideology in culture, philosophy, and history. afrocentrism can be seen as an african inspired ideology that manifests an affirmation by conceptualizing a glorified heritage that is distinctly african. this is what defines the afro-centric cultural distinctive theoretical framework. it often argues against or minimizes european cultural hegemony and influences, while accenting historical african civilizations that independently accomplished a significant level of cultural development. in general, the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm is usually manifested in a focus on african culture and the history of africa. it involves an african version of an african-centered view of history and culture to portray the achievements and development of african traditions which have been inferiorized by the west.11 in his book, the afrocentric idea, asante defines afrocentricity as "the placing of african ideals at the center of any analysis that involves african culture and behavior."12 it should be emphasized that this perspective is not an explicit argument for african superiority in culture and history, although some scholars have used it to that end. rather, the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm is a conceptual tool for seeing the history of africandescended peoples through their own lens, and not through the lens of europe or the west. as a mode of analysis, afrocentrism has remained remarkably durable over the past two hundred years; however, scholars have often reached radically different conclusions in their utilization of this analytical tool. according to asante, what is today broadly called afrocentrism evolved out of the work of african intellectuals that flowered into its modern form due to the activism of african intellectuals in the civil rights movement and in the development of african studies programs in universities as a distinct academic ideology.13 proponents of afrocentrism support the claim that the contributions of various africans have been downplayed or discredited as part of the legacy of colonialism and slavery's pathology of "writing africans out of history."14 afrocentrism argues that for centuries, africans and other nonwhites have been dominated, through slavery and colonization, by europeans, and that european culture is diametrically opposed to efforts by non-europeans to achieve self-determination. for this reason, according to afrocentrism, people of african descent need to develop an appreciation of the achievements of traditional african civilizations; indeed, they need to articulate their own history and their own system of values.15 . afrocentrists assert that traditional african culture contrasts with european culture in being more informed by its history “circular” rather than “linear”; more cooperative; more intuitive; more humano-centric; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 343 and more closely integrated with the spiritual world.16 renewed attention to this culture, they argue, can benefit africans by reminding them that their own culture, which was long been devalued by europeans, has a rich and ancient heritage. in addition to emphasizing the past, afrocentrism encourages the preservation and elevation of contemporary african culture.17 western textualisation of african values and thought process edem kodjo, the author of ‘africa tomorrow’ aptly describes the western textualization and colonization of african values and thought process as the condition of the african “torn away from his past, propelled into a universe fashioned from outside that suppresses his values, and dumbfounded by a cultural invasion that marginalizes him. the african ... is today the deformed image of others.”18 the westernization of african values is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority, a form of internalized oppression engrained in the contemporary african psyche. this disposition was supported by an educational system which drew the african away from his community and misled him by showing him the green pastures of the european society where he is not allowed to graze.19 western education introduced a western culture-transmitting process with an attitude that neither respects the core values of african culture, nor leads the present generation to acquire accumulated knowledge of african values with pride. the educational process directed the african thought process away from african values; equipping him with a type of education that is antagonistic to the african cultural values and thought patterns.20 onwubiko said: western system of education was very well calculated to teach the new africans that in order to rise in the ladder of the new culture and acquire the status it promised; they must be alienated, ideologically and physically, from their root and their cultural past. the colonial agents presented themselves as symbols of human beings, in the image and likeness of whom all future generation africans were to be created.21 this is the thinking that foreign values are always better and superior, while the indigenous are primitive, uncultured and barbaric. therefore a colonized african thought is the acceptance, by the colonized, of the culture or doctrines of the colonizer, as intrinsically more worthy or superior. this is the mentality that still plagues africa many years after independence, and despite all the knowledge and education. this is why nyerere said: “of all the crimes of colonialism there is none worse than the attempt to make us believe that we had no indigenous culture of our own or that what we did have was worthless or something of which we should be ashamed, instead of being a source of pride.”22 therefore the western textualisation of african values is 344 formation of the human person in the 21st century responsible for the wholesale importation and adoption of western values and the repudiation of african heritage, as if there was never anything good in africa history and values. african nationalists who worked so hard for the liberation of africans from physical enslavement and actual colonization may not have realized that intellectual slavery and mental enslavement that works insidiously at the level of the mind was more pervasive, more vicious and even more cruel and exacting, than political colonization. once people’s mind is conquered and enslaved, the dominion and domination naturally extend to other domains such as politics, economics and even religion. this mental enslavement comprehensively dehumanized and stripped africans of their humanity; a situation which makes the work of the conqueror easier. thus, the colonization of african mind makes africans tend to treat europeans and their allies as demigods. the effects of the colonized african mind also included the near extinction of african culture, which has greatly diluted or destroyed african heritage, including the destruction of african traditional institutions and religion. the europeans forced the people to learn their language, taught them how to eat european food and dress like europeans, abandoning their own traditional eating habits and dressing. from then on the africans occupied only the inferior positions of the colonial administration and never had a say in the government of their own countries. those employed by the colonial administration felt proud and more superior to the others. even today africans who are schooled in western ways of life feel more superior to other africans. this deculturalization of africa paved the way for the acceptance of the dominance of europe and european values over african heritage, and the rejection african culture in exchange for the colonial culture. a colonized african thought process is today a burden and barrier to the progress of africa, as africans now prefer foreign lifestyle, culture, music, literature and others. today africans conduct two (at times three) separate full-blown marriage ceremonies, because in our minds, until the “white wedding” is done the marriage ceremony is not complete. thus there is the traditional marriage (which is actually the proper marriage ceremony according to african heritage), then the marriage at the registry, and the third which is the “white wedding”. in politics, the colonized african thought process seeks to implement democracy as defined by the western nations without regard to the fact the democracy as a system of government grew and evolved from the way of life of these nations with their own variant of democracy. it is believed in most part of africa that one will automatically become rich if he/she can travel to europe or america, as many africans believe there is no poor man in europe because it is a whiteman's section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 345 country. this is why many young africans: men and women are ready to cross the sahara desert on foot upward to europe through dangerous and unfathomable means through the sea. the colonized african mind believes that what makes a beautiful african man or woman is the whiteness or fairness of the skin. so that an individual is ready to bleach the skin to white as it is the belief that white skin is better than black skin. franz fanon’s book black skin, white masks” provides some edification here. fanon writes that “the juxtaposition of the black and white ‘races’ has resulted in a massive psycho-existential complex”.23 fanon through his work sought to liberate the black man from the arsenal of complexes that germinated in the colonial situation. fanon believes that it is necessary for the black person to overcome the psychological effects of colonialism.24 freter avows that what is largely responsible for this state of affairs is the superiorization of western thought over african thought. according to freter: western thought is infused with a permanent tacit assumption of superiority of a metaphysical proportion, a diffuse conviction of being the one and only thought that truly counts. it is from this assumption of superiority, entirely in accordance with western textbook dialectics, that the idea of inferiorisation directly and necessarily emanates. when one entity is considered superior, others must be considered inferior. anyone who thinks in this manner has good conceptual reason to make the leap from one to the other. this movement of thought shows only that the plain and arbitrary positing of one’s own greatness simultaneously means the positing of the other, i.e. the one which is not great. this positing, because it follows necessarily from an arbitrary act, is itself also arbitrary.25 the onslaught christianity and islam on african traditional religion is yet another sad narrative. while early missionaries condemned and forbid our forebears from venerating african ancestors; on the other hand, the missionaries introduced and propagated the veneration of the saints which most often were eurocentric ancestors. on one hand the missionaries condemned our most revered masquerades, while in the same breath brought in santa claus. these missionaries saw nothing good in african indigenous religion including african theocentric names that conveyed more theocentric connotation to the african mind. indeed the whole of african traditional religion was cached in derogatory terminologies. however due the consented pioneering efforts of geoffrey parrinder in 1954, later bolaji idowu and john mbiti where to protest against a long history of derogatory elucidation of africans, their culture and religion by outsiders. interestedly african traditional 346 formation of the human person in the 21st century religion (atr) is now widely taught in african universities and seminaries, but its identity remains essentially negative. to the west, what was not christian was non-religious and non-theocentric. what was african was inferior and what was western was superior. the success of christianity and islam on the african continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the detriment of african indigenous religion and culture. religion and human values: the afrocentric imperative the african tradition consists of basic human values which are indispensable for authentic human development.26 it is expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of african traditional thought process: african value for human life the greatest arguments against african traditional religion and customs by westerners and their apologists are the practices of human sacrifice and twin murder, which are usually evidenced as lack of regard for human dignity. the misleading slant arising from these practices eventuate in the colonial writers to describe africans as primitive, dark, pagan, brutes, cannibalistic, crude and savages. while these writers can easily be forgiven for their epistemological deficiency, the point must be hurriedly made that african society has a very high regard for the human person and the preservation of human dignity. the dignity of the human person is seen in african cosmology and human origins. ikenga metuh asserted that: viewed from the standpoint of his origin and final destiny of man is best understood in relation to god, his creator. man comes from god. he has a definite mission to fulfill in god's plan and will eventually go back to god.27 the dignity of human person is seen in relationship of being created by god, the human complex nature which god imprinted in man is the crown of god's creation and provision for a continual interaction through rituals, despite human limitations. the dignity of the human person is also identifiable in the african insatiable desire to worship. mbiti has rightly observed that africans do not know how to exist without religion.28 wherever the african is, there is religion and its morals. in pre-colonial africa, the human person is a religious being, wherefrom follows his human dignity. the african concept of human dignity is not found in earthly riches and abundance, but in the nobility of his religious being. therefore the relationship between individuals is based on the recognition of their intrinsic worth as human beings; not necessary only in what they possess or what they can do for each other. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 347 african sense of a good life in all african traditions, the idea that there is far more to life than vested self interest and the inordinate pursuit of riches is deeply ingrained in the african thought process. there is the african proverb that says: “a good name is better than riches”. this is a timeless truth in african values system which seems to have been jettison in post-colonial africa. it is indubitable that one of the greatest problems of today’s nigeria is within the ambience of self-centeredness and unbridled vested self interest. the nigeria society today needs to re-evaluate and re-emphasize what it means to be rich. certain questions beg for answers: is the frantic acquisition and primitive accumulation of wealth all that nigerians have to live for, or should nigerians be seeking intangible human values that cannot be subjected to monetary evaluation, but which nonetheless are the real basis for living a fulfilled life? what matters most is a good character. in african traditional society wealth will come to naught if one lacks good character. a life without moral rectitude is nothing but vanity. interestingly contemporary social science researches are fast coming to the conclusion that inordinate pursuit of capitalism and the zero-sum competition for money and status in the developed world is a major source of unhappiness.29 there is abundant anecdotal evidence to suggest that people find new meaning and fulfillment in their lives when they free themselves from the acquisitive treadmill and begin to give of themselves. in other words, social science is now proving what african indigenous epistemology and axiology have always known through the wisdom of african ancestors that: generosity rather than consumption is the key to happiness. current social researches are therefore reclining to the traditional african thought that what is truly require for happiness is nurturing healthy relationships, cultivating friendships, serving others, raising well-adjusted children, and being involved in a community.30 only a life that transcends the narrow goals of self-aggrandizement and self-gratification can be truly happy. a society of transcendent human values such as those found in african traditional society can be truly safe. a society in which all individuals are committed to nothing more than the single-minded pursuit of their self-gratification at the expense of everything else is a dangerously predatory society in which no one can ever be truly safe – sadly these are the operating parameters of most postcolonial african societies. this situation of self-centeredness is what is expressed in the afemai proverb: mokpaira rele ikhekhe le gbo “i will eat all alone suffers constipation.” 348 formation of the human person in the 21st century african sense of parenting in african traditional values system, parenting takes a lot of forms which enables a child to develop into a responsible adult. some of these forms of parenting are: through story telling (folktales), the extended family, traditional rites, and the mother's care, attention and love.31 the uniqueness of this system with regards to parenting in traditional african communities is that the responsibility in taking care of the child is not only to the biological parents. this is shared by all in the extended family. this is buttressed by the african proverb on parenting which says that, “a single hand cannot nurse a child”. this in afemai would mean: aro obokpa ro omo. yet again, another african proverb says “it takes a village to raise a child”. this implies that although the mother has the responsibility of taking care of the child, the responsibility is being shared by all. arguably therefore, the most significant indicator of national instability is not found in politics or economics but in the ways in which children are raised and socialized. parents, teachers, older relatives and friends must be good exemplars to young ones and should have lasting positive influences on our lives. these early influences define their identities and what they later understand to be acceptable standards of societal behaviour. the family, very broadly defined, is the premier learning environment. research has shown that what happens to a child in the earliest years has a formative impact on the personality and character development which in turn affects the rest of his life.32 it is within families that the critical standards of right and wrong are acquired. in african traditional society parents are the primary audience before whom children model a lifestyle of integrity, purpose and service to the common good. the lack of monetization of values there is no gainsaying the fact that contrary to the african human values system that the monetization of values has broken down our traditional definitions of authority within the family system. before now, the most respected were those who were reputed for their ethical constancy and moral authority. just now, the most influential members of the family are those who have illicitly or otherwise earned wealth from stints in government or corporate enterprise.33 despite the knowledge of their crimes, we celebrate these men and women because of what we stand to gain from them financially. those who are the real voices of reason within the family are marginalized, derided for their lack of financial heft and mocked for their insistence on values that are now consider irrelevant. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 349 african sense of community-based living african value for community-based living and relationships are found in works of davidson,34 mbiti,35 okere36 and ogbujah37 and a lot more. the sense of community or communality refers to the awareness which identifies an individual not as a solitary being, but as an entity whose being and survival is consequent upon its union with other human beings within an identified locality. in traditional africa for instance, a person is known and identified in, by and through his community. individual lives, moves and revolves around the community. to a large extent, a man’s achievements depend primarily on how much of his community’s standards he accommodates: he sees as his community see, and acts as his community acts.38 communal life is among the cardinal values in africa. africans do not practice individualism like most western nations. they live a life of community and solidarity. the african man’s idea of security and its value depended on personal identification with and within the community. however with the arrival of the colonial overlords, different ideologies and philosophies about human relations such as individualism came into play. mbiti noted that for the africans, to be human is to be in a community, participating in the beliefs, ceremonies, rituals and festivals of that community that gives them sense of belonging. membership of the community is emphasized more than member’s individuality; for a society is based more on obligations, than on individual rights and individuals assume their rights in exercise of the obligations, which makes a society a chain of inter-relationships. 39 the autonomy and rights of the individual person are enjoyed in relationship.40 individuals are not regarded as complete until they have been identified with a community. “each one must belong to kith and kin, to parents, brothers and sisters, who are immediate, and to a wider relationship within the extended family. there is nothing like individualism. a person belongs to an immediate family, hamlet, village, clan and town. this belonging enhances chances of survival and ensures security and growth.”41 sense of brotherhood and hospitality before the advent of western civilization and culture to africa, the sense of brotherhood and hospitality were some of the cardinal human values of african indigenous society. the sense of hospitality is inherently indispensable in african tradition society. there was always spontaneous accommodation of strangers and visitors. unlike the west, no appointment and special invitation are needed for one to visit a distant relation or neighbour. on arrival, one is treated kindly, just as one 350 formation of the human person in the 21st century would wish to be treated when visiting another home. this spontaneous acceptance is expressed in many symbolic ways like presentation of kola nuts, traditional gin, coconuts etc. these are given to show acceptance and safety. onimhawo and adamu in their study: an afrocentric perspective on human migration: the nigerian experience succinctly argued that the common membership of one universal human family constitutes a legitimate basis for the idea of universal human brotherhood in african conceptual thought. this idea is depicted for instance in afemai maxim: oya lo khi iyokpa oya “a human being's brother is another human being”.42 this maxim asserts unmistakably that a human being is related only to another human being, not to a beast. implicit in the african perception of humanity is the recognition of all persons, irrespective of their racial or ethnic backgrounds, as brothers. this is the reason why in african cultures the word ‘brother’ is used to cover various and complex family relationships linked by blood ties.43 but the word is also used, significantly, by persons between whom there are no blood ties; thus, the word is used comprehensively. the comprehensive meaning given to the word ‘brother’ in african culture is intended, indeed, to lift people up from the purely biologically determined blood relation level onto the human level, the level where the essence of humanity is held as transcending the contingencies of human biology, race, ethnicity, or culture.44 african sense of solidarity the traditional african community attitude to work is one factor that explains the african sense of solidarity. in african cultural context duties such: building of a hut or a house for a kinsman especially of someone that is old or a person that is not well to do in the material sense, is often seen as a collective responsibility that calls for the contributions of many.45 this african concept of solidarity is aptly captured in afemai proverb: obokpa ovue akh’ uno “one hand cannot cover the mouth of a pot.” yet another afemai proverb says orokpe okio gwa, “one tree cannot make a forest”. furthermore, kinsmen can mobilize a workforce to the farm of a dead relative or someone who is bereaved to help out in maintaining the farm and keep the bereaved family going.46 everywhere in africa society there is the spirit of ubuntu (i am because we are) which barbara nussbaum says “is the capacity in african culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community with justice and mutual caring.”47 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 351 sense of respect for elders africans generally have deep and ingrained respect for old age. grey hairs earn an individual the right to courtesy and politeness. the elders are respected first because they are believed to be the teachers and directors of the young. they are the repository of truth as their words and instructions are heeded to for the promotion of good behaviour among the young. the elders are also taken to be the custodian of communal wisdom and therefore they are conceded leadership in the affairs of the people. one of the reasons for this, is the nearness of the elders to the ancestors. the respect given to the elders has its practical effect in the maintenance of custom and tradition. the young are always looking forward to being elders and they are often told that if a child respects an elder, he would be respected by the young when he becomes an elder. this is the fundamental principle behind human relations in african cultural milieu the idea of old people’s homes is an aberration in traditional african society and a promotion of a careless assumption that a man is deserving of respect only, and only if the man is virile and productive. to entrust the welfare of the elderly to institutional caregivers is an abomination to the african mind. the care of the aged is situated within the family. it is so cherished and so organized that there is no need, in the african setting, for the cheerless nursing homes for the aged as it exist today in europe and america48 and speedily taking roots in africa. african sense of extended family according to pantaleon iroegbu “african languages generally have no words for uncles, aunts cousins and nieces. all these are part of the one family. the family is one, but extended”.49 marriage is a means of family extension especially between two families. the extended family system is very much alive in contemporary african societies as a community of brothers and sisters, which is the basis of, and the expression of, the extended family system in africa. african sense of religiosity africans are everywhere and always profoundly religious. african spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore african religion cannot be separated from everyday living. for many africans, religion can never be separated from life. unlike the west, religion is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. religion informs everything in the traditional african society, including marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, birth and death. the africans eat religiously, drink religiously and bath religiously. african spirituality is truly holistic. 352 formation of the human person in the 21st century for example, sickness in the indigenous african worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one’s social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in one’s kinship and family relations or even to one’s relationship with one’s ancestors.50 africans are deeply religious, for the african, life is religion and religion is life. the attachment to and worship of god, form a dominating part of their world view. all they do or say and permit is impregnated with a vision of the divine, and all natural reality is explainable in function of the supernatural. african social values rest on the moral values which in turn rest on religious values.51 to many people it is perverse and perhaps sacrilegious to separate the moral and the religious values. it is the presence of religion that lends meaning and authority to values. religious or spiritual element in the african man characterizes his relationship with the divine, with god and/or the gods. and it is an indubitable fact that this sense of religion is the promotion of moral excellence.52 a conscientious inquisition of the preceding prefatory would indeed reveal the imperativeness of adopting the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm. namely, that the african values system contains positive human values that can provide the ontological foundation for a moral reconstruction, even between christianity and african thought process inclusive of indigenous religion. the note of caution is that care must be taken to excogitate certain aspects of african traditional values that might not be wholly in tandem with contemporary realities. this should not come as a surprise because every culture consists of both the counterintuitive and the perdurable. conclusion this discourse established the importance of accentuating african indigenous religious and human values in contemporary scholarship. the role of human values was exhaustively discussed and denoted because of the understanding that the value system of a people is consequent upon the understanding of the beliefs and cultural system of the people. the paper examined the afro-centric imperative of the african thought process in the current moral discourse, and concluded that the afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm encapsulates african indigenous human values. it was expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of the african thought process which included an investigation into the african value on human life, african sense of a good life, african sense of responsible parenthood, the lack of monetization of values, african sense of community-based living, african sense of brotherhood and hospitality , african sense of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 353 solidarity, sense of respect for authority and the elders, african sense of extended family and african sense of religiosity. given that no one values system is error proof, african religious and human values must be carefully examined in order to extrapolate the very best of african traditional values systems which continuous to reverberate their usefulness in our contemporary era. the paper asserted that the differences that exist between african religious human values and western values must not necessarily have a normative consequence; as things can be different without having to be placed within a normative hierarchy. the contention that african values should be of less worth than western values is therefore repudiated. recommendations this paper makes the following recommendations: a. that african institutes of human character formation like seminaries should faithfully study and seriously promote african traditional values system, including african indigenous religion; b. that african converts to non-african religions should have a rethink and revaluation of their disposition to african traditional religion, namely to change their attitude from condemnation to commendation and understanding; c. that policy makers should be aware of the importance of the afrocentric imperative in the enthronement of positive human values in nigeria; d. that african scholarship should be at the vanguard in the promotion of african human values both within and outside africa; e. that the negative clout presently beclouding african indigenous religion should be removed through proper enlightenment. endnotes 1 björn freter, “desuperiorisation of thought: western thinkers and the responsibility to complement the efforts of philosophical decolonialisation through desuperiorisation,” first annual philosophy lecture of the department of philosophy, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, 10.10.2017, 1-28. 2 macaulay a. kanu, “the indispensability of the basic social values in african tradition: a philosophical appraisal” african journal online 7(2010):149, https//doi.org/:57930/58765 3 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values: reclaiming our society”, lecture at the women in management, business and public service (wimbiz) conference, lagos, march 10, 2016. 354 formation of the human person in the 21st century 4 emile durkheim, the elementary forms of the religious life (london: george allen & unwin, 1915), 5 5 anthony vergote, religion, belief and unbelief. a psychological study (leuven university press, 1996), 16 6 gordon allport, pattern and growth in personality (new york: holt rinehart, &amp, 1963) 90 7 jones edward and gerard b. harold, foundation of social psychology ( new york, 1967)123 8 milton rokeach, the nature of human values, (new york, ny: free press, 1973), 145. 9 rokeach, the nature of human values, 154 10 louis gates and anthony appiah (eds). africana: the encyclopedia of the african and african-american (oxford: oxford university press, 2005), 111. 11 asante, the afrocentric idea, (philadelphia: temple university press, 1998), 34. 12 asante, “the afrocentric idea,” 6. 13 asante, “the afrocentric idea,” 67 14 andrade susan. “rewriting history, motherhood, and rebellion: naming an african women's literary tradition.” research in african literatures 21.1 (spring 1990): 91 15 early gerald. “afrocentrism: cultural and political movement.” encyclopædia britannica. accessed april 10, 2018 https://www.britannica.com/topic/afrocentrism. 16 gerald. “afrocentrism,” 17 gerald. “afrocentrism,” 18 motsoko pheko, “effects of colonialism on africa's past and present,” accessed november 1, 2017 https://www.pambazuka.org/global-south/effects-colonialismafricas-past-and-present 19 motsoko pheko apartheid: the story of a dispossessed people, (marram books london, 1984), 15o. 20 kanu, “the indispensability,” 150. 21 oliver a. onwubiko, african thought, religion and culture (enugu: bigard memorial seminary, 1991), xii. 22 jones a. akinpelu, “values in nigerian society” in new perspectives in moral education. otonti a. ndubuka and e.o. iheoma (eds) (ibadan: evans brothers, nigerian publishers ltd 1983), 33 23 frantz fanon, black skin, white masks, translated by richard phil-cox, (grove press, new york, 2008), 12. 24 frantz fanon, “black skin, white masks,” 25 freter, “desuperiorisation of thought…” 17-18. 26 kanu, “the indispensability,” 149. 27 emefie ikenga metuh, african religions in western conceptual schemes: the problem of interpretation (studies in lgbo religion) 2nd ed. (onitsha nigeria: imico press 1985) 109. 28 john mbiti, african religions and philosophy (london: heinmann 1990), 3 29 the guardian, “the guardian view on a caring capitalism: healing an unhappy society” accessed march 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 355 e/2018/jan/19/the-guardian-view-on-a-caring-capitalism-healing-an-unhappysociety. 30 duran bell, “wealth and power: survival in a time of global accumulation” accessed march 16, 2020, http://www.economics.uci.edu/~dbell/aaabeijing.pdf 31 patricia m. amos, “parenting and culture – evidence from some african communities” accessed march 16, 2020. doi: 10.5772/56967 32 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values,” 33 kayode fayemi, “crisis of values,” 34 basil davidson, west africa before the colonial era (longman, 1998) 35 john mbiti, “african religions, “ 36 theophilus okere, “african philosophy and the hermeneutics of culture” in oguejiofor, o. and unah, g. (eds.). essays in honour of theophilus okere. (münster: lit verlag, 2005) 37 columbus ogbujah, the idea of personhood (enugu: snaap press ltd, 2006) 38 ogbujah, “the idea of personhood ,” 34. 39 mbiti, “african religions,” 106. 40elizabeth o. ezenweke, awka nwadialor, loius kanayo, “understanding human relations in african traditional religious context in the face of globalization: nigerian perspectives” international journal of contemporary research 3 no 2 (february 2013): 61. 41 nkem emeghara, “ the dignity of the human person in african belief,” theology annual 14(992-1993):.126-137 42 john onimhawo and cyril adamu, “an afrocentric perspective on human migration: the nigerian experience.” a paper presented at the ist prof. imobighe’s memorial lecture and ist international conference on migration and global security of the centre for strategic and development studies (csds), ambrose alli university, ekpoma. edo state, nigeria, 18th 20th july, 2018. 43 onimhawo and adamu, “an afrocentric perspective,” 17. 44 kwame gyekye, “african ethic” accessed april 10, 2018, https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/african-ethics. 45 ezenweke, nwadialor and kanayo, “understanding human,” 64. 46 ezenweke, nwadialor and kanayo, “understanding human,” 64. 47 barbara nussbaum cited in chika onyejiuwa, “ubuntu: an african culture of human solidarity,” accessed march 16, 2020, http://aefjn.org/en/ubuntu-anafrican-culture-of-human-solidarity-2/ 48 kanu, “the indispensability,” 150. 49 pantaleon iroegbu, enwisdomization and african philosophy, (owerri: international universities press, 1994), 84 50 jacob olupona cited in anthony chiorazzi, “the spirituality of africa” the harvard gazette, accessed march 16, 2020, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/ 51 olupona cited in chiorazzi, the spirituality 52 kanu, “the indispensability,” 157. 356 26 human formation, religion, and violence: a critical analysis of an unholy alliance. john segun odeyemi, ph.d department of theology dusquene university, pittsburg, pennsylvania, usa. frjay1368@gmail.com precis as our world continues to evolve and grow, we recognize a spike and an upward curve of violence across the world. within the complexities of our common humanity which has made remarkable advancement in scientific and technological developments we find an intricate and hydra headed space of unbridled capacity for carnage, terror and violence. in this essay, i seek to explore the idea of human formation, which ought to lead to wholesomeness and the creation of good citizens. i place the ideal especially against the idea of ‘religion’ and religious violence, which has become volatile and prevalent in various regions of our world. in this paper, i simply lay out a format, which challenges assumptions, and hopefully provokes further reflections and seeks to question the contradiction of religion(s) and why they breed violence. in addition, i will explore the ontological assumptions about human formation and the intersections of the nature of this unholy alliance. introduction we live in a complex world of multi dimensions and inter-dependence with many aspects of our existence constantly intersecting with or without our conscious awareness. in this essay, i intend to explore the varied levels of intersections between religion, the wholesome and moral formation of the human person in the society and how violence is yet a reality between human formation and religious beliefs. naturally, religion, among other factors is observed to be one of the fundamental bedrock of the formation of an ethically upright person and citizen. it is therefore a conundrum worth exploring, when religion itself becomes section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 357 violent and when religious persons embrace violence. to proceed, there is a necessity to clarify a subtle yet quintessential shift in terms used in the title of this paper. in my research, specialists in the area of life coaching in modern psychology and studies in human behavioral sciences have brought me up to speed that they no longer speak only of human formation; rather, there is a deeper reflection on the totality of the formation of the human person. the distinction between these two ideas will be explored further in the next section. for this essay, the term ‘religion’ will be employed essentially in reference to the abrahamic and monotheistic religions of judaism, christianity and islam. remarks will be made briefly about other religions only to buttress points and support arguments. even though many scripts have been written specifically looking at religion and violence, this paper adds a new dimension as it relates the formation of persons with all its implications and the propensity for the same religious persons and their religious beliefs to become agents of violence. the idea of human formation and the formation of the human person lou vallone is a leading figure among life coaching experts of the human formation coalition (hfc). they focus on helping individuals particularly people preparing or already in ministry within the catholic and protestant denominations. vallone makes the distinction between human formation and the formation of the human person understood from the perspective of development. he asserts that while human formation is viewed broadly as one aspect, the formation of the human person encompasses some aspects that comes together to build an integral whole. within the newer approach, the formation of the human person includes intellectual, spiritual, pastoral formation (or relational formation), and human formation. vallone and other coalition members insists that the program of the formation of the human person is more all embracing than the outdated model of a broad human formation approach. within the intellectual formation, the person undergoing formation is helped to understand their intellectual abilities/capabilities. they are intellectually reinforced to be successful in their ministry by their insertion into the appropriate intellectual traditions of where they belong and will function. here you build the mind. for an integral formation to take place, the spirituality of the tradition remains paramount with the hope that this formation leads to the development of a personalized spirituality. here you build the soul. within pastoral formation, vallone and the coalitionists speak of relational or professional formation, which creates a matured person who is able to interact with others in a healthy and balanced manner. here you train a 358 formation of the human person in the 21st century person, mind and body to re-engage and interact in the field. it is the combination of these various aspects of the human person when properly annexed that can produce a balanced citizen or a person who carries out a specific role within the society. finally, this is the kind of human formation that is geared towards behavioral and psychosomatic development of the individual, now approached under the title of the “formation of the human person.”1 the nature of religion religions broadly are a set of belief system, which forms a pattern of practices, behaviors, worldviews, morals that relates to the connection between the human and supernatural world. religions of the world, according to leading scholars cannot be classed, categorized or defined under one simple category. generally, religions have sacred stories, rites, rituals, symbols, holy places, and doctrines, which often times are preserved or transmitted by sacred texts. fundamental to the practice of religion is an attempt to understand the origins of human existence, the origin of our universe (and sometimes, its impending dissolution), and the notion of a transcendental being often referred to as god. in classic antiquity, particularly deriving from its latin etymological roots, religio is understood as a sense of moral rectitude, ethical obligation or duty towards others, nature and even god. at this stage, religio did not reference the idea of doctrine or ritual practices. religious beliefs and practices are many and varied around the world the usual common trends include the belief in the supernatural, omnipotent being/deity who is responsible for the creation of the world. this supernatural being expects a specific moral rectitude in this world as to earn a reward either in this world, in the next or in both. organized religions has been traced back by anthropologists to the neanderthal age, and religious speculations goes even further back to the earliest dawns of human history. religions remain relevant because it has the power, through symbols, texts, rituals, liturgies to evoke a sense of mystery that ‘legislate’ order in existence. according to raymond scupin and christopher decorse, “a religious worldview helps people to discern the meaning of pain and suffering in the world. sacred myths help people make sense of the world and also explain and justify cultural values and social roles.”2 while some claim that religion as faith contradicts reason, others argue that faith and reason are interlinked, so that when they are properly annexed religion tends to bring forth a properly mannered individual. religions of the world could almost be marked out distinctly by regions, however, the majority of self-professed practitioners of religion in the world belong to the three monotheistic and abrahamic faith of judaism, christianity and islam, hinduism and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 359 buddhism closely follow these. in recent times, a certain demographic known as religiously unaffiliated, who are either self-acclaimed atheists or agnostics are yet found to have some religious beliefs or tend to some spirituality especially of the eastern types. in the united states for instance, while many americans no longer go to the christian churches, many are found to be attracted by various eastern religious philosophies like yoga or meditation. while ontologically, religion should be the ideal space for an alternate world of peace, justice, truth and non-violence, historically, religion has been known to be the harbinger for violence. tikva frymerkensky sums it up thus, religions find themselves actively engaged in violence. islam confronts the rise of militant extremism and the world’s perception of islam as a violent religion. judaism is coping with the challenges of having military power and with the national struggle with the palestinians and the immediate threat of suicide bombing. hinduism faces the issue of the violent confrontations between hindus and muslims in north india. buddhism must deal with the ethnic conflict in sri lanka and the genocide in cambodia and its aftermath. even christianity, which has a past of violent conflict, now must reevaluate its concepts of just war, now that technology makes limited war very difficult and the issue arises of whether to intervene militarily in order to prevent genocide or other atrocities.3 it is important to note that from a purely historical perspective, when religions become violent, at the very root of that violence usually is found people who manipulate and hijack religion for personal purposes. it could be for political gain, economic gain, the oppression of minorities or for cultural gains. therefore, we can establish that innately, religion is not per se violent but it can be used to perpetrate violence. there are various reasons why religions may turn violent, and these reasons will be explored carefully later on in this paper. for now, it suffices to point out an underlying theological problem that is often not identified when there is a conversation about religions. most religions require faith, a strong belief based on personal spirituality and conviction, without physical proof, in the existence of a benevolent higher being known as god. religion can exist epistemologically but the true act of religiosity is faith. therefore, it is possible for an individual to be religious but the same individual is not a person of faith. religion can be likened to a container, and its content is faith. relying primarily on the abrahamic and monotheistic religions of judaism, christianity and islam, and even though we can trace a history of violence among them in gargantuan proportions, yet we can find littered all through history, great men and women whose goodness and positive 360 formation of the human person in the 21st century contributions continues to inspire humanity even today. the relations between religions and violence or in a more specific manner the relationship between practitioners of religions and the religions they practice are quite diffused; in proximity, religions, persons and their environment can be violent and can be kind. i argue that most people are introduced to religion but never quite make the next step; a personal growth into faith. it is my position that it is within the various camps of religionists that the world has produced extremists thereby giving birth to religious violence. some argue that violence is embedded deep in the dna of every human person. and given the right conditions, motivations or even provocation, the beast in everyone can come to the surface. there are also those who opine that there is a natural cosmic evil, an eternal battle between light and darkness, between good and evil, and more succinctly when couched in religious language; it is the eternal battle between god and the devil for the human soul. j. harold ellens debunks these assumptions by arguing, “the notion that evil is cosmic and that reality is split, from the transcendental level down to our empirical experience, is profoundly untrue. there is no evidence on the basis of which to conclude that there is such a thing as cosmic evil or that some grand warfare between good and evil, god and the devil, rages in the universe or in our personal world.”4 ellens continues, “…the suffering of this world arises from our actions or our failure to act, either from inadequate or bad will, or from inadequate or bad information, or from inadequate or inefficient effort, or from lack of power or ability to do better or indifferently.”5 ellens submits that religious violence is born out of the nature of humanity still grappling with understanding the power of nature and the complexities of the world around us. outside of the erroneous belief in ontological evil or cosmic conflict between good and evil, ellens avers that violence by humans broadly “…are just communities of inadequate, ignorant, and sick humans trying to find their way to meaning in a world of radical freedom, constant growth, the perpetual change attendant upon growth, and the pervasive pain that accommodating change always brings.”6 ellens surmise that humanity is naturally capable of devising violence, “without metaphoric prodding or genetic pathogenesis. the palestinians and israelis have no mortgage on violence; al qaeda is not unique, but typical, of the universal human pathology; we need only to look within our own psyches or souls.”7 faith is personal, dynamic and specific that requires a commitment of the will to something abstract and otherworldly. when religion leads to faith, it requires a certain kind of clarity and self-understanding that makes one commit to justice, equity and not perpetuating hate and violence. conversely, religion without faith creates fundamentalism of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 361 the negative type. it believes narrowly and exclusively, insisting that he or she possesses a monopoly of god and true religion. the definition of ‘violence’ violence has become commonplace in society that many people have become inured to its effect. we encounter violence on our streets on daily basis; in the beatings meted out by the police or the army to protesters, to the pickpocket who is caught and summarily condemned by mass hysteria and set on fire on our streets. the simple acts of jostling to get on a public transport is violent in nature but accepted as the norm. when a worker eventually makes it home and settles into the sanctity of his home, he encounters violence on the tv news, violence from a spouse bitter for lack of adequate funds to run the house. when eventually he attempts to sleep, he is confronted with the violence of high temperatures without electrical power to combat it by the use of any kind of cooling device, and sometimes, the singsong of mosquitoes who remind you of how poor you really are. all of these may be perceived as a collage of separate actions, however, violence of all sorts are interconnected, “by a web of actions and behaviors, ideas, perceptions, and justifications. while the individual and situational dynamics of violent behavior may vary somewhat, they all share a number of essential characteristics that bind them together into what we can call the unity of human aggression.”8 one must not presume definitionally or otherwise that violence is limited only to physical aggression, bodily harm or injury; violence can also be emotional or psychological. in this light, i find leonard berkowitz’s definition of violence apt, “any form of behavior that is intended to injure someone physically or psychologically.”9 an attempt to trace the continuum of violence exemplifies the depth and range of how violence subtly has become a subculture in modern times. within the spectrum of violence, we can include, physical assault, murder, serial, mass, spree killings, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, crime of passion, street crimes, hate crimes, mob violence, genocide, verbal and psychological abuse, terrorism, kidnapping, gang violence, ethnic violence and religious violence. religious violence are usually born out of delusions that subjectivises and personalizes truth. harold ellens encapsulates religious violence very succinctly thus, violence is always the product of such worldviews. whether it is violation of the truth, or violation of persons, property, and appropriate procedures for human social and juridical order, it is violence. whether it destroys persons, the necessary conditions of healthy human existence, or useful understandings of the real world, it is violence. whether it 362 formation of the human person in the 21st century corrupts freedom, constraints legitimate liberty, or fouls the human nest with mayhem and bestiality, it is violence. whether it oppresses persons or peoples with the force and power of empire building, represses hope and the resilience of the human spirit with mass-casualty fear and intimidation, or terrorizes the tranquility of children with media reports of those kinds of mayhem, it is phenomenally destructive violence.10 religious violence therefore is a creation of a person or persons whose ethical formation is flawed and thriving on absolutists’ and fundamentalistic positions degenerates into psychosis. this is a dangerous psychosis because wherever it is found it is usually dogmatic, ideological and exclusivist in nature. it cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be reviewed or critiqued, it is rigid, unchanging and cannot tolerate any other truths outside of its own, neither can this position accept amendments or new insights. whenever the absolutist feels cornered or threatened by an opposing idea, in their demented mind, to defend their own truth is to result into violence. when religion become violent: from fundamentalism to extremism core to religious violence is the conflict between orthodoxy, liberalism and modernism at crossroads for the modern person in contemporary times. overtime, religious violence has been fomented by those who claim orthodoxy, be it the catholic crusades, the never ending jihads of radical islam and the jewishpalestinian conflict; they are grounded on orthodoxy. however, it has become even more problematic when it is re-translated as orthodoxy against liberal post modernity. events of 9/11 remain a poster child and watershed for an outrage incomprehensible or imaginable to the normal human psyche until it happened. beyond perhaps, political and economic reasons, this act of brazen terrorism is primarily an ideological one. in one act of savage violence, the world experienced the collision of extreme islamic orthodoxy against a perceived extreme western liberalism and the ‘waywardness of western modernism.’ sadly, and according to ellens, “the tragedy of that terrorism is severe enough at the physical and material level to gain global attention and concern.”11 this writer states that the real tragedy of this violence lies in the fact that “it is a state of the soul or psyche, conditioned and twisted by specific religious archetypes. those terrorists apparently really believed that their action was an execution of the will and intentions of god and for it they would have ‘exceedingly great reward’.”12 conversely, we must consider what andrea riccardi refers to as ‘the decline of religion’; a situation where postmodern liberalism has jettisoned the idea of religion and twentieth century industrial and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 363 technological civilization has found a new god. some contend that modernity with its new humanism has sounded the death toll for religious belief. within modernity is the evolution and creation of the new political order, the state. riccardi states, “the state’s view has been a secular one, and the secular view has even been an ethic that has become as it were a lay religion, with its own social rites… society has ceased to identify itself with religion.”13 in this view, summarily, the twentieth century continued with the idea that modernity was sweeping religion away from its role as a protagonist in history… religion came to be associated with fanaticism or with the memory of the wars of religion which had stained europe with blood or which had been fought between the christian world and the muslim world. the elimination of religion from social life was regarded as a factor of progress and stability.14 subliminally we must also reflect on the relationship between the origins of the political state and religions. while islam and judaism can lay claim to a religion that is embedded strongly in the culture and nationhood of the environs in which it originated, christianity does not share the same history. in fact, for the first three centuries of its infancy, christianity was persecuted by the state and its political machinery. in contemporary times, the infractions of the state against religion, albeit, christianity as a religion in the separation of church and state is worthy of evaluation in another paper. it suffices to say that religions can become violent depending on how the political state impinges on religious liberties or how it favors one religion against the other in a multi-religious space. emmanuel ojeifo in a newspaper piece written and published by this day newspaper on march 19, 2020, while reflecting on religion and violence argues that when people become entrapped in what he calls “mental and theological prisons of sectarianism”, they become blind and unable to perceive what is valuable due to globalization and how it impacts the religious sphere. ojeifo states, “they think to welcome this good [of globalization] is to put their faith at risk of extinction. the reaction to this is therefore, one of intolerance to difference, which finds expression in the rhetoric of ‘we’ vs ‘them’ or ‘the chosen vs. the rest.’ when this intolerance is pushed to the extreme, it leads to the vilification and demonization of the other.”15 and in the classic wole soyinka saying, we then move quickly from “i am right, you are wrong,’ to ‘i am right; you are dead’! it is within this scope that poorly formed individuals turn into a menace to society. while religious formation, formal education, societal education, peer education all fail to produce a worthwhile citizen, you end up with a maniac, closed minded absolutist ready to cause mayhem if his way is not the only way. 364 formation of the human person in the 21st century edward schillebeeckx extrapolates on two claims made by religious adherents, which quickly devolves into violence; first, he points out the claim made that one religion is the only true religion. according to him, “here the right of the other religion to exist is consistently denied. in a multicolored society such a negation is in itself a virtual declaration of war.”16 second, is what he calls the established guarantee of the wellbeing of human society based on ‘my god alone’ syndrome. he avers, “this second foundation for religious violence is the conviction… on the basis of its claim that the god whom they confess is the direct guarantee of the wellbeing of human society.”17 schillebeeckx, submits that “even if a religion recognizes itself as one alongside many other religions, it can incite violence because of all kinds of alliances or presumptions, hidden or open, which are in fact bound up with it and therefore because of an implied distorted picture of god.”18 in his final summation, schillebeeckx states, …the whole of human kind is the elect people of god. all historical forms of belief in a religious election must be at the service of and subject to the criticism of universal election; otherwise the self-understanding of election in individuals, peoples, or faith communities also pose a threat, involves danger and violence, to those of other faiths or none at all. this can prove a breeding ground of violence.19 religions therefore, to remain through to its classical definition and foundational authority remains true in so far as it does not make absolutists claims to truths about god-even when there are doctrines or scared texts that make these claims. no government or persons can legitimize this sort of claim without leaving the back door open for violence. anyone can choose to believe in what they believe in, but no one can impose their beliefs on others even when it implies an eternal or temporal damnation of body or soul. fundamentalism usually is born of orthodoxy and it is not limited to the religious sphere alone. according to j. harold ellens, “fundamentalism is a psychopathology that drives its proponents to the construction of orthodoxies in whatever field it is in which those proponents live or work.”20 ellens is of the opinion that “today we would certainly be forced to include in that category of most dangerous movements both islamic religious fundamentalism and fundamentalistic israeli politics. all three of the great western religions that derive from ancient israelite religion of the hebrew bible are plagued by the presence of this sick psychology and its heretical products.”21 most dangerous of all is the danger of misinterpreting sacred texts. religions mostly approach their sacred text as revealed or divine. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 365 as such, the message of sacred texts are taking seriously. history has shown that many times, religious violence erupts because of the interpretations without context, without an understanding of history, worse still, without education in the field. d. andrew kille opines that, “to understand the role of sacred scriptures in shaping violent attitudes and behavior we must recognize that texts do not do anything in themselves. it is only in the dynamic encounter between the text and a specific reader, in a specific community, in a particular historical and cultural context that individuals engage, interpret, internalize and ultimately act on these texts.22 it is therefore easy for individuals to take a text out of context and run with it. the sacred texts can be approached from proper exegesis or simply from the point of eisegesis. the combination of wrong interpretation of sacred texts coupled with fanatical extremism is the most dangerous recipe that can quickly result into religious violence. proposals even though religions may have been used historically as a tool to back up violence, to maintain power, to subjugate others and often times to disenfranchise the less powerful, religions remain essential to the equilibrium of persons and the society. religion wields its own power over people’s minds and lives. it affects how many relate peacefully or otherwise in a largely pluralistic society. religion can be used to form cooperation between nations and it can be used to cause wars among sovereignties. no matter how much contemporary culture lays claim to civility, the litmus test is found often in how we employ religious tenets to build or tear down communities. in olusegun okedairo’s work, titled africanism, he asserts, …a country may have all the means of modern technology but should it lack the necessary properties… then rather than be said to be civilized is uncivilized. a country’s constitution that features the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion among other rights is a civilized one. in the same vein, one of the indices of a country’s holy writ that is uncivil or a man’s incivility or lack of culture is the absence of these fundamental rights. hence anybody who discriminates, ridicules, attacks, maligns, maims or kills another on account of religion is not only wicked…but strictly speaking, he is not civilized, he is a pagan, bush man or ill mannered. call him a zombie, you will not be wrong, because you would have beyond this planet to find a more striking example of mechanical religionists, blind adherent to a verbal 366 formation of the human person in the 21st century formula without any regard for conscience or common sense.23 politicians, religious leaders and all who hold positions of authority over others must turn away from the seduction of using religion to illegitimately maintain and perpetuate personal gain and power. rather, leaders ought to explore means by which religions can be a tool for ameliorating all sorts of class misunderstandings. helena cobbans is right when she avers, “at their very best, religious ideals and precepts can, when confronted with the chaos and the bottomless tragedy and perversion of the natural order that are induced by war, be used in ways that provide succor to afflicted and healing at all levels of society from the individual person through the group to the nation.”24. if bad people can manipulate religion for personal gain, then good people must work tirelessly to make sure religion is a veritable tool for development and growth. in recapitulating as part of a few proposal, we can result to a simple antithesis of the problems already enumerated. namely, we need to pay attention to the fundamentals of the formation of the human person; rounded and wholesome. anything else creates the conducive atmosphere for the breeding of anarchists and extremists. the interpretative approach to the reading of sacred texts in all religions, when not attended to respectfully and intellectually will continue to be the ontological basis for religious violence. sacred texts are powerful and portends possibilities for peace or violence. the proliferation of religions around the world into conservative, moderate, liberal, ultra-modern, etc, and the re-interpretation of scriptural texts under these varying traditions remains an underlying factor for religious violence. unfortunately, very little can be done in correcting this error. it is important also to study and come to an agreement of the interaction between ‘church and state.’ there is a need for an anthropology particular to a place and its people to know the degree of separation. traditionally, some cultures are very religious and their civil codes derive from their religious worldview. in some other climes, this is not so, especially as it can be found in most of western democracies. most importantly, religions should not be used as a political advantage against other religions within a body politic or as a leverage for the maintenance of power. for religion not to turn violent, it must not be used to give undue advantage to adherents either for jobs, appointments or admissions. finally, wholistic human formation should create citizens whose altruism is not based on indices like religion, ethnicity or political alliances rather, these citizens must be focused on the thriving of the commonwealth, peace building and non-violence. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 367 conclusion as part of our efforts as religious people or civil society to engage in attempts at proper formation of the human person, we must keep in mind that the world will never embrace one faith or one religion. in living the reality of pluralism of religions, all citizens must accept the task of learning the maxim, ‘live and let live.’ on this andrea riccardi states, “reality and the religious traditions have constantly given rise to a demand for dialogue and understanding between the different religious worlds. this orientation contrasts with the tendency to retreat into narrow identity and to engage in conflict, and with the use of the religions for nationalistic or bellicose ends.”25 it is for this reason that many countries now create channels to engage differing religious groups within their enclave in constructive dialogues. in contemporary times, the monotheistic religions must take the lead in a new re-orientation of its adherents towards peace building through more ecumenical and dialogical relationships. hermann haring sums it up as a need for “a revitalization of communication, a democratic attitude and an appropriate differentiation of functions.”26 haring goes further to state that religions for modern man will be less violent if dissidents are not suppressed or condemned as kafirs or heretics but engaged and taken seriously as dialogue partners, violence then can be averted. according to haring, “those who want to overcome violence credibly must overcome its legitimization, whether manifest or concealed, in their own communities… that makes the chances for the future all the better, the less christianity and islam succumb to the seduction of worldly power.”27 we know from history that none of the great religions of the world can be exonerated of the complicity in violent conducts. it is the duty of religion in the modern context to oppose violence in all its forms and overcome its productivity. yet this nonviolence must not become passivity especially in reaction to political and class oppression of the masses. religion necessarily must be at the forefront of forming the human person in consciousness, social responsibility and when necessary civil disobedience and active resistance. more than at any other time in history, religion must become more a synonym for peace in practical ways. for instance, the gathering of world religions and their leaders in assisi to pray for peace at the invitation of the pope. we cannot but recall the role of the truth and reconciliation committee in post independent south africa and the same work done after the rwandan genocide. the work groups in islam, even though overshadowed by mainline political islam must be encouraged and given a spotlight. groups such as muslim peace fellowship, muslim civil rights protection center, and an emerging 368 formation of the human person in the 21st century number of muslim intellectuals and authors who all seek nonviolence and means of peaceful resolutions to conflicts. the eastern religions, hinduism, buddhism, taoism, confucianism, brahmanism and so forth, already notionally have the idea of nonviolence within their believe system. like the west, they have not always fared well in keeping peace. but they also have a chance to reclaim their own history and antecedents to do no evil to anyone. it is a duty binding on anyone involved in the formation and educating of others to seek to open the minds of those educated that the world does have grey lines, and so it is never directly black or white. for religious violence to be overcome we need a new generation devoid of the psychopathology of religious extremism of all sorts. the greatest challenge of all is to educate people who understand that responding to violence-by-violence will never yield any meaningful or positive results. true religion that has transited to faith will always seek the paths of grace, of peace and work for the welfare of the human family. true religion must abhor violence and imposition of its own creed on nonadherents. true religion must always be committed to the work of healing a broken world and uniting a fragmented people. outside of these, it is no longer a religion; it is a mechanism of oppression and suppression disguised by those who stand to gain by it as religion. endnotes 1 oral interview with rev. lou vallone, mdiv., ma jcb, coach/trainer hfc. interview was held at his residence on march 5, 2020 2 raymond scupin & christopher r. decorse. anthropology: a global perspective. 9th edition. (los angeles: sage publication, inc., 2021)(instructional copy) p. 467 3 tivka frymer-kensky. religions and violence: an analytical synthesis. the ecumenical review.* 4 j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion: violence in judaism, christianity, and islam. first edition. (westport, ct: praeger publishers, 2004), p. 3 5 ibid. 6 ibid. p. 8 7 j. harold ellens. sacred scriptures, ideology, and violence. first edition. op.cit. p. 256 8 alex alvarez & ronet d. bachman. violence: the enduring problem. (los angeles: sage publications ltd., 2021) (instructional copy), p. 3 9 leonard berkowitz. aggression: its causes, consequences, and control. (new york: mcgraw-hill, 1993), p. 3 10 j. harold ellens. sacred scriptures, ideology, and violence. fourth edition. op.cit. p. 122 11 j. harold. ellens. op.cit. p. 264 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 369 12 ibid. 13 andrea riccardi. “between violence and dialogue: the religions in the twentieth century” in wim beuken & karl-josef kuschel religion as a source of violence? concilium 1997 number 4, p. 72 14 ibid. p. 73 15 emmanuel ojeifo. “a global awakening of the spirit.” this day newspaper, march 18th part 1, march 19th part 2 16 edward schillebeeckx. “documentation: religion and violence” in concilium, op.cit. p. 132 17 ibid 1818 ibid. p. 133 19 ibid. p. 136 20 j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion: violence in judaism, christianity, and islam. fourth edition. (westport, ct: praeger publishers, 2004), p. 120 21 ibid. p. 121 22 d. andrew kille. “the bible made me do it”: text, interpretation and violence. in j. harold ellens. (ed.) the destructive power of religion. op.cit. p. 56 23 olusegun okediaro. africanism. (lagos, nigeria: kofo-david graphics, 2006), p. 165 24 helena cobbans. “religion and violence.” journal of the american academy of religion. dec., 2005, vol. 73, number 4, p.1125 25 andrea riccardi. “between violence and dialogue: the religions in the twentieth century.” op.cit. p. 80 26 hermann haring. overcoming violence in the name of religion (christianity and islam) in concilium, op.cit. p. 88 27 ibid. p. 91 370 27 formation of the christian youth and its implication on integral development in the nigerian society prof. felix ehimare, enegho dean, faculty of arts and humanities, kogi state university, anyigba, research fellow, department of christian spirituality, church history and missiology university of south africa, pretoria felixenegho@gmail.com abstract the place of the youth in the growth and development of any nation cannot be overemphasized and nigeria is not an exception. many today on the african continent have blamed the west for the underdevelopment of africa as a people and as a continent because of the transatlantic slave trade that devastated the continent for some centuries. the transatlantic slave trade was a segment of the global slave trade that transported between 10 million and 12 million enslaved africans across the atlantic ocean to the americas from the 16th to the 19th century. it was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular trade, in which arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from europe to africa, slaves from africa to the americas, and sugar and coffee from the americas to europe. however, though such african youths who were part of the slave trade saga rather than being formed in africa were exported to the western world, this paper aims at assessing critically the formation of the christian youth in nigeria today with the intent of looking at its implication for the development of nigeria. how are the youths being formed in nigeria? who are the formators? are such formators utilizing the right tools of formation in our time and age? are the youths being formed aware of their roles in their training? why are the nigerian christian youths always so eager to migrate to any country in the world? why are so many christian youths involved in all kinds of criminality in nigeria and abroad today? what is the way forward at mailto:felixenegho@gmail.com https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-trade https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-trade https://www.britannica.com/place/atlantic-ocean https://www.britannica.com/topic/triangular-trade https://www.britannica.com/topic/triangular-trade section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 371 curbing the challenges facing the christian youths in contemporary nigeria? what indeed is the problem with nigeria, is it the youths or the system? these questions would form the basis of this paper. this work utilizes the socio-historical method. keywords: christian, youth, formation, development, nigeria introduction formation of the human person has continued to receive attention globally and nigeria is not left out in the whole enterprise. whenever we hear of the word “formation” especially in roman catholic parlance, our minds quickly swing to and fro like the pendulum to formation in our seminaries. but far from it, formation is not only for those intending to be priests or religious, monks or nuns, but for all human persons. the concept “formation” is one that should not be undermined in our world that is fast going through all kinds of transformation, a transformation that suggests that we need to be cautious in our relationship with people of different mentality, ethnic/tribal affiliations, religious and ideological differences. it has often be said by all and sundry that the world has become a global village with each unit of that village having its own ideologies and models. in defining the concept “youth” in nigeria,, the federal ministry of youth and sports development on may 24, 2019 launched the revised national youth policy, 2019 with youth stakeholders in akure, ondo state. the review which was long overdue – the 2009 policy states that it should be reviewed periodically (every five years) – was due for review in 2014. however, due to various challenges, the policy review process was not completed till 2019 (an additional five years after the last review was to have taken place). in the 2019 policy foreword, the minister of youth and sports development, solomon dalung, quickly points out that, ‘a major thrust of the current review is regarding the age bracket for the classification of youth from existing grading of 18 – 35 years to 15 – 29 years. the review is informed by practical empirical analysis and the need to promote the appropriate targeting of desired beneficiaries of intervention programmes for the youth rather than adults masquerading as youth.’ internet source (may 28, 2019) however, this paper focuses on formation of the christian youth and its implication on integral development in the nigerian society. the act of forming people is quite onerous and challenging. it therefore demands all the time and attention one can possibly give in seeing to the realization of that goal of making impact on the human persons and in this case the youth, so as to assist in the integral development of the 372 formation of the human person in the 21st century nigerian society. this paper shall adopt the socio-historic approach in its research methodology. integral formation of the christian youth in nigeria the formation of the christian youth in nigeria starts from birth. one born into a christian family as a child automatically shares from the table of other christians at home, in the school and up to his/her work place. as a christian such a child displays the traits of christianity inherited from his/her parents and live with that until he/she begins to live on his/her own. this brings us to the idea of what a name truly means. there is nothing like a good name, it is often said. it endures forever and never dies. a good image means a good name, a positive reputation, a respectable noble, self-comportment among the members of one’s community. iroegbu (2000, p.186) often the fraudulent and wicked though rich, end up as persona non grata (undesired persons) in the long run. they build on the vanishing, and sooner or later they vanish with it. an old english primary school poem has it: the loss of gold is much, the loss of time is more, the loss of honour is such a loss that no man can restore. iroegbu (2000, p.187) to loss one’s name, one’s honour and reputation is a disaster that is unhealable, unrecuperable. it can practically not be restored. the human person and in this case the youth, has an image, that of divinity. the divine is being in goodness, perfection and love. it is therefore a great value to be one who mirrors goodness, excellence and love. what makes a good name is for one to be good and not wicked to others; to be excellent in performance in your trained and talented area; and to have loving-kindness, a caring, understanding and tolerant heart. therein lies the good image of a person. these are the values that last forever. iroegbu (2000, p.187) the place of the family in formation the young people in the society cannot be overemphasized. in all societies north and south, changes appear to be under way, as a result of which individuals and social groups are subjecting their relationships with the family, politics, the economy and religion to a critical review, albeit at varying speeds. by so doing the traditional concept of society is being stood on its head. indeed, there is talk of ‘a crisis of social cohesion’. several authors, including hervieuleger believe the emergence of new models of family will bring about ‘institutional deregulation’ or ‘deinstitutionalisation’. roussel even alludes to a dual form of deinstitutionalisation within the family affecting section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 373 both the rules and laws which governs it and the normative framework to which it adheres. guiblehon (2017, pp.7172) it is important to mention here with regards to formation of the christian youth in nigeria just as elsewhere around the world how certain practices by the male folks in our society can affect the psychic of both the young girl and boy. in many cultural and religious traditions the woman’s body is conceived in such a way that the autonomy of her will and wishes is completely denied. she is often seen as an object for unlimited access. it is not uncommon to find that in many cases of rape, the tendency is to blame the woman rather than the man. a particular fashionable example is the reference to the so –called “provocative dress” of women as if this is a good excuse for violating their persons in cases of rape. another typical example is what is portrayed in john 8:3-5a “the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. now in the law moses commanded us to stone such women” but the law as stipulate in the book of leviticus required that both the adulterer and the adulteress should be stoned to death (lev. 20:10). in the case cited in the passage quoted above, the rule is bent and the woman alone was condemned to be stoned to death. this is a case where rules and regulations are used to control the body of the woman. amoah (1996, p.80) with this kind of orientation, young men often believe that the world is theirs and therefore see women as tools only for their pleasure not minding women’s disposition to such act. this kind of orientation need to be moderated, whereby women should perceive themselves as the image and likeness of god and men are to see them as such and show them all the respect they truly deserve. there is also the existence of mental and spiritual violence as well as the fact that physical violence can harm and destroy not only the body but also the human spirit. there is the need to transform ourselves and our world; we need to foster. and gather empowering resources of strength for new cultural creation and transformation. that is why we need new forms of spirituality: spirituality for life which helps and sustain us in choosing life, to affirm, increase, and trust life, and to recognize the energy and power of god’s spirit in all the movements of life. spirituality is quite imperative in formation of the christian youth. for many people, spirituality is a soft word, something idealistic and dreamy, even sugary, like the icing of a cake, or it is understood merely as something inward, personal, private, or escapist. spirituality must not be considered as something abstract, divorced from life, as a far-flung saintly ideal for the devout and few; on the contrary, it is something very 374 formation of the human person in the 21st century concrete, strong, physical and material, embodied, something we can really touch and be in touch with. ursula (1996, p.152) there exists a strong tradition in spiritual teaching about the necessity for a discernment of spirits: what is good and what is bad, what is debilitating, distorting spirituality, and what is a strengthening, nourishing one which can bring about growth, lead us to the fullness of life, and endow us with the strength of wisdom. spirituality is deeply grounded in human experience, but it is also linked to the belief that there is a greater, fuller reality which surrounds, beckons, and calls us. christians speak of the call to holiness and perfection implicit in the gospel, which says, “you must be perfect as your (parent) in heaven is perfect” (mt. 5:48). from the beginning of christianity the search for spiritual perfection, of life lived in the spirit of god, has led to new forms of life, to asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism. countless christian writers, from the desert fathers and mothers to medieval and modern saints and mystics, have written about their spiritual quests and struggles, left instructions and teachings, and provided us with models of christian discipleship and holiness. ursula (1996, p.152) as an interpretative, existential tool, ursula (1996) opines that spirituality is the attitude and interpretation we adopt towards our own experiences to give them meaning, to make sense of them. we can do this by drawing on the resources of a religious faith, on a programme for action relating to justice and peace, on an ideal of being fully human, on a relationship of love and forgiveness. there is the need to discover the ever transcendent and yet so near horizon which surrounds us, envelops and cradles us. in this sense spirituality as the struggle for life is quite literally the immense effort, labour, and pain to produce and bring into life into this world, as women in collaboration with men always do, but also to attend to all details of growth, to nurture it with love and care, and struggle to live and survive against all odds, to make ends meet, to produce the food needed for so many mouths, to calm down fights and quarrels. it is more than merely struggling to survive; it is also the tremendous effort to live a fuller, more abundant, richer, and more meaningful human life. understood in this sense, spirituality which is a great tool in formation of the christian youth is the breath and blessing of life; it is the very bread of life. (154) the nigerian christian youth and interface with other religions the christian youth in nigeria is faced with so many challenges as he/she strives to live out his/her live in a country that is passing through a difficult face in its history. many observers today see nigeria as one of the most religious nations on this planet. one can adduce that religion is the nigerian culture as it permeates all aspects of the average life of a section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 375 nigerian from birth to death. in every city, town and village, the most imposing structures are religious houses. with such religiosity, one would readily have expected sanity in every area of life of every nigerian. if nigeria must become a peaceful nation and attain holistic development, there must be a better approach to the issue of how the nigerian christian youth is trained. i choose to lay emphasis on the nigerian christian youth, because he/she is the focus or target of this paper. (otonko (2018, p.1) religion is a worldwide phenomenon which has played a part in all human cultures. it is an aspect of human experience that may intersect, incorporate or transcend other aspects of life and society. nigeria is clearly a religiously pluralized society. three religions, however, stand out very clearly. these are african traditional religion (atr), islam and christianity. islam entered nigeria by the eleventh century and christianity set roots in about the early 15th century. since inception, the two religions have grown steadily on the nigerian soil. one would ordinarily expect that the country should be reaping the good fruits of these two religions presently. sadly, however, in nigeria, especially in recent years, the pages of several newspapers, news items and comments on the radio and television, articles in journals and magazines, and also the social media, fall over themselves identifying and reporting the periodic religious upheavals in the country and the adverse effects these have had on the citizenry. thus, religious crises have become a ready tool for all forms of national disagreements and conflicts. because the north-south dichotomy is coterminous with muslim-christian entities, every argument in the land is more often than not very readily given religious interpretation. this orientation or perception of national issues has become a lethal threat to the corporate existence of the nation. (otonko (2018, pp. 7-8) extremism has been extolled in the practice of religion in the contemporary nigerian society. various provocative seminal topics are often on the lips of preachers, and these often make people of divergent religious inclinations live in awe of one another. this tide has persisted, thereby helping to widen and deepen the dichotomy that exists among adherents of different religions in nigeria. thus religions which ought to preach peace, and which should be harbingers of this peace, have become avenues leading to riots, clashes and cold wars between citizens of the country. this certainly looks like an outrageous clash of paradigms. (otonko (2018, p.8) one may wonder why this analysis of the nigerian christian youth and the interface with other religions. it is for the simple reason that in forming the christian youth, first by the parents who constitute the first church the youth ever knew while growing up, the church and the 376 formation of the human person in the 21st century school, especially christian schools must educate the youth to be tolerant towards other religions and adherents of other religions. the family as agent of youth formation hervieu-leger in her analysis of the anthropology of the church asserts that it favours the biblical model of marriage and the family on the grounds that the norm-the one true married family, following biblical norms, established by god consists of a father (male), a mother (female) and the children they conceive together and that the family is the only natural institution capable of laying the ground for the establishment of a bond between spouses, parents and children. guiblehon (2017,p.77) assessing hervieu-leger this form of anthropology which makes marriage the unique, sole and unequivocal benchmark of all human conjugality, leans too heavily on the ‘divine will which, it is assumed, is expressed by a natural order explicitly linking a union with procreation and preserving the principle of submission by women to men.’ she however concludes that this model fails to give recognition to the fact that the creation of an ideal couple is based on the virtue of love. for this reason, she regards it as rather discriminatory. also, there have been increasing calls, even among the church faithful urging respect for individual choices and for the ‘menu of options’. it is quite a challenge to talk of specifically african concepts of marriage and the family, since the influence of western models and practices is extensive. however, to be docile and not proactive would be tantamount to suicide for the church, which might be forced to accept a model it feels intense dislike or disgust for. it would appear, therefore, that the church in nigeria just as in many parts of africa has little choice but to formulate its own model of the family which remains true to the church as well as the rich african heritage and its ideas on the family, which include a strong feeling for relationships, kinship and brotherhood, a sense of the importance of solidarity, hospitality, respect for elders and traditions, and a sense of honour for and attachment to ancestors, all of which help to maintain group equilibrium (pp.78-80) christian parents should aim at raising children who love and serve the lord. perhaps, this is their most important goal. they need to tell their children about the lord and teach them about his love, so that they come to know the lord on a personal basis. it is not strange to see children today who do not want to attend church services. often, christian parents feel baffled because their efforts at trying to raise their children in the knowledge of god does not seem to be working, especially as their efforts run up against indifference or resistance in the children. some children do not want to hear about the lord. they do not want any part in family devotions. often times, it is easy for parents section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 377 to lose faith and decide that their children really do not have any desire for the lord or his life. ralph (1978, p.139) we have it often said that ‘it is the habit a child forms at home that he exhibits outside and the manners that a girl-child learnt at home that accompany her to her husband’s house’. it is not what the child learnt in school that is mentioned here. when many today refer to education as the greatest legacy parents can bequeath to their children, such persons seem to undermine informal education which encompasses the rudiments of moral and religious formation. for those who have the means, the services of house helps would do in place of their parental responsibility. this is rather an ill-disposition towards the formation of the young ones since as the saying goes, “blood is thicker than water”. it is a valid submission that no nanny or house help will ever satisfactorily fulfill the duties of parents with regard to the raising of children. parents need to perform their role as parents for the proper formation of their children and for the good of our society. onoise (2013, p.38) the church and formation of the christian youth in nigeria christians comprise of the clergy and the laity and their task involves evangelism and proselytism. the general activities in the church are presided over by the religious leaders who are mandated to perform due to their special positions. religious leaders are persons who are trained and set apart to carry out spiritual rites and ceremonies, offer sacrifices to god sp as to obtain graces, favours and spiritual harmony. hence, the clergy are symbols and representatives, spiritual and moral guardians of god’s love to and for humanity. they are personal representatives, mouth – pieces of the divine will, teachers and interpreters of the sacred mysteries and spiritual counselors in their communities. muyomi (2011, p.505) this indicates that the church has an important role in the formation of the christian youth in nigeria. the traditional position of the mission of the church heavily emphasized the spiritual perspective. this stand needs to be modified, when we take into consideration the increasing crises in society such as population explosion, famine, poverty, wars, political oppression, muzzling of freedoms of expression, worship. movement and association, corruption at all levels, increase in refugees and lack of provision of medical care, education and other services. (p.505) the proliferation of street children and street dwellers can be associated not only to poverty but also the break up of the marriage and family structures, as well as a clear indication of the failure of the leaders to ensure socio-economic parity. these groups of people lead a dehumanizing, destitute and desperate lifestyle.(p.507) 378 formation of the human person in the 21st century the school and the task of formation christian schools are quite germane in the all round formation of the youth. it does not matter if such youth are christians or muslims as exemplified in the fact that most of the early nationalists in nigeria who were at the forefront of clamouring for nigeria’s political independence went through christian schools, especially catholic schools. the catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the church, especially for education in the faith. remembering that ‘the simultaneous development of man’s psychological and moral consciousness is demanded by christ almost as a precondition for the reception of the appropriate divine gifts of truth and grace’, the church fulfills her obligation to foster in her children a full awareness of their rebirth to a new life. it is precisely in the gospel of christ, taking root in the minds and lives of the faithful, that the catholic school finds its definition as it comes to terms with the cultural conditions of the times. flannery (2002, p.608) while policies and opportunities differ from place to place, the catholic school has its place in any national school system. by offering such an alternative the church wishes to respond to the obvious need for cooperation in a society characterized by cultural pluralism. by so doing, she assists in promoting that freedom of conscience and the parental right to choose the school best suited to parents’ educational objectives. there is a sort of conviction that the catholic schools, with their educational objectives, perform a vital service for the church in today’s world. the church takes part in cultural dialogue through schools, making her own positive contribution to the cause of the integral formation of man. there is the belief that the absence of the catholic school would be a great loss for civilization and for the natural and supernatural destiny of man. (p.609) self as agent of formation while agents such as the family, the school, the church and society are all key players in the the process of formation of the christian youth; however the major actor in the formation drama is the youth. self – mastery for self-giving is the solid principle of relating to others with success. only a fine disciplined mind in a well ordered body can create and achieve something worthwhile for himself and for others. scholars of literary and historical tell us that the greatest victor on earth is not he who conquers kingdoms and nations. for these are only temporary and external. the greatest victor is he who conquers himself. it is one who has perfect control over his unruly emotions, wild desires and bad tempers. the body and mind are by nature wild. they wander away and get scattered thereby scattering the productive energies of the person, if section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 379 left uncontrolled. in some persons this trait is more dramatic than in others, yet all have a battleagainst-self to win. iroegbu (2000, p.186) the value of self-mastery is fundamental. it is to train oneself in selfcontrol and good character formation. this is through the formation of contrary habits that bring to order the areas most prone to unruliness. form good habits. practice good behavior. educate the senses. train the faculties in the right direction. it makes one a perfect gentleman or woman. many also utilize the spiritual methods, others athletic, and some other still normal human practices of self-restraint and selfcontainment. for instance if your problem is that you talk like a parrot without control, you can choose to practice restraining your tongue by using your hand to shut your mouth or using your teeth to hold your tongue because the urge to talk break loose in the nervous system. if one sees himself as a lazy person, the best and proper thing to do is to follow hard working people or group, not to draw them to his lazy-cushion, but to be inspired by them to wake up from one’s laziness-slumber. as a rule of thumb, constant systematic practice will bring about self-mastery and self-development in the desired context. self-mastery helps in fidelity to one’s life commitments, to nobility of life and to general good comportment. it makes one a gentle and good person. by so doing, the persons acquires peace and joy of life. it is a great value (p.186). food for thought formation is an ongoing process in our journey in life. formation does not end till death. we need to realize that the fact that formation exists means that one would continue to get formed from the time one is conceived in his or her mother’s womb with the collaboration of god and of one’s father. that is why it seems out of place for any person to feel that whoever is not receptive to integral formation is doomed in life and should be sent out from such a society or community. those involved in the formation of the youth have a herculean task in their hands. such persons first and foremost must bear in mind that they have a difficult project ahead of them and must work assiduously to achieve good results. backing out of the project is a sign of failure or weakness or both. formation involves the physical and the spiritual aspects. the formator must understand the physical and spiritually dimensions of training if they are to come up with great impact and excellent results. when there are problems or challenges in the forming of any human person and in this regard, the youth, there are indicators to put into very serious consideration which includes that if there is failure or successes recorded, the person being formed and the formator has his/her share in whatever went wrong or right in the training process. this means that 380 formation of the human person in the 21st century the right approach or strategy must be adopted and the youth being formed need to be receptive to training. it is not longer news that many young people in nigeria today including christian youths have the mindset to acquire wealth at all cost even if it means stealing from others. this attitude possibly is an offshoot of the corrupt and immodest life style not only by the nigerian political elites and others who the youth often look up to, but also sometimes by key players in nigerian christianity.. many youths in nigeria in trying to imitate the much older people end up being corrupt by acquiring those traits which are not in the best interest of nigeria as a nation. in the twenty first century, there is the need for policy and decision makers; including formators in all areas of life in nigeria to encourage the youths to be job creators rather than job seekers. this means that entrepreneurship should be encouraged in our school curriculum. presently, though entrepreneurship is being taught in tertiary institutions in nigeria, it is however not yet fully understood clearly by the students. many youths simply see the act of entrepreneurship as only important in passing examinations. formators need to do more in educating the young people of its importance in the growth and development of nigeria. also, formators including the government and the church need to look critically at those indicators which make the youth in nigeria to be rebellious against the system. in nigeria for instance the issue of unemployment has become a major challenge. the lack of good living condition of the young people and their inability to raise their profile to the level they would have expected have turned the youths into all forms of unruly behaviour and criminality. this aspect need to be seriously addressed. the youth should be made to realize that migrating to other countries in search of greener pasture is not necessarily the solution to their problems. the solution may just be to look inward and take their destinies in their own hands by believing in their ability to stand firm even in the midst of what may look at insurmountable challenges. the government has a big role to play in the attitude and development of the nigerian youth irrespective of the religious affiliation of such youth. the problem of insecurity needs serious attention. there is the need to tackle the problem of insecurity emanating from the fulani herdsmen who constantly terrorize people on our highways, farms and even residential areas. there are also the constant threats posed by the boko haram in their reckless bombing and killing of innocent and harmless nigerians including the youth force. if the youths are to be well formed, security in all areas is key to unlocking the numerous potentials in our youths. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 381 concluding remarks the youth constitute the bedrock of the future in any given society, and this makes it imperative that genuine and serious effort be made so as to assist in his formation. any society or group that neglects the training of young people is gradually losing its relevance and future in our world. for this reason, the church must continue to strive for the proper and all round formation of her youth because in the youth lies the continuous growth and development of the church in our society that is gradually heading towards secularism and all forms of anti christian tendencies. if the nigerian society is to grow and develop, the young people need to be made to channel their energy towards making themselves available for the right kind of formation that befits a follower of christ. however, those involved in formation of the christian youth must never give up in their effort at getting the right result in their effort at formation of the youth in meeting the numerous challenges of the 21st century. they need to have the right spirituality which should aim at attracting the youth to the things of god and the church. a genuine formator should not be someone who would always display the attitude which seems to portray that the youth should only do what he the formator says and not imitate his actions. the family, the school, the church and the society should continue to actively participate in the training and re-training of our young people for the purpose of developing the nigerian society positively; but for formation to be total, is the will and responsibility of the young person being formed. often times, punishment of the person being trained is not only the best solution, and also sending the young person out of a particular system or institution is not only the best method of formation, except it is very apparent that such a youth has become a real danger to others within the system. extra effort is required from all those involved in formation so as to achieve the desired goal of integral formation. giving up on the young person being trained so easily no matter the challenges encountered is the easiest way of neglecting one’s responsibility as a true formator. a great thinker was asked about the meaning of life. he replied, life itself has no meaning, it is an opportunity to create a meaning..! “be honest when in trouble and be simple when in wealth. be polite when in authority and be silent when in anger” “this is called “the life management.” let us all join hands in the act of formation of the christian youth so as to bring about the integral development of the nigerian society in this twenty first century. 382 formation of the human person in the 21st century references amoah, e. (1996) “violence and women’s bodies in african perspective” mananzan, mary john et. al (eds). women resisting violence: spirituality for life. orbis books. flannery, a. (ed.) (2002) vatican council ii: more post conciliar documents. st. pauls. guiblehon, b. (2017) “contemporary changes in family forms and their diversity in africa today” in klaus kramer and klaus vellguth (eds). family: living life together in the church and the world (one world theology, volume 10). cleretian communications foundations, inc. iroegbu, p. (2000) kpim of personality, treatise on the human person: respect, solidarity, liberty. eustel publications (nig). muyomi, m. j. (2011) “leadership : the church and civil society” african ecclesial review (afer), vol. 53, nos. 3 & 4. “nigeria’s new age of classification”. punch online, may 28, 2019. https://punchng.com/nigerias-new-youth-age-classification/. accessed on march 19, 2020 onoise, f.a. (2013) virtues and values. concept production kreativzone. otonko, j.o. (2018). religion, politics and society: nagging issues. pyla-mak publishers. ralph, m. (1978). husbands, wives, parents, children: foundations for the christian family. servant books ursula, k. (1996) “spirituality for life” mananzan, mary john et. al (eds). women resisting violence: spirituality for life. orbis books. 383 28 the concept of sacrifice in yoruba religion and culture prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract sacrifice occupies a fundamental place in the practice of african traditional religion. it is through sacrifices that the african relates to the spiritual beings, both good and bad, that surround him. his offerings of thanksgiving to the gods are offered through the making of sacrifices. when the time comes for the appeasement of the gods and other spiritual beings, it is through sacrifice that is done. however, this paper is concerned about sacrifice among the yoruba people. in the traditional yoruba religion and culture, sacrifice is referred to as (ebo). it connotes offering something to a particular deity or cult in other to be in communion with them or to seek favours. it was very common and regular because sacrifices have both positive and negative effects. it is believed that olodumare-god in yoruba belief has deities that are mediators between him and human beings. it is then very important to offer sacrifices to these gods in other to represent them well in the presence of olodumare. items for sacrifices are regularly prescribed by the ifa priests and how to carry out the approved sacrifice. this paper therefore gives explanation about the meaning and importance of sacrifice in the traditional yoruba culture. it, however, observed that civilization has reduced the frequency of this practice, not making an mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com 384 formation of the human person in the 21st century emphatic statement that they are no longer in practice but that they are done most of the time in secret. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: sacrifice, concept, yoruba, deities, gods, olodumare, ifa, ebo and appeasement. introduction sacrifice is a way of offering something to gain another thing. it has meaning when someone renounces or gives up something to be rewarded with another object. the concept of sacrifice sounds like trade by bartermaking exchange for something. sacrifice is to give away something valuable for the possibility of gaining something of a great value in return. this can come in form of self-respect, trust, love, freedom, favours and prosperity. it may even be for the purpose of avoiding greater loss, which means, retaining what is of value to someone. “the giving up or foregoing of some valued thing for the sake of something of greater value or having a more pressing claim” nu (2013). it can also be the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation or worship. therefore, sacrifice is made for the purpose of worship and appeasement, for avoiding loss and for attaining a better thing. when it comes to worship in africa however, sacrifice is the most primary and basic form of ritual and nu (2013) upholds that “the africans believe that verbalization is not enough in one’s relationship with the supernatural. ifa divination serves as a preamble to prayer. via ifa divination we can ascertain how to pray, to whom to pray and for what.” sacrifice in african religion according to awolalu and dopamu (1979) is the act of offering the life of animal, person or object to the divine power or powers. nu (2013) is of the opinion that for the yoruba, divining (ifa) serves as an approach to prayer and shows one why they need to pray and shows one the best procedure for elevating one’s prayer via some form of sacrifice. in this world of many choices, this complex and varied approach is still miraculously accurate and effective. in this world of choices, this complex and varied approach is necessary.the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018) presents this definition to sacrifice (ebo) in yoruba culture. “ebo means sacrifice. ebo is a ritual. ebo is the prescription that is given within the ifa divination. it is the medicine used to solve problems. ebo is a combination of materials that symbolically has meaning to a person' situation.” this is very important in every religious celebration and worship. sacrifice is mainly for the purpose of contact or communion between the divine and man and to maintain relationship. man has always employed section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 385 this means to pay dues to divinity, to ask for favours and to influence the divinity to be interested in the affairs of man. africans hold sacrifice in high esteem because it is being directed to god. blood sacrifice is the most important and efficacious of all sacrifices in the understanding of african rituals. this is evident in the offering of animal and human beings. human sacrifice is also predominant in yoruba culture and religion. “this is a practice found in every race and culture throughout the world” awolalu and dopamu (1979). it has its relevance in offering the best to the divine to satisfy him, especially in difficult times like the loom of epidemic, drought, war, flood, earthquakes or calamity. human sacrifice was also done to accompany the dedication of a new temple or bridge, upon the death of a king, high priest and great leader. the sacrificed were supposed to serve or accompany the deceased leader in the next life. the story of moremi, a yoruba woman is relevant here. moremi was a very brave and beautiful woman who, in order to deal with the problem facing her people, pledged a great sacrifice to the spirit of the river esimirin so that she could discover the strength of her nation's enemies. moremi, following the war she returned to her first husband, king oramiyan of ife (and later oyo), who immediately had her re-instated as his queen. in order to fulfil the pledge she made to esimirin before embarking on her mission, her son oluorogbo was given in sacrifice to the spirit because this is what it asked her for when she returned to its shrine. who are the yoruba? yoruba people according to atanda (1989) one of the major ethnic groups in modern nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). in the same vain, ogunyemi (2015) affirms that yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups of nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. much smaller, scattered groups live in benin and northern togo. the yoruba numbered more than 20 million at the turn of the 21st century. yoruba people have shared a common language and culture for centuries. most yoruba men are farmers, growing yams, corn (maize), and millet as staples and plantains, peanuts (groundnuts), beans, and peas as subsidiary crops; cocoa is a major cash crop. others are traders or craftsmen. women do little farm work but most of them sell produce from their husband’s farm and they also do other trades like weaving, dyeing and midwives. each community has leaders generally known as 386 formation of the human person in the 21st century oba or kabiyesi with his chiefs. these people are held in highest honour and in some cases, they are ritual leaders. yoruba as a group dwell in a world of myths, metaphors, poetry, and they strongly belief in ifa divination system, which guides their steps and decisions. “yoruba philosophy is best understood as a folk philosophy, a set of narratives and cultural practices that attempt to explain the causes and the nature of things affecting the corporeal and the spiritual universe.’ ogunyemi (2015) .yoruba people are community people; this is visible in their interaction with others especially during celebrations. their communal life is also visible in their mode of dressing uniformly and sharing of common diets. ogunyemi (2015) explains their communal life thus “the yoruba also have several kinds of voluntary associations, including the egbe, a male recreational association; the aaro, a mutual-aid association of farmers; and the esusu, whose members contribute a fixed amount of money and from which they can receive loans.” iwofa was also a practice among yoruba people where a son or daughter is used as collateral until loan is paid. they also value honesty, humility, respect for others and diligence. all these are transmitted from generation to generation through oral traditions. yoruba concept of sacrifice sacrifice known as ebo is very common in indigenous yoruba culture. indeed, is it part of their daily activities and likely items like: sheep, goat, food, fruits, eggs and any other prescribed stuff by the priest of the particular god to offer sacrifice to are used for sacrifices. after all, the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018) shows that “all of the ebo materials come from the odu ifa that was cast, each condiment represent an important part of solving the clients problems, there is no condiment that should be left out. basic condiments that are always present during any ebo i.e cool water (omi tutu), honey (oyin), and gin (oti). each one of these condiments are agents that supports the ebo, each condiments has its roll that it plays in the ebo ritual.” these sacrifices are either exposed in the shrines, cross-roads, market places, some may even been buried, at times yoruba eat or share sacrifices together with friends or community. however, how to go about the presentation of a particular sacrifice depends on the prescription of the diviner. these gods have their taste and taboos as well. sacrifice is offered everyday by individual families so as to be in communion with the divinity. community sacrifices are equally preformed regularly. it is part of the belief of yoruba that one’s a sacrifice is offered for a given purpose, through the consultation with ifa that the solution is provided for the problem in question. sacrifice must be offered regularly section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 387 both in good and bad times. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) carefully explain this as follows: “in a culture with strong beliefs in fairies and mystical causation, protective rituals and sacrifices are regularly performed. people must be protected from the wrath of fairies, and fairyhuman social relationships must be harmonized. therefore, whenever any misfortune occurs in yorùbá society and the source remains unknown, both humans and invisible spirits are subjects of divination by the people concerned. to complete any divination process, there is always a prescribed sacrifice. whether the prediction of the divination is good or bad, the client must always offer a sacrifice. if the prediction is good, a sacrifice will quicken a positive outcome; if the prediction is evil, a sacrifice will help dispel the ill effects.” in addition to this, obara-meji (2014) affirms that “it is important that the sacrifice be given on time, as a matter of fact immediately, as it is prescribed. ifa says, “there is no difference between the person that refuses to offer sacrifice on time and the one that did not offer at all”. the write up on ifaglobal network in (2018), settle for this in attempt to respond to what happens if ebo is not done after consultation with the oracle? “then you run the chances of making another problem occur stronger than your first problem you started with. it is not advisable to delay your ebo process especially when the odu has appeared. you should follow the guidance and wisdom of ifa and your ifa priest who did the consultation. once you have done ifa divination you must always know that you have to do ebo, they both work hand in hand together. the ebo helps to shift one' circumstance to a balanced outcome.” types or categories of sacrifice there are seven types or categories of sacrifice in yoruba culture as idowu (1969) affirms, this was later re-echoed by awolalu and dopamu (1979) as follows: meal and drink sacrifice is offered daily by individual and families to continue to appreciate the deity or divinity and to be in communion with the god. the head of the family is responsible for coordinating this sacrifice which can be termed as morning prayer for a particular household. libation is poured here and prayers are offered. individual present or interested members may be asked to add some intentions while all in attendance respond in resounding amen. this is equally done at feast days where food and drinks are prepared for sharing; all present must partake in it. there is no prearranged food; it depends on whatever the community can afford. the second type is thanks –offering. this is done whenever a favour is received, like at the arrival of a new baby or one escaped from a misfortune or danger. this type of sacrifice can also be performed when one is asking for a particular blessing. items like animal, fruits, vegetables 388 formation of the human person in the 21st century or articles that may be useful in the shrine are presented for sacrifice. at annual festival however, this is important as everybody would be encouraged to come with voluntary items for sacrifice. the third one is votive offering. in the process of making a request, one may make a vow. this vow is an agreement between the god and the receiver of gift. in yoruba culture, any vow made must be paid, if not the receiver may not be able to cope with the consequences. the case of oluronbi can be applicable here, who in the process of asking for a child promised to return this child to iroko tree after a while. her request was eventually granted with the gift of a handsome baby boy which she did not want to release as promised. one day according to this story, as she was returning from the market in the company of this boy, passing under iroko tree, the boy disappeared and was nowhere to be found. it was latter interpreted that iroko tree claimed what was its own and oluronbi went home sorrowful. another category of sacrifice is propitiation or expiation. this is done when the fury of the divinity is at its peak. sacrifice here is offered to appease the god in pacification. asking for forgiveness of past sins and promising to live a better life. it has its purpose in gaining back the favour of the deity. sacrifices offered here are not shared! it is mainly for the divinity and must be treated as the divinity instructs. after the sacrifice has been duly offered, the person in question is relieved from the anger or chastisement of the divinity. the fifth category of sacrifice is substitutionary sacrifice or offering. this is done as soon as a person is marked to die or there is a revelation that a particular person will die. an animal is used to substitute for the person. other agreed items may be added. the items are rubbed against the body of the person in this situation and parked like a corpse for burial. this takes the place of the person that this type of sacrifice is prescribed for. it is then understood that the person is dead as pronounced. obara meji (2014) gives a beautiful analysis of this type of sacrifice using his personal example thus: “when i did my initiation to ifa (itefa) i was told that my father would die, this was many years ago, this came out on the seventh day of my initiation which is called ije, this is when all the babalawos gather around and each of them tell you something from the odu, your destiny, which comes out for you during initiation, i was told that in order for the death to be removed from my father, a female goat had to be given as sacrifice to orunmila otherwise known as ifa. it was given and accepted. the life of the goat was given instead of the life of my father. i would say that was a fair exchange.” in the preventive sacrifice, it is done to avert sudden attack on a person or a community. an oracle may predict this beforehand or it may come through a consultation with the oracle when there is a problem like section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 389 epidemic or a chain of adversities. a preventive sacrifice is performed to stop it. the last is foundation sacrifice. this is done at the start of any important step or stage in one’s life, for example, at birth, at puberty, during weeding, starting a building, settling down in a new town or when a new object has just been purchased. this type of sacrifice is to request for peace and progress in this new phase of life. although nu (2013) states in contrary to the above that “the variety of sacrifice includes time, song, dance, money, change and life force offerings.” this may not be totally acceptable in yoruba context in the mind of the researcher. nu’s ideas are more of actions that accompany worship and celebrations rather than what sacrifice (ebo) means in yoruba perspective. except if variety in his definition does not denote types and categories. considering the write up of ifaglobal network in (2018), it has been concluded that types of ebo has no perimeter as against the assertion of idowu (1969), awolalu and dopamu (1979) above that agree on seven types or categories. “there are ebo for long life, prosperity, wealth, victory, health, money, peace of mind, honour, and respect and so on; there is no limit to ebo.” in general, sacrifices are means of existence for yoruba people. it is part of their belief that some spirits control the world. they must constantly and regularly connect to these spirits so that the world will be a peaceful place for human beings to stay. regarding this, akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) remark that “broadly speaking, four forces are at play in yorùbá ritual: gods, ancestors, witches and other supernatural powers, and human beings. the function of sacrifice is to enlist the support of these four forces to achieve the desired ends and to ensure that none of the forces work against one’s purpose.” human beings must be part of it because most of the food prepared for sacrifices will be consumed by them and they must be rewarded for being witnesses at the shrine. at whatever time a sacrifice is prescribed by a deity through the priest or priestess, how to carry it out and items to be used will be recommended as well. this is particular to individual situation or in relation to those concerned. at times, ifa priest may carry out the sacrifice himself while the person drops money or items. it may be that the person should carry the sacrifice to a particular place to be accompanied by the priest. it could be the mother or friend of the person in question that would be asked to do it. there is no fixed person for this. ifa must guide and the priest or priestess who is interpreting the mind of the deity must lead and see that it comes to a success. conclusion this paper on sacrifice in yoruba culture gives the meaning, types and importance of sacrifice (ebo) to the people and community. it is very 390 formation of the human person in the 21st century important to offer sacrifice since the world is being ruled by spirits and gods according to their belief and these spirits and gods must be regularly appeased so as to gain favour from olodumare. within the traditional african worldview in general, you are mainly responsible for your own self-improvement. if you want to change your condition you must make sacrifice. since the deities guide the steps of the indigenous yoruba people, they must make consultations before taking any decisions. after consultation with ifa, the next step is to prescribe a type of sacrifice that will march the request of the one in quest of insight. this sacrifice must be performed to avoid calamities. worship in yoruba culture attracts a lot of, singing, drumming, and dancing especially during festivities. worship can be a private affair whereby an individual venerates his or her personal deity, or it can be a public one, which was very common. blood sacrifice was considered to be the uppermost hence the need to offer human beings and animals in the past. people would be ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease a god or spirit. nowadays, human sacrifice is not very common since civilization has considered it as a murder. this has been replaced by animal sacrifice. sacrifice is not celebrated as before either, this not to say that it is no longer in practice, but that it is not as popular as ever. we still have cases of seeing ebo at cross roads and in front of some shines that are not hidden, without seen the person that put them there. diviners are even consulted in secrets today; unlike before that it was done as a life style. in this age of civilization, ebo in yoruba culture is done in secret. references akíntúndé a and fálọlá t. (eds) (2016). encyclopedia of the yoruba. bloomington, in. indiana university press. questia, a part of gale, cengage learning. www.questia.com awolalu p.a and dopamu j.o (1979). west african traditional religion. nigeria. onibonoje press and book industries (nig) limited. idowu e.b. (1969). olodumare: god in yoruba belief. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ifaglobal staff writer. https://www.ifaglobalsite.com/single-post/2018/12/11/what-isthe-importance-of-ebo 2018. nu r. (2013). ebo/sacrifice guarantees success. https://africanspiritualitynow. wordpress.com/2013/05/13 /ebosacrifice/ obara meji (2014). ifathe tradition of sacrifice. www.embracingspiritulity.com ogunyemi y.d. (2015). the philosophy of the yoruba. https://www.britannica.com /topic/the-philosophy-of-the-yoruba-2006354 391 29 the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in the theological formation of seminarians today dr. chris. a. obi department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, edo state. obichris@aauekpoma.edu.ng;chrisaobi@yahoo.com abstract speaking on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, vatican ii recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more widely spread through individual areas” (optatam totius 16). she reasoned that this will help them better understand the elements of goodness and truth such religions possess and learn how to disprove the errors in them in the process of sharing the full light of the truth with those who lack it. both mbiti and gyekye have noted that religion influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and actions of african life, fully determining practically every aspect of life including moral behaviour. the african lives in a religious universe in which all actions and thought have religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view. with african traditional religion (atr), christianity and islam as nigeria’s three main religions, nigeria is a typical religious plural society. each of these religions has their values. these values have served as a guide and control of human behaviour, dictating right from wrong and this is the most important aspect of religion, that is, its capacity to shape honorable human personality and values being in accord with human society. some of the human and religious values in traditional society include honesty, education, morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow citizens, good name, community living and family loyalty. one of the most significant values that traditional nigerians hold to be of great importance is the wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverbs-speaking. this paper mailto:obichris@aauekpoma.edu.ng;chrisaobi@yahoo.com 392 formation of the human person in the 21st century examines the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in contemporary catholic theological formation houses. the method adopted is multi-dimensional analytical, historical, phenomenological and theological. our findings highlight the main reasons or benefits of the study, the traditional values to be integrated in theological formation; that our contextualization of the christian faith has to be based on a good knowledge of pre-christian traditional heritage or the knowledge of earlier religious tradition in our local environment; and that african christian theology must be diverse based on different cultural background, social-economic and political diversity and the diverse strands of christian missionaries that evangelized africa. our conclusion is that the african christian theologian must engage in a serious dialogue with african traditional religion. he / she can longer lay claim to exclusive truth and condemn the non-christian religion as a mere worship of idols as some pentecostals would do. keywords: african traditional religion, traditional values, african christian theology, theological formation introduction in this new era of evangelization advocated by the catholic church today, one of the basic questions that have to be addressed is: “how have the african seminaries, in general, and the nigerian ones in particular, faced the challenges and adjusted to the inevitable changes in the formation of their priests?” (ekwunife, 2011). according to him, the primary goal of formation in catholic seminaries is to produce men who will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective instruments of evangelization after their ordination. the seminary is expected to train capable priests, who in response to god’s grace, can collaborate with their bishops and superiors in serving god’s people throughout the world. the importance of formation was recently stressed by pope paul ii in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation to the bishops, clergy and the faithful so that the end products of catholic priestly formation may become with the sacrament of orders, “a living image of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church” (pastores da vobis 42). speaking earlier on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, vatican ii recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are widely spread through individual areas” (optatam totius 16). she reasoned that this will help them better understand the elements of goodness and truth such religions possess and learn how to disprove the errors in them in the process of sharing the full light of the truth with those who lack them. in section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 393 addition alexander carter in his introduction to optatam totius has observed that the pastoral preparation must take into consideration the specific environment in which the young priest will begin his ministry (abbot 1972, p. 436). both j. mbiti (1969) and b. gyekye (1996) have noted that religion influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and actions of african life, fully determining practically every aspect of life including moral behaviour. the african lives in a religious universe in which all actions and thoughts have religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view (obi 2013, p. 442). with african traditional religion (atr), islam and christianity as nigeria’s three main religions, nigeria is a typical plural religious society. each of these religions has its values. these values have served as a guide and control of human behaviour, dictating right from wrong and this is the most important aspect of religion – its capacity to shape honourable human personality and values being in accord with human society. some of the human and religious values in traditional society include: honesty, education, morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow citizens, good name, community living and family loyalty (ebhomielen 2011, p. 131). one of the most significant values that traditional nigerians cherish is the wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverb – speaking (onimhawo &adamu 2011, p. 25; obi 2013, p. 443). this paper examined the relevance of the study of african traditional religion in catholic theological formation houses in lieu of vatican ii’s earlier advice that episcopal conferences of each region are to adjust ecclesiastical courses to the pastoral requirement of a particular region. the method adopted is multidimensional – historical, analytic, phenomenological and theological. religions in nigeria historically, before the advent of islam and christianity the main religion was atr. african religion can be defined as “institutionalized patterns of beliefs and worship practiced by various african societies from time immemorial” (metuh 1987, p. 51). the main tenet of this religion, based on the principle of hierarchy of beings, is made of five elements, namely, belief in god, belief in divinities, belief in ancestors, belief in spirits and the practice to magic and medicine (idowu 1991, p. 137-202; kanu 2015, p. 92-127). the african universe has physical and spiritual dimension. this means all beings can be said to belong to either two worldsthe visible world and the invisible world. there is no wall of demarcation between the two worlds as the two realms shade into each other (metuh 1987, p. 51). thus, there is no clear-cut distinction or opposition between the visible and invisible, the material and spiritual, the temporal and non-temporal, the sacred and the profane unlike the 394 formation of the human person in the 21st century dichotomy which is characteristic of graeco-christian worldview (metuh 1987, p. 5). in spite of this sense of cosmic oneness that is essential to african religion, there are slight variations between west african worldview (made up of five elements), the worldview of nilotic societies (in so far as their supreme being has prophets) and the worldview of the bantu areas (who have three categories of spiritual beings instead of five). the implications of these variations for african christology/african theology ought to be noted and their import for priestly formation not to be disregarded. however, with the introduction to nigeria of islam in the 11th and 14th centuries through kanem – borno in the north east and the medieval empire of mali in the south west and christianity in the south, the centre could no longer hold, that is, the social order hitherto maintained through traditional religion caved in. islam’s emphasis on allah’s absoluteness, sharia law, judgment day, its code of crime and punishment as well as its universalism, introduced elements of value confusion among the adherents of the old order in the rural communities of pre-colonial social institutions of the hausa and kanuri polities. for example, the bori or spirit possession cult of the hausa, was one of the institutions of traditional social system that struggled for survival in the face of threatened extinction when it lost male converts to islam and retained the support of women generally (tamuno 1994,p.32). though islam accepted polygamy and its sufi inspired tolerance of ritual, charms and magic, and some bits of syncretism, ancestor worship and reverence for associated spirits did not command acceptance by islamic fundamentalists in attempts to accommodate spirits and jinns. in these and other respects the theocracy of the traditional social order differed significantly from the concept associated with islam, more so after the jihad of 1864 led by uthman dan fodiye whose success established the sokoto caliphate. thereafter, islam’s mission of purification was actively pursued by its clerics in the fulani hausa states (obi 2013, p.444; tamuno 1994, p. 33). the above instances portray the issue of contextualization in the history of islam in nigeria. on its part, christianity came to nigeria in mid 19th century through the coastal areas of badagry, bonny, calabar and the hinterland at abeokuta, onitsha and warri after earlier attempts by the portuguese failed to take root. the familiar christian practices – trinity, salvation through jesus christ, the ten commandments, forgiveness, judgment day, monogamy, abhorrence of idol worship and the like challenged the social order and its buttresses for group solidarity and crime control. the principle of individualism which christianity directly encouraged also threatened the durability on social control systems and values built on traditional collective or communal approach (tamuno 1994, p. 30; obi section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 395 2013 p. 445). besides, the notion of individual responsibility and accountability challenged the traditional belief and fear that serious crimes like abominations against earth goddess, would pollute an entire community if not expiated, began to be eroded seriously. above all, other notions of the certainty of punishment prevalent under the traditional corpus belief system stood in danger of disintegration with the increasing pressure of christian doctrine and practice. in short, the combined forces of christianity, islam and western education, if not also the wide logic of colonization weakened the belief in the traditional social order, as e. b. idowu acknowledged with regard to the yoruba in 1962 (tamuno 1994, p. 31; idowu olodumare 1996, p. 227-228; obi 2013, 445). this experience found literary expression in literary works such as chinua achebe’s things fall apart (1958) and no longer at ease (1969). this analysis provides a sufficient background on the stress on the relevance of study of atr in the formation of priests in nigeria today. seminary formation in nigeria in perspective in his brief history of seminary formation in eastern nigeria written some 20 years ago, ekwunife opined that seminary formation in nigeria can be divided into the following three epochs: (i) the early beginning (1930-1960), (ii) the post independence period (1960-1980), and (iii) modern period 1980 and beyond (ekwunife 2011). among the deficiencies he pointed out over the periods include: seminarians were isolated from their people, their traditional cultures and institutions; they were imbued with foreign cultures and manners; bias of the formators against anything african; seminarians were trained to be fluent in english and latin but inarticulate in their own native language, ready to imitate their formators’ foreign cultures and manners but unable to study their own culture where they were to work after ordination and lack of contextual orientation because the formators failed to take into consideration the cultural environment of the seminarians. among the weaknesses in the second period of which the writer is a victim is the over emphasis on english and latin as the official language of church and even teaching of philosophy in latin using di napoli as the main text and wrong approach to cultural values. the 1970 bigard curriculum of studies lists some 13 courses in philosophy and 13 in theology in addition to auxiliary subjects (oburoto 2001, pp.75-76). with one course in igbo philosophy and one course in comparative religion the deficiency in atr is easily discernible (and had to be rectified later). even in the 1980s the negative attitude of both formators and seminarians towards the traditional religion and culture that sustained it was still rampart. even though the formators were indigenous clergy men, “the quality of formation still lacked deep cultural orientation 396 formation of the human person in the 21st century which would encourage dialogue with african traditional religion and culture” (ekwunife 2011). it is noteworthy that prior to vatican ii the christian church had a rather negative attitude towards other religions and expected them to disappear with the introduction of christianity in the places where they were practiced. but as the religions have continued to exist side by side with christianity, the attitude of much of the christian world towards them has changed from that of confrontation to that of dialogue. it is no longer theologically acceptable today, at least in the non-radical evangelical circles to look on other religions as satanic. positive evaluations of religions vis-à-vis christianity are being put forward by scholars who studied them (ukpong 1989, p. 422; pannikar 1999). the official catholic position is reflected in the guidelines issued by the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue (pcid) which encourages the study of atr, islam and interreligious dialogue in the seminaries and houses of formation in sub-saharan africa (pcid 2004). but the question to be addressed is: “how far has this instruction been implemented in seminaries throughout the country? it is still doubtful whether the study of atr has found its way into the curriculum of junior seminaries in nigeria or any other african country” (ekwunife 2011). in this regard the response to a survey in africa of the content of what is taught in 61 major seminaries and 6 catholic universities and institutes of higher learning with reference to atr, islam and interreligious dialogue by the pcid as of 2001 is apropos (instructive).a summary of the replies received from 47 major seminaries show that: in 36 major seminaries, atr is taught as a course. in the rest of 11 seminaries, atr is taught under various titles – inculturation, african thought, african spirituality, african philosophy etc. in 35 major seminaries, islam is taught as a course. for others, no information has been given (it is presumed that it is not taught). in 20 major seminaries some form of information is given in interreligious dialogue (pcid 2004, p. 10). of 6 the catholic universities and institutes of higher learning consulted, four replied they have courses in atr. in two of them islam is taught as a course. none has a programme for teaching interreligious dialogue. based on the result of this survey, pcid tried to provide a common programme subject to local adaptations for teaching the courses provided and it is to the credit of the authorities of seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma that atr has been mounted for those in year 600 and 700 level theology. however, it is disheartening that over the years some students do not take the course serious. it is embarrassing that some students are section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 397 unable to explain why the derogatory terms used by western investigators to describe our fore-fathers’ religion are inappropriate. one is however, encouraged by the positive attitude displayed by the bishop of the catholic diocese of uromi, most rev. dr donatus ogun who recently organized a diocesan delegate assembly with focus on burial practices in esanland which held monday, 15th february to thursday 13th february, 2020 at brother roman catechetical and renewal centre, ekpoma. it is hoped that such discourse will help understand and douse tensions on the burial rites in esanland. this particularly shows the need to adjust academic curricula to the needs of the environment. rationale for the study of atr the students of any department of religious studies in nigerian universities have always met the embarrassing question from colleagues: “why are you studying religion? are you preparing to be a pastor?” in like manner, some christians in africa may ask, “why study atr? we have forsaken our old religion and have embraced the christian faith. jesus christ is now our lord and saviour. what further need do we have to research atr?” (gehman, 1989, p.15). several scholars have taken up this challenge. according to aderibigbe and ayegboyin (2001) the all embracing reason why religion should be studied is its importance, significance and hold on human life. first, there is currency of religion as a human phenomenon. secondly, the dominating presence, and existence and functions in society have come to be accepted so that there is no apology for its acceptance. third, is its universal relevance. religion has universal application that transcends demarcations of place, race, colour and time. fourth, is the fear that it is impossible to find a replacing value for or to fill the vacum of its absence (pp.20-31). other reasons include the benefits of the study such as emancipation from ignorance, information and skill since one is exposed to the proper methods of data collection in the study of religion, and appreciation of one’s and other peoples’ religion. for gary kessler so much of human history and culture remains a mystery if we cannot comprehend the role religion has played and continues to play in the development of human institutions, values and behaviour. in addition, study of religion especially religions of others helps us overcome our all-too-comfortable ethnocentric attitudes and achieve a more comparative perspective (kessler 2006, p. 12). moreover, the study of religion opens up a space in our busy lives where we can pause and reflect on the meaning and purpose of our lives. it provides an occasion for us to think, in a comparative setting about what constitutes a good life. finally, the study would prepare for a career in the field of 398 formation of the human person in the 21st century religious studies and other fields and to satisfy the requirement for general or liberal education (kessler 2006, p. 13). similarly, different scholars have given reasons why african traditional religion should be studied. for example, gehman offers six reasons, namely, we ought to study the traditional religion in africa because it is one of the world’s religions of a great people with a great past. atr was formerly embraced by a whole continent. second, atr is the religious background of african people whom christians seek to evangelize today. therefore, in order to build bridges of communication with them, we must study the beliefs and practices of the traditional african. thirdly, many professing christians rely on atr in times of crisis, particularly those looking for the fruit of the womb, power and money. fourth, the christian church in african needs to contextualize her faith so that it becomes truly rooted in the life of the people. the just concluded catholic diocese of uromi delegate conference on funeral rites in esanland is apropos here. the rise of african independent churches (aics) owes its origin to failure of earlier ‘missionary christianity’ in this regard. in the same token, the church of north africa that produced famous theologians as saints augustine and cyprian was wiped out, due in part to its non rootedness in the life of the indigenous people. fifth, the revival of atr in ethiopianism brings a sense of urgency to the study. sixth.atr should be studied for its own sake (gehman 1987, p. 15-22). on his part, t. quarcoopome gives some fundamental reasons for studying west african traditional religion (watr). he asks the question: “of what relevance then is the study of watr on the contemporary scene?” in his view the objectives for the study of atr or watr are as follows: to help the african to reconstruct his past in order to understand the present and effectively plan for the future: to help the african in his search for self determination and self-assertion; to make known the world view of the africans so that non-africans can understand the social and moral behaviour of the african; to make scientific comparison with other religions and finally to correct misconceptions about the traditional religion by western investigators and educated africans (quarcoopome 1987, pp.9-10). thus the basic aim of the study is not to glorify the african past but to present the truth with regard to what africans authentically believe and authentically think about god and the supersensible world (idowu 1973, p. 106). this will induce sympathetic understanding for the traditional faith. finally the pcid document earlier mentioned highlights the aims of the course on atr as: (a) to awaken the interest of participants in section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 399 african traditional religion; (b) to prepare and dispose them for interreligious dialogue; (c) to help them appreciate the lasting values of this religion which are relevant to modern african quest for nation building; and (d) to reinforce their appreciation of the urgency of the church’s constant call for inculturation of the christian faith in africa (pcid 2004, p.10). consequently it designed a programme that suits long term (two semesters) and short term (one semester) option depending on the local need. hitherto seminary of all saints, uhiele has chosen the two semester option. while emphasizing the manifold reasons and relevance of the study, the difficulties besetting the study ought to be noted. these include the vast geography of africa with the corresponding mistaken generalization about africa, the influence of direct or indirect colonial indoctrination by the british and french colonial masters, the factor of death of custodians of the cultural and religious traditions; the myriads of language and dialectics in africa. nigeria alone has over 250 ethnic groups. last but not the least, is the influence of other cultures and religions, western education and modernity. what this means is that the interpreter has to note that africa is a continent of multitudes of nations, myriads of people, countless languages or dialectics and peoples at various levels of culture (idowu 1973, p. 78-83). african values and priestly formation there are many african values of atr which could be integrated in the holistic formation of catholic priests. among them could be: (i) the sense of the scared, (ii) corporate existence, (iii) a sense of justice, (iv) sincerity in ones’ commitment to a cause, and (v) good leadership (ekwunife 2011). others are the concept of omenala, respect for elders, use of language and traditional concept of mediation. we will illustrate with some of the lasting values of atr for a modern nation building/priestly formation. in atr the sense of the sacred is very strong and important. rudolf otto (1958) did mention two dimensions of the sacred, the mysterium tremendum: it attracts and repels. in order to safeguard the distance we have taboos. we have already mentioned that there is no dichotomy between the sacred and profane, the invisible and the visible since the two shade into each other in african worldview. consequently, whenever the harmony in one is destabilized, it affects the other and the services of the diviner are needed to restore the harmony. there are varieties of the sacred – god, divinities, ancestors, persons, places and objects based on their relationship to god and the world. for example, a masked person is sacred because it is related to the invisible reality, the ancestor. to unmask a masquerade is a taboo, an abomination that requires a ritual cleansing because we are expected to preserve the 400 formation of the human person in the 21st century respectful distance from the sacred without severing the relationship. in africa the sacred is not only associated with power, it is affiliated with the highest values in human life such as honesty, justice, gentleness, patience and sincerity. a sacred person is expected to mirror these values. this is depicted in the igbo concept and practice of ozo title–taking in which the initiate is addressed as nze – an epithet of truthfulness and justice. in the words of ekei: initiation into ozo makes the recipient “sacred” nze. the group of ozo titled men are therefore called ‘sacred group’ (ndi nze). the concept ‘nze’ has both ethical and religious significance for the igbo. etymologically, ‘nze’ is an abridged term of nze’-le’, that is, ‘separation’ or ‘apartness’ or sacrosanct. these concepts convey a mystical meaning to the recipient. in other words, he is by this title, ethically aloof, and ritually separated from ‘commoners’ or from ‘pollutions’ and ‘defilements’ (ekei 2001, p. 4). it is this symbol of justice that makes ozo initiation to be linked with sense of igbo morality. the emphasis on the african sense of the sacred has far reaching effects in the formation of catholic seminarians. it will create in them an attitude of deep respect for the things of god and anything associated with god. among the sacred things is the human person. hence crimes like murder, abortion, uprooting seed yams are nso nla abomination that can only be cleansed by nri priests. worship, covenant with divinities and others, oath-taking, sacrifice and prayer are among the means used to internalize the sense of the sacred and sacredness of the human person. therefore stimulating the sense of the sacred in seminary formation will help respect the sacred of non-christian religions. africans recognize life as life-in-community. there is the conviction that humankind of the past, present and future generations forms one community. the concept of individual success or failure is secondary. the ethnic group, the village, the locality, the family are crucial in one’s estimation of oneself. our nature as being-in-relation is a two-way relation with god and with our fellow human beings. catholic seminarians in africa need to emphasize the sense of community-living and values to cut across ethnic and social boundaries. the sense of lifein-community will help douse the tensions that sadly manifest between the parish priest and his curates/priests in residence. however, this community living cannot thrive without a sense of justice. atr is so concerned about justice such that anyone who negates the principle of justice will be severely punished not only by society but also the gods. this is of expressed in the igbo proverb egbe belu, ugo belu section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 401 (live and let live). again this is also aptly depicted in igbo religion through the ofonaogu concept. the ofo concept has been exposed by clement ejizu (1986) and the ogu is aptly exposed by stephen egwin (2005). ofo is the guarantor of truth, just judgement, just living and authority to rule as well as pray to the gods for onesself and others. ogu stands for moral uprightness and innocence. the concept is well utilized in the dynamics of igbo litigation. ofo represents ancestral authority, sacred tradition and community and enforces justice while ogu ascertains the innocence of the individual and determines whose side justice takes. the judicial system is based on the traditional moral code which is considered to be sacred tradition. the ancestral power to dispense justice is determined by innocence (ogu) and judgement (ofo) and operates in the form of punishing the guilty and vindicating the innocent (egwim 2005, p. 195). a sense of justice has to be instilled in the formators and seminarians in the seminaries throughout africa. among the good leadership qualities arinze advocated that has to be inculcated in seminarians six african values stand out: “sense of the sacred, respect for life, sense of community, family spiritual vision of life, authority as sacred and symbolism in worship”. idowu associated many of these african values with the yoruba concept of ‘iwa’, character. indeed there is hardly any good textbook on atr that does not reflect on some african moral values (ekwunife 2011). one of the most valuable culture of the african society is the concept of respect for elders and those in authority. africans generally have deep and ingrained respect for old age: the old man’s gray hairs earn him right to courtesy and politeness. hence the dictum, “the words of the elders are words of wisdom” because of the experience they garnered over the years. hence elders in africa are respected for many reasons. an igbo adage has it: “he who listens to an elder is like one who consults an oracle”. the oracles are believed to give the infallible truths; these elders are believed to say the truth and their words and instructions are heeded to for the promotion of good behaviour among the youth. the church like the society and african traditional value teaches respect for elders and those in authority. this is because this group of individuals has been given the authority of leadership. the african culture values language and proverbs, because in them they communicate and in them wisdom is passed in the process; the importance of both cannot just be overemphasized in the african cultural heritage. moreover, for the african, if the individual is not able to communicate with the native language the individual ideologically, puts himself outside the community. speaking a language in the african sense does not depend on the peripheral knowledge of the language but on the ability to express oneself adequately in the proverbs and idioms of the 402 formation of the human person in the 21st century language community. one is therefore happy that seminary of all saints, uhiele academic curriculum allots some space for the vernacular. diagnosing the causes of affliction is a central preoccupation of african religion (magesa 2008, p. 190). there are people who have the power to “sniff out hidden sources of disorder”, who can advice on procedures to correct the situation. they are generally known as diviners. laurenti magesa (2008) mentions some of the values of divination. since divination systems are “ways of knowing”, atr presumes that true reasons for all events can be known although sufficient knowledge is seldom available through mundane means of inquiry (magesa 2008, p. 192). divination assists in knowing true reasons for events. events are either positive or negative. in atr when calamities befall a community, diviners are consulted to know the true reason behind the cause, and possible measures taking to avert the calamity are also sought. divination ensures that decisions are made or the right course of action is carried out to address certain events or situations. thus, divination helps africans to gather the necessary information about events, the causes and possible solution (193). it aids right decision making in addressing calamity in a community. divination also helps to protect and secure the future. hence at the beginning of the year, or at birth, diviners are consulted to ascertain what the year or destiny of a child holds. such diviners will expose the good and bad aspects of the coming year and proffer ways to sustain the good ones and other ways of averting the bad ones usually by appeasing the gods through sacrifices as the case may be. this provides the background why today at the beginning of the year, prophecies are awaited from insightful men of god. the implication of this traditional value for seminary formation is that the equivalent gift of prophecy, of davidic practice of inquiring from the lord, ought to be paramount in the training of seminarians. prayer of inquiry (iga na ajuju in divinatory terms ) is a major aspect of davidic and prophetic spirituality as manifested in the life of prophet josiah oshitelu and apostle ayo babalola (oshitelu 2007, p. 71) and seminarians ought to imbibe this. in this regard we ought to note the challenge which traditional african concept of mediation poses to modern african christianity. for, the traditional agents of mediation are twofold: invisible agents (divinities, ancestors, spirits) and visible agents (priests, diviners, medicine men, mediums, magicians, seers, kings, queens and elders). this shows a diversity of ministry and religious roles of religious specialists or cultic functionaries in traditional setting which has to be taken into consideration in the process of contextualizing the gospel. none of these religious specialists claim monopoly in religious affairs but collaborate with others (obi section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 403 2006, p. 290). thus collaborative ministry which is advocated today was already in vogue in traditional religion. implication of atr for african christian theology in african christianity, one of the main thrusts in the area of contextualization in which atr has played a dominant part is in the area of christology. j. onaiyekan (2016) writing on the main trends in african christology mentions four sources to include the bible, the theological patrimony of the church, african traditional religious concepts and modern african situation (pp.54-58). many african theologians have borrowed from the thought world of atr to explicate the person of christ. such attempts include the east african theologian c. nyamiti, who presents jesus as the greatest of all ancestors taking a clue from east africa where the veneration of ancestors plays a key role in the traditional life. because of their kinship with their descendants, they are concerned about their welfare. jesus fulfills all the bantu expects of his ancestors in an eminent degree and can therefore be considered as an ancestor, or more precisely “our brother ancestor” (nyamiti 1985, p.33). b. bujo toes the same line, from an ethical perspective. he describes christ as a proto-ancestor (1981, p. 143; onaiyekan 2016, p. 55). kabasele adds to the concept of ancestor that of ‘elder’ (onaiyekan 1991.p.20). the famous healer and former archbishop of lusaka, emmanuel milingo also expressed similar thought about “jesus the ancestor” (milingo 1984, p. 78). other african traditional concepts have been used to explicate the person of christ such as the concept of “kinsman”, the concept of “chief” by kabasele, the “healer” by c. kolier and k. enang as we see also in nigerian pentecostal charismatic circles. an unusual portrait of jesus is that of the ‘master of initiation’ espoused by bishop sanon of burkina faso who takes us into the sacred groves of burkinabe initiation ceremonies. he explains what it means to say that jesus is ‘master of initiation’, that is, the elder who guides towards perfection those who have been at the initiation rites. this symbolic approach is not completely new as some of the greek fathers such as gregory of nazianzen already spoke of jesus as a mystagogus, a title derived from greek religions and refers to the ‘leader of initiation rites. from a yoruba religious perspective, j. onaiyekan adds ‘christ the great orisha’ because yoruba traditional religion is almost exclusively concerned with the cult of the divinities called orisha who act as agents and servants of the supreme being. orisha is so much a characteristic of yoruba religion that its followers are called aberisa, “worshipers” of orisha. yoruba converts to christianity often speak of giving up orisha in order to accept jesus 404 formation of the human person in the 21st century (onaiyekan 1991, p.22; onaiyekan 2016, pp. 39-40). on his part, chris manus (1993) also exposed a christology of christ as “the african king”. each of these portraits of christ within an african setting and colour has its limits of application. for example, christ is more than an ancestor. his relationship with the father is unique and different from that of any orisha with the supreme being. consequently our images cannot say it all although they do say something (onaiyekan 2016, p.58). at least they do give us inkling as to the benefits of atr in the study of african christian theology. conclusion the primary goal of formation in catholic seminaries is to produce men who will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective instruments of evangelization after ordination. this pastoral preparation requires that seminarians be acquainted with religions practiced in their specific environment where they would work according to vatican ii. since religion influences in a comprehensive way the thoughts and actions of african life, seminarians ought to be grafted in the tenets of african religion which is one of the three religions practiced in the multiethnic culture of nigeria. this paper examined the relevance of atr for future african priests. the reasons for studying religion in general and atr in particular were highlighted using the views of different scholars. the difficulties besetting the study were also noted. many african values which could be integrated in the holistic formation of catholic priests include the sense of the sacred, community living, sense of justice, sincerity in one’s commitment to a cause, good leadership, respect for elders, and concept of traditional mediation which involves collaborative ministry. finally, the implication of atr as a source for african christian theology particularly with the understanding of the person of christ in african setting were broached, such as “christ as ancestor”, “chief”, “orisha” and “kinsman”. the limitations of some of these images notwithstanding, they do give us inkling as to the benefits of studying atr in the exposition of christian revelation. the study of both philosophy and theology in major seminaries in africa needs to be culture bound. african traditional religion and culture ought to be the springboard of philosophical and theological studies in africa. perhaps one may not be far from the truth in saying that the deficiencies in most seminaries in africa in the past are largely caused by the non-inclusion of timeless african traditional values in the curriculum of seminary formation. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 405 references abbot, w. 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(2004). a guide for teaching african traditional religion, islam, interreligious dialogue in catholic major seminaries, house of religious formation and institutions of higher learning in sub-saharan africa. vatican city: pontifical council for interreligious dialogue. quarcoopome, t.n.o. (1987). west african traditional religion. ibadan: african universities press. tamuno, t.n. (1994). traditional methods of crime detection and control in nigeria. orita: ibadan journal of religious studies xxvi(2): 25-41. ukpong, j. s. (1989). pluralism and the problem of discernment of spirits. the ecumenical review 41(3): 416-425. 407 30 islam and the formation of catholic priest in nigeria emmanuel i. ukpebor department of religious management and cultural studies ambrose alli university, ekpoma, nigeria emma2002ukpe@yahoo.com or emmaukpebor@aauekpoma.edu.ng abstract the nigeria society is dynamic and distinct in its pluralistic nature. multiplicity defines the features and elements that make up the nigerian state. the choice of becoming a vanguard of religious tradition by an individual in such a nation with plural political, cultural, social and religious belief systems demand rigorous formation processes. this paper examines islam, one of the religious and cultural traditions most assertive and influential in nigeria’s religio-political space against the training of catholic priest of the christian religious belief system. the work employs the historical, analytical and evaluative methods to examine the transformative stages of islam from its inception and the challenges its poses to the christian evangelical mission in nigeria. the work hinges on the geothe’s paradox theoretical framework “he who knows one knows none” adapted by max muller (1823-1900) in his comparative study of religion. the findings reveal that islam which came through commercial activities has become a powerful influence in nigeria society and the knowledge of its dynamic influences is of essence in the formation of catholic priest as it enhances the strategies of priestly mission of evangelization and re-construction of a better society for peace and harmony with members of other religious groups. the enforcement the law of freedom of religious participation by political authority of the society is part of the recommendations of the paper which concludes that the commitment to interreligious dialogue and cooperation in a diverse society as nigeria by the catholic church will continuously be effective if the elements of knowing the dynamics of islam are embedded within the context of the training of seminarians who hold the posterity of the catholic mission. mailto:emma2002ukpe@yahoo.com 408 formation of the human person in the 21st century key words: islam, catholic priest, formation and nigeria. introduction the nigerian society is a complex society. there are multiple and diverse elements in the various systems that make up the entity. the religious space is characterized with several religious traditions three of which are dominantly subscribed namely; the indigenous traditional religion, christianity and islam. the peoples that answer the corporate name called nigeria share diverse ethnic nationalities numbering no less than 250 ethnic groups with diverse socio-cultural heritages. history has it that each of these ethnic groups of which three are predominant ( hausa/fulani, yoruba and igbo) had and operated different political and legal systems before the 1914 amalgamation that brought the differing groups together. religion as an inevitable phenomenon in human activity has a function of unifying people together and giving meaning to their existence on earth and assurance of what is to come in the afterlife. the diversities in the practices of religion in nigeria with the presence of multiple religious traditions and the ethnic and cultural variations of the people influence the general administration of the nigeria state creating numerous issues that threaten collective peace and harmony needed for the nation’s optimum growth and development. islam and christianity stand as the most influential and assertive religions in nigeria’s religiopolitical space. the events of struggles, rivalry and competition visible in nigeria’s political engineering more often than not received interpretation along the line of these religions (islam and christianity) (odey, 2014). there are inconsistencies in the population figure of religious affiliation census in nigeria. though the 2006 nigeria population census did not censor religious affiliations but the world fact book (2003) cited in wotogbe (2012) reveals muslims population in nigeria to be 50%, christians 40% while the followers of the indigenous traditional religion 10%. another source, the religious freedom nation profile puts it that christians in nigeria are approximately 46%, muslims 44% and members of the african indigenous religion 10% (imaekhai, 2010:56). the polarization of the society along the two major religious divides has earned the nation series of religious crises that had resulted in great fatality both human and property. islam with its political dynamism appears to be more influential and assertive than the christian counterpart in nigeria’s religio-political space. many of the religious crises that have occurred in nigeria have been attributed to islam (ukpebor, 2018). this made islam to be commonly referred as a religion of violence. however, there is more to be known and understood about section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 409 the islamic religion and the muslims besides the common view about them especially by the members and the upcoming leaders of the counterpart christian faith. denominationalism characterizes the christian faith in nigeria. the roman catholic church is the largest christian denomination in nigeria. it has about 39 million worshippers from the over 140 million population of nigeria closely followed by the anglican church with over 18 million members (imaekhai, 2010:56). the catholic church with this status has represented the christian voice in the maintenance of peace and harmony through its engagement with other religions in dialogue. the positive results of this engagement by the leading catholic clerics create the need for its sustenance by the church’s successive ministers. it is on this note that this paper looks into the formation of catholic priest with the aim of exposing the religious and political dynamics of islam in nigeria with the view to arm the intending catholic priest with a balanced knowledge that would aid the church effective mission of evangelization in nigeria society. theoretical framework this paper adopts the geothe’s paradox: “he who knows one knows none” as the framework that guides the study. the geothe’s paradox was first used by the students of comparative philology in the study of language. max muller adopted this paradox “he who knows one knows none” in the new discipline of science of religion otherwise called comparative study of religion which he developed in late 19th century (muller, 1873). the import of the paradox lies in the fact that one has a balanced knowledge, when one has knowledge of more than one religion or religious traditions in the society and the process of achieving this is known as the comparative study of religions. thus, comparative study of religion in essence is the inquiry into the religious traditions of man. it is a study that takes into account the fact that there are in the world of men various religious traditions each of which makes sense to the adherents or the believers of the faith (wotogbe, 2005:7). although, this paradox received criticism when it was first used for the study of comparative language on the premise that learning too many languages may lead to the risk of losing firm grasp of one’s own language. but muller explained that the result in doing comparative study of languages leads to a higher level of order, knowledge and wisdom which in a similar vein extend to the comparative study of religion. he thus concluded that contrary to the position of the critics of comparative languages, inquiries in comparative study of religion besides the benefits of higher order, knowledge and wisdom attainment, lead one to more firm grasp on one’s own religious tradition (muller, 1897). the theory is apposite as it justifies the aim of 410 formation of the human person in the 21st century this paper which is geared towards exposing the dynamics of islam, a different religious tradition to the catholic tradition which would enhance the acquisition of higher and balanced knowledge in the formative processes of priesthood vocation. conceptualizing priest and priesthood the word priest is an english word derived from the greek word presbyterous (elder) but in usage and meaning it is the equivalent of the greek hiereus, latin sacerdos and hebrew kohen meaning the offerer of sacrifice and revealer of oracles (tasie and okinedo, 2005:124). this translate that a priest is a channel of divine communication that makes the wishes of the deity known to men and in turn offers to the deity the worship and sacrifices of men. priesthood as a terminology is an institution referring to a body of persons who perform religious functions and mediate between men and the supersensible being. in catholic tradition, priesthood refers to the sacrament of holy orders through which the mission entrusted by christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the church until the end of time (ccc, 1536). the seminary formation is the process the catholic church instituted to ensure the continuation of the apostolic ministry. as the priests are to be taken among men to live with other men as brothers (vatican ii no.3), it is expedient to arm them with the dynamic nature of the society especially one with plural features. defining islam islam is one of the semitic and prophetic religious traditions that share an uncompromising monotheism and belief in god’s revelation, his prophets, ethical responsibility and accountability, and the day of judgment (esposito, 2005:1). the word islam is from the arabic root “silm” which means peace and submission. it is a term use in arabic language to designate surrender when one wants to submits to his opponent in a battle field during the pre islamic days. it was adopted to describe the religion brought by prophet muhammad and that is why in religious context the word (islam) came to mean submission to the will of allah and obedience to his law. kilani describes it as a noun formed from the infinitive of a verb asalama meaning “to accept “, “to submit”, “to commit oneself” which invariably means to submit or surrender to allah (18). the qur’an in chapter 3 verse 85 jealously distinguishes islam when it says, “if anyone desires a religion other than islam (submission to allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good)”. by implication this means that it is through submission to the will of allah and by obedience to his law can one achieves true peace section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 411 and enjoys lasting purity. a muslim from this understanding becomes one who submits to the will of allah. islamic incursion in nigeria islam entered the territory now known as nigeria from two directions; the north and south. in both directions, the opening of trans-saharan trade facilitated the penetration of the religion in the area. raiding, a legitimate and legal act in arabia before the revelation that gave birth to islam came to muhammad was still been carried out by the arabs that had converted to islam. one of such arabs was uqba ibn-nafi whose raiding venture in 667 ad into the central sahara opened the route to kanem and borno in northern nigeria and it lasted till the end of the 19th century (kenny, 2001). in each of the towns uqba raided, he imposed a tribute of 360 slaves and that made the central african trade route to be known and specialized in slaves taken from the hinterland of borno. the business was later extended to western sudan where gold was discovered. this precious commodity attracted the interest of the umayyad governor who sought for ways to enhance the continuous supply of the commodity from west africa (kilani & ukpebor, 2016). the trans-saharan trade routes were then developed to serve a secure and efficient link with the western sahara. the settlement established by the arab muslims’ merchant along the trade routes which made them stayed with their indigenous customers to the extent of contracting marriage with them provided the stimulus for the islamization of west africa in general (kilani, 2008). the free mixing of muslim merchants with west african people created the avenue to organize african trading agents and associates which the muslims traders needed to facilitate their trade. this led to the emergence of a community of african muslims around the arab muslim merchants. thus, the trans-saharan trade stimulated the beginning of the formation of “state in islam” in subsaharan african. african kings welcomed the presence of muslim traders in their communities as they saw the economic benefits the long-distance trade had to offered and which stood higher if they (the kings) embraced islam. their compliance would also provide them the status of citizenship in the larger muslim umma (community) with equality and brotherhood with the far away arab miuslims in saudi arabia. as islam gained ground, large scale marketing and transportation became muslim monopoly and this put pressure on traders to join islam to become part of the club. the presence of muslim scholars who provided the written communication in arabic, a vital element in the infrastructure of longdistance trade also appealed to the people of west africa. it is interesting 412 formation of the human person in the 21st century to note that the arabic language was the only international language of west africa before the arrival of the portuguese on the coast in the 15th century and french and english in the 19th century (kenny, 2001:3). muslims clerics that were present during the trans-saharan trade had several religions medicine to offer which somewhat stood superior in it efficacy to that of the indigenous traditional religion. the medication is in form of specific prescriptions for every conceivable disease and any other issue of life and the dosage is taken by drinking the ink washed from a slate with quranic writing. there is talisman to be put on and prayers to be said. the islamic rites of worship in its entirety were of high attraction as it were commonly performed in an opened environment, dramatic and with all seriousness of minds. the spirit of brotherhood brought by islam to those who accept it provided a sense of security to them as it gave them legal immunity from attack by other muslims. this became another strong motivation for the african king to become a muslim as it served a pre-emptory defense against attack (kenny, 2001). the kings therefore found islam a convenient support to their imperial authority as it was a unifying ideology bridging many tribes and presenting to them a wider brotherhood, citizenship and nationality. this was how the phenomenon of “state islam” emerged. the religion from its inception in west africa was controlled and used to promote the interest of the rulers. islamic reformation and the spread of islam in nigeria another prominent factor in the spread of islam in nigeria is the military factor. beginning from the long-distance trade, islam spread peacefully through muslim clerics and traders until the reformation carried out by usman dan fodio in early 19th century among the hausa/fulani nation. reformation as a concept is derived from the arabic word tajdid meaning to reform or revive. it is an ideology derived from the prophetic tradition which states that “the muslims community will be assisted by those who will renew its faith for it”. the objective is to recreate or recapture the ideal sunni islamic society by mobilizing the people along the paradigms of the quran and prophetic tradition (ukpebor, 2018:42). it is popularly referred as the jihad of the sword. thus, the jihad of fodio was conceived to revive and purify islam in hausa land, to eliminate all syncretistic beliefs and rituals, jettison all innovations that are contrary to the quran and sharia, and bring the muslims backsliders back to orthodox and pure islam (umejesi, 1992:87). however, the religious motive turned out to be a political revolution. all the hausa dynasties were overthrown and the fulani were installed as emirs with sokoto chosen as the caliphal centre. islamic caliphate system replaced the traditional political system and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 413 islam thereafter became firmly established in places where it had not had a stronghold before in northern nigeria. the all-inclusiveness of islam is justified by this holistic revolution. islam does not separate the political from the religious and this makes muslims expect that the establishment of islam in the society will bring a better and more prosperous society as well as a greater enjoyment of the goods of this life and that of the hereafter. this is the notion of state in islam. it is contrary to the christian teaching to render to caesar what is caesar’s and to god what is god’s. in islam, caesar and what he owns belong to god, the one (al-qaradawi, 1998:3). colonial phase islam the violent intolerance tendency of islam that stares at the non-muslims especially the christians and their evangelical mission today was stimulated during colonial rule in nigeria. although, the militant tendency of the jihadists stopped before the colonial era, the spread of islam continues during the colonial period but in a peaceful mode of dissemination like as it was during the trans-saharan trade. if the british had swept away the caliphal system of islam they met as their french counterpart did in their territory the tale of nigeria would have been different. but the british propped and increased their authority through what umejesi (1992) refers to as “a symbiotic arrangement” otherwise known as the “principle of indirect rule”. in addition, the british introduced the pax brittanica which permitted muslims and everyone to move freely throughout the country in pursuit of trade or livelihood (kenny, 2001:8). this enable muslims to build mosque and interact with local people throughout the country while the christian though were still free to move around the country as well but restricted in building churches in muslims areas and their priests were forbidden to evangelize the muslims. this was enunciated by the british who feared that the policy of indirect rule might not succeed if the trapping of islam was not preserved. takaya (1987) quoted in umejesi (1992) averred: lugard assured them that their religion and customs would not be interfered with and that all structures would remain except that power was now effectively in the hands of the british. on their part, the muslim leaders, nay the jihadists, promised to put an end to the jihad of the sword and stop slave raiding, human mutilation and other acts antithetical to the interests of the british economy as pursued through the lugardian philosophy of dual mandate in africa (umejesi, 1992:89). 414 formation of the human person in the 21st century this confessional neutrality adopted by the british in the north gave way to partiality as the latent import was the recognition of islam as the state religion and the entire north regarded as muslim land while the south considered a christian area. this impression was far from the reality. however, the lugardian partiality and politicized view of religion were attributed to various reasons: respect for islam, fear of a general muslim uprising against the government and a strict cum conservative interpretation of the indirect rule system. the christian missionaries themselves equally added to the negative attitude that stared at them from the northern/islamic leaders. the negative attitude resulted from the missionary strategy of acting as liberators of the oppressed hausa from the perceived fulani hegemony and it imperiled the attempt to penetrate the muslim stronghold. this cardinal mistake as anyanwu and nwanaju (2014: viii) put it, hardened the attitude of the rulers and their loyalists against the missionaries whose activities were seen as subversive to the established system and order. islam in independent nigeria at independence in 1960s, islam became a reckoning force in nigeria politics. the british colonizers not only promoted islam during the colonial period but equally set the stage for the supremacy of muslims and islam in the infrastructural elements of nigeria’s government. they did this through the schools they established to train young members of the ruling stratum in the skills necessary for native administration under the indirect rule system (umejesi, 1992). katsina teacher’s training college was one of such schools that produced ahmadu bello, the erstwhile sardauna of sokoto. the college was an exclusive training ground that produced most of the nigerian muslim political leaders of the north. in addition, the british ensured as a form of compensation to the north for their cooperation and compliance that the heirs of the sokoto caliphate controlled the northern region (kenny, 2001). consequently the first republic was headed by tafawa balewa, a northern muslim. but the real power rested on ahmadu bello, the sardauna of sokoto and premier of the northern region. the political party, northern people’s congress (npc) that brought them to power overtly and covertly bears the touch of islam. scholars describe the features of this political party in various ways. duddley (1968:143) affirmed that the npc represented the consensus of the muslim societythe ijma and that any iota of its rejection by any member of the society signified a sinful islamic act. falola (1998) described it according to the meaning given to symbols in the logo of the party. he reported that the ‘one raised finger’ in the logo of the party represents the unity section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 415 of god of the islamic monotheistic faith which in the same way passed a message to its people that the ‘two fingered v’ for victory symbol of its opponent in the south portrays polytheism which islam prohibits out rightly. in the bid to gain upper hand, ahmadu bello, the sardauna embarked on the policy of northernization informing the people in his campaign tours that the north was in danger of coastal colonization when the british left. he made this assertion because many skilled southerners had occupied some of the best position in the north. as such to avert this tragedy, the north should come together under one umbrella against the south. besides, this northernization policy, ahmadu bello second agenda was to completely islamized the entire north. he was fully committed to this as the great-grandson of usman dan fodio. he wanted to perfect the work of his ancestors and he dip the quran into the sea with the intent of total islamization of nigeria. the sardauna’s assassination in the coup of 1966 successfully brought to an end his islamization agenda of the north and by extension the entire nigeria. leadership is a vital substance in islam and muslims are under obligation to participate in the societal business of leadership. for the fortunes of islam to continue especially as it is believed that islam is a complete way of life, there is need to perpetually hold on to power so that any perceived anomaly could easily be addressed at any point in time. thus, northern muslims have continued to struggle to hold on to power in the reign of government in nigeria. coup after coup continues to feature in post independent nigeria with prominent islamic figures. the 1970s saw the promulgation of the public education edict by the military administrators announcing the takeover of primary and secondary schools run by voluntary agencies. the catholic church was most hit by that edict as she had invested much in those institutions. initially, the policy was not seen as an attempt to foster any religious affiliation but with key positions in the national education planning been held by muslims, it became clear that the education policies were designed to protect and foster muslims’ interests. the words of a muslim scholar doi (1978) is an attestation: the policy has given freedom to islam to foster its cause, and in a way it has imposed restrictions on christianity, which had so far dominated the educational and social scene of the country. some of the muslim organizations laid down in their constitution that their aim was to remove the educational imbalance between muslims and christians (doi, 1978:342-343). the political well-being of the muslim community is a matter of supreme importance (amstrong, 2000:xi). this assertion was demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s as muslim intellectuals that had 416 formation of the human person in the 21st century developed in nigeria began to seek a new identity for islam in order to give islam a better and beneficial status in the muslim world, and to balance the perceived religious imbalance in nigeria’s religio-political space. thus, there emerged the shariah debates with the advancement by the protagonists that the islamic law (shariah) be incorporated in the constitution. they hinged their argument on the notion that of the three laws in nigeria: (the islamic law, english law and the native law), the shariah has not been given due consideration in the constitution (ebhomienlen and ukpebor, 2013: 168). the provisions of sharia on the draft constitution were: 1. there shall be a federal sharia court of appeal which shall be an intermediate court of appeal between the states’ sharia courts of appeal and the supreme court of nigeria. 2. the court shall be composed of the grand mufti and such a member of muftis (not less than three) as the national assembly may prescribe. 3. in each state of the federation that so desires, there shall be a sharia court of appeal to be established by the constitution of the state ( kukah, 2011:118). the background of these political events was the fundamentalist tendency of reverting to prestine islam taught and practice by the prophet enunciated by abubakar gumi, the influential spiritual heir of the sardauna. he mentored the izala society group (jama’a izala al-bida wa-iqama as-sunna meaning, movement for the removal of innovations in islam and a return to prophetic tradition). they espoused the saudi wahhabism and spread intolerant views and actions which were principally against the traditional muslims who belong to the sufi brotherhood, the tijaniyya and qadiriyya (kenny, 2001), but their actions later extended to the non-muslims especially the christians. they were for the full establishment of sharia not as enacted by a nigeria government but as the supreme and only law of the islamic umma which they considered as their authentic nationality. subsequent islamic groups later emerged with full impacts in nigeria religio-politico space such as the shiite movement, the maitatsine and the boko haram with a host of others. the perfection of nigeria’s islamic status was carried out by the later military dictatorships of general ibrahim babagida and general sani abacha with total disregard to the secularity of the nigeria state. babagida in 1986 registered nigeria as a full member of the organization of islamic conference (oic) while abacha signed a secret pact that smuggled nigeria into another islamic group made up of eight developing countries known as the d-8 in 1997. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 417 evaluation and conclusion the discussion so far has shown the dynamic nature of islam, a religious tradition in the social, economic and political settings of nigeria. beginning from the trans-saharan trade through which islam penetrated nigeria, its influence has revolutionized commerce and trade. its military transformed the traditional socio-political organization of the north and south west to emirate system and paved way for the triumph of muslims’ hegemonic control of power. the colonial masters did nothing but promoted islam with their policies which consolidated the political well-being of the muslims over the non-muslims in the geographical entity of plurality they formed as nigeria state. finally, nigeria’s independence opened the chapter of perpetual struggle for supremacy between muslims and non-muslims in the direction of leadership and general administration of the country with attendant rivalry between the adherence of the two religious divides (islam and christianity). the relevance of this analysis to the formative processes of the catholic clerics is the need for understanding of islam physical processes on muslims in nigeria by the seminarians and the logical background behind the complex numerous issues which confront the peoples of the contemporary nigeria society they are to serve. this is important as the way out is not to continue in the suprematic struggle but to engage in dialogue no matter the cost so that the mission of the church’s evangelization will continue to flourish in the society. it is the recommendation of this paper that the non-violent attitude of christ during his redemptive mission on earth be the guiding principle of christians especially the would-be catholic priest as the catholic church to a great extent represents the christian faith in nigeria. also, the government authorities should be engaged in modalities that promote freedom and impartiality in service delivery to the people including the provision of effective strategy that will ensure safety and security of lives and property for all citizens. references abdulati, h. (1997), islam in focus, cairo: el-falah foundation. al-qaradawi, y. (1998). state in islam. cairo: el-falah. anyanwu, s. o. and nwanaju, i. u. (2014). the politicization of religion in nigeria since the amalgamation of 1914. abakaliki: citizens’ advocate press. armstrong, k. (2000). islam: a short history. united kingdom: weidenfeld & nicolson. catechism of the catholic church (ccc) (1995). new york: double day. doi, a.r.i (1978). “islam in nigeria: changes since independence” in edward fashole-luke et al (eds), christianity in independent africa. ibadan: university press. (pgs 334-353). 418 formation of the human person in the 21st century dudley, b. (1968). parties and politics in northern nigeria. london: frank cass. ebhomienlen, t.o. and ukpebor, e.i. (2013). “religion and politics in nigeria: a comparative study of the nigeria supreme council for islamic affairs and the christian association of nigeria” in international journal of science and research (ijsr), vol. 2, no.9. (pgs 166-170). esposito, j.l. (2005), islam the straight path, new york: oxford university press. falola, t. (1998). violence in nigeria: the crisis of religious politics and secular ideologies. rochester: university of rochester press. imaekhai, f. j. (2010). “the three major religions practised in nigeria and human value” in isiramen, c.o, imaekhai, f.j and igboin, b.o. (eds), religion and the nigerian nation: some topical issues. ibadan: en-joy press & books. (pgs 53-66). kenny, j. (2001). “the spread of islam in nigeria: a historical survey”, a paper given at conference on sharia in nigeria at the spiritan institute of theology, enugu. retrived www.islamawareness.net/africa/nigeria/nigeria_artic le0001.html, 18/03/2020. kilani, a.o. and ukpebor, e.i. (2016) “islam in africa and homosexuality debates” in epha: ekpoma journal of religious studies. vol. 11, no. 1&2, (pgs 232247). kilani, a.r.o. (2014). islamology. third edition, lagos: jetins ltd. kukah, m.h. (2011). religion, politics and power in northern nigeria. ibadan: spectrum books. muller, m. (1897) in https://www.academia.edu/19356218/max_muller retrieved 18/02/20. odey, j. (2012). “boko haram: nigeria’s path to disintegration” in anyanwu, s.o. and nwanaju, i.u. (eds), boko haram and terrorism: religious conflicts and dialogue initiatives in nigeria. enugu: snaap press nigeria ltd. (pgs 48-75). tasie, g.i.k and okinedo, a.h.i (2005). “priesthood” in w.o. wotogbe-weneka (ed), themes in comparative religion, ado-ekiti: hamaz global publishing co. (pgs 124-134). ukpebor, e. i. (2018). “violence and peace: the place of islam in the crises of confidence in nigeria” in voyages: journal of religious studies. vol. 4, (pgs 37-54). umejesi, i.o. (1992). “the spread of islam in nigeria”, in orita journal of religious studies, vol. 1-2, (pgs 85-96). wotogbe-weneka w.o. (2005).themes in comparative religion, ado-ekiti: hamaz global publishing co. 419 31 impact of migration on women and children prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & mike boni, bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk abstract this paper provides a thematic discourse on the impact of migration on women and children. the study aims to contribute to deepening the understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon and its impact on women and children and human rights in general. women comprise slightly less than half of the international migrant population. while women and men decide to migrate for similar reasons, gender-specific social and cultural norms also play decisive roles in the migration process and therefore, affect the experience of migrant women and children. furthermore, the paper juxtaposes that a greater understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon can enable states to better protect migrant women and children from gender based discrimination, abuse and violations at all stages of migration, and fulfill their human rights. the study focuses on the impact of migration on women and children, especially girls, given that they are uniquely and disproportionately affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and violence. the paper mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 420 formation of the human person in the 21st century concludes by submitting that migrant women, who comprise half of the total migrant population in the world, provide important social and economic contributions to their countries of origin and destination. for many women and children, migration provides opportunities for their economic and social development. indeed, migration experiences can contribute to the empowerment of women and children by increasing their self-confidence, autonomy and control over their lives. finally, the paper notes, their exposure to different gender norms may contribute to the achievement of gender equality in their societies of origin. keywords: migration, women, children, human rights, gender norms, sociocultural norms introduction the number of migrant women is said to have doubled between 1960 and 2015. in 2017, women comprised slightly less than half, or 48 per cent, of the international migrant population. interestingly, they outnumbered men in all regions except africa and asia.1 data indicate that the rate of female migration is growing faster than male migration in many receiving countries while migration has moved up in the international policy agenda, its wide-ranging implications for children have received little attention. children are affected by migration when they are left behind by one or both migrating parents, migrating with parents (or born abroad), or migrating alone.2 the impact of migration on children and adolescents must be seen in the broader context of poverty and conflict, and within the perspectives of vulnerability and resilience, gender relations and children’s rights. the convention on the rights of the child (crc) protects every child, regardless of nationality or immigration status. states have obligations to respect the provisions of the convention in their policies and actions toward each and every child within their jurisdiction. these provisions include the right to citizenship, physical integrity, health and education as well as the right to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse. the international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers reaffirms these rights set forth in the crc.3 policies should protect children’s rights by enhancing access to the potential benefits created by migration, while also providing protection for those who are vulnerable to its negative consequences. effective migration policies need to be accompanied by additional investments in health, education and social protection to address the risks faced by children and adolescents who are migrating or left behind.4 section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 421 definitions of terms children: according to international standards, children are defined as “individuals below the age of 18” (crc, article1). however, it is important to note that only some of the documents included in this paper provide information disaggregated to specify the 0-18 age group.5 in most of the research examined children are defined by the age group 0-15, and youth by the age group 16-24.6 migration: the united nations defines a migrant as “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence”.7 identifying who is a migrant can be difficult due to the dynamic nature of migration, which in turn implies defining and assessing temporal and spatial criteria. migration can be permanent, if a person never return to his or her place of origin, or long term if a person moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. a short-term migrant is defined as a person moving to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least 3 months but less than a year (12 months), and often is the status of a person who moves from one region to another in accordance to the seasons. however, if a person moves to a new country for purposes of recreation, holiday, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment, or religious pilgrimages, he or she is not considered a migrant.8 in terms of space patterns, migration can imply the movement from one country to another (international migration), or movement within a country (internal migration, particularly between rural and urban areas), or movement transnationally if migrants “forge and sustain multi-stranded relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement”.9 the conventions on: the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women: under the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, discrimination against women is prohibited and states are obliged to eliminate discrimination against women. there are 189 states parties to the convention, which includes obligations to suppress trafficking in women (art. 6); grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain nationality (art. 9); eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment (art. 11); eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care and ensure access to health-care services, including those related to family planning and maternal care (art. 12); and accord to men and women the 422 formation of the human person in the 21st century same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile (art. 15 (4).10 the rights of the child: the principle of non-discrimination is codified in article 2 of the convention on the rights of the child. in joint general comment no. 3 (2017) of the committee on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families and no. 22 (2017) of the committee on the rights of the child on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration, both committees gave their interpretation of the application of the non-discrimination principle in the context of international migration. the non-discrimination principle in the convention on the rights of the child stipulates that states parties should respect and ensure the rights set forth in the convention for all children, whether they are considered, inter alia, migrants in regular or irregular situations, asylum seekers, refugees, stateless or victims of trafficking, including in situations of return or deportation to their country of origin, irrespective of their or their parents’ or legal guardians’ nationality, migration status or statelessness.11 migration channels and specific challenges while migrating until recently, women were thought to migrate primarily to join a partner or for family reunification. today, an increasing number of women are moving on their own,12 notably to find work, which is leading to a so-called feminization of migration. while the way in which women are migrating is changing, more women are also likely to be the lead migrant, that is, the first member of the family to migrate. highly skilled women are more likely to migrate on their own than low-skilled women.13some women, however, still face difficulties in leaving their countries because of prohibitive, gender-specific discriminatory laws or restrictive social norms. those measures can push them to migrate through irregular channels14 which is more common when coupled with institutional failures to address the obstacles, as well as insufficient information on the migration process and a low level of education. it should be noted here that a network of migrant women in their countries of origin, or previous experience of women’s migration, can help to stimulate migration. social networks, as a set of interpersonal ties that connect migrants, former migrants and non-migrants in origin, transit and destination countries through kinship, friendship or a shared community of origin, can prompt rural women to migrate across borders. in countries of destination, regardless of their migratory status, migrant women encounter multiple and intersecting forms of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 423 discrimination, not only as women and as migrants, but also on other grounds, including age, race and ethnicity, nationality, religion, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity. as a result, they are at risk of abuse and exploitation. it is well documented that migrant women in general struggle in many countries to have their credentials recognized, which leads to “deskilling” as a result of being underemployed.15 migration and socio-cultural gender norms the migration of women may amend the social and gender norms both for migrants themselves and for their home communities. it may influence their home communities to adopt more equitable norms with regard to education, reproductive rights, marriage and the organization of families and communities.16the migration of women has the potential to contribute to a reformulation of gender roles and cultural norms, and may improve women’s autonomy, self-esteem and social standing.17 for example, in one study, south asian migrant women reportedly used their increased decision‐making power to direct their remittances to health care and education for their families.18 migration and economic empowerment of women in his opening remarks at the intergovernmental conference to adopt the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, the secretary-general emphasized how important migration was for the functioning of economies, as migrants performed vital roles, such as in health care and care for elderly persons.19 migration can fill critical gaps in labour markets in countries of destination, with a positive impact on employment, production and the country’s gross domestic product. it is important to note that the migration of women also leaves gaps in their countries of origin. in 2011, the world bank pointed out that physicians and nurses were the professionals that migrated most often than other classes of professionals.20it is therefore not surprising that according to one study; sub-saharan countries are experiencing a shortage of 600,000 nurses. it was found in another study that from 1999 to 2001, 60 per cent of registered nurses left tertiary hospitals in malawi, likely to migrate. as a result, 64 per cent of nursing positions (heavily dominated by women) remain unfilled, with medical centres operating with no nurses or with employees who have as little as 10 weeks of medical training.21 the impact of migration on: children in general: in order to formulate policy recommendations that enhance children’s welfare, there is a need for reliable data that allow the assessment of positive and negative effects of migration. unicef, in 424 formation of the human person in the 21st century collaboration with undp and the special unit for south-south cooperation (su-ssc), has initiated policy research and operational work in six countries (ecuador, albania, moldova, philippines, mexico, morocco) on the impact of migration on women and children left behind. some preliminary results from country-level studies and a review of current literature highlight the magnitude of the impact of migration on families. according to a report by (save the children, 2006), around 1 million sri lankan children are left behind by their mothers, who migrate in search of work. in the philippines, it is estimated that between 8.8 and 9 million children, or around 27% of all minors in the country, live separated from one or both parents. in moldova, a study estimated that 31% of children aged 0-14 have been left behind by one parent and 5.4% by both parents.22 in 2002, 13% of mexican and almost 22% of salvadoran immigrants living in the u.s had children left behind in their home countries.23 children left behind: the social cost of migration can be very high, particularly due to the lack of parental care. children left behind inevitably grow up in single-headed families (if only one parent is migrating), or with grandparents and other relatives (if both of the parents are migrating), filling the vacuum left by migrant parents. negative effects can be exacerbated if long term migration of one of the parents may lead to permanent disruption of family unity. absence of men can create material and psychological insecurity, leading mothers (or children when both the parents are migrating) to pressures and negotiations with wider family members. migrants may start having “dual families” relationships: one in the country of origin and one in the country of destination; this phenomenon may actually reduce the amount of remittances sent home.24 however it is important to stress the fact that children left behind are not orphans and most of them do keep some sort of contact with their migrant parents. the impact of the absence of one of the parents on children can be mediated by an extended family safety net, which is an effective response to economic and social crises, particularly in sub-saharan africa. for this reason, children in left-behind households do not appear to suffer greater social or economic problems than their peers in nonremittance-receiving households, with the exception of younger children.25 however, care by the extended family, or community or institutional care, often does not provide as much protection from abuse and exploitation as parental care. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 425 children’s health: the effects of migration on child health are contested and complex. whereas on the one hand, migration itself poses significant hazards to children and their health, movement to a destination country also can increase access to health care. moving to countries or regions with better health services will have a positive impact on children. migrant children moving from a rural area to the urban area are more likely to survive due to a greater number of hospitals and doctors, improved infrastructure including potable water, flush toilets, and refrigeration, and better health information (prompting cleaner food preparation and storage and improved hygiene practices). health benefits of migration, due to access to better health services and information, are sharply contrasted with the inherent health risks to moving in the first place. according to whitehead and hashim, child health is often directly associated with the type of work child migrants find, whether it be abusive work, sex work, hazardous work in the informal economy, or physically beyond the child’s capacities.26 the working conditions, if illegal (i.e. prostitution) may also prevent child access to health care if there is a fear of raid, discovery, or deportation. finally migrant may face serious difficulties in accessing health services if based on a registered residence system. in china, for example, migrants may face a lack of adequate health care for a variety of reasons: caretaker lack of knowledge, both in terms of prevention and access to care; passive attention to disease; poor economic situations. these factors lead to higher child mortality rates among migrants.27 education and economic activity of migrant children migration may also have a negative impact on education attainment of children. children of migrant workers and children migrating alone face serious exclusion from education due to social and cultural isolation, strenuous and hazardous work, extreme poverty, poor health conditions and language barriers. children may leave the household of origin with the objective of performing economic activities that may keep them out of school. comparing education achievement between migrants and non-migrant children in a given country may be misleading in assessing the impact of migration on migrant children. in order to measure how and whether the decision to migrate has increased school attainment, it will be necessary to compare levels with children of the same age group in the country of origin, and not the population of children in the country of destination.28 children who migrate may end up in being involved in economic activities as a specific decision (work migration) or as a result of the conditions, need and opportunities in destination countries. regardless of the extensive literature on child work, disproportionately 426 formation of the human person in the 21st century focused on children who work in the worst form of child labour (i.e. trafficked jobs, prostitution), there is a lack of quantitative research looking specifically at economic activity patterns of migrant children. child migrant workers have a variety of experiences due to a complex set of factors, and often one child will have a mixture of positive and negative experiences.29 negative effects may include exploitation, poor working conditions, physical, verbal, or sexual abuse from employers and foregone access to school. psycho-social: migration may have psycho-social impacts on children due to the experience moving from the country of origin to the country of destination, and also due to exclusion and marginalization in countries of destination. leaving their communities, migrant children lose contact with their family and friends, as well as lose customs and traditions. at the same time, coming into a new community, they may be required to become accustomed to new language, culture and lifestyle.30 even if children may adapt to new contexts more quickly than adults, this may generate conflict with parent or other members of same migrant group. as in the cases of health and education, the psycho-social impact of migration varied greatly depending on specific characteristics of the migrant group and its receiving country, as well as other methodological factors such as variance in data collection. children in host countries: children of migrants face challenges in adapting to host societies. they stand a greater risk of dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy and juvenile crime; they get exposed to incomplete citizenship rights and therefore, may have difficult access to social services which may also lead to the danger of social exclusion. ensure respect for the rights of migrant women and children in order to ensure the rights of migrant women and children, the following steps should be aggressively taken: (a) promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and children in efforts to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development; (b) ensure that the implementation, review and follow-up of the global compact for migration is human rights-based, genderresponsive and child-sensitive; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 427 (c) formulate human rights-based, gender-responsive and childsensitive policies to govern migration that promote gender equality and non-discrimination; (d) increase avenues for regular migration, where migrants, including women and children, can make informed choices and have access to legal protection, services and social networks in countries of origin, transit and destination; (e) revise national laws and regulations governing migration to make them more gender-responsive by including provisions on antidiscrimination, equality between men and women, mandatory health insurance for migrant workers at all levels and special protection for vulnerable categories of workers, including domestic workers; (f) take measures to ensure that family reunion policies are applicable to women migrant workers at all levels, including domestic workers, in order to enable their spouses and children to join them in their country of destination; (g) involve migrant women and relevant civil society organizations in the formulation, implementation and review of policies and regulations governing migration to ensure that the specific needs of migrant women and children are addressed; (h) provide pre-departure orientation training specific to migrant women, which should include information on their human rights, potential methods of exploitation and available complaint mechanisms; and make financial literacy programmes available to migrant women to enable them to better manage their earnings; (i) ensure the provision of basic services as enshrined in international human rights law, so that citizens do not have to rely on remittances to compensate for the absence of affordable, accessible, publicly funded services and social protection; (j) ensure the provision of human rights-based, gender-responsive and child-sensitive reintegration programmes for migrants who return to their countries of origin, and more specifically, ensure that economic, sociocultural and psychosocial support is provided to returnee migrants and communities in their countries of origin prior, during and after their return; 428 formation of the human person in the 21st century (k) provide gender-sensitive human rights training to immigration officials, border police, social workers, health-care providers, educators, judicial officers and media workers to raise their awareness of the human rights of migrant women and children; (l) take all measures necessary to prevent, investigate, prosecute and sanction human rights violations and abuse against migrant women and children, whether perpetrated by public officials or private individuals; (m) guarantee adequate recognition of foreign qualifications and skills to ensure that migrant women do not become underemployed or “deskilled”, and to ensure that their professional experience and skills are fully recognized; (n) lift sex-specific bans and discriminatory restrictions on the migration of women, whether they are based on age, pregnancy or marital or maternity status, and particularly restrictions that require women or children to obtain permission from male family members in order to travel; (o) strengthen state oversight and monitoring of private recruitment agencies and brokers to ensure that overseas employment programmes and work permits are administered in a manner that respects gender equality and the rights of migrant women; (p) ensure that migrant women have equal access to legal remedies and complaint mechanisms, and provide legal, vocational, medical and psychological assistance to victims of trafficking, particularly female victims; (q) ensure that migrant women and children have access to education, social protection, health care, including reproductive health care, and other basic services; (r) establish firewalls between public service providers and immigration authorities to allow access to justice for migrant women and girls without fear of being reported, detained or deported; (s) invest in and support the capacity of national agencies to collect and use sexand age-disaggregated data on migrants regardless of their section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 429 migratory status, and support research initiatives to better understand the impact of migration on women and children; (t) conduct awareness-raising campaigns to better uphold the dignity of migrant women and children, and to highlight their social and economic contributions to society; (u) include the protection of the rights of migrant women and children on the agenda of intergovernmental dialogues on migration-related issues at the global, regional and bilateral levels. conclusions and recommendations migrant women, who comprise half of the total migrant population in the world, provide important social and economic contributions to their countries of origin and destination. for many women and children, migration provides opportunities for their economic and social development. migration experiences can contribute to the empowerment of women and girls by increasing their self-confidence, autonomy and control over their lives. their exposure to different gender norms may contribute to the achievement of gender equality in their societies of origin. however, circumstances such as discriminatory social and cultural norms and policies have contributed to the specific vulnerabilities of migrant women and children. many are disproportionately affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and violations of their rights during migration. a limited understanding of the realities faced by migrant women and children affects the ability of states to formulate and implement gender-responsive migration laws, policies and programmes, and ensure that women and children can enjoy their human rights throughout their migration journey. we conclude this discourse on the impacts of migration on women and children with the following recommendations: 1. children and adolescents must matter in migration policies and debates. children and adolescents affected by migration are particularly vulnerable and should receive special protection. 2. to increase the visibility of children in policy agendas, more research and comparable global data on how children are affected by migration are needed. ƒ 3. policy and programme interventions should aim at maximizing the benefits of remittances and limiting the negative effects of migration on children and families left behind. 4. governments, international organizations, and civil society stakeholders must collaborate (a) to advocate for the rights of children and women affected by migration, (b) to monitor and 430 formation of the human person in the 21st century gather information on the well-being of children in migrant communities and (c) to promote awareness in sending migrants to host societies so that the risks of discrimination and social exclusion are reduced. endnotes ____________________ 1. international migration report 2017 (highlights), united nations publication, sales no. e.18.xiii.4) 2. united nations population fund (unfpa) 3. international migration policy programme, meeting the challenges of migration: progress since the icpd (2004), p. 13. 4. the impact of migration on migrant women and girls: a gender perspective: report of the special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (a/hrc/41/38) (en/ar/ru) 5. the lack of disaggregated data specifying 0-18 as an age group includes international statistics that should follow the definition in the convention on the rights of the child. 6. ibid. 7. in the 1976 recommendation, a migrant was defined as person who has entered a country with the intention of remaining for more than one year and who either must never have been in that country continuously for more than one year or, having been in the country at least once continuously for more than one year, must have been away continuously for more than one year since the last stay of more than one involved (united nations, 1998) 8. ibid. 9. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarksintergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 10. nicola piper, ed., new perspectives on gender and migration: livelihood, rights and entitlements, oxon: routledge, 2007, pp. 1–2. 11. see also committee on the rights of the child, general comment no. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, paragraph 12. 12. alyson l., dimmit gnam, “mexico’s missed opportunities to protect irregular women trans migrants: applying a gender lens to migration law reform” in pacific rim law & policy journal, vol. 22, no. 3 (2013), pp. 713–749. 13. o’neil, fleury and foresti, “women on the move”, p. 9. 14. bandita sijapati, “women’s labour migration from asia and the pacific: opportunities and challenges”, iom regional office for asia and the pacific and migration policy institute, 2015, p. 8. 15. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization, global education monitoring report team, “the intersections between education, migration and displacement are not gender-neutral”, document ed/gem/mrt/2019/wp1, p. 4.) section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 431 16. o’neil, fleury and foresti, “women on the move”, p. 5. 17. rita afsar, “contextualizing gender and migration in south asia: critical insights” in gender, technology and development, vol. 15, no. 3 (2011), pp. 389–410. 18. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarksintergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 19. camilla spadavecchia, “migration of women from sub-saharan africa to europe”, p. 108. 20. ibid. 21. unicef moldova / su-ssc, 2006) 22. cortina & de la garza, 2004) 23. nyiri and saveliev 2002 24. in the available policy literature on development, the term “children left behind” is sometime also used to refer to children orphans due to hiv/aids. 25. whitehead and hashim (2005) 26. beijing health bureau’s (2007). 27. the effect of a lack of parental care on children has been addressed in detail in a series of recent studies looking at the conditions of the large number of children orphans due to hiv/aids, and some of the policy concerns and interventions are similar to the ones developed for of abandoned children or orphans. 28. ibid. 29. ibid. 30. camilla spadavecchia, “migration of women from sub-saharan africa to europe”, p. 108. 432 32 formation of the youth and its implications on national development osamede christopher, osawaru department of philosophy, university of benin, benin-city, edo state, nigeria. chrisosawaru4@gmail.com, christopher.osawaru@uniben.edu abstract it is often said that today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. the youths are the pillars upon which the success, progress and prosperity of a nations’ future are built. when their strengths and potentials and creativity are properly harnessed, they are great assets to any nation. youths are the major human capital (resources) hence the need to channel their energies accordingly and dissipate it appropriately for the benefit of the nation and humanity as a whole. today’s youths are faced with the challenge of coping with an ever broadening spectrum of influences on decision making and behavior. these influences stem from the home, peer pressure, the media, technological advancement and the society and they have negative effects on their growth and development. the youth cannot be who they ought to be without the gentle and loving guidance of everyone charged with the responsibility of molding their lives. the manifestations of uncivilized acts among the youths are as result of the missing link in the execution of these responsibilities. this paper is an attempt to provide a philosophical investigation into the formation of the youth with a view of emphasizing the need to harness the potentials of these youths for national development. the paper argues that everyone charged with the responsibility of contributing to the formation of the youth are stakeholders in this onerous task and it is justifiable and rational for all hands to be on deck. the paper adopted an expository method of philosophical inquiry mailto:chrisosawaru4@gmail.com section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 433 keywords: youth, youth formation, development, national development, human capital, stakeholders. introduction it is often said that ‘today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. they are our future leaders because they will outlive today’s leaders. historically, this is essentially true. they are the pillars upon which the success, progress and prosperity of a nations’ future are built. when their strength, potentials and creativity are properly harnessed, they are great assets to any nation. but when their abilities are not properly channeled, they can become a great danger to themselves and the society. this is the reason every nation that hopes to remain relevant in future must give priority to the formation, development and training of its youths. there will be no success without a successor. however, it is imperative that the cliché that youths are the leaders of tomorrow go beyond mere platitudes and words to action. efforts must be made to ensure that it actually become a reality because the youths are special breeds with unique abilities to drive positive and lasting change in every facet of life. but in order for them to maximize their potentials and get to the peak of their abilities, they need to be adequately equipped today. the older generation has the responsibility to prepare the younger ones for their future relevance, first by their examples and then by helping the youths understand their calling and future responsibilities. parents, schools, religious organizations, the society and the government are the stakeholders who have special tasks in making the youths ready for the future; to equip them with skills, knowledge and support needed to take advantage of the opportunities of the modern world and make their societies a better place to the benefit of humanity. parents are the primary care givers of their children, the training and development of the youths should begin at home. it is the home that morals are first inculcated and characters moulded. the holy bible for christians stated that “train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (proverbs 22:6). this places enormous responsibilities on parents because parental care and guidance are major cornerstones in the formation process of every child. the school should also help in preparing the youth for the future by preparing them mentally and intellectually so that they can adequately meet the challenge of this century. education remains an essential key to ensuring a brighter future. therefore, the government should make the education of the youth a priority. beyond this, it should also create an enabling environment for young people to actualize their dreams through its policies and programmes. 434 formation of the human person in the 21st century it is axiomatic therefore to posit that there is a linkage between youth formation and national development. this intercourse is not only symbiotically connected; but, one depends on the other for its sustenance. therefore, the role of youth on national development cannot be over emphasized. the wheel of development of any country lies on the shoulder of how productive and creative the youthful populations are. the youth in any society are the engine of growth and development; because, they provide the labour force for production of goods and service to take effect. and also, are the critical masses of people, whose action and inaction can develop or destroy the hegemonies/fabrics of their society. the thrust of this paper is to expose the role of various stakeholders in the formation of the youths using a simple analytical survey, this paper tries to examine how youths could be helped to develop skills that can enhance their abilities and also achieve a promising future for themselves. conceptual clarifications who is a youth? the word “youth” has a relatively clear connotation but for the purpose of this article, it is important we proceed with a clarification of the notion of a youth. there is no universal definition of the youth population. “youths” is traditionally defined as a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. according to chambers dictionary, a youth is a person between childhood/adolescents and maturity, from this, it could be deduced that a youth is a young person still going through the process of formation or development. this starts right from conception through childhood and adolescence to maturity, if this is ever fully achieved. in the african youths report 2009 (uneca 2009), “youths” are defined as people between 15 and 39 years of age. however, several african countries define their youth population differently. for example, ghana, tanzania and south africa define the youth population as those between 15 and 35 years of age; nigeria and swaziland define it as those between 12 and 30 years; and botswana and mauritius define it as those between 14 and 25 years.1 these varying definitions of the youth population make it difficult to effectively discuss issues affecting youths in africa generally and to compare information across countries. the age band used in the ayr is too wide because it is generally agreed that people in their 30s are adults, and hence not part of those youths who are in transition to adulthood. for statistical purposes, the united nations (2011d) defines youths as “those aged 15 to 24 years.”2 although arbitrary, this is the age group that has been recognized internationally as “youths.” though generally acceptable and preferable, its implementation often poses section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 435 problems because the data for different countries are not provided using this definition. for example, population data are commonly presented in five-year age bands or presented for children (below 15 years) and for adults (15 years and above). similarly, labor market data are typically presented for adults (16–64 years).3 a problem with this attempt at defining a youth however is that while we are reasonably sure that the process of formation, employed to define who a youth is, begins right from childhood, we are not sure if and when this process stops and maturity is fully attained. indeed, there are two important questions we need to address in this regard. it relates to when childhood starts. is it from conception, from birth or a certain point after birth? at least, it is obvious that development characterizes the life of each individual right from conception. without unnecessarily belabouring the issue of when childhood commences we may safely put this at immediately after conception. a reason for this position is that we observe in individual persons marked signs of growth, especially physical growth, right from birth with manifestations of other forms of growth (intellectual, emotional, spiritual and cognitive following as the child develops physically. the second question is “is there any point in the life of the human person that he/she finally achieves maturity and ceases from growing and developing?’ from the legal perspective, the age of maturity/adulthood is located between the age of eighteen and twentyone in virtually all countries. but, one fact that we can hardly contest is that the process of growth and development extends far beyond the age bracket of eighteen and twenty-one. thus, if maturity is to be understood as the point at which the process of growth and development terminates and maturity is fully attained then it is obvious that this cannot be rightly located between the age of eighteen and twenty-one. besides, it is very much doubtful that we can identify a definite age at which persons attain maturity, understood as the age of full growth and development. thus, the problem with the attempt to define a youth in terms of the period and the process of development is that these vary from person to person. the process might even continue in some individuals from childhood, far beyond what people would ordinarily want to consider as the period of youthfulness and extend to what is described as the middle or even the old age. there is really no period in human life that development cannot and as a matter of fact, does not take place in ones aspect of life or the other. given this understanding, if we are to retain our conception of the youth being marked by the period and process of growth, then it might be helpful to extend the concept to include anyone who appreciates the need for growth, seeks for growth or is actually growing in areas that are 436 formation of the human person in the 21st century crucial for both personal and social development. however, for our purpose, a youth can be defined as a person who is still in his/her formative years, undergoing character modeling, personality development and sometimes receiving training that has to do with human capacity development. “the youth therefore could be influenced by whatever transpires in and around his/her environment because he/she learns through observation and experience”.4 (adeyemo & co) the concept of development there is no agreement as to what development is. there are various aspects as to what constitutes development; however common to all is a positive change in human wellbeing. the individual and his quality of life must be the center of the conception of national development, for the purpose of this paper; the youth must be equipped to contribute their own quota to the development of the nation. the term development could be used interchangeably with evolution depending on the contexts in which it is being used, either positively or negatively to refer to situations, trends, or issues. development, ordinarily means “man’s effort to make the necessary impact on nature; his environment, and on himself with a view to transforming and improving himself and his environment”5 (nwafor, 2006). it is clear therefore that development and improvement are synonymous. when something has been made to wear a new look from what it was before, we can say that a development has taken place. the words “growth” and expansion” are coterminous with development, and they suggest positive development. these words equally denote progress being made from one stage to another, which do not denote negative development like retardation, degeneration or decline. development is the progressive realization of capabilities, abilities and talents of each individual for his /her own satisfaction and enhancement of the social good. development in a wider context deals with socio-economic and political life of the society; it connotes the fulfillment, realization or actualization of goals and objectives, hopes and aspirations of that society. the process of actualization begins when a society recognizes its inadequacies, and sets goals for itself, and decides to make deliberate efforts to remedy perceived deficiencies in order to attain desired goals.6 (nwafor, 2006). in this regard, nyerere in ezimah (2004) views development as having an emancipator goal, i.e., it liberates man from shackles of ignorance, superstition and oppression in all its ramifications.7 consequently, all forms of development have to some extent a reasonable dose of educational process. for that reason, the development of the intellectual frontiers of the individual youth cannot section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 437 be left untouched. by extension therefore, the development of the individual’s intellectual capacity and capability empowers him/ her socially, economically and politically; thereby giving him not only a sense of self-fulfillment, but also a sense of belonging and commitment to the overall development of society. development entails more than the economic aspect of people lives. a significant development in a country like nigeria must take into account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. this supports the notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary interpretation and usage, these various perceptions only contribute to showing the richness as well as the problems associated with the concept of development. the united nations development program (undp) distinguishes between two sides of development. one is the formation of human capabilities and the other is the use people make of their acquired capabilities. this implies that development could be at the level of individual and also at the level of the society. development is a multidimensional process involving the totality of man in his political, economic, psychological, social relations, among others. development is not a completed affair; it is an on-going process. thus people are the objects of development. it must involve among other things the eradication of certain human -demeaning social phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, lowlife expectancy; development should be the creation and maintenance of livelihood opportunities. development is a social concept standing for the process through which human beings strive to improve the conditions of their lives. development is not an abstraction; it is a process of social transformation, which involves the replacement of those factors that inhibit the capacity of the individual for self-direction and the promotion of social cooperation with those which promote these ideals. in short, it is a process whose essence concerns the quality of life of the people. national development the term national development is a term that refers to a sustainable growth and development of a nation to a more desirable one. national development is people oriented and its success is evaluated in terms of the impact it has had in improving the lot of the masses. true development must mean the development of man, the unfolding and realization of his creative potentials, enabling him to improve his material conditions of living through the use of resources available to him. it is a process by which man’s personality is enhanced, and it is this enhanced personality and creativity, organized and disciplinedwhich is the moving force behind the socioeconomic transformation of any society. according to onabajo and m’bayo (2009), says ‘national 438 formation of the human person in the 21st century development should be man oriented and not institution oriented, that is, individually in collectiveness and not individual.8 to elugbe, (1994), ‘national development refers among other things, to the growth of the nation in terms of unity, education, economic well-being and mass participation in government.9 in summary development entails the provision of all the necessary materials and equipment’s that will guarantee that man in every society make a living and essence out of life. anaeto and anaeto (2010) citing todaro and smith (2003), identified three objectives of development which are; 1. increase availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such as food, shelter, health and protection. 2. to raise levels of living in addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better education, and greater attention to cultural and human values, all of which will serve not only to enhance material well-being but also to generate greater individual and national self-esteem and 3. to expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nation by freeing them from servitude and dependence, not only in relation to other people and nation states but also to the forces of ignorance and human misery.10 development is the socio-cultural, political, economic and the spiritual well-being of a society. in a truly developed state there is assurance of good quality of life, exercise of all human rights, and freedom to participate in the democratic process. from the foregoing, development implies enhanced quality of life, equity and justice, as it takes into consideration the wellbeing, growth and advancement of individuals within the society. national development could be described as the process of putting in place all it require for a nation state to stand on its own as an independent autonomous state.it entails more than the economic aspect of people lives. a significant development in a country like nigeria must take into account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. this supports the notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary interpretation and usage, these various perceptions only contribute to showing the richness as well as the problems associated with the concept of national development. the united nations development program (undp) distinguishes between two sides of development. one is the formation of human capabilities and the other is the use people make of their acquired capabilities. this implies that development could be at the level of individual and also at the level of the society. national development is a multidimensional process involving the totality of the nation in its political, economic, psychological, social relations, among others. national development is not a completed affair; it is an on-going process. thus people are the objects of national development. it must involve among other things the eradication of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 439 certain human -demeaning social phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, lowlife expectancy, national development should be the creation and maintenance of livelihood opportunities amongst the citizens that makes up such nation. such process includes training and retraining of the human resources. the aim is to harness and exploit the available resources in the country. in most cases, the training is focused majorly on areas of critical needs at a particular point in time. national development means the conscious, deliberate and concerted effort made by people to address the fundamental needs or issues of their nationhood. human capital development human capital development was described as an end or objective of development. it is a way to fulfill the potential of people by enlarging their capabilities, and this necessarily implies empowerment of people, enabling them to participate actively in their own development. human capital development is also a means since it enhances the skills, knowledge, productivity and inventiveness of people through a process of human capital formation broadly conceived. thus, human capital development is a people centered strategy, and not goods centered or production centered strategy of development. what really matters is the empowerment of people to identify their own priorities and to implement programmes and projects of direct benefit to them. this in turn implies the active participation of people in the development process and the consequent need to construct institutions that permit and indeed encourage that participation. in human capital development, education and health are essential. education is concerned with the cultivation of “the whole person” including intellectual, character and psychomotor development. it is the human resources of any nation, rather than its physical, capital and material resources, which ultimately determine the character and pace of its economic and social development. according to harbison, human resources constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth of nations. capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic and political organization, and carry forward national development. a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and utilize them effectively for national progress will be unable to develop anything else.11 (harbison, 1973, p.3). education occupies an important place in most plans for economic and social development. whichever way one looks at it, the education sector is important in human development as a supplier of the 440 formation of the human person in the 21st century trained manpower and it is a prerequisite for the accomplishment of other development goals. also, it is the main sector through whose national identity goals and aspirations are given meaning and reality among the people. the uniqueness of youthfulness the youthful age is the most exciting, active, dynamic period of one’s life. this stage of life is characterized by physical strength, dreams of a great future, a quest for adventure and acquisition of knowledge and experience. at this stage, one can achieve the best in life. the average youth is full of life and dreams; they want to try new things. in a way, these are advantageous to them because this penchant to discover, create and try new things can be channeled towards productivity. besides some great innovations in the world today were pioneered by young people who were curious, passionate and adventurous; young men and women who dared to dream. if the youths are well guided and mentored, they will discover their god-given potentials and channel those potentials towards problem solving. they will not only be useful to themselves and their families, they will also be making substantial inputs to national development. history is replete with youths who have contributed immensely to the progress of their countries. so many discoveries and inventions have been made by young minds. sixteen years old olivia hallisely discovered a way to detect ebola in less than thirty minutes compared to the current method that takes up to twelve hours to get results.12 cancer survivor, kylie simonds, designed a stylish backpack that allows children taking chemotherapy intravenously to move around without having to carry iv poles along. kylie was only thirteen when she invented the backpack,13 four nigerian high school students all under age 15 years, devised a “urine-powered” generator that can supply six hours uninterrupted electricity with one liter of processed urine.14 these are ingenious minds and they are just few of the countless numbers of dynamic youths in our generation. youths are unique; they should constantly be reminded of that and be encouraged to be at their best before this stage of their lives passes by. . for example according to the 2006 census, the youthful population constituted over 70% of the nigerian population. therefore, this quantum of population is a great asset for the nigerian state if they are harnessed and utilized in the right direction. interestingly, the transition of society from one generation to another is critical to the formative and developmental aspiration of such society. this is why society that prepares their youth for the sake of future aspiration will not only secure her future development; but, will prepare her next set of leaders with the challenges of national reconciliation and development. hence, the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 441 formation of youth has its implications on national development and is sacrosanct to the whole developmental aspiration of any society. the youth are the cornerstone to societal rejuvenation. societies are not only recreated through the youthful population, but, youth are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow. youth and education education is a process of learning and development the process is embarked upon with the objective of facilitating intellectual and moral development in individuals so as to make the youth become productive members of the society. this process of education involves the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge. it assists individuals to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve their life goals. whether formal or informal, its basic objective is to unleash a person’s potentials and develop knowledge skills and socially desirable and useful behavioural patterns. while formal education is acquired in schools, informal education takes place through everyday experiences and actual relationships with people around you. in our effort to define who a youth is, the process of development stands out as an essential element. this suggests that education understood as a process of learning and designed to facilitate development on youths and the prospect of their development. as a result, an appropriate system of education must facilitate the “holistic enhancement of the youths” and this is essential to overcome the growing doubts africa’s prospects of developing in a increasing competitive world. education of the youths should go beyond mere economic empowerment in order to earn a living, it must also enhance the capacity of all to exert a regenerating and creative moral vibration on the social system, this is highly essential to regenerate the social system and cleanse it of much of the … afflicting it today. for onyechere anyiam-osigwe, holistic education must result in the spiritual, moral, economic and socio-political enhancement of both the youth and the society as a whole, he contends that the collapsing moral fibre of society, which according, to him is worse in countries reputed to be educationally advantaged is due to the neglect of the primordial essence of education” 15which is instill moral order in the individual. the ultimate end of education is to produce good people and good members of the society. in his words, “the primordial essence of education is to reawaken the moral order inherent in the human essence: that is mould the individual in a manner that ensures that he or she becomes a good member of his tribe or community. 442 formation of the human person in the 21st century education is the most crucial secular activity for national development the education of the youth is the highest secular investment that can ever be made because it empowers the youth to be great achievers and leaders. according to eleanor roosevett, “education is essential to good citizenship and that education is important to life because it enables people to contribute to their country and their community. education equally helps to reform the youths’ interpersonal relationship. hence, the youth should be encouraged to socialize and keep healthy relationships to ensure a balanced social life. also it should be inculcated in the youth values that will prepare them for leadership. some of these values include: courtesy, humility, hospitability, compassion, generosity, patience, diligence, sense of responsibility and friendliness. a balanced life is crucial for personal success and peace of mind. helping youths to balance their secular activities will make them more relevant in the society. stakeholders in youth formation in general sense, the term “stakeholder” means any person or group that has a vested interest in a matter. the stakeholder can affect or be affected by the results of that which he /she is said to be a stakeholder, that is that in which he or she has a stake. the stakeholder temporarily owns the project or the business he/ she is involved in while is owner is still being determined. there are various stakeholders responsible for the upbringing and training of the youth: the school, the parent, the society, the government and religious organization .though all these agencies of youth development are expected to mould different aspect of the youth’s life so that he/ she will grow up to become the person he/she is meant to be, their responsibilities are intertwined. the youth world is interesting and challenging. it is a world filled with potentials and opportunities waiting to be explored and developed for wonderful results. everywhere in the world, the great potentials of the young population which is about half of the world’s population are recognized. this is why so much should be committed to ensuring that these potentials are fully tapped and developed because therein lies the strength, growth and development of every nation. sadly, many young people fail to recognize the great potentials that they have and the wonderful future that lies ahead of them if these opportunities are properly harnessed and utilized. many of them are overwhelmed in the euphoria and ecstasy of their age which blindfolds them to the realities of life. others go on without awakening from the stupor their fantasies had drawn then into; thus wasting whole lives filed with untapped potentials. some wake up too late to realize that they had wasted a good part of their lives that would definitely have made them section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 443 better than what they are and have to struggle so hard to come to terms with the realities of life. what this shows is that while the “youth world” has wonderful opportunities, it is also filled with dangers that tend to hamper and undermine some youths. to be able to go through this stage and maximally utilize their potentials, the youth need guidance, this is what has informed this aspect of the article, the youth cannot be who they ought to be without the loving and gentle guidance of everyone charged with the responsibilities of moulding their lives. parents, guidance, religious organizations, government, youth workers, teachers and all adults are stakeholders in this business and hands must be on deck to raise great youths. i. the home/parent/guardians. parents are major stakeholders in youth formation because of their natural affinity with their children. they are traditionally the ultimate caregivers who invest most, if not all, of their time on their children. it is easier to build a child than to repair an adult; that is why child’s training should begin very early. children learn how to act in the world by what they see others do and they learn about controlling aggression through adults hence, good parenting is the key to prevent juvenile delinquency. however, because of unavailability of and neglect by parents in most homes, many youths have been driven to the street by negative and external influences. the dramatic increase in the number of working class mothers with very young children has definitely left a “gaping hole” in the home. today many children are left to their own devices often relying on tv and computers as babysitters or nannies. breakups in families, child abuse and bad examples of parents are also negatively affecting the lifestyles and behaviours of youth. the home is the first school any child attends and the parents or guardians are their first teachers. a child physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development begins here. consequently, parents should endeavor to promote and support all-round growth and development of their children at every stage of life. a child that is well trained will live a happy, healthy and fulfilled life, while a child that is not well groomed will grow up living a lopsided life, becoming a liability to his parents and the nation. the holy bible commands parents to “train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (proverbs 22:6) it therefore behoves the parents to adequately train and prepare their youths for a blessed future both on earth and in eternity. 444 formation of the human person in the 21st century ii. the government/school the school trains the child mentally to make him/her literate or educated, and be able to make impact in this world as they grow up. the youth is the future of the world, tomorrow’s people and the new inspiration, and the school prepares the youth mentally for the future. however, the school is not only to make the youth intellectually capable to meet the challenges of and fit into this fast moving world, but also expected to impart moral lessons into them. this can be fully achieved through education. no doubt education is the backbone of national development; it equips people with knowledge and skills that bring about economic wealth, social prosperity and political stability in a nation. the government should endeavour to build more schools, provide free and quality education, especially for the less privileged. youth empowerment programmes should be organized from time to time. besides classrooms activities, schools should provide avenues for youth to interact with their peers and teachers so that they can develop communication and healthy relationship skills. the government through its policies helps all other agencies to do their jobs and achieve their set goals by coordinating their operations. these two agencies of formation play vital roles in the shaping of the lives of the youths. iii. religious organisation this play an important role in maintaining and helping the youths achieve their divine purpose. the goal of the religious organization is to help the youth established a relationship with god, teach them how to abide in the lord and serve god in love and reverential fear. to do this, youth workers must be passionate and patient. they should come down to the level of the youth and befriend them. they should seek to understand their situation before criticizing and judging them, visit them in their homes, show interest in their well being, provide the shoulder they can cry on, and see about helping them out with whatever challenge is confronting them. the adults in these religious organizations should always resist the temptation to get into any kind of tussle with youths. they shouldn’t approach them with an attitude that says, “we are adults and we know it all, you must listen because we are adults”. they wouldn’t be able to impact these youths with this kind of attitude. they should show them love, intercede for them, but don’t hesitate to correct them when necessary. above all, they should provide mentorship and live an exemplary life. developing essential life skills for youth formation life skills are those abilities that will help the youth adapt and thrive in a world that is filled with daunting demands, they are the skills needed by section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 445 the youth to make the most out of their life often seen as a way to manage and maintain a quality life. life skills will help the youths attain life’s goal and give them an edge over peers and competitors. any youth who understands the importance and the use of these skills and synchronizes them with educational dexterity will be outstanding. experience has shown that there is often a great mismatch between what is taught in class and the realities of life. it is observed also that most graduates lacks employability skills such as team work, skills, communication skills and the ability to cope under pressure. the onus is deliberately on the youth to learn these skills and be taught these skills. someone once said the most important skills one should have are the ability and willingness to learn “by learning new skills we increase our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with the tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life finding ways to cope with the challenge that life inevitably throws at us” below are some of the relevant skills every youth should endeavour to have and the youth should be taught: creative thinking this is the ability to “think outside the box” it involves devising a new approach to tasks, situations or problems. creative thinking helps one initiate novel idea and makes one see situations and problems from a picture perspective. on can stimulate creative thoughts by being curious and following ones curiosity, taking a rest, reading widely, writing, brainstorming, eating healthy, walking, being open to new things, going outside your comfort zone and a lot more. time management time is a precious asset and wasting it is tantamount to wasting one’s life. as a youth, this skill is needed in order for the youth to be able to plan and control the amount of time spent on various activities. time management skill will increase effectiveness and productivity because it will help the youth to discipline themselves and focus on the goal at hand. money management many people are in a financial mess today because they have no clue about how money works. it is better not to wait to learn the hard way: learn to save, no matter how little you earn. it is imperative for the youth to be taught how to save no matter how little you earn. it is necessary for them to have a monthly or weekly budget and strive to spend less then they earn. learning how to make money work for them through investment will help go far in life endeavour. 446 formation of the human person in the 21st century survival skill this skill comes handy when one find himself or herself in a precarious situation they include how to administer first aid, light or put out fire, read a compass, make smoke signals, read topography, change a car tyre, build a make shift shelter, find and purify water and other survival skills like swimming, climbing and self defense. people skill the way one relates with people could determine the extent of one’s success or failure in life. people skill will help you to relate with people appropriately. therefore, it is needful for youth to learn how to treat people with respect and kindness. it is needful to always think win/win when dealing with others and they should treat people the way they would want others to treat them. coping with failure a famous athlete once said “i have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. i have lost almost 300 games, 26 times i have been trusted to take the game wining shot and missed. i have failed over and over and over again in my life. and that is why i succeed”, sometimes failure can teach us valuable lessons of life. though it’s natural to feel bad when you fail, the youth must learn that they don’t have to dwell on it or allow it to define their person. they need to encourage themselves and learn a lesson from experience by asking oneself why the failure and what could have been done better. it is necessary to try to see the brighter side of things and resist the temptation of indulging in vices. the youth should deliberately make effort to try again. the youth must not allow failure to stop them from moving forward in life leadership skills the youth must be taught that as they go on in life, they will find themselves in situations where they need to take on leadership roles. it is needful therefore for them to equip themselves they need to learn how to set goals, make decisions and manage human and material resources well. they can develop leadership skill by learning to take on responsibilities in their home and school. they should always organize themselves and learn how to effectively communicate with different kinds of people. in addition to all these skills that have been explained above, there are other valuable skills the youth should learn, they include assertiveness, cooperation, working independently, prioritizing, positive thinking, problem solving, confidence building, negotiation, presentation, listening skill communication, recognizing diversity, handling disappointment and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 447 networking. if the youths strive to acquire these skills, they will be better equipped for the demands of life and contribute immeasurably to the development of the nation. symbiotic links between youth formation and national development in the world today where spiritual lethargy, moral decadence and mind blowing corruption reign, there is need to raise youths that will be pillars and hope of the nation. this is made possible through education and the inculcation of the right values. this process is embarked upon with the objective of facilitating intellectual and moral development in individuals so as to make them become productive members of the society. the process involves the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge that will assist the individuals to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve their live goals. whether formal or informal, its basic objective is to unleash a person’s potentials and develop knowledge, skills and socially desirable and useful behavioral pattern. while formal education is acquired in schools, informal education takes place through everyday experiences and actual relationships with people around you. this also involves capacity development which has a direct link with human development. in fact, there are a range of issues where the two are closely intertwined. these include: human capital development through health and nutrition, education and training; the accumulation of physical capital that increases the levels of investment to generate employment opportunities; strengthening governance through institutional and policy reforms; and the application of improved technologies, logistics and systems to enhance organizational performance. the ultimate mission of capacity development is for people to increase their incomes and improve their quality of life. capacity building helps create conditions that enable people to derive maximum benefits. it is an on-going process that involves developing competencies (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) to enable people to make things happen. there are various dimensions of capacity development, which includes; individual (human), institutional (organizational) and societal (community) capacities. since the focus of this paper is on youth formation and national development, these two will be discussed: individual capacities individual capacities relates to the availability of the right quantity and quality of human capital to achieve and sustain national human development. there are two key components needed: planning present 448 formation of the human person in the 21st century and future human capital stock by skills and expertise. periodic human resources surveys are needed and a human capital plan should be prepared with the aim of mapping current and future capacity development needs, strategies and programmes; and ensuring that there are adequate teachers, school administrators and education planners in place to design, mount and execute specialized training as well as general and professional education to meet the nation’s needs in accordance with the human capital mobilization plan. the process of individual development involves a number of changes in innate resources such as knowledge, practical skills, mind sets, values, perceptions, stamina and relationships. the goal is for the individual to be empowered to live a happy, long and comfortable life. this may include providing general education and vocational training; creating a competent and motivated cadre of people that will guarantee a high level of productivity and growth; and providing good health services and nutritious food to improve health. institutional capacities institutional capacities is concerned with institutional and organizational capabilities, both public and private, to attract financial and quality human capital and put it to productive use. effective national performance is a condition stemming from efficient use of quality human and financial capital through institutions and organizations that enable the delivery of desired results. weak institutions are often central to the failure of development efforts. for example, poor management of public resources undermines the state as a guarantor of public welfare and security and this is what we presently experiencing in nigeria. consequently, developing capacity at the organizational or institutional level involves reforming, as and where necessary, the structures, mandates, functions, remuneration, management systems, corporate culture and operational processes of organizations – especially the public sector. institutions must also be adequately equipped to attract and make the best use of available resources. this involves improving physical facilities and equipment, institution linkages, networking and relations and institutional philosophies. it should be emphasized at the point that the two components are complementary. for instance, if the institutional setting in a country is not appropriate, the realization of the full benefits of even the best quality human capacity would be illusory. the importance of investing in education and health is well appreciated and understood in economies that wish to attain sustainable growth. the quality of a nation’s development depends on the quality of its workforce. nigeria is rated by international standards as ‘less developed’ and thus has economic growth as a major goal. indeed, the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 449 importance of a prime sector such as education has been stressed in nigeria since the early sixties. presently, there is need to stress the importance of human capital development for nigeria, because the nigerian economy has to be efficient and competitive in the new world order in which national frontiers no longer constitute barriers to human, material, and capital flows, the greatest barriers facing nigeria in this millennium is the issue of capacity building to enhance productivity in the economy of which the youth can play a major role. conclusion our discourse does not pretend to be exhaustive as there are definitely a lot of issues left untouched, with many others yet to be discussed in details. nonetheless, it is hoped that by this brief analysis on youth formation and how it could enhance national development, we have been able to stimulate some interests and thoughts in ways that would motivate philosophical investigation into how this thoughts can be further developed and applied in practical ways that can facilitate social and national development as a whole. one thing that stands out is the concern for holistic formation (spiritual, intellectual, moral, political and economic) of the youth. recommendations: 1. parents should develop and inculcate proper values in their children for the survival of the individual and the society. 2. the individual’s intellectual capacity of the youth should be developed in order for them to understand and appreciate their local and external environments. 3. there is need for the youth to acquire both physical and intellectual skills, which will enable them to be self-reliant and useful members of the society. 4. the government and corporate organization should promote and encourage merit-based scholarship and community service. 5. special attention should be paid to mentoring in the training of the youth since they are looking always for role models.. 6. the government should create avenues for the promotion of national and international understanding and interaction references: 1. adamu, a. “youths and development in nigeria” being a paper presented at national congress of the national youths council of nigeria held at abacha youths centre, lafia, nigeria,2003. 2. african union. african youths charter. adopted by the seventh ordinary session of the assembly ,banjul, gambia, july 2. 2006 450 formation of the human person in the 21st century 3. aiyede, r.e. (nd), “the state, values and development: towards re-orientating the nigerian youths for positive leadership”, 4. amanda s. (2003), youths network and governance, commonwealth journal of youths and development vol. 1 no.2 5. anaeto, s.g and anaeto, m (2010). development communication principle and practice. ibadan, sterlingholden ltd. ibadan 6. anaeto, s.g, onabajo, o.s and osifeso,j.b (2008). models and theories of communication.bowie, maryland, african renaissance books incorporated. 7. adeyemo,l.k and ehiemua g.f(2017) “youth activism ,social media and nation building” in swem journal of religion and philosophy, vol 7,no.1 december. pp.78-89 8. ekanola, a.b(2009) “a critical exposition of the views of emmanuel onyechere anyiamosigwe on youths, education and social development” in olusegun oladipo and ekanola adebola(eds.) the development philosophy of emmanuel onyechere osigwe anyiam osigwe vol.1 9. anyiam-osigwe,c.o et al(eds.) youth and education: africa’s 21st century youth;everyone a fisherman, lagos: osigwe anyiam-osigwe foundation,2002a,pp.52-53 10. “youths the strength of the nation” in christian women mirror magazine august 2018,pp.4-5 451 33 the religious roles on youth formation in national development chikodi josiah, wachukwu, ph. d department of religious cultural studies, rivers state university, npkolu, oroworukwo, port harcourt, wachukwu54@gmail.com abstract the study focused basically on ascertaining the roles of religion on youth formation in national development. there has been an ongoing debate on the assertion that religion has any role to play in formation of positive attitude amongst youths needed for national development. the continent of africa is facing great increase in social vices and poor level of development, and nigeria is not left out. this is evident in her educational, social and economic deterioration. this paper sought to discover the reason for the deterioration and sketch the role religion has played in the formation of positive virtues for national development of nigeria to ameliorate her state. qualitative and descriptive method of inquiry was used in this study and it was discovered that lack of adherence to stipulated norms promulgated by religious organization has resulted in increased in social vices, mono economy, corruption, religious intolerance and lack of good governance which has contributed largely to underdevelopment. it also found out that religious groups have played starring roles in national growth through the provision of schools, hospitals, micro loans in partnership with directorate of rural farmers, inculcating morals through teaching in religious and political assemblies for national growth. the article recommends among others an improved partnership of the government arm and the different religions. keywords: religion, youth formation & national development. mailto:wachukwu54@gmail.com 452 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction there is virtually no society that does not practice one form of religion or the other. however, the role religion plays in formulation of positive attitude among youth needed for national development varies significantly from one countries to another (ayo, 2011). before establishing the role of religion on youth formulation in national development, it is pertinent to establish the foundation of the study. thus, the key variables like religion, youth formation and national development were thoroughly reviewed. religion is a powerful universal phenomenon that has permeated countries of the world. it has to do with the belief in a supernatural being that is invisible. religion creates great impact in human behavior and in most cases transforms primitive and hostile behavior to a refine and more acceptable attitudes compatible with human cohabitation (awolalu, 2008). it was through the influence of religion that nigerians stopped killing twins and banishing their mothers to evil forest; to start appreciating twin children. religion moderates our greed, hostility and animosity of killing human being as a punishment for a minutes offence. religion makes us to appreciate our creature and seek for ways of moderating our action in order for us to have a peaceful coexistence, and seek for salvation. this change of behavior can impact positively on national development in nigeria. it is the effort of and activities of man that enhances or retard national development. the concept of religion eliade (2010) in his functional perspective sees religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church, ultimate non-material fact and has a “dynamogenic” quality. that is, it has the capacity not only to dominate individuals but also to elevate them above their ordinary abilities and capacities. he argues that social life is impossible without the share values and moral beliefs which form the collective conscience. also, in their absence, there would be no social; order, social control, social solidarity or co-operation. therefore, the sacredness of religion strengthens values and moral beliefs which form the basis of social life. deton (2006) conceives religion as a fixed relationship between the human and non-human entities, the sacred, the supernatural, the self-existent, the absolute or simply, god. however, religion is such a wonderful universal phenomenon that is found in every society, developed or underdeveloped, black or white race. pratt (1996) agrees that religion is a social behaviour associated with individuals or communities directed towards the power or forces which they conceived as having lasting and ultimate control over their religion, men exchange section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 453 obedience and loyalty with security and peace in form of a covenant with the supernatural powers, hence they turn to worship them culminating in a religious exercise. according to eliade (2010), religion is the most substantial bond of humanity, the fear of the unexplainable phenomena of the universe and some superstitious beliefs compel men to enter into a bond or pact with such unknown forces. balm (1994) sees religion as the experiences of the holy. this is where the objective side of religion comes to play. the objective of worship is conceived by man to be holy; having convinced himself thus, man the “experience” of such encounter expresses and passes onto others that which he has internalized. it is easy, therefore to experience the “holy” than to know or localize it. serrate and hawkini (1992) share common views with karl marx when they assert that religion makes one to forget one’s earthly hardship because, for the religionist the other world is where one would lay his treasures. also, there is no retaliation because “vengeance is mine” says the lord. marx was materialistically inclined, so to him the need of this immediate world is more urgent than the imaginary pie in the sky. however, davis (1993) suggests that if religion is practiced honestly, it can open to the realities of life and not cause a blind folding as some of the economic determinists seem to argue. religion, according to dopamu (2005), is a factor of civilization and the knowledge and its seed everywhere have been known to contain such potent elements. forde (2002) relates religion to its role in society through individual members who believe. thus, becomes a factor of cohesion order, peace and solidarity in the society. the researcher is of the view that religion is both god-word and man-word oriented. it involves god and man relationship for the purpose of communion and communication in peace and security ensured on the part of man, a sort of pact resulting in some ritual observances. harry (2006) observes that religion in its essence gives meaning to life and serves as an instrument for promoting social solidarity, value consensus, harmony, and tolerance in the society. also, it strengthens the unity of a group or country and much of the norms of the social system are integrated by religious beliefs. youth formation haralambos and heald (2004) opined that youth formation is the development of positive attitude that prepares a young person to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood and achieve his or her full potential. youth formation is promoted through activities and experiences that help youth develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, and cognitive competencies (ubani, 2003). this developmental phases is 454 formation of the human person in the 21st century part of the youth development process and supports the young person in developing: (a) the ability to analyze his or her own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and vocational goals, and have the self-esteem, confidence, motivation, and abilities to carry them out (including the ability to establish support networks in order to fully participate in community life and effect positive social change); and (b) the ability to guide or direct others on a course of action, influence the opinions and behaviors of others, and serve as a role model capable of influencing others positively (wehmeyer, agran and hughes, 1998). conditions that promote healthy youth formation are supported through programs and activities in schools and communities. researches on carried out on youth formation, emphasize that effective programs and interventions recognize youths’ strengths and seek to promote positive development rather than addressing risks in isolation. youth who are constructively involved in learning and doing and who are connected to positive adults and peers are less likely to engage in risky or self-defeating behaviors (maman, 1990). providing the conditions for positive youth attitudinal formation is a responsibility shared by families, schools, and communities. the conditions for developing such healthy attitude amongst youths needed in national development reside in families, schools, and communities. national development naomi (1995) believes that development is usually taken to involve not only economic growth, but also some notion of equitable distribution, provision of health care, education, housing and other essential services all with a view to improving the individual and collective quality of life. chrisman (1984) views development as a process of societal advancement, where improvement in the well-being of people are generated through strong partnerships between all sectors, corporate bodies and other groups in the society. it is reasonable to know that development is not only an economic exercise, but also involves both socio-economic and political issues and pervades all aspects of societal life. national, according to longman dictionary of contemporary english, refers to a phenomenon that embraces a whole nation. national development therefore can be described as the overall development or a collective socio-economic, political as well as religious advancement of a country or nation. this is best achieved through development planning, which can be described as the country’s collection of strategies mapped out by the government. national development is a process of improving the range of opportunities that will enable individual humans and communities to section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 455 achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental systems. (munasinghe, 2004). lawal (2011) describe national development as the overall development or a collective socio-economic, political as well as religious advancement of a country or nation. however, in this paper, national development will refer to the ability of a country or countries to improve the social welfare of the people, by providing social amenities like quality education, potable water, transportation, infrastructure, medical care etc. nexus between religion roles and youth formation in national development religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements (morreall, 2013). supporting the above assertion, nongbri (2013) opines that religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. it is also seen as the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and actions and signs that refers to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. according to james (2010) religion is a relatively-bounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. religion fosters national unity and development. it offer people the understanding of existence and provide rules and regulations which controls people behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life according to one’s religion is to carry out one’s duty both to god and men. thus, it can be established that religion contributes significant in influencing youths’ attitudinal development and implementation. the more youths’ development and implements the right attitudes preached in the gospel, the more easier it becomes to build and maintain a healthy nation. parrinder (1996) and idowu (2008) are of the view that in nigeria; very little efforts have been made to tap the potentials of religion as cement for unity and the development of nationhood through inculcating positive attitude especially among youths. despite the above attainable benefits, religion is being manipulated to cause ethnic divisiveness and civil strife. some people exploit it for their selfish 456 formation of the human person in the 21st century political ambition. religion is one vital element that can be harnessed for fostering solidarity and unity. mutuah et al., (2010) avers that being life itself, religion can serve as the basis on which a nation can be solidly founded. it can also be used as an instrument of bringing into reality our dreams of a united nation. religion is also characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the sense that it contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of equilibrium. according to clark (1994), religion can be used to make way for the understanding of the world in which we live. it can supply answers to such questions as the existence of god, the sufferings and pains of humans, the problems of after death and so on. it could provide moral values by which a nation may stand. such moral values include what is virtue and vice, thereby enriching the people’s morals, the welfare of the individuals and society at large. denton (2006) suggests that religion may inspire people to develop great ideas as courage, love, endurance and sense of kinship. yinger (1990) avers that national development requires that all hand must be on deck to build a strong and united nation which could be anchored on religious and intellectual capabilities of every citizen. awolalu (2010) succeeded in clarifying that religion can be a part in national development by promoting high moral standards such as honesty, courage, hard work, obedience and respect for leaders especially among youth that are leaders of tomorrow. he suggests that religion could be expected to encourage faith, trust, and confidence in both god and fellow human beings which makes for integration, cohesion and solidarity by bringing people together for worship, festivals, ceremonies, and prayers especially people of different ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. forde (2002) argues that religion help youths develops attitudes capable of solving the problems of selfishness which hinders the pace of progress in nation building. idowu (2002) suggests that religion can effectively provide an understanding of certain occurrences that affect man and his environment, especially some of the trials and tribulations being experienced by nigerians such as anxiety about the structural adjustment programme (sap). the continued drift of the nation may be attributed to our sins, but for people who are deeply religious, it can be argued that through the power of prayers backed by god led ministers these national problems could be successfully resolved to the glory of god. according to tim (1996) there is the beliefs that “if god cares for the things of nature and environment, such as the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea and the animals in the forest, god will definitely cater for the needs of the country which he has created”. meyer (1996) section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 457 describes religion as being capable of promoting national development and moral identity, to inculcate in the individuals the right attitude which would eradicate crime, murder, suicide, rape, corruption, indolence, dishonesty and cheating which has bedeviled the nation. he further stated that when individuals imbibe these attitudes, it will be demonstrated in their families, social groups and other works of life. in summary, the above empirical evidence provided on the role religion in national development made obviously clear that religion helps in developing positive attitude amongst the populace needed for all round positive development. religion instill discipline among the youths especially during their various stages of developing positive virtues like respect for life, adherence established laws, creates a better understanding of the world around us amongst others that contributes to development of the nation. it was also established that religion aid in the formulation and implementation of favourable policies that ensure sustained national development, trains up youths who can be better leaders of tomorrow and minimizes the incidence of corruption amongst the youth who are leaders of tomorrow. factors that hinder national development in nigeria in spite of series of developmental strategies put in place by successive governments, and sometimes with good intentions, all attempts to generate meaningful development proved futile. 1. poor formulation and implementation of policies: there are in most cases, no executive capacity responsible for the formulation and implementation of the plan. some of the previous development plans failed because; there was little or no consultation of the general public. planning is supposed to involve even the peasant in the villages. even the local government officials who are close to the people were not consulted. (mimiko 1997). 2. lack of good governance: this militates against national development. where there is no good governance, development becomes a mirage. this is as a result of bad leadership in the country. most of our leaders have no sense of commitment to development. 3. decolonization: decolonization allowed the crop of leaders that aligned with colonial power to take over nigeria. this ensured the sustenance of a neo-colonial economy even after political independence. these leaders on assumption of power quickly turned up the repressive machinery of the colonial state rather than dismantling it. significantly, they have no vision of development to 458 formation of the human person in the 21st century accompany the efficient instrument of repression they inherited. all they were interested in was access to power and privileges and not development. 4. corruption: high level of corruption and indiscipline is another barrier to development. nigeria is corrupt, managed by corrupt leaders who have made the state an instrument of capital accumulation, rather than using it to project the interest of the citizenry. a very good plan supervised by a thoroughly corrupt state can hardly do a thorough job. corruption and development are antithetical to each other, the two cannot cohabit, and so, where one is present, the other suffers. (chuta 2004). strategies for ensuring national development the beauty of any development plan is the faithful implementation of such plan, which its success lies with the implementers. in the previous subsections, it was mentioned that most of the past development plans failed as a result of implementation problem, lack of committed leadership, lack of adherence to suggestions of religious leaders, etc. based on this fact, new development policies and strategies are currently in place as alternative strategies for ensuring sustained national development, such as seven points agenda, vision 2020, change begins with you, etc. these policies and vision appear to be all embracing but they are not sacrosanct in their totality. but if faithfully implemented, the nation at least will move towards path of national development. first, development requires total commitment on the parts of the leadership (religion and non-religion). the need for discipline and honesty on the part of the project implementers cannot be compromised; such officials should show enough discipline, interest, willingness, dedication and honesty. without these attributes and the will to pursue set economic goals, all other ingredients of development present would amount to nullity. secondly, there is need for attitudinal change. nigerians must as a matter of fact change their pessimistic attitude towards national development. the anticipated changes should be promulgated by religious leaders since they control a greater number of the populace. similarly, the idea or belief that “things cannot work in nigeria or nigerian factor” should be discouraged. real development is achieved through internal activities rather than from external influences. development is seen as a process generated within a society by forces propagated and invigorated by the actual members of that society. it is believed that true development can neither be started nor sustained by outsiders. although, no country can develop in isolation, but heavy section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 459 emphasis should not be placed on foreign resources for the country’s development. importantly, citizenship should be promoted over indigeneity in order to achieve cooperation and participation of all communities in the development process. omotoso (2008) noted that the 1999 constitution is directly or indirectly promoting indigeneity in the country. for example, section 318(1) of paragraph (iv) supports indigeneity. the constitution sets parameters for indigenes and non-indigenes. it equally gives legal bases to various discriminatory policies that actively promote indigeneity, contrary to some sections that argue against discrimination. this is very contradictory. leadership in nigeria must behave in a way to inculcate the spirit of patriotism in the minds of the people, so that they will be ready to stand with the government in her development efforts. when nigerians see themselves as one and not as belonging to one section of the country as portrayed presently, the urge to develop nigeria will be germinated and sustained. additionally, the need to reform electoral process is imperative for socio-economic and political development. electoral fraud is one of the banes of nigeria’s development. the role of leadership in development cannot be overemphasized, all efforts towards development must be coordinated and directed by the leaders, therefore, the leaders must be development conscious, have genuine interest for development and the political will to propel such development. the leaders must also have the cooperation of the people, because, it is the people that develop a nation. honestly, the aforementioned ingredients cannot be possible without a legitimized mandate for the leaders by the people. when a leader assumes office illegimately or through electoral fraud, such leader is bound to fail in his effort to generate meaningful development. this is due to the fact that such illegitimate leaders tend to display characters that repress development such as; selfishness, corruption, pride, thuggery and inefficiency and also, there is apathy and natural detachment to development plans by the people as they did not see such emerging leaders as the products of their consent through voting. based on the foregoing, the electoral process should be reformed in such away that nobody assumes power (political) through crook or fraudulent means. the process should be made opened, free, fair and competitive. all legal battles preceding the elections must be concluded before any swearing in. this, it is believed, will create genuine environment conducive for development. lastly, development plan should not be exclusively regarded as economic issue it should be seen as holistic and encompassing national 460 formation of the human person in the 21st century issue that cuts across economic, social, political and psychological aspects of human endeavour. conclusion and recommendations this study has x-rayed the place of religion in youth formation in nigeria’s national development. it must be noted that religion cannot be rejected in its totality because of how much it has permeated into our knowledge system. more so, the world is gradually growing into a global village within which all kinds of cross-cultural activities are taking place. religion can be used as a tool or means of promoting national development by nurturing youths to development positive attitude. though religious conflict are master minded by greedy and corrupt politician and religious leaders. the structures of the society guarantees religious conflict, and can be used too to strengthen inter-religions cum denominational cooperation; which will promote national development. religion has a direct impact on the individual, the individual are the once who steer the ship of development, due to their ability to peacefully coexist and use their creativity to better themselves and their environment. it is equally the individual that is used to ferment religious conflict. religion preaches the virtues of peace, love, understanding and goodness. if the individual is highly religious, his moral upbringing will impact positivity on national development. however, it is an urgent task for us to raise our religious norms such that it contributes positively to national development through the cultivation of positive attitude among youths. this must be reflected at homes, in governance and in school curricula at all levels. indeed the opportunity to correct the basic error of our religious beliefs is upon us; this is because it will restore to us our inward beauty, identity, and pride. it therefore behooves us to choose where to belong so that we can proceed in putting measures in place to attack any hindrance to national development which we hope to achieve. government should carry out deliberate effort to promote inter-religious and denominational cooperation, meetings, conferences and universal worship, by creating a platform that will handle such responsibilities. the platform will action the followings: i. to periodically host interreligious/denominational worship. ii. promote high moral standards such as honesty, hard work, obedience and respect to elders and leaders. iii. it should be used to build faith, trust and confidence in both god and fellow human beings. iv. build solidarity, integration and cohesion among the people irrespective of one‟s religious denomination. section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 461 v. preach against vices, crime, corruption, indolence, dishonesty and cheating. vi. promote value re-orientation of the people through this platform, churches, mosques, national orientation agency, schools and etc. to depart from existing socio-economic vices, impatience, corruption, electoral violence, that is crippling our polity. references awolalu, a. 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(2004). sociology: themes and perspectives. new edition slough, university press. harry, s. a. (2006). a short history of the early church. wb erdmans publishing grand rapids. idowu, o. (2002). the religious enslavement of the african mind. ray standard baker and williams e, dodd 2 (216). idowu, o. (2008). religion as both inculcation and emancipation. pesaconf. http://www2.hawaii i/pesaconf/zpdfs/bobo. maman, s. h. (1990). christian dialogue with people of other faith. a seminar paper presented at ahmadu bello university, zaria. mayer, s. a. (1996). religious science: myth or reality. vantage press (120). mimiko, o. (1997). the global village. selected topics on international economic relations. akure: olaniyan publishing company. munasinghe, s. (2004). effective instructions through dynamic discipline. ohio, charles e. merill mutuah, et. al. (2000). nce/dls course book on religion cycle 2 kaduna (162-163). omotoso f (2008). the south-west position on the review of the 1999 constitution. paper presented at the south-west legislative conference on constitutional review, 23rd – 24th june. akure, pp. 510. parrinder sa (1976). religion in crisis. bethesda, md: adler and adler (86-87). parrinder, s. a. (1996). religion in crisis. adler and adler (86-87). 462 formation of the human person in the 21st century parsons, t. (1969). the structure and process in modern societies. the free press (216). pdf on 3rd april 2013. pratt, s. (1996). education course on religion. kaduna press. serrte, d. and hawkini, j. d. (1992). god and men: a survey of the world religions. glasgow blackil and sons ltd (102). tim, h. (1996). windows on science and faith. ubani, a (2003). man and religion in africa: longman nyem ltd ikeja (160). yinger, s. a. (1990). in his explanation of naturism and possible origin of religion. university of tutorial press ltd (110-112). 463 34 impact of religion on societal value development chikodi josiah, wachukwu, ph. d department of religious cultural studies, rivers state university, npkolu, oroworukwo, port harcourt, wachukwu54@gmail.com abstract the article examined the impact of religion on societal value development. discourse on social values as they relate to environmental and sustainability issues has almost exclusively been conducted in a secular intellectual context. however, with a renewed emphasis on culture as defining and shaping links between people and nature, there has been an increasing level of scholarly attention to the role of religion and spirituality in defining, molding and understanding social values in the society. in this article we explore the intersection of religion and social values for sustainable development. first, we consider this nexus as it has been explored in existing scholarship. we acknowledge a body of research that has suggested that many religions are broadly associated with self-transcendent values. however, the degree to which they are translated into pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour varies according to context and application. second, we argue that while there is much potential support for human values for sustainability within religious traditions, it is essential that religion is seen as a complex, multi-scalar and multi-dimensional institutional phenomena. consequently, analysis of the relationship between religion and social values must account for the context of narratives, histories and practices. third, using this lens, we show how religious perspectives can contribute to operationalising theories of systemic change for sustainability. finally, we outline key principles for further sustainability research seeking to advance knowledge on the relationship between religion and societal values development. keywords: religion, social value and development. mailto:wachukwu54@gmail.com 464 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction the contributory role of religion to societal value formation and development cannot be overruled. this is based on the established fact that religion is one of the most prominent and wide-reaching social institutions, touching and shaping virtually every sphere of culture and society (ibikunle, 2015). in corroboration, according to the pew research centre, approximately 84% of the world’s population are affiliated with a religion (pew research centre, 2017). given this ubiquity and social influence of religion, it is argued that articles or publications on social values development ought to consider the place of religion carefully in order to establish the relationship between religion and societal value development. there is a diversity in the practices and worldviews across (and even within) different religious traditions. this makes identifying a clear definition of religion difficult. however, haluzadelay (2014) provided a concise definition of religion by defining religion broadly to include “beliefs, worldviews, practices, and institutions that cross borders, time and scale from the level of individuals all the way to transnational and transhistorical movements”. he also noted that the western notion of equating religion with an established set of beliefs does not represent many eastern or traditional religious systems, which often emphasise collective practices as much as cognitive beliefs and may lack firmly established institutionalised teachings. religion is a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". ezeanga, (2010) opined that religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. religions may contain symbolic stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life, the universe, and other things (odudele, 2006). traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has been considered a source of religious beliefs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_symbol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/holy_places https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meaning_of_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/creation_myth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_cosmology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_belief section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 465 having reviewed briefly the concept religion, it is pertinent that the variable societal value development be reviewed. this will help provide the fundamentals needed to establish the relationship between religion and societal values development. the concept of social values is gaining increasing attention within sustainable societal value development. the word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability and the respect something gets in return (soykan, 2007). as a sociological concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. social values are moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the majority so as to ensure the continuity of a society (ergil, 1984). values, in addition to these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be there in a society in form of moral imperatives (inkeles, 1964). in that sense, values are accepted as truthful opinions and criteria set for what is expected by a society. establishing the relationship between religion and societal value development ibikunle (2015) argued that religion form the basis by which individuals in the society learn, develop and maintain values in the society. he went further to say that a greater number of the attitude exhibited by individuals is largely dependent on the morals and values taught by religious organizations. available researchers have indicated that there is little or no efforts made by previous researchers to establish the relationship between religion and societal value development. thus, available studies have been unable to provide concise information on the essence of religion in developing and maintaining social values needed in ensuring the smooth operations of the society. furthermore, most research institutions do not encourage the study of religion, reason being that people do not exhibit interest in religious studies. as most people view knowledge obtained from such field as irrelevant and practically applicable. hence, little or no interest is displayed in carrying out studies to provide factual information on the nexus between religion and societal value development. similarly, the relevance of diverse cultural resources is acknowledged in this scholarship, there is little explicit recognition of the more specific role of religion in establishing and shaping social values in society. in this article we refer to societal values as a broad term which encompasses human values held or expressed at different scales of aggregation and it influence development of values within the society. religion religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements (morreall, 2013). nongbri (2013) opines that religion 466 formation of the human person in the 21st century is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. it is also seen as the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and actions and signs that refers to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. according to james (2010) religion is a relativelybounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. religion fosters national unity and development. it offer people the understanding of existence and provide rules and regulations which controls people behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life according to one’s religion is to carry out one’s duty both to god and men. religion is also characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the sense that it contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of equilibrium. values the word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability and the respect something gets in return (soykan, 2007). as a sociological concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. social values are moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the majority so as to ensure the continuity of a society (ergil, 1994). values, in addition to these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be there in a society in form of moral imperatives. in that sense, values are accepted as truthful opinions and criteria set for what is expected by a society. in fact, when we say we enjoy similar things and we find the same things beautiful, we refer to shared content of values. what sociologists call collective consciousness are called by philosophers objective soul are the domain of common values (ülken, 2001). it is clear that without society, there will not be any biological, psychological, and sociological value. only in society, language, religion, morals, arts, and traditions can appear the result of which is the accepted core of a society. coming to the world as an organism, human beings come to learn societal dreams, ideals, norms, morals, arts and religion by means of growing into an identity (produce) from an organism (türkdoğan, 1992). function of values values in social system always take part at the beginning of activities, inside and at the end of the process because they are the powers which begin in the world of consciousness and conscience. human beings and societies exist together with their values (lawal, 2002). physical wealth of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 467 a society is also based on the perception, belief and values that the society has. those cultural codes are road maps in a way to determine the routes of an individual and the society. as a result, in almost every society people take values seriously, sacrifice their interest, struggle for them and even they die for them. in this context, some functions of values could be the following: 1) they show the ways of thinking and behaving ideally. 2) values are used as means in judging. 3) they make people focus on useful and important cultural objects. 4) they play a role as a guide to adopt and realize social roles. 5) they perform as social control and restraint tools. 6) they provide solidarity (fichter, 1990). religion and social values the term ‘value’ can connote a range of different meanings and interpretations. values can equally refer to broad underlying principles in life, important features within a landscape, or monetary figures assigned to goods or services. but as it applies in this context, values are standards, principles or ideals with which we evaluate actions, people, things, or situations. tadaki et al., (2017) helpfully outlined a broad typology of value concepts in an environmental context. in exploring the intersection of religion with social values, we focus our inquiry on transcendental or ‘held’ values. most commonly, these values are associated with the work by shalom schwartz on ‘universal’ human values (schwartz, 1994). kluckhohn and strodbeck (1961) first theorised that universal values might be arranged along various continua, and this was refined by a range of scholars, most prominently by schwartz. most important were two continua: (1) from self-transcendence (e.g., protecting the environment) to self-enhancement (e.g., social power), and (2) from openness to change (e.g., freedom) to tradition (e.g., self-discipline). scholars have found strongest support for pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes within the self-transcendence dimension of human values (de groot and steg, 2007). religion and societal values: a complicated relationship as we have already hinted above, while religion certainly can be viewed as a fertile source of values that align with sustainability, simply equating religion with certain sets of values does not adequately capture the more complex interplay of religious belief, belonging, and environmental values (ayuba and alex, 2006). any serious consideration of the intersection between religion and values for sustainability must not 468 formation of the human person in the 21st century simply force religion into existing value frameworks, despite the empirical relationships described in the previous section. one of the dominant discourses that has considered human values is within the field of social psychology. although social psychology has amassed detailed knowledge of the structure and composition of values in societies around the world, few scholars of social values have explored why certain values emerge in different contexts. recently, some social psychologists have emphasised the systems view of values, namely that values are not simply static constructs in people’s minds, but are deeply embedded in culture and ecology (kitayama 2002; manfredo et al., 2014). we also adopt this perspective, but suggest that values are in part an expression of dominant narratives within cultures, withheld narratives providing a locally inflected mesh in which values carry their meaning. taking the broad view of religion that we outlined above, even ‘secular’ narratives can been seen to have some religious or quasi-religious dimensions. moreover, in reality, there is a melding of myriad narratives within most societies. these narratives may be considered as forming part of a larger ‘worldview’ out of which individuals operate. according to research by hedlund-de witt (2012) and hedlund-de witt et al., (2014), worldviews are comprised of inter alia axiology (core values), as well as ontology (including a cosmogony), anthropology (the purpose of the human being) and societal vision (how society should be organised or function). understanding values (axiology) apart from these other dimensions is, therefore, a superficial reading of society. another key factor which must be considered in seeking to understand the role of religious values in sustainability is the way that religious identity and belonging works at multiple scales, from individuals to groups to international bodies and values across these scales do not always align. for ease of explanation, we conceptualise religious values as present across three scales: the individual scale, the community scale, and the formal institutional scale. these three levels interact with one another and are permeable to the (often notionally secular) socio-cultural and ecological context within which they are embedded. the formal institutional scale includes public statements by major religions or denominations. for example, the buddhism faith statement on ecology (fossey 2003), the world council of churches “justice, peace and creation concerns” (world council of churches 1983) or the bristol faith commitments compiled by the alliance of religions and conservation (the alliance of religions and conservation 2015). the community scale would represent the teachings and viewpoints of particular churches, temples or faith communities. the individual scale is the values held by individual members of these section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 469 communities, which may be highly diverse and conflict at times with the values espoused at the other scales. to demonstrate the complex dynamics across these scales, we take as one recent example the roman catholic encyclical by pope francis, laudato sí (which is examined in depth by christie et al. 2019). the publication of encyclicals are major events, occurring infrequently, and carrying particular normative force as formal religious teaching by the leader of the roman catholic church. laudato (2015), the first encyclical on the environment, was widely hailed as precipitating a change towards (or intensification of) pro-environmental values among roman catholics, who number nearly a billion worldwide. interviews conducted by kidwell (unpublished data), indicated that there was indeed a boost perceived by elite actors (priests and denominational leaders). again, our point here is not that values are uninfluenced, but that the dissemination and mobilisation of values is complex (kidwell et al., 2018). popular views often hold that the roman catholic church is hierarchical and top-down. however, in practice, this research suggests that within the american roman catholic context, values are often consolidated in free-standing ways at different scales: from individual, to parish, to diocese, to regional ecumenical partnerships, to global community. as li et al., (2016) suggest, at each of these levels, actors may be subject to different cross-pressuring effects, whereby political and religious affiliations are in conflict around an issue like “sustainability” may itself also be unstable (johnston, 2013). it is impossible to locate a universally agreed upon definition of sustainability and as such scholars and practitioners have developed definitions to fit specific purposes (white, 2013). in this ambiguous context, we may appreciate a range of ways that religion doesn’t always sit comfortably with ‘sustainability’ as a concept. not only may religious communities emphasise particular dimensions of sustainability—emphasising human health over ecological integrity for instance—religious perspectives may also challenge sustainability as a normative goal. the concept of the “common good” discussed by christie et al., (2019) within catholic teaching as an alternative (albeit not inconsistent) aspirational goal to sustainability is a good example. appreciating narratives and worldviews of faith communities relevant to conservation activities has recently been emphasised as best-practice (schaefer and higgins, 2017). role of religion in the society religion permeates every aspects of man’s existence in the universe, be it politics, social, cultural or economic life of the people (bankston and zhou, 1995). it has been used as the most important instrument in the 470 formation of the human person in the 21st century social control of man and the society. it performs the social functions such as providing aims, purpose forms, defense and sense of direction. the role of religion in promoting peace security and eradicating the youth’s militancy cannot be over emphasized. 1 religion stimulates social habits and checks antisocial behavior. religion is “an efficient means of social control, stimulates social habits and checks anti-social tendencies”. it offers the whole society a concept of its own scared value. it prescribes a particular kind of behavior or conduct to its adherents in terms of knowledge, thinking, reflection decisions, choices, tastes, opinion, habits, feelings and freedom of actions (benson, leffert, scales & blyth, 1998). such particular life styles are created, maintained and sustained through religions doctrines, ethics, and laws safe guards are prescribed against deviation from these life styles. religion polishes and fashions morality in positive dimension. to neglect religion is to do away with morality, without religion moral development of the society will be meaningless. 2 religion gives emotional security, spiritual and material support. religion is an instrument for defense. it provides belief and attitudes that help to defend the people against vexing doubts, anxieties and aggression. as people do struggle with life of uncertainties, powerlessness and insecurity religion provides answer to the things that threaten people’s life and survival. it was even noted that religion offers emotional, spiritual and material support to its members in times of tension, stress or hardship (lawal, 2003). the poor and wretched ones are to be given alms or gifts from the rich ones among them. victims of natural hazards or wars are to be aided and their life must protect as a sacred entity and peaceful coexistence of the society. also religion offers resistance against frustration, hostility, suffering, anxiety, despair and hatred 3. religion reforms and resettles deviants a deviant is person who is deficient in moral and social standards from what is normal and accepted. religion can be used to call the out law persons or sinners back to repentance, and makes them become socially integrated into the society (odudele, 2006). religion struggles with the ultimate problems of human life that deprive man from behaving in the morally and socially accepted ways. it gives a sense of direction and makes people to perceive, feel, think, act and behave in a specifically desired ways. it moves people a way from despair and restores confidence in them. armed robbers, adulterers, drunkards, drugaddicts, lawbreakers and frauds to mention a few have been changed to behave section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 471 in a socially approved manners and society see and treat them with trust and confidence. 4. religion fosters social solidarity and friendships. religion serves as a powerful means for the solidarity among its members and nearly all the great social institutions have been born in religion (ezeanya, 2010). also, religion regulates social life of the society by creating some sort of order for its members to live together. religion encourages solidarity, consensus, cordially, harmony, cooperation, unity, stability, security and peaceful co-existence. religion creates several fellowship groups for the adults and youths alike. out of these fellowships, friendships, marriage and brother hoods emerged. it allows the adherents to coordinate their activities in submission to rules and regulations under the guidance of values, so that they can live harmoniously with their fellow human beings. 5. religion helps to bring about social change. a change haves place in religion as a social phenomenon. in nigeria, religion helps to bring about social change. social change has described as the change that occurs in world views, ideas, values, beliefs, rules, relationships, institutions, symbols speech, languages, style of thinking and behaviors and the means of production and distribution of goods and services (fadiyimu, 2004). a social change is the alteration in the patterns of social action and interactions. religion introduces and disseminates new idea and information about education, medicine, literature, agriculture, games, markets organization and administration. religion brings establishes new form of education, dressing, marriage, law courts and languages in nigeria. 6. the relevance of religion in cultural development. religion helps in transforming the society by introducing new cultural elements. religious doctrines, laws organizations, modes of dressing, dogma, buildings, patterns of marriages, training of children, burying the dead and many other items of culture are influence through religion. morality is used to give meaning and purpose to the cultural behavior (obikunle, 2015). wherein the culture deviates from the real religious meaning, then it has to be checked, so that there is balanced relationship between the cultural elements and religious ideology. indecent modes of dress, is discouraged for the sake of modesty and moral implication given. 7. religion ensures the retinues existence of the society. ayuba and alex (2006) opined the positive role of religion is to holding society together as a form of “social glue”. religion serves as a social bond that holds the society together. it strengthens the basis belief and values of the society. it stresses for the social cohesion of all its members 472 formation of the human person in the 21st century to live in unity and peace. religious ceremonies are performed to remind people that they have a common history and identity, thereby ensuring the continuity for the existence of the society. there are events in the life of an individual and in the life of a society that point to the fact that god is working out this purpose for the common good of the individual and the society. impact of religion on societal value development man as a human being, cannot exist without religion because it is intrinsic in his nature. one cannot isolate religion from the life situation. religion determines its true value from the role it plays in the enrichment of the quality of life. it has a role to play, a contributive role in the evolution of man and developmental of societal values, by providing society with ethical codes, social rules and ideals, rituals and devotion that guide the activities of man in the course of social interaction. religion also enhances human values and self-awareness (bjarnason, 1998). religion helps one to lead a disciplined and purified life. religions always stand for the betterment of human soul. the different religions, though devotedly called by different names, show a surprising likeness of spirit and life. it is a unique specific expression and cannot be equated with anything. there is no religion which does not stress one form or other of universal brotherhood, and which does not advocate kindness to all living things. in the religions of the nonvegetarian people, there is an acceptance, in principle at least, of the nonkilling commandment. and there is the general acceptance by the semitic religions that a form of grace accompanies fasting and abstention from meat eating on certain days (lawal, 2003). buddhism in principle is solidly based on non-hurting (ahimsa), and jainism makes the high level of this principle. when religion is not influential in a society or has ceased to be, the state inherits the entire burden of public morality, crime and intolerance. it then must use punishment and police. yet, this is unsuccessful as morality, integrity and self-respect not already inherent in the individual, cannot be enforced with any great success. only by a spiritual awareness and inculcation of the spiritual value of these attributes can they come about. there must be more reason and more emotional motivation to be moral, etc., than threat of human discipline. conclusion we have explored in this article the complex relationship between religion and development of societal values development in the society. while there are consistent trends regarding values promoted by major faith traditions and certain values operationalised within universal section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 473 human values theory, religion comprises far more than the promotion of particular values. to progress research on the intersection of human values and religion, we suggest that religion must be understood as a multi-faceted embodied institution of substantial social and political relevance. this broad understanding of religion thus enables scholarship on social values for sustainability to connect with theories of social transformation. we encourage scholars pursuing such a research agenda to recognise that values are not freestanding but are connected to social practices and institutional dynamics, to pay attention to local expressions of values embedded in religious contexts, and to embrace more embedded vernacular than that of social psychological theory (e.g., concepts such as compassion/love rather than self-transcendence). thus, it has been established that religion contributes significantly to the development of positive societal values. recommendations based on the observation made in the course of the theoretical review on the impact of religion on societal value development, the study suggests that the teachings and activities of religious organizations in nigeria should be encouraged, since it contributes significantly to positive societal value development. more so, similar study should be pursued by potential researchers on the impact of religion on societal value development as this will help the researcher pursue the objective the current study was unable to pursue owing to the limited timeframe allotted to this study. references ayuba, c. and alex, z. t. (2006). “the role of religion in promoting peace, security and national development in nigeria”. in peace, security and national development, 46-49. bankston, c. l., & zhou, m. (1995). religious participation, ethnic identification, and adaptation of vietnamese adolescents in an immigrant community. sociological quarterly, 36, 523–534. benson, p. l., leffert, n., scales, p. c., & blyth, d. a. (1998). beyond the “village” rhetoric: creating healthy communities for children and adolescents. applied developmental science, 2, 138–159. bjarnason, t. (1998). parents, religion and perceived social coherence: a durkheimian framework of adolescent anomie. journal for the scientific study of religion, 37, 742–754. ezeanga, s. n. (2010). “the contribution of african traditional religion to national building” in e.c. amucheazi, (ed) reading in social sciences issues in national development, fourth dimension publishing co. limited. enugu, 50-53 474 formation of the human person in the 21st century fadiyimu: o. (2004). the youth and the church, ibadan oluseyi press. 110 fichter, j. (1990). what is sociology? (translated by çelebi, n.). ankara: attila bookstore. ibikunle, g. o. (2015). “the role of religion in national development” a paper presented at the ist national conference of the school of arts and social sciences, federal college of education, abeokuta, 1-3 james, p and mandaville, p. (2010). globalization and culture: globalizing religions. london: sage publications. 2. lawal, b. o. (2003). teaching religions in colleges and university. stirlinghorden publishers. 32. morreall, j. s. (2013). “myth 1: all societies have religions” 50 great myths of religion. wiley-blackwell. 12 – 17. nongbri, b. (2013). before religion: a history of a modern concept. yale university press. odudele: r. (2006). religion and moral instructions in schools: al-hafiz publishers, 1423 tsai, w., & ghoshal, s. (1998). social capital and value creation: the role of intrafirm networks. academy of management journal, 41, 464–476. wagener, l. m., furrow, j. l., king, p. e., leffert, n., & benson, p. (2003). religion and developmental resources. review of religious research, 44, 271–284. 475 35 formation of the youth and its implication for national development praise, korie catholic diocese of uromi praisesilva2@gmail.com abstract the future of any and every great institution in the world, largely depends on folks who fall within the age bracket of those regarded as youths, who undisputedly are the leaders of tomorrow, whether or not they are prepared for it. the youths no doubt are a very important class of any nation, since their resourcefulness, skills, strengths can no doubt be beneficial in sustaining any nation’s development. they bring in a kind of vitality and enthusiasm that can drive any nation to the zenith of development and self-reliance. but more often as we see; especially in developing nations, not much regard is given to youth formation, in a bid to prepare them for their future role. the consequence of which is, being plunged into the future with absolutely no formation and preparation, they also fail to maintain the standards already set in place. this study is therefore, posed towards understanding the importance of youth formation and it’s implication in attaining sustainable national development. it shall also establish the extent of interaction between formation and national development; the challenges of youth formation and the role of major stakeholders. a qualitative, critical and analytical assessment of these issues will help us to arrive at the shores of the objective of this study. this piece, discovers that, in other to situate the youth of today strategically for national development, we must put into consideration the demographics of youth as well as their corresponding formation. this remains the task of every major player saddled with the enterprise of promoting national development. keywords: formation, youth, youth formation, development, national development. mailto:praisesilva2@gmail.com 476 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction every nation of the world, strives to attain an all-round growth. and undoubtedly, the future of any nation rests on the shoulders of the youth. they eschew age long out dated mentalities, the values they hold and the qualities they possess, can inevitably bring development to any nation. the knowledge, skills and principles which they have acquired over the years would be used as tools for the development or otherwise of the nation. youths can bring social reform and improvement in society. we cannot do without the youths of a country. a nation requires their participation to achieve her goals and help in taking the nation towards progress. indeed, the youths are the movers and shakers of the nation. without them, the nation has no future, remains moribund and faces extinction if care is not taken. the development of any country requires active participation from the youth. we must make all the youth aware of their power and the role they have to play in nation-building. as well as contribute our quarter to their proper formation. there are many ways in which we can help the youth of our country to achieve their potential. for that, the government must introduce programs that will help in fighting off issues like unemployment, poor education institutes and more to help them prosper without any hindrance. but today what do we find? ill formed youths, who cannot cater for their own well-being less talk, the well-being of a nation. can this situation cannot be blamed totally on the youths? this write up, attempts at presenting a brief insight into the crisis concerned with youth formation and briefly state how their proper formation can aid them to contribute effectively to national development. conceptual clarifications formation: formation can be referred to as the act or process of value adding. this value may be social, religious, an ethical. it is the process of giving a form to a person, or an act of taking form.1 it has to do with character development, value orientation and moral integrity. it is a process of breaking and shapening, breaking out deformations and molding forth a transformation. youths: many definitions of the youths are often done with age classifications. and these categorization differ from place to place. generally those who fall within the age bracket of 14-35 are often regarded as youths. in some cases, the age range can be up to 40. it usually is a period between childhood and adulthood, between dependence and moving towards independence. the definition of a section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 477 youth is a young person who has not yet reached adulthood and refers to the time period before you become an adult.2the united nations, for statistical purposes, defines those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 as youth.3unesco further notes that: youths have the creativity, the potential and the capacity to make change happen – for themselves, for their communities, and for the rest of the world.4 simply put, youths have the vitality needed to transform any society. pope john paul ii affirms this youthful vitality when he avers that: youth is the age of hope, of promise, of enthusiasm, of plans and of ideals. youths do not want to give up in the face of difficulties. youth does not want to put up with the short comings of the status quo. youth believes in a better world and is determined to do something to help bring about it.5 youth formation: youths are the building blocks of every developed nation. youth formation is the process of preparing the young for the future act of becoming leaders. the youthful stage is a formative age, which enhances the youth and makes him or her contribute meaningfully to national development. youth formation is a duty for all, social agents the family, the church, the government, parents and youths themselves. the energy and vigor of the youths act as catalyst for national development. that is why, countries which utilize their youth in positive direction are more developed. youths can constitute both a challenge and an opportunity for development. the need for formation is vital, because the youths of this century live in a dysfunctional world, with so many contradictions, unprecedented changes. a world torn apart by a complexity of conflicting value orientations, divergent worldviews and competing ideologies.6 within the black continent, youths bring out the potentiality for africa’s development. youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as human capital in production, which would improve total factor productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited. when employed, youths could be a reliable source of demand for the economy through their consumption activities. especially in the african continent, the youths of africa could be critical for the development of a new class of entrepreneurs that african countries need to prosper.7 development: development is generally used to denote growth or progress. it is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and 478 formation of the human person in the 21st century demographic components. the purpose of development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment. development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change.8 national development: national development is a constructive process of engaging all the people of the country in building political stability, social unity and economic prosperity of the country. national development involves social harmony, infrastructure development and economic growth of the nation. youths involvement in any growing economy is an essential key to development. youths are the greatest power of the country therefore significant efforts must be established to help empower them to competently and adequately contribute towards sustainable development of the nation. national development will improve the lives of citizens with the growing economy.9 challenges of youth formation many challenges exist today, which impedes youth formation. these range from lack of proper education, lack of social and basic amenities, lack of job opportunities, lack of support for creative innovations and worse still, there is the dysfunctionalism which is associated with the agents of socialization which in turn affects formation. george ehusani, in success without successor, affirms this socializational dysfunctionalism when he avers that the traditional agents of socialization the family, the church and the school, appear to have lost much of their authority and pride of place in the socialization and formative process. today the internet, the television, the cinema, the home video and the peer group appear to have snatched from the parents, the priests and catechists and the school teachers the primary prerogative of imparting knowledge and values and building the character of the younger generation.10 o family. the family is the bedrock of any human formation which is to be impacted into young people. when the formation which the family ought to impart is missing, it requires extra effort to get the formation of young people aright. in these times, news of broken families and failed relationships constitute no new surprise to us. but the end process of these broken families are traumatized children and youths who are left and if not by grace, would themselves become partners of broken families, thus continuing the cycle. again many section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 479 parents are career persons, who love their jobs so much at the expense of valuable family formation of their wards. they at best leave the formation of their wards to uneducated house assistance, who have the potentiality to bring into actuality the deformation of young people. o church. many churches today, are but true churches. they are advanced shrines and medium for business. many main stream churches, have become a reproach and abomination to god. thus the message of christ which ought to have a formative impact on the lives of young ones, is now being distorted for a message that preaches material prosperity and the desire for materialistic relevant miracles. today, the pulpit is been used to advise young ones about the seemingly wastage of time on education. they only present to the young ‘the miracle working god’ and not the ‘suffering jesus’ who carried his cross. every line of scripture is interpreted in a liberalistic manner, and people end up fed with stones instead of bread. o school. many schools today are set up for profit making, over and above value formation. we need to try striking simple conversations with our latest graduates in order to discover the mess many youths have been entangled in. professors who engage in nebulous acts such as mal-practice, were those who had access to quality education. schools today have lost their influence over value and character formation. students and parents decide what they want, and what they do not want and in a bid to retain numbers especially due to financial rewards, the schools watch the children throwaway their future, while they sit and fold their hands. o unemployment. lack of employment destroys certain formation to be gotten from the ethics of work. when jobs are not readily available, and those available are not meant for the educated but the connected. this creeds the contemporary belief among youths that education is no longer the key. o lack of mentorship. lack of mentorship is another factor destroying the affective formation of youths. youths witness everyday those who preach but do not practice; those who outline policies and principles but do not follow them. the end result of this accumulated experience never motivates but translates them into being oppressed oppressors. 480 formation of the human person in the 21st century o social media. the social media frenzy, has taken over the task of formation of these impeded agents of formation. from children who live in abundance but thirst from lack of attention, to those who want answers to the meaning of life, and seek means for channeling their vitality and passion in expressing themselves. the media (wrong use of it), has given young people today the illusion of a false presence, a feeling of accepttedness, and a fabricated feeling of satisfaction. this makes a lot of persons accept whatever is brought to the table. authentic formation of youths: implications for national development can youth formation be beneficial for national development? yes. this is because, we cannot eliminate the important role youths play, in any nation’s development. youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as human capital in production, which would improve total factor productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited.11 youths are critical for the development of a new class of entrepreneurs and leaders that can keep any nation aright. youths spur in-depth research into varying issues confronting our collective existence. they ask questions which set researchers into motion. they challenge, oppose existing foundations, by seeking more and more to make adjustments to existing status quo. thus only when they are adequately formed, that it would be possible for them to make ethical choices, which in the long run would be beneficial to any society. with the new waves of knowledge attained from globalization, youths are better able to make choices that support the pursuit of educational goals and the development of life skills necessary for national and local leadership positions. for instance, youths with access to reproductive health education, services (where they are welcomed), will enable them make rightful decisions as regards their health. youths occupy a prominent place in any society, for apart from being the owners and leaders of tomorrow, they have energy and ideas that are society's great potentials.12 the national youths development policy asserts that: youths are the foundation of a society. their energies, inventiveness, character and orientation define the pace of development and security of a nation. through their creative talents and labour power, a nation makes giant strides in economic development and socio-political attainments. in their dreams and hopes, a nation founds her motivation; on their energies, she builds her vitality and purpose. and because of their dreams and aspirations, the future of a nation is assured.13 the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 481 statement above acknowledges the role of the youths in the peace and security of a nation. youths depending on how they are employed, can be agents of peace as well a instruments of war. they no doubt can play the role of peace mediators. ozohu-suleiman avers that: as [an] active segment of any society, youths are the major determiners of peace and stability of a nation.14 conversely, the degree of disorderliness and instability in society is also determined in part by youths. peace is a precursor of development. the absence of peace means that no meaningful development can take place.15 youth formation: a task for all to our already existing identity as victims of bad government, today, we all are potential martyrs (whether we are ready or not), and also potential victims of kidnap, potential victims of wrong medical treatments, potential victims of collapsed buildings, potential victims of human inhumanness. the formation of the youths remains an absolute task for everyone interested in the well-being of any nation. as faulty foundations can lead to collapse of structures, same can be said for any nation which pays little or no attention to youth formation cum development. everyone must put in whatever it takes to give a better foundation for the youths. there must be a revival of the agents of socialization. the creation of enabling environment for family life. the creation of job opportunities and incentives for the youth. the admittance of youths sufficiently formed into the political and economic structure of society. the political society itself, is an important agent of the formation of the youths. the quest for an all-round character cum moral value formation for young people must have a place in any government’s policies. leaders are to be aware that they must be role models and not pharisaic in nature. government must set up effective youth policies which must move from the level of being an act of government to the level of honest implementation. furthermore, equal opportunities must be provided for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, race, religion and more. there are various issues of nepotism and favoritism which eats away the actual talents of a nation. this must be done away with. since those found in the society are those found also in the church, it follows that if the youths in the society are damaged, the youths in the church would also be damaged youths. given this fact, the church must rise up and contribute her quota to the formation of the 482 formation of the human person in the 21st century youths. she must play her role as an agent of the formation of youths. as george ehusani notes: church based programs and projects for youth development should include not only spiritual, moral and doctrinal education, but also (especially in our economically distressed environment where many youths have dropped out of school and are without skills) to include vocational and basic skills training for economically disadvantaged youths.16 the youths themselves have a role to play in their own formation. the self is the first agent of formation. they should avail themselves of any and every such opportunity provided for their growth and wellbeing. many youths today seem lackadaisical in affairs which should help their self-growth and aspirations. they are lured into all kind of life style which would lead to their unproductivity. if youths do not open and dispose themselves they cannot be formed and cannot eventually contribute to national development. at best they can just be noise makers on social media platforms. youth formation in nigeria: issues and concern. youths have a vital role to play in building this nation. they are spurs to facilitate nigeria’s economic greatness and instigate developmental strides. but the youths of this country have not had a soft bed on which to land on. they are plagued on all sides many factors which are within and without. from lack of adequate formation to absence of infrastructural requirements for right living. some of these issues as well as the resulting concerns are highlighted below. socio-economic and political environment: the socio-economic and political environment in nigeria poses a great challenge to the youths. economic and social statistics present a somber picture that leaves much to be desired. almost half a century after flag independence, the economy continues to be dominated by the primary sector – agriculture, oil and minerals. this is partly because the country has not been able to create an environment for high value added economic activities. there is low domestic capital formation and declining direct foreign investment, with the exemption of the oil and gas sectors, until recently very heavy indebtedness, high unemployment and the informalisation of the economy where the majority of its people live in poverty.17 nigeria performs very poorly in terms of global economic competitiveness. the country lacks basic social and physical infrastructure. as a result, most people on the country have no access to basic services such as potable water, electricity, good sanitation, roads and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 483 healthcare. all of this is coupled with a high illiteracy rate. the country’s underdevelopment has been reinforced by authoritarianism, political instability, ethnic and religious conflicts in the last decade. even almost two decades after the return to democratic rule, we witness today instability in governancelike those in governance do not have an idea about governance. we witness tribalism and nepotism, we see a government that grossly tells lies, and misleads the public, we see non-accountability of public officials, lack of transparency in decisionmaking, electoral frauds and the colonialisation and personalisation of the state and national resources by the political elite. this situation presents particular challenges for the nigerian youths.18 lack of education: education is very crucial to the formation of youths. in nigeria, our educational system is nothing to write home about. the aim of education is to bring about intellectual, moral, social and psychological formation of the human person. a person who is balanced in these areas of life will make the society proud. but today we find students who are intellectual thieves, socially imbalanced, morally bankrupt, psychologically confused, emotionally imbalanced, and physically challenged.19 more worrisome is the fact that education in nigeria today is certificate based education, rather than education for productivity. thus we have more graduates, but less people who can distinguish their left from their right. education also ought to help us make ethical choices, but we have today more educated illiterates, who lack value appreciation and moral ethos. lack of employment. youth unemployment poses a great threat to the country’s stability and development, and if not checkmated on time, it may lead to disastrous consequences for the nation. desperation can drive the unemployed youths into living outside the law in order to survive and as a means of expressing dissatisfaction at the apparent neglect of their very existence. crime as a result of unemployment has adverse effect on the economy.20 e. okafor laments that: high level of corruption in nigeria has robbed the country of developing a vibrant economic base in spite of her abundant natural resources. massive corruption is perpetuated in every sector and has permeated the entire social structure of nigeria. funds meant for development projects which could have generated employment have been misappropriated, diverted, or embezzled and stashed away in foreign banks. endemic corruption has robbed the country of the chance of developing a vibrant economy that would have created jobs for the youths in the various sectors of economy.21 484 formation of the human person in the 21st century the consequences of not fully developing and harnessing youth’s potential could be dire, having enormous impact on the economic, political scientific, moral and social life of a nation. youths are more likely to become frustrated because of legitimate grievances, including a lack of employment opportunities, low educational attainment, little participation in decision making and low social mobility. in this volatile context, greedy and opportunistic politicians could even exploit these grievances by involving these frustrated youths in creating massive instabilities that could impede the development of any nation. we must invest heavily in our children and youth population, so that from among them would emerge better presidents, better governors, better local government chairmen, better mds and directors of companies.22 if posed for a better future, the nigerian youth, has the propensity for greatness. being more technologically attuned and with the desire to improve on existing parameters of development, they can help push the integral part of nigeria’s socio-political cum economic growth and development. the challenge faced by those saddled with the responsibility of youth formation, remains how to sufficiently harness and channel young people’s passion, energy and enthusiasm into positive outcomes. concluding remarks the task of national development of any nation requires the captainship of astute and sound personnel. sound men and women of deep vision, with sincerity of purpose, hardworking credible persons who are selfsacrifical and patriotic. in the words of abolade fagbohun, nation-building and the associated developmental issues require men and women of deep vision; sincerity of purpose; selflessness; genuine love for their country and their people; hardworking; of conscience, integrity, credibility, trustworthiness, honesty, reliable and able; people who do not think of stealing or embezzling; people who do not misuse the authority and power conferred on them, by god or man; people who do not think that getting to positions of authority is a “do-or-die” affair; people who understand the meaning of nation building, leadership, good governance, rule of law, political emancipation, equality, human and civil rights, civility, freedom of speech, rule of law, diversity and religious tolerance; people who will shun and will not tolerate tribalism, corruption and nepotism. these are the people who can build nations and create the change we want to see.23 if a nation believes in its youths and believes that without the youths, she can’t achieve her greatness, then she should make more section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 485 investment in them, because without investing in the youths, the future of a nation will not have any returns. the youths themselves should also be proactive, and help in their own formation. they should indulge in selfless services, and in the long run become positive change agents and role models. the church, family, school, the government and society at large have equal responsibility to provide the youths with an environment that is conducive to bringing about a formation for the youths. there is the need as ehusani avers, …to invest in our future by channeling a lot of our time and resources into the wholesome formation and integral development of our youths, because what we see as our successes today must bear fruits in future generations… because our successes today must not end with our generation. they must have a multiplier effect on the coming generation.24 also, the youths should have a responsibility to be more proactive. an ideal youth who seeks to become a leader of tomorrow, must endeavor to be honest, hardworking, thrifty, idealistic, disciplined, patriotic, compassionate, sportsmanlike, moral/religious and above all he should be capable of dreaming high and positive dreams.25 in the end, youths by their very nature are transforming, and by default, under formation whether or not the society puts effort into their formation, they are being formed, the question is not whether they are being formed or whether they should be formed but that whether by default or effort they receive the appropriate formation. whatever they receive determines what becomes of the development of any nation. to transform the crisis of youth formation and development today, we need a paradigm shift in the structure and method of their formation, as well as the environment we provide for them, and the opportunities we present for them to grow. endnote 1what is formation? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formation 2who is a youth? https://www.yourdictionary.com/youth (accessed march 5th 2020) 3secretary-general’s report to the general assembly, a/36/215, 1981 in https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-definition.pdf (accessed march11th, 2020) 4https://en.unesco.org/youth (accessed march 7, 2020) 5john paul ii, address to the young people of nigeria. 1982 486 formation of the human person in the 21st century 6george ehusani, success without successor is failure in disguise: the challenge of youth ministry today. http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministrytoday 7 adeline idike. a eme, okechukwu innocent, “role of the youths in nationbuilding,” journal of policy and development studies vol. 9, no. 5, (2015): 52-3 8 sid israel, what is development? the israeli center for international aid and development studies, march 11, 2018. https://www.sid-israel.org/en/developmentissues/what-is-development (accessed march 7, 2020) 9 essay on the role of youths in nation building, http://robinnegiclasses.blog spot.com/2019/06/essay-on-role-of-youths-in-nation.html (accessed march 7, 2020) 10george ehusani, success without successor is failure in disguise: the challenge of youth ministry today.http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministrytoday (accessed march 7, 2020) 11 sid israel, what is development? 2018 12 onyekpe, n. “managing youths at election,” the constitution: a journal of constitutional development 7 (1) (2007): 76-87. 13 federal republic of nigeria (2001), national youths policy 14 ozohu-suleiman, a., “the nigerian youths in contemporary political development: relevance, challenges, and role expectation,” the constitution: a journal of constitutional development 6 (4) (2006) : 97-111. 15 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,” 57-8 16george ehusani, success without successor 17 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,” 62 18 ibid. 19anthony ewerido, lazarus ishaku, “youth formation and globalisation in the nigeria context, a theological and pastoral reflection on timothy 4:12-15” in youth formation & globalisation in the nigerian context, edited by luke ijezie, stephen audu and agnes acha, (portharcourt, cathan publicatios, 2018), 102 20 adebayo, abayomi “youths unemployment and crime in nigeria: a nexus and implications for national development” international journal of sociology and anthropology 5 (2013): 350-357. 21 okafor emeka, “executive corruption in nigeria: a critical overview of its socioeconomic implications for development” afr. j. psychol. stud. soc. issues. 2005. 8(1): 21-41. 22george ehusani, success without successor 23abolade fagbohun, the role of nigerian youth in nation building, https://medium.com/@abbjcicero101/the-role-of-nigerian-youth-in-nationbuilding-2fb8a5552520 april 26, 2011. (accessed march 12, 2020) 24george ehusani, success without successor 25 eme, and okechukwu, “role of the youths in nation-building,”. 64 487 36 seminary formation and modern means of communication: issues and possibilities hilary oseabulu odenore, ph.d catholic diocese of uromi osichair@gmail.com abstract the means of social communications in modern times have developed to such an extent as to be able to exert profound influence on every aspect of human endeavour. this development has coincided with a gradual shift in the church’s hierarchy's overall attitude towards the said means of social communications, from one of suspicion and rejection (especially in the early years of the cinema), to critical understanding and appreciation. this shift in approach invites ongoing critical reflection on how the church can better understand these providential gifts to man, so as to engender a responsible use of them that will result in better persons, faithful christians and a more committed, evangelizing church. the formation of future priests is an important locus for the deepening of the church’s appreciation of these means of communication. it is imperative for future priests, a good number of whom are digital natives, to develop a keen understanding of the culture of the modern means of communication, and it’s implication for the church’s mission. using the extant situation in the major seminaries of the old lagos ecclesiastical province as a case study, this paper attempts to raise issues bordering on the implications of the present state of the means of social communications for the human person as a whole. these issues will be correlated with possibilities that can be applied to seminary formation, so as to highlight some valuable lessons for the church. keywords: social communication, formation, digital, seminary 488 formation of the human person in the 21st century introduction in 1986, the pontifical council for catholic education issued the guide to the training of future priests concerning the means of social communication. the rationale behind this was… …so that the preparation of future priests in this regard may be less inadequate and may better meet their needs in the work that awaits them, the congregation for catholic education, having consulted widely with experts in the matter, and especially with the pontifical commission for social communications, is pleased to offer to seminaries the present "guide" in the hope that it will help in some way in carrying out their responsibilities. whatever possible future developments and local diversity of situation there may be, all institutes of priestly formation must today urgently face a common core of fundamental questions concerning the personal conduct of receivers, the pastoral use of the mass media, and specialized formation for particular works.1 this was a landmark document, in so far as its subject matter is concerned. it showed the church playing her maternal role and appreciating the influence that the means of social communications exercise on every aspect of human endeavour, influence which while largely positive, could also be damaging to the fabric of human society. thus, the guide sets out to ensure that “future priests [are] trained in the seminary in the correct use of these instruments. this provision had a threefold purpose, namely, that the seminarians might impose discipline on their own personal use of the media, that they might be able to train the faithful in their turn to exercise similar self-discipline, and that they might learn how to use the media in their apostolate”2. since 1986 till date, the world has undergone transformation in many ways, not least of which is that fact that we are now witnessing the entrenchment of the digital age, and its implications for the humanity. unlike what obtained then, which was largely restricted to the print and electronic media, the inception of the world wide web (www) in march 1989, coupled with the proliferation of computers in portable forms, radically transformed the means of social communication and the ways persons make use of them. the advent of the smartphone as well, has created ‘a whole new world’ as regards how people communicate. this ‘new world’ needs priests, just like other ‘worlds’ or epochs have always needed priests. these priests need to be prepared and trained in how to effectively serve in this ‘world’ after the example of the good shepherd, jesus, who has such a relationship with the sheep that he knows them, they know him, and they listen to his voice and do what he asks them to do (cf john 10:1-21). section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 489 this paper argues that in the spirit of the 1986 guide, we need to update our present approach to the formation of future priests on the means of social communication, so that they can function more effectively as pastors post priestly ordination. the paper will have the following sections:  the essence of seminary formation (according to the magisterium)  communication formation within seminary formation  modern means of communication – overview  modern means of communication – possibilities for formation  modern means of communication – issues in formation  the baby or the bath water? the essence of seminary formation: the setting up of seminaries for the training of future priests, can be traced to the council of trent. in its legislation de seminariis, the sacred council “…made it obligatory for every diocese to erect a seminary for the purpose of educating the local clergy. whenever possible, this institution was to be built near the cathedral church so that young aspirants to the priesthood might serve a sort of apprenticeship there by participating, each according his rank, in the divine offices presided by the bishop”3 before this decree of the council, seminary formation had always tried to mirror what jesus did with his disciples, in the three plus years they spent with him. during this period, they learnt from him, before being entrusted with the mission to go into the whole world and baptize those who received their teaching about jesus (matthew 28:1920). it was similar to what paul did with timothy, and what continued in the early centuries of the church, leading up to the patristic era and to the middle ages. we observe that there was always some form of training of future clerics, and this training was not cut off entirely from the community where they would serve in the future. there is the opinion that “with the breakdown of feudalism and the rise of universities, this ancient system of clerical formation became either impoverished or generally abandoned. as a result, a large segment of the late medieval and pre-reformation clergy received inadequate training and were very often ordained for an office they were not sufficiently equipped to exercise”4 the council of trent therefore, concerned with the laxity in clerical life and the harm that this was causing the church, used de seminariis to set the motion for a uniform but high standard for priestly formation, imperative on all the dioceses in the world, so as to 490 formation of the human person in the 21st century checkmate the possibility of unsuitable and poorly prepared candidates being ordained as priests. this has remained the essence of seminary formation. in the words of optatam totius, the second vatican council’s decree on priestly training, …major seminaries are necessary for priestly formation. here the entire training of the students should be oriented to the formation of true shepherds of souls after the model of our lord jesus christ, teacher, priest and shepherd. they are therefore to be prepared for the ministry of the word: that they might understand ever more perfectly the revealed word of god; that, meditating on it they might possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and in example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that through their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they might perfect the work of salvation through the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make christ present to men, him who did not "come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (mark 10:45; cf. john 13:12-17), and that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more (cf. 1 cor. 9:19). therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards this pastoral end, and to attain it all the administrators and teachers are to work zealously and harmoniously together, faithfully obedient to the authority of the bishop.5 the rinovamento brought about by the second vatican council, was keenly felt in the seminaries. while what obtained prior to the council was not inadequate, the changes the council advocated in the liturgy and the pastoral life of the church, coupled with the stress on the dignity of the laity, meant that future priests needed to be trained diligently in the demands of the pastoral life. priests, more than before, are to be immersed in the life of their flock, so that they can better direct them spiritually. hence, “…those capabilities are to be developed in the students which especially contribute to dialogue with men, such as the ability to listen to others and to open their hearts and minds in the spirit of charity to the various circumstances and needs of men”6. in 1990, we had the 8th ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops, with the theme ‘the formation of priests in circumstances of the present day’. the synod has been described as very pastoral in tone, and directed towards placing stress on priestly formation and the person of the priest himself, before and after ordination7. in the postsynodal apostolic exhortation following the assembly, pastores dabo vobis, we read; this same synod also sought to answer a request which was made at the previous synod on the vocation and mission of section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 491 the laity in the church and in the world. lay people themselves had asked that priests commit themselves to their formation so that they, the laity, could be suitably helped to fulfill their role in the ecclesial mission which is shared by all. indeed, "the more the lay apostolate develops, the more strongly is perceived the need to have well formed holy priests… the more the laity's own sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out."8 it is instructive therefore, in the light of this expressed desire to redefine or re-emphasize the identity of the priest, to consider what the synod fathers considered the essence of seminary formation. so, after reflecting on the challenges to priestly life, the present state of vocations in the church, and the spiritual life of the priest, the synod fathers then reflected on the formation of candidates for the priesthood. …in this sense, the "seminary" in its different forms and analogously the "house" of formation for religious priests more than a place, a material space, should be a spiritual place, a way of life, an atmosphere that fosters and ensures a process of formation, so that the person who is called to the priesthood by god may become, with the sacrament of orders, a living image of jesus christ, head and shepherd of the church. in their final message the synod fathers have grasped in a direct and deep way the original and specific meaning of the formation of candidates for the priesthood, when they say that "to live in the seminary, which is a school of the gospel, means to follow christ as the apostles did. you are led by christ into the service of god the father and of all people, under the guidance of the holy spirit. thus you become more like christ the good shepherd in order better to serve the church and the world as a priest."9 suffice it to say that the same synod fathers had already outlined what is expected of the priest. “it is equally certain that the life and ministry of the priest must also "adapt to every era and circumstance of life.... to be as open as possible to light from on high from the holy spirit, in order to discover the tendencies of contemporary society, recognize the deepest spiritual needs, determine the most important concrete tasks and the pastoral methods to adopt, and thus respond adequately to human expectations."10 other documents that address the theme of seminary formation, have more or less the same idea.11 seminary formation is basically a period when candidates who feel called to the serve in the ministerial 492 formation of the human person in the 21st century priesthood, are accompanied in shaping themselves after the example of their lord jesus christ, so as to be able to serve the people of god, for whom god bestows the gift of priestly vocations in the first instance. communication formation within seminary formation the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, pastores dabo vobis identifies four major pillars of seminary formation, viz, spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. to successfully situate communication formation within these pillars, it will be important to define communications as a reality. etymologically, communication is directly from the latin comunicationem, which means ‘making common or imparting’. it can also be considered from the past-participle stem of communicare, which means ‘to share, divide out, impart, inform, join, unite, participate in’.12 lexically, communication refers to “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs and behaviour”.13 in addition, scholars of communication proffer different definitions of the reality. popular definitions however tend to all accept the fact that communication has to do with the sharing of meaning through some commonly understood language. if we accept this understanding of communication, then we will see that it actually cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation of spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation. for instance, as regards human formation, it has been said that “formation for the priesthood must necessarily provide adequate means to allow for maturation in view of an authentic exercise of the priestly ministry. to this end, the seminarian is called upon to develop his personality, having christ, the perfect man, as his model and source”14 for the seminarian to make progress as regards his human formation, communication is essential, as “the use of the media and ease with the digital world are an integral part of the development of the personality of the seminarian, because, using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ”15 the same is true of spiritual formation. all the tools of spiritual formation listed in the ratio fundamentalis depend on communication. personal union with christ through prolonged and personal prayer needs a combination of intrapersonal and interpersonal communication to be effective. lectio divina is based on the printed medium of the sacred scriptures, just like the liturgy of the hours. the sacrament of penance and spiritual direction involve dyadic communication, through which the spiritual director and the confessor serve as god’s instruments to get the seminarian to open up with sincerity, trust and section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 493 docility. daily participation in the eucharist is also a deep communicative experience at different levels. the fact is that in the real sense, there is no formation without communication, as it underlies everything that goes on in the seminary. and even when the concept gets restricted to the tools that facilitate it, otherwise known as the means of communication, it still cuts across the four pillars, as these means are always being used in the formation process. modern means of social communication: an overview traditionally, the study of communication takes into consideration the different levels at which people communicate. these are; 1. intrapersonal level, where communication that takes place within a person or carried out by a person that he/she does not intend to share with others. 2. inter-personal communication, which occurs between two persons, and is also known as dyadic communication. 3. small group communication, which refers to communication that takes place within a group of persons, with a minimum of three and a maximum of twenty. 4. public communication, that is, communication between a person and an audience beyond 20 people. 5. mass communication, which is communication involving a person or an entity and a usually large and undifferentiated number of persons. each level of communication has the possibility of making use of a medium to facilitate the communication process. it is such media that are referred to as the means of communication. another way to define them sees them as “the various methods of sending information between people and places, especially phones, computers, radio, et cetera”16 since man became self-aware, and saw the need to reach out to others, he has made use of different techniques to do so. the human voice for instance, is a very important means of communication, and based on this we have language and by extension, writing, as other examples of the older means of communication. in modern times, and in the light of the available body of knowledge on the different levels of communication, it is difficult to proffer an exhaustive list of the means of communication currently used by persons. however and in no particular order, we can talk of the following; voice, books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals, pagers, computers, word processors, radio, facsimile machines, telephones, smartphones, telegraph, television, and so on17 494 formation of the human person in the 21st century while not exhaustive, the means of communications mentioned above cuts across the different great epochs of communication that humanity has experienced, viz, the phase of primary orality; the age of writing; the period of the press; the age of the electric media; and the digital age.18 courses on the history of human communications use these epochs to help students situate the development of communications from the earliest men and women till now, acknowledging the fact that innovations in successive epochs tend to build upon the achievements of preceding ones, rather than obliterate them. presently, we are in the digital epoch, the beginning of which we can attribute to the invention of the first computer, and the birth of the possibility of representing phenomena in numerical form. in this epoch, we have witnessed the passage from analogue to digital systems in communications; the computerization of the systems of communications and the creation of integral multimedia networks, especially in the case of the internet. we have also experienced the movement of media towards portability, so as to facilitate the accessing of services at any point in space, and the passage of the mass media into personal media.19 it is in this wise that we will consider one of the most significant inventions of the digital age; the smartphone. the dictionary defines the smartphone as “a mobile phone that can be used as a small computer and that connects to the internet”.20 this definition is quite modest. in fact, the typical smartphone has advanced computing capabilities, with which it can access web pages and browse the web using data networks or wi-fi support and mobile broadband. it also has the capacity to interact with other devices using bluetooth and near field communication, such that information can still be passed across in the absence of internet connectivity. the smartphone can view, edit and share different types of documents, since it can run applications that enable such. it can download different types of files, take photos and record videos, offer music playback and view movies, amongst others. it can serve as a radio, language translator, store dictionaries and encyclopedia, compass and magnifying glass and so on. the smartphone can serve as a calendar, a clock, a directory containing list of contacts, can download, store and read maps for navigational purposes as well as give weather updates. it can assist the user carry out financial transactions, keep accounts and make budgets, track funds and finances, make travel arrangements, monitor heart rate, organize ones activities as well as provide entertainment. it can serve as a library where e-books and downloaded content are stored for further reference. and with the advent of the ‘internet of things’21 we now have section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 495 users who use their smartphones to secure and operate their homes and appliances. the smartphone can do all these because it is actually a “modernized personal digital assistant (pda) with wireless connectivity compact in design with a high-resolution touch screen, multi-touch interface and qwerty keyboard22. the smartphone is not essential for healthy living, but in this digital age, it enhances and makes life easier. modern means of communication – possibilities for formation: in his message on the 44th world communications day, pope benedict xvi said …priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. priests are thus challenged to proclaim the gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources, which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis. using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of christ. they will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the lord. yet priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to christ. this will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the “web”. 23 we have tried to argue earlier, that communication as a reality, cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation, and the means of communication are already being used in formation. in addition to this, it is a truism that “those who begin the seminary journey are, for the most part, already naturally adept and immersed in the digital world and its instruments”. 24 indeed practically every student in the three major seminaries of the old lagos ecclesiastical province for instance, is a digital native25 this is why it has been recommended that 496 formation of the human person in the 21st century …social networks should be integrated into the daily life of the seminary community in a particular way (by a use that is vigilant, but also serene and positive). they should be experienced as places that offer new possibilities from the point of view of interpersonal relationships, of encounter with others, of engagement with one’s neighbor, of the witness of faith. these may all be viewed from the perspective of formative growth, which cannot fail to take into consideration every place in which relationships are formed and in which we find ourselves living. 26 the modern means of communications offer many possibilities for formation. we can consider this especially from two of the pillars of formation which we left out earlier, intellectual and pastoral. intellectual formation is “aimed at achieving for seminarians a solid competence in philosophy and theology, along with a more general educational preparation, enough to allow them to proclaim the gospel message to the people of our own day in a way that is credible and can be understood…”27 the means of communication will help to open up for the individual seminarian, fonts of knowledge that will be otherwise difficult to access. the presence of electronic libraries in nigerian universities and major seminaries is testament to the fact there are inadequate materials in the physical libraries of these institutions. this fact has been lamented for a long time, and if truth be told, as it affects universities, so it affects seminaries. the e-library simply makes it possible to gain access to materials otherwise impossible to get. going forward, there is the need to progress beyond the idea that the presence of an e-library with a certain number of computers in a seminary completely fills this need. this is especially true of seminaries in the old lagos ecclesiastical province, which each boasts of functional and relatively well equipped e-libraries. but can we say that 30 computers in an e-library are sufficient for over 180 students? or 50 for 400 students? one of the ways the seminaries have employed in getting around this dearth of computers is the use of computers owned by liturgicocultural groups and other associations by the students, in a designated area. this helps to lessen the burden, but there is still a long way to go, as there remains a significant shortfall in the number of available computers vis-à-vis the population of students. the academic contemporaries of these young men in formation (undergraduate students in universities) do not have the same challenge. it is either the universities (mostly private universities) insist on each student having a personal computer, to facilitate learning on-line, or the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 497 students are allowed to use their smart phones for the same purposes that the computer does. the fact is that such institutions have made advancements in the digitalization of their processes, and any student without the relevant accessory to function in that environment is as good as being a ‘non’ student. this is because apart from being cut off from the academic activities of the school, he/she will end up being grossly unprepared for life after the university, in a world where 58.7% of persons (or roughly 3 out of every 5 persons) has access to the internet.28 it is our considered opinion that seminarians in formation should be able to take advantage of the available technologies which add value to their training. a seminarian with a smartphone, can have access to countless materials, books, documents and sources, which may not be in the physical library (and if there, not in sufficient quantity for the time needed for in-depth study), and which while accessible via the e-library, he may also not be able to use it properly due to reasons given above. he can use his smartphone to prepare and submit assignments, which will be beneficial in three ways; one, it will help lecturers enforce deadlines, through platforms that will be time-limited (thus improving the discipline of the seminarian); two, it will reduce cost and waste to be incurred via printing on paper; and most importantly, it will eliminate plagiarism from the seminary system, as such soft copies can easily be uploaded to anti-plagiarism software for checks and assessments. in addition, the seminarian who is open to formation will be assisted to develop a healthy reading habit, in consonance with the best traditions of priestly life. this is because, while there appears to be a worldwide decline in the number of persons reading books29, there is an appreciable increase in the number of hours spent online. this is one of the effects of the phase of digitalization that we are in currently, and while no one can predict the future as to whether this trend will be reversed or it will become more entrenched, there is wisdom in preparing the future priest to spend this time online constructively. he can be trained to create virtual reading libraries, and challenged to read works on-line with his smartphone. as regards pastoral formation, being schooled in the means of communication helps the seminarian to understand his flock, who are completely immersed in this new world. increasingly, priests are having to carry out pastoral ministry online. this is the reason why dioceses, parishes, institutions and even certain individuals have webpages/websites, and maintain an online presence, conscious of the implications of web 2.0 for such webpages/websites. in addition, the presence on social networks and the floating of blogs, vlogs, youtube channels and podcasts, are efforts made to reach 498 formation of the human person in the 21st century the people in that space where many of them prefer to be. it is a response to the signs of the times, already articulated by pope benedict xvi, when he stated …responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. the world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more saint paul’s exclamation: “woe to me if i do not preach the gospel” (1 cor 9:16) the increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the word. 30 it is while in the seminary that the future priest will learn how to not only use the means of communication in his pastoral ministry, but also how to be a shepherd to his flock, who are fully immersed in this digital environment. this can be seen as a variant of anticipatory socialization31, whereby the future priest learns how to manage the pastoral challenges that are associated with the digital age, by assuming these roles while in formation, and thus benefits from his experiences. modern means of communication – issues in formation: it is instructive that in the same section where it is said that “the church, in virtue of the mandate received from christ, looks confidently at the possibilities offered by the digital world for evangelization…”32, we also read the following; “it is necessary to pay prudent attention to the inevitable risks that come with frequenting the digital world, including various forms of addiction, which can be addressed with suitable spiritual and psychological supports”33 there is need for vigilance in the use of the modern means of communication. the digital age and its main facilitator, the internet is neither morally ambivalent nor wholly positive. indeed, “people in emerging and developing nations say that the increasing use of the internet has been a good influence in the realms of education, personal relationships and the economy. but despite all the benefits of these new technologies, on balance people are more likely to say that the internet is a negative rather than a positive influence on morality…”34 the seminarian in formation is yet to complete his journey of personality integration and configuration to the person of christ. this means that when he has a smartphone in his possession, it could expose him to some harm, especially in the following ways; section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 499 1. illegal downloading of copyrighted materials: as prevalent as this is, downloading of copyrighted materials without the permission of the owner of the intellectual property is wrong (and in some cases liable to prosecution). 2. negative impact on human socialization: one of the effects of smartphones and by extension, social networks, is that persons now interact more via such platforms than face-to-face communication. this is impacting negatively on families, religious communities, rectories, offices and so on. there is the danger that with the smartphone in his possession, the seminarian will also be guilty of this trend. 3. disorientation on-line: there are virtually no rules in cyberspace, and anyone with the right gadget can post anything online, without the rigour of confirming its veracity. this causes confusion that can affect the seminarian, should he frequent misleading websites. 4. pornography: the possession of a smartphone will accentuate the temptation to view pornography on-line. 5. anti-social behaviour: one of the features of social networks is the increase in harassment, threats, hate speech, and similar illegal, immoral or inflammatory behaviour. when the seminarian has a smartphone, he may be more prone to carrying out such actions. 6. effects of virtual reality: studies have shown that increased exposure to the internet increases the risk of internet addiction disorder35. in addition, the longer the time spent in the virtual world, the less attention that is given to real life issues. these can affect a seminarian in possession of a smartphone. 7. financial fraud of any sort, et cetera, can be carried out via the smartphone with ease. these issues can pose real threats to priestly formation, and it is understandable that in order to prevent them, many seminaries in nigeria, following the directives of their proprietors, enforce an outright ban on the use of personal phones and computers by seminarians in formation while in the seminary. this ban has been in force for quite a few years now. but should the presence of such dangers justify the continuance of this ban, given the possible benefits that are lost in the process? conclusion: the baby or the bath water? as far the means of communications are concerned, it is fair to say that as a church, we have always displayed an attitude of suspicion, due to fear of its negative effects. it suffices to examine the tone of the first few magisterial documents on the means of communication to appreciate this 500 formation of the human person in the 21st century point. at the same time, this attitude is not as dominant as it once was, as more study of communications as a reality has helped the cultivation of a corresponding attitude of critical understanding, in order to make the best use of these gifts from god. but the suspicion is yet to fully go away, and often exists side by side with efforts to maximize our understanding and use of the means of communication, to the extent of even vitiating initiatives that promote the latter. but we do not need to throw away the baby with the dirty bath water. we are of the opinion that it is better to return to the inspiration behind the publication of the 1986 guide in this question of the means of communication. the idea of that document was that …social communications training … which is specifically pastoral, is to be given to all students without distinction during their philosophy and theology courses. it has three aims: a) to train those concerned in the correct use of the instruments of social communication (and in general, of every technique of expression and communication) in their pastoral activities, when the circumstances permit it; b) to train them to be masters and guides of others (receivers in general, educators, all those who work in the mass media) through instruction, catechesis, preaching, etc., and as consultants, confessors, spiritual directors; c) above all, to get them into a state of mind in which they will be permanently ready to make the necessary adjustments in their pastoral activity, including those demanded by the inculturation of the christian faith and life in the different particular churches, in a world psychologically and socially conditioned by the mass media and even already by telematics and informatics.36 consequently, it will be better on the short and long run, to expose seminarians in formation to more means of communications rather than less. we are in a situation where the authorities have to consider providing seminary formators with the necessary wherewithal to be able to effectively mentor and journey with their students, as regards proper, responsible use of the means of communication, especially the smartphone. it will not be easy to correct them when they misuse the smartphone or personal computers, if these are not mainstreamed into the regular seminary curriculum. at any rate, that seminarians do not have smartphones in the seminary does not mean that they do not have smartphones outside the seminary, which they use during vacation. is that period not part of their formation for the priesthood? similarly, and in the light of what has been said above, there is the need to have experts in communications science among the section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 501 seminary staff, who will be responsible for teaching communication courses that span through the entire duration of the formation of the future priest. what we now have in the seminaries under consideration in this paper, are seminar courses on aspects of communications located either at the final year of the formation program, or carried out during inter-semester breaks. these are better than nothing, but still far from the desired point, if the 1986 guide is taken into proper consideration. the presence of such an expert will reasonably guarantee that the seminarians understand from the outset, how they are to use the means of communications, and transform them from possible distractions to critical aids to their integral formation, and future priestly life. additionally, we humbly state that there is a flaw in the reasoning that the ban on smartphone usage in the seminary helps the candidate avoid the dangers associated with it. it only postpones the proverbial evil day, as instead of making ‘low profile’ errors, while in formation, with the possibility of correction, we will expose ourselves to the possibility of high profile ‘gaffes’ being committed by the same person, with the difference being that he is now a priest, and unfortunately, may not be as eager to accept that sort of correction. and as for teaching the lay faithful how best to use the means of communication, it will be a case of nemo dat quod non habet37. therefore, in the question of seminary formation and modern means of communications, the possibilities in permitting full exposure to these communication tools significantly outweigh whatever benefits that would come from shielding those in formation from these tools, in the light of the present digital epoch. endnote 1 congregation for catholic education, (1986) guide to the training of future priests concerning the instruments of social communication, presentation, accessed from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/docu ments/rc_pc_pccs_doc_19031986_guide-for-future-priests_en.html (retrieved march 05, 2020) 2 ibid, no 4 3 "seminary education ." new catholic encyclopedia . (retrieved march 04, 2020 from encyclopedia.com) 4 ibid 5 decree on priestly training optatam totius, (october 28, 1965) in flannery, a. (ed) (1995). vatican council ii: the concilliar and post concilliar documents, bombay, st. pauls’ no.4 6 ibid, n.19 502 formation of the human person in the 21st century 7 see http://www.synod.va/content/synod/en/synodal_assemblies/1990-eighthordinary-general-assembly--the-formation-of-priests-.html 8 john paul ii, post synodal apostolic exhortation pastores dabo vobis, (march 15, 1992) no 3. retrieved march 05, 2020 from www.vatican.va. 9 ibid, no. 42 10 ibid, no. 5 11 for instance, the revised ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, authored by the congregation for the clergy, (no. 35) we read “priests, who are configured to christ, head and shepherd, servant and spouse, participate in his one priesthood and saving mission as co-workers with the bishops. in this way they are visible signs of the merciful love of the father in the church and in the world. these characteristics of the person of christ help us to understand better the ministerial priesthood in the church. under the guidance of the holy spirit, they inspire and guide the formation of seminarians so that they can be conformed to christ by their immersion in the mystery of the trinity” 12 see https://www.etymonline.com/word/communication (retrieved february 24, 2020). 13 merriam-webster. (n.d.). communication. in merriam-webster.com dictionary. (retrieved march 06, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ communication) 14 congregation for the clergy (2016) the gift of the priestly vocation ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, vatican city, l’osservatore romano, no 93. 15 ibid, no. 97 16 cambridge. (n.d). communication. in dictionary.cambridge.org. (retrieved march 03, 2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication). 17 we have deliberated left out the internet or the worldwide web, from this list of the means of communication, because of its unique characteristics. in the words of m. a. dennis & r. kahn, the internet is “a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect. sometimes referred to as a “network of networks,” …the internet provides a capability so powerful and general that it can be used for almost any purpose that depends on information, and it is accessible by every individual who connects to one of its constituent networks”. see brittannica.com 18 for a detailed treatment of these different epochs, see gronowski, dariusz (2007) teoria generale della comunicazione, roma, edusc, (dispense per uso degli studenti) pp 89-126. 19 gronowski, ibid, p. 121 20 cambridge. (n.d). smartphone. in dictionary.cambridge.org. (retrieved march 04, 2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication). 21 the internet of things is a proposed development of the internet in which many everyday objects are embedded with microchips giving them network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data. see "internet, n.". oed online. march 2020. oxford university press. https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/entry/248411 (retrieved march 06, 2020). section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 503 22 lenovo. what is a smartphone. (retrieved 2020, feb 24 from https://www.len ovo.com/gb/en/faqs/pc-life-faqs/what-is-a-smartphone/) 23 benedict xvi, “the priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the word” message on the 44th world day of communications, 24 january, 2010, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/messages/communicati ons/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20100124_44th-world-communications-day.html (retrieved february 27, 2020) (emphasis mine). 24 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 99 25 digital native is a term used to describe a person who has grown up in the digital age, and is used to digital systems as a result. it is used to contrast digital immigrants, who had to acquire familiarity with digital systems as an adult. 26 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 100 27 ibid, no. 116 28 according to available statistics, the world population as at december 2019 was estimated at 7,796,615,710, with 4,574,150,134 having access to the internet. https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (retrieved march 02, 2020). 29 this has been the subjects of many academic papers and newspaper articles, but we will just refer the reader to one; twenge, j. m., martin, g. n., & spitzberg, b. h. (2019). trends in u.s. adolescents’ media use, 1976–2016: the rise of digital media, the decline of tv, and the (near) demise of print. psychology of popular media culture, 8(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000203 30 pope benedict xvi, ibid. 31 anticipatory socialization “involves the informal adoption of norms or behaviour appropriate to a status not yet achieved by the individuals concerned, so providing them with experience of a role they have yet to assume. for example, children may anticipate parenthood by observing their parents as role models, and the careerist may anticipate promotion by emulating the occupational behaviour of his or her superiors”. (see "anticipatory socialization." a dictionary of sociology. . (retrieved march 05, 2020 from encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/socialsciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/anticipatorysocialization) 32 congregation for the clergy, ibid, no. 98 33 ibid, no. 99 34 see https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/03/19 (retrieved march 06, 2020) 35 internet addiction disorder has been defined as “a maladaptive patter of internet use, characterized by psychological dependence, withdrawal symptoms when offline for prolonged periods, loss of control, compulsive behavior, and clinically significant impairment of normal social interactions or distress” (see internet addiction. (n.d.) segen's medical dictionary. (2011). retrieved march 6 2020 from https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/internet+addiction) 36 congregation for catholic education, ibid, no. 30 37 this latin saying means “you cannot give what you do not have”. https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/norm#1o88norm https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/computers-and-electrical-engineering/computers-and-computing/status#1o88status https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/role#1o88role 504 37 women in yoruba religion and culture prof. ikechukwu anthony, kanu (osa) department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya anambra state ikee_mario@yahoo.com & immaculata olu, omojola, (ssma), ph.d department of business administration and management villanova polytechnic imesi ile osun state omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk & mike boni bazza, ph.d department of history and international relations veritas university abuja (the catholic university of nigeria) danbazza68@gmail.com abstract this paper discusses the place of women in yoruba culture and religion. it first established the fact that yoruba culture and religion are strictly related. while culture expresses religion, religion is part and parcel of yoruba culture, and these two elements occupy a valuable place in the life of the yoruba. it observed that the yoruba value motherhood even as polygamy was common, targeted at having more children, specifically, male children because of inheritance. the women were indispensable partners of the men folk; it was the women that managed the home and made yoruba valued festivities a huge success. they were not just partners in relation to the men, they assumed leadership offices like the iya laje. this paper also discovered that women were the sustaining force of yoruba religion. women did not only participate but played leadership roles, especially as concerns rituals. in several cults for instance, women were priestesses like, ìyá ọ̀ṣun, ìyá ògún, and ìyá ṣàngó. they were also readily accessible to feed the gods and take care of mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 505 shrines. this paper discovered that women were not only well involved in the yoruba life, culture and religion, they were indispensable. for the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed. key words: women, yoruba, religion, culture, motherhood, iya laje, priestesses introduction this paper discusses women in yoruba culture and religion especially in the precolonial period. yoruba people according to atanda (1989) constitute one of the major ethnic groups in modern nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of ogun, ondo, oyo and lagos state and a substantial part of kwara state. a considerable number of yoruba people also inhabit the southeastern part of republic of benin (formal dahomey). as a group, they have distinguished themselves in their belief and traditions. the yoruba deities are called orishas and the oral traditions have it that they have more than 420 deities that are worshiped differently without clashes with rituals, music, dances, and prediction practices from their priests and priestesses. yorubas believe that when they die, they go to the realm of ancestors where they can still have influence on events taking place on earth. they believe in re-incarnation. hence there is a link between the living and the dead. god almighty to them is called olọ́run. most of the yoruba people take part in farm work. the men grow foods such as corn, yams, cocoyams, nuts, and cocoa. men are also often traders and craftsmen as well. women do less work on the farms, but are important traders as they market their husbands’ farm produce. their rank traditionally depends on that of their husbands. therefore wives of kings, chiefs and ifa priests were honoured more than those that were married to ordinary members of the community. some of yoruba values are respect for eldersgrowing up has benefits. they also value honesty, collective community development, cultural observes reflecting in their interaction with othersmode of dressing and diets. they also value humility and perseverance. and more importantly, they value communal life. all these are inculcated in their informal training originally called home training. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) summarize yoruba values as follows: “good virtues can also be learned through proverbs (òwe), ifá corpus (odù), and some mythical stories and parables. generosity, hospitality, and kindness are interconnected and closely related. the yorùbá expect that a person who possesses a virtuous moral character, 506 formation of the human person in the 21st century such as kindness, ought to be generous and hospitable. all virtues are intrinsically connected with and relevant to individual and communal peace. when these qualities are in abundance, the yorùbá consider the society to have abundant life.” yoruba culture and religion are closely related. while culture expresses religion, religion itself is part and parcel of yoruba culture. this is simply their ways of life as well as their belief. any effort to separate culture and religion among the yoruba will surely be ineffective. according to olajubu (2008), “the traditional cultural and religious practices of the yoruba people are closely intertwined. in traditional yoruba religion, women are its majority membership and sustaining force. consequently, women play leadership roles in yoruba religion, especially as concerns rituals.” the researcher witnessed in some villages in yoruba land, while women would carry sacrifices in afternoon to ensure safety in the environment. at times, they may be two or three women doing this at the same time with total enthusiasm and seriousness. yoruba believe that women apart from being complementary, they are representation of peace and harmony. hence the common wish and prayer at the beginning of a new year “ọ́dún á ya’bo fún wa o” (this year will bring us all that the female principle stands for). this prayer is a representation of the people’s conception of female (abo) and male (akọ). a “female year” in this context is a blissful and pleasurable year. since yoruba belief that symbols of calmness and peace (ẹ̀rọ ̀) represent female principles, whereas toughness represents male principles. another important fact about yoruba women down the ages is their trust in motherhood. motherhood is cherished beyond any other thing. despite the fact that polygamy was common in the indigenous yoruba culture, having children was as good as living or being alive. to this, ilesanmi (2013) opines that “among the yoruba people, motherhood transcends biological readiness” akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) explain this concept better in these words “a woman must bear children; motherhood is highly valued by the yorùbá people. a proverb states ọlọ́mọ ló l’ọkọ (the one who bears children is the owner of the husband).” many a time they say olomo lo l’aye (the one who bears children owns the world). therefore, you have names like omojola (a child is greater than wealth), omoyajowo (a child is preferred to wealth), omoleye (children are honorable), omolabake (a child is to be pampered), omobanji (a child awoke with me), omolade (a child is a crown), omoniosinmi (a child will bury me), omolere (a child is a reward), omolaso (a child covers nakedness), omolara (a child is family), omolayo (a child is joy) in yoruba culture to drive home the fact that children are better than any other thing in life. a mother then section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 507 will stay in her marriage through tick and tin because children are involved and many a time it becomes the only reason why they have to persevere. in the midst of chaos, they remove their children first and any other thing can perish. akíntúndé and fálọlá conclude by saying that “ a barren woman does everything humanly even spiritually possible to have a child, which may result in the children of cowives becoming possible targets of attack from a barren woman or other enemies.” as they struggle to become mothers, the desire to have male children is another important issue. male children are highly valued than female children because of inheritance as ilesanmi (2013) consents therefore, “the heir receives much honour but a female child cannot be a heir in yoruba land.” along with this struggle, they still participate actively in the affairs of the society and in religion by taking leadership positions by becoming regents, priestesses and even deities. women in yoruba culture and religion women in yoruba culture: the culture of yoruba people reflects in their trades and professions, music, dressing, choices of meals or diets, celebration of the living and the dead, togetherness, arts and festivals, folktales, proverbs, myths and symbols. this culture is also their religion and idowu (1966) asserts to this by saying that “the religion of the yoruba permeates their lives so much that it expresses itself in multifarious ways. it forms the themes of songs, makes topics for minstrelsy, finds vehicles in myths, folktales, proverbs and sayings, and is the basis of philosophy.” yoruba women were always available to take care of their homes and children even the extended families. they were useful domestically, such as catering, tailoring, and housekeeping. they were helping their husbands in farm work as very popular in the traditional yoruba culture. they always break into age groups for support and encouragements through regular meetings and connections. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) in their contributions are of the opinion that the precolonial yorùbá woman’s active participation in economic activities allowed for accumulation of wealth, through which she accessed sociopolitical space. prominent examples of women who achieved socio-economic power and subsequently wielded great political influence in their societies and environs include ẹfúnṣetán aníwúrà, the ìyálóde (woman leader) of ìbàdàn and mọ́gàjí of her lineage, and madam ẹfúnróyè tinúbú, the first ìyálóde of ẹ̀gbáland. other women became adelé ọba (regents) to fill leadership vacuums in their communities, and some became the ọba of their communities, such as in old oǹdó kingdom. 508 formation of the human person in the 21st century in the culture, yoruba women were part and parcel of war even though men were always at the war front. ilesanmi (2013) asserts that, “while men rely on brute force and medicinal power in fighting wars, women rely on psychological and the cult knowledge which are by far superior to those of brute force and medicinal aid.” they have a particular role to play in all the events of the traditional life be it related to peace or to war. in the mind of ilesanmi (2013) as well, “women most of the time were responsible for the happenings of the environment as he identifies them as a group that “can cause war, act as instrument of war, act in avoidance of war and their role in the formulation of peace treaty.” a good example is the story of moremi, who sacrificed her son oluorogbo to a goddess for her people to have peace. women in yoruba religion: yoruba people stand out in their religious practices. they belief in god and in other gods that are closer to them and they carve images of them in their shrines. in relation to this, johnson (1921) affirms that “yoruba people believe in the existence of the almighty god, him they term olorunlord of heaven. they acknowledge him, maker of heaven and earth, but too exalted to concern himself with men and their affairs, hence they admit the existence of other gods as intermediaries and these they term orisas.” he went further to explain yoruba belief by adding that they also belief in the future state, therefore the worship of the dead, and invocation of the spirits and in the “doctrine of metempsychosis, transmigration of souls, hence they affirm that after a period of time, deceased parents are born again into the family of their surviving children.” women are the majority when it comes to practicing traditional religion. however, idowu (1966) is of the opinion that yoruba people are “religious in all things.” he states further that “religion forms the foundation and allgoverning principle of life for them. …the full responsibility of all the affairs belongs to the deity…through all its changing scenes, its joys and troubles; it is the deity who is in control” women were very much ensnared into this religious practices that apart from the time of worship, they make their religious practices part of their daily activities. idowu (1966) opines that “usually, women are more religious ones who are more frequently caught in this practice by wayside shrines, sacred trees, sacred brooks, at cross-roads, or at any other places marked with some sacred signs, asking for a blessing on their journey, their work, their wares, their family or their private undertakings”. as we pay attention to the role of women in yoruba culture, some of them became deities with specific responsibilities like their male counterparts like: ajé orisha of wealth, ayao orisha of air, yewa orisha of the river yewa. of the maternity and of the children, nàná section iii: religious/socio-cultural perspectives and human formation 509 bùkùú orisha of the river and of the earth, ọbà first wife of ṣàngó and orisha of domesticity and marriage, ọtìn orisha of river, she is hunter and wife of erinlẹ̀, olókun orisha of the seas, ọ̀ṣun orisha who presides over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth, diplomacy and of the ọ̀ṣun river, ọya orisha of the niger river; associated with wind, lightning, fertility, fire, and magic, yemọja a mother goddess; patron deity of women and of the ogun river and finally yemowo wife of ọbàtálá and of the water. each òrìṣà has its shrine and favorite sacrificial offerings, and its followers observe a distinctive set of food taboos. women were readily available at these shrines to feed the gods and clean the shrines. they equally make provisions for food during festivities. to their followers, the òrìṣà bring the benefits of health, wealth, and children, but they punish negligence, offences, and the breaking of taboos. various worshippers enjoy the support of the ruler (ọba) and some of the worshippers visit the palace to greet him and impart on him the blessings of the òrìṣà on their feast days. in line with this, akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) arrive at a beautiful description on the role of women in yoruba religion. “women play key roles in religious ceremonies as priestesses and prophetesses. some important deities are female. for instance, several cults, including ọ̀ṣun, ògún, and ṣàngó, have women priestesses who are known as ìyá ọ̀ṣun, ìyá ògún, and ìyá ṣàngó, respectively.” they went further to explain that yorùbá women in precolonial period were admitted into sacred knowledge (awo). as initiates, such women could participate as leaders in high religious ritual practices from which uninitiated men and women were excluded. the admission of women into sacred knowledge translated into religious powers for those women. they went on to serve as diviners (ìyánífá). yoruba women have mystical powers as they appear week physically; some of them have more than they carry outside. “yoruba people also believe that some women have extrasensory, celestial powers. some of these powers are intended for destruction, and these women are referred to as ìyá ayé (women of the world). women were often regarded as atúnnidá, or women who have the ability to affect one’s destiny and possibly change such an individual. akíntúndé and fálọlá (2016) they were the brains behind most of the happenings in cults. ilesanmi (2013) says emphatically that “there is no yoruba native cult without women as its backbone” and always women were deprived to see or witness these happenings hence the saying; obinrin o kii wo oro which means that women must not witness the happening within the cults. and to this, ilesanmi says, “it is women who ban other women from seeing 510 formation of the human person in the 21st century the cults.” apart from women this, “the most powerful women’s cult is witches cult” ilesanmi (2013). he explained further that men fear them most because they decide who should be king and put a mark on him from birth. also, women cults controls men as vanguards; they can make men suffer indescribable pains and yet pretend that they knew nothing about the genesis of the suffering and they give full support to the one they love. conclusion the participation of women in yoruba culture and religion are not prominent today like in the traditional culture. colonization and civilization has really influenced these practices. today, christianity and islamic religions are becoming popular and women are not taking active participation in them. it appears to be men religion. for example, women are no longer participating in rituals; they are not even recognized in worship. although in some cases they still take care of the places of worship as cleaners but not as prophetesses and priestesses except in some white garment churches. women are still the majority in places of worship, at prayer mountains and attending vigils, asking for blessings on their journey, their work, their business, their family or their private happenings. nonetheless, they are in the minority in the political and economic structures of the society. yoruba women today struggle alone in this individualistic society. thanks to colonial masters who brought civilization in its positive parts but this has really destroyed yoruba values and women participation in their culture and religion. references akíntúndé a and fálọlá t. (eds) (2016). encyclopedia of the yoruba. bloomington, in. indiana university press. questia, a part of gale, cengage learning. www.questia.com atanda j. a. (1980). an introduction to yoruba history. ibadan. the caxton press. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_yoruba_deities idowu e.b. (1966). olodumare: god in yoruba culture. london and beccles. william clowes and sons ltd. ilesanmi t.m (2013). obinrin: a cultural assessment of yoruba women. nigeria, astra-j. multimedia nig.ltd. johnson s. (1921). the history of the yorubas. lagos. ccs bookshops ltd. olajubu o. (2008). a socio-cultural analysis of yoruba women and the reimagining of christianity. research article. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0966735008091401 511 international conference on formation of the human person in the 21st century communique 1. preamble the seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma, edo state in celebrating twenty five years of existence as a sacred institution for the formation of future priests for the church convoked an international conference, the second of its very kind to mark this landmark. the conference was held at the seminary compound from the 18th to 21st of march, 2020 on the theme: formation of the human person in the 21st century, and the following points were arrived at. the 21st century is complex, sophisticated, global and amazingly interconnected. it is a world that questions: it is curious and challenges even age long traditional institutions, structures and beliefs. there seem to be an unrelenting battle by many forces, for the soul and heart of the 21st century world. the human person as well as the whole formation process are although evolving, but in at a slow pace, hence there is a need for a synergy between the four aspects of formation; spiritual, pastoral, human, and intellectual as it pertains to the human person living and existing in the 21st century. it is pertinent to review and evaluate the processes and overall mode of priestly formation in this century in face of global and local realities that have become part of the society in the 21st century. 2. attractions the business of the seminary is to form catholic men for the ministerial priesthood. the task of seminary formators is to ensure that candidates were thoroughly grounded in theological truths and priestly spirituality with clear expectations in terms of doctrinal orthodoxy, liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly spirituality with an eye to the vicissitudes and vagaries of the time and place. the preoccupation of the formators in seminary is how to form the seminarians for optimum efficiency and pastoral effectiveness as priests. the zealous and dedicated formators, therefore, are constantly in search of enhanced and up to date methods and techniques to carry out this duties satisfactorily. 512 formation of the human person in the 21st century while formation of the catholic priests has the same objective, the context, time and methods for doing it have continued to change. the maximization of the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity would enhance the updated functionality and utility of the collective efforts of both the proprietors and the formators at the priestly formation in our time. 3. dangers not to take note of the constant change about formation and take advantage of the new methods and techniques that soothes the present time would cause injury to the integrity, comprehensive and the updated functionality of other the seminary as an institution and formators as conscientious labourers in it. formators should guide against the “i no go do for my pikin, because my papa no do for me” syndrome, this mentality only leads to retrogression formators are also to watch out so as not to project and prescribe their personal spirituality as the norm for everybody. no general principles and objectives are approachable from various and different angles. 4. challenges the family is the first place for the formation of the human person, it is within the context of a healthy family that a healthy priestly or religious vocation is been nurtured. however, some of the deadly traits we notice in some seminarians are defects resulting from family set-up or societal backgrounds: aversion for truth telling; irresponsible life style; lack of commitment; sexual immaturity and abuses, mistrust of authority and disconnection from and discontent with the teaching, directive or spirituality of the church the discernment of motive can some as well as the spiritual, moral, and intellectual adequacy can some time prove to be an herculean task. 5. response the church in nigeria needs priests, who know what they are doing, who can defend the faith. we need priests who can manage their emotions and sexuality. we need priests who are not ruled by anger, bitterness, or malice. we need priests who are not always on their "high-horses’. we need priests who can relate with confidence and charity towards all men, christians, muslims, and traditionalists alike. we need good, happy, efficient, holy, loyal, hardworking, and compassionate priests. we need priests like christ. this is the task of communique of the conference 513 the seminary at this time in nigeria, it is a great task but it is not impossible. all of us must do our part by giving our best to christ and his church we must pay more attention to every aspect of human formation, because the times are changing, demands are higher, and the stake is grave. list of contributors most rev dr. adesina francis, bishop of ijebu-ode most rev dr michael odogwu elue, bishop of isseleuku diocese, nigeria abiona lawrence adekunle, department of religions, university of ilorin, ilorin. ajibolade clement, seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma. amuluche-greg. nnamani, ph.d st. peter’s chaplaincy, university of nigeria, nsukka. anselm ekhelar, ph. d, rector, st. albert the great major seminary, idowu-offonran, ogun state. anselm k. jimoh ph.d. associate professor/head of department of philosophy, ss. peter and paul catholic major seminary bodija, ibadan. anthony ifechukwude akalue, department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. anthony o. igbekele, ph.d, department of theology, ss. peter and paul major seminary, bodija ibadan. aso williams olorunfemi ph.d, seminary of all saints uhieleekpoma edo state. benedict egbuchunam, seminary of all saints, uhieleekpoma. chikodi josiah wachukwu, ph.d, rivers state university, npkolu, oroworukwo, port harcourt. chris. a. obi, ph.d, department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, edo state cyril osilama adamu ph.d, college of education, ekiadolor, benin city. edema, philip ph.d., department of philosophy and religious studies augustine university, ilara-epe, lagos. edwin n. omorogbe ph.d, parish priest, st. paul catholic church, benin city, adjunct lecturer, department of philosophy, university of benin, benin city. egielewa, peter eshioke, ph.d, department of mass communication, edo university iyamho, edo state. elvis imafidon, ph.d, department of philosophy, faculty of arts, ambrose alli university, ekpoma. 514 formation of the human person in the 21st century emmanuel i. ukpebor, department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, nigeria. emmanuel ogundele ph.d, department of philosophy and religious studies augustine university, ilara-epe, lagos. fabidun fancis, st. albert the great seminary, offonran, abeokuta. felix ehimare enegho, professor of church history and mission studies, kogi state university, anyigba francis adelabu, ph.d, saints peter and paul major seminary, bodija francis eshemomoh ikhianosime, department of philosophy, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. gregory ebalu ogbenika, ph.d, head, department of philosophy, seminary of all saints,uhiele ekpoma, edo state. hilary oseabulu odenore, ph.d, diocesan chancery, catholic diocese of uromi. idahosa amadasu, ph.d, seminary of all saints, uhiele, ekpoma. john segun odeyemi, ph.d, duquesne university, pittsburgh (via skype) korie praiz, catholic diocese of uromi. mark omorovie ikeke, ph. d, department of religious studies and philosophy delta state university, abraka, delta state. michael odubela, oblates of st. joseph, general house, rome, italy michael olawuyi olawuni, st. mary’s college, carlifornia (via skype). michael sola omojola, std, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. mike boni bazza, ph.d, department of history and international relations, veritas university abuja, the catholic university of nigeria ntui victor ntui, ph.d, department of philosophy st joseph major seminary, ikot ekpene,akwa ibom state. olumuyiwa anthony omodunbi, stl, catholic diocese of osogbo. omojola immaculata olu, (ssma), ph.d, department of business administration and management, villanova polytechnic, imesi ile, osun state osawaru, osamede christopher, department of philosophy, university of benin, benin-city, edo state, nigeria. paul ọlátúbọ̀sún àdajà, (ph.d in view), department of theology, loyola university chicago (via skype). peter egbe, ph.d, st. albert the great major seminary, abeokuta, ogun state. peter wojuaye, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. prof. agatha eguavoen, department of sociology, ambrose alli university, ekpoma, edo state. communique of the conference 515 prof. isaac e. ukpokolo, department of philosophy, faculty of arts, university of ibadan prof. john afiagbokai onimhawo, department of religious management and cultural studies, ambrose alli university, ekpoma. edo state, nigeria. prof. kanu, ikechukwu anthony (osa), department of philosophy and religious studies tansian university, umunya, anambra state prof. michael ogunu, past supreme chancellor of the knights of st. mulumba nigeria and president of the executive board of the world apostolate of fatima in africa. rex osajie, stl, mth department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. samson imhagbe, ph.d, department of education, ambrose alli universtity, ekpoma. stan-william o. ede, pontificium institutum biblicum, rome (via skype). sylvester idemudia odia, ph.d, head, department of philosophy, university of benin, benin city. vincent ojo, ph.d, head, department of theology, seminary of all saints, uhiele-ekpoma. list of participants 1. abang emmanuel bankong 2. abang, joseph kejie-osowo. 3. abienekpen, sylvester ekeomonkhemen 4. abiona lawrence adekunle 5. abu moses joseph 6. abu, jonathan oshione 7. abumere, benedict iriagbonmenoise 8. adebayo, anthony oluwafemi 9. adebisi emmanuel kayode 10. adefolaju, michael adebayo 11. aderoh, bernard oshozemede 12. adesanya, martin adebayo 13. adewebi, vincent olamigoke 14. adeyera, anthony toluwalase 15. adio augustine 16. afolabi, philip kayode 17. afuwape augustine adebayo 18. agbokutaye alexander kessiena 19. ageh, ephraim osaoghene 20. agor, solomon chinonso 21. aguocha, nnamdi benjamin 22. aidoyin, kennedy odion 23. aigbekaen, ignatius osaigbovo 24. aigbuduokjhai, paul omogbai 25. aitimon, raymond omodiagbe 26. ajani, richard oreoluwa 27. ajewole, patrick akinjide 28. ajibolade, clement omosola 29. akhere, kingsley ehimhenmen 30. akhuetie rapheal destiny 31. aleoghena mordecai okumeode 32. alfred, anthony oghenega 33. aliu gabriel 34. alphonsus, john ifeanyi 35. amadi, eric chukwuemeka 36. amedu, paulinus 37. amuluche-greg. nnamani 38. anaweokhai, kennedy 39. aniebue boniface chukwudi 40. anim, endurance chukwuemeke 516 formation of the human person in the 21st century 41. anselm ekhelar 42. anselm k. jimoh 43. anthony ifechukwude akalue 44. anthony o. igbekele 45. arinze polycarp 46. aso williams olorunfemi 47. ataagbe, collins michael 48. atenyo christopher aghoghene 49. awojobi anthony ayodeji 50. ayabowei joseph oyindouye 51. ayangbemi, lawrence kehinde 52. azubuike, anthony uchechukwu 53. benedict egbuchunam 54. binite, augustine oriawafo 55. chikodi josiah wachukwu 56. chris. a. obi 57. chukwu, victor ogenna 58. chukwuma, paschal chukwuma 59. chukwunyere richard wabugwu 60. chukwurah, peter izuchukwu 61. clement, emmanuel ojo 62. cyril osilama adamu 63. danladi, paul amos 64. december, andrew ogheneosun 65. deile peter 66. douye stephen onoriode 67. ebiwarebo evans samuel 68. ebor samuel osimeoagwe 69. edema, philip 70. ediale, andrew osaremen 71. edosomah, edgar chukwudumebi 72. edwin n. omorogbe 73. egho, augustine chukwuka 74. egielewa, peter eshioke 75. egwu peter ikenna 76. ehiomhen john aiwonose 77. ekairia eugene okueamhen 78. ekechi john okwudili 79. elegbede, dominic oluwatosin 80. elias, innocent chidera 81. elimian, thomos onosetale 82. elvis imafidon 83. emekhi, ambrose oseghale 84. emmanuel i. ukpebor 85. emmanuel ogundele 86. enihenhenan, simon oseghale 87. enowoghomwenma, matthew osakpomwan 88. eromiokhale augustine osemundiamhen 89. esene, emmanuel bernard 90. ewedina, david francis 91. eze chidubem anthony 92. ezuna paschal chekwube 93. fabidun fancis 94. fadele, john adebayo 95. faniyi, victor oluwasegun 96. fashanu oluwadamilare emmanuel 97. felix ehimare enegho 98. francis adedara 99. francis adelabu 100. francis eshemomoh ikhianosime 101. francis oseghale 102. frofoun, owey ebianoukabo 103. gagana clement akpesiri 104. garuba bethel emmanuel 105. genesis, joseph oghenemaro 106. gregory ebalu ogbenika 107. hilary oseabulu odenore 108. ibhazobe, kennedy ebinehita 109. ibi valentine 110. idahosa amadasu 111. idobogbe clement ebanehita 112. ifedioranma, francis chinonso 113. ijezie francis 114. ilegbedion, romanus ighodarosa 115. ilemonu, vincent eyegwialo 116. itulah, timothy osemudiamhen 117. iyah, wilson emoefe 118. james, callistus chukwuma 119. john segun odeyemi 120. johnson, avivie ekine 121. junaid, lawrence bamidele 122. korie praiz 123. lawrence, friday stephen 124. mark omorovie ikeke 125. martins, benedict barisua 126. masigwe, vincent ikemefune 127. michael odubela 128. michael olawuyi olawuni 129. michael sola omojola 130. mike boni bazza communique of the conference 517 131. mkpahu maduka benjamin 132. mmadu john chibueze 133. mochi, benedict oshiokekhai 134. morah francis ikechuwku 135. most rev dr michael odogwu elue 136. most rev dr. adesina francis 137. most. rev. donatus ogun 138. nicholas oshiokede 139. njoku, joseph emeka 140. njuwe, henry chukwuneku 141. ntui victor ntui 142. nwagu, michael uche 143. nwokpor joseph sunday 144. nwokwu, matthew onyedikachi 145. obiagbalasi, henry ebere 146. obiejesi, emmanuel ekene 147. oboh bernard odion 148. oboh, paul eromosele 149. odion, destiny paul 150. odozi, joseph chukwudi 151. ofomata, francis ifeanyi 152. ofuokwu, emmanuel chukwunonso 153. oguekwe, gerald chiazokam 154. ogunlaja, philip omotoso 155. ogunsanya, paul kehinde 156. ohumaegbulem emmanuel chukwugozi 157. ohwota, anthony 158. ojekunle, francis oluwatobi 159. ojeniyi john ayanponle 160. okafor justin onyebuchi 161. okee, david johnbosco 162. okoboshi, peter chukwuma 163. okoh, peace 164. okonkwo vitus peter 165. okonmah, kenneth chukwubuikem 166. okoro, destiny 167. okoro, ernest ichako 168. okoye sylvester uzokwe 169. okpako, raphael oghenero 170. okpalefe, paul ejomafuvwe 171. okpomeh, jude aghuoghenathor 172. olagunju, emmanuel eniola 173. olanrewaju, boniface oluwaseun 174. olumuyiwa anthony omodunbi 175. oluwadare, lucas abiodun 176. omoalu, augustine emaneshi 177. omodara, michael tope 178. omodiale daniel ehimen 179. omojola immaculata olu 180. omosebi, michael thomson 181. onifade, emmanuel kayode 182. onojame, victor isicheri 183. onwuneme, anthony blair 184. onyele ifeanyi callistus 185. onyemegbulem, adrian chukwufumnanya 186. ootoade, anthony adebayo 187. opoggen anthony mudiaga 188. orisheminone, alexander emavremu 189. osawaru, osamede christopher 190. oseghale, jude ehimen 191. oseyande, geoffrey osamudiamen 192. oshevire, francis ogheneyoma 193. oshogbo, jonh dennis 194. osuji, benedict chigozie 195. otoagua, matthew osazee 196. otutu, ebenezer ehinomen 197. ovadje gregory 198. owie, god’s time 199. owolanwo, victor uniaminuva 200. oyanoghafo alphonsus nosakhare 201. ozom anthony oyenanai 202. paul ọlátúbọ̀sún àdajà 203. peter egbe 204. peter wojuaye 205. polycarp b. imoageme 206. prof. agatha eguavoen, 207. prof. isaac e. ukpokolo 208. prof. john afiagbokai onimhawo 209. prof. kanu, ikechukwu anthony 210. prof. michael ogunu 211. rex osajie 212. salako, matthew setonji 213. samson imhagbe 214. samuel, charles odiri 215. sani, joseph osizehmete 518 formation of the human person in the 21st century 216. sekunda gabriel babatunde 217. stan-william o. ede 218. sule jude etseoghena 219. sylvester idemudia odia 220. theodore, jonh god’spower 221. thomas anthony 222. thomas martins akinwale 223. thomas onuh 224. toriola, peter oluwatosin 225. ubhimhiye luke ehiabhi 226. uduebholo ahamiuki benjamin 227. ugonabo valentine ekene 228. ulebor, benjamin junior 229. umeh, francis paul 230. umehido ignatius obinna 231. umukoro, patrick oghenekaro 232. unuabona abraham amioshor 233. usuogie andy obho 234. uzere augustine othuke 235. uzowuihe, emmauel onyekachi 236. vincent ojo 237. yonronfun, reuben mautin 238. ziakegha, clement 239. ebimobowei 86 7 the blindness of material wealth in mark 10:17-27: a lesson for the seminarian of 21st century rex osagie, stl, mth st. gregory catholic church, ekpoma rexosajie12@gmail.com abstract the seminarian of the 21st century lives in an era characterized by grave political instability, insecurity and economic crises laden with a high cost of living. thus, to forestall this unbearable situation, many youths have abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various crude and evil means of survival. some have taken to prostitution, seeking greener pastures via the crude libyan route, kidnapping, advance free fraud etc. the consequence of this enormous, the streets, shops and craft workshops are deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the death of their children who have lost their lives. again, the insufficient manpower in various communities has heightened the level of suffering and poverty in the land. apart from that, it is really difficult to convince the few youths left at home not to embark on such venture since the few who are acclaimed ‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material wealth in a fascinating manner for all to see. however, the encounter between jesus and the young rich man in the text of mk10:17-27 reveals the essence of human life and its destiny and the blindness of material wealth. the tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ reflects a greater love for his material possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal life offered by christ jesus. this brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? and what is the meaning of success and the source of happiness? how can a disciple of christ define his identity in this situation? thus, this paper hopes to undertake a detailed exegesis of the text, its theological functions in its immediate and wider context and its theological significance for the seminarian of the 21st century. it will also proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the discourse on the authentic formation of the seminarian of the 21st century. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 87 keyword: blindness, wealth, seminarian, youth, human life, formation introduction the 21st century is an epoch of immense human, economic, scientific, social, and political expansions and prospects but loaded with grave crises, challenges and failures. the struggle to make the world a global village aided with information and communication technology has enhance the identity, values, proficiency, productivity and needs of the human person within the globe. on the other hand, this era is typified by grave unstable political climate, insecurity, unemployment, climate change, health issues, economic crisis e.t.c. these crises have great effects on the life style, creativity and identity of the human person in a society where economic power is the centre of gravity. consequently, the human person is tempted to mislay its values and ultimate goal in the bid to survival. here, material wealth becomes a vital tool of continued existence and happiness. so, to avert these unbearable circumstances, many youths have abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various crude and evil means of survival. some have taken to prostitution, seeking greener pastures via the crude libyan route, kidnapping, advance free fraud etc. the consequence of this is enormous on the true realization of human dignity. the streets, shops and craft workshops are deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the death of their children who have lost their lives. again, the insufficient manpower in various communities has heightened the level of suffering and poverty in the land. apart from that, it is really difficult to convince the few youths left at home not to embark on such venture since the few who are acclaimed ‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material wealth in a fascinating manner for all to see. however, the encounter between jesus and the young rich man in the text of mk10:17-31 reveals the essence of the true dignity of the human life and its destiny against the blindness of material wealth. the tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ reflects a greater love for his material possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal life offered by christ jesus to bring mankind to its fullness of human dignity. this brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? and what is the meaning of success and the source of happiness? how can the person of the 21st century define his christian identity and dignity as disciple of christ in this situation? thus, this paper undertakes a detailed exegesis of the text, its theological functions in its immediate and wider context and its theological significance for the person of the 21st century. it will also 88 formation of the human person in the 21st century proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the discourse on the authentic formation of the human person of the 21st century. the text of mark 10:17-31 a. the text 17 καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς ὁδὸν προσδραμὼν εἷς καὶ γονυπετήσας αὐτὸν ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; 18 ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.19 τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας· μὴ φονεύσῃς, μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, μὴ κλέψῃς, μὴ ψευδομαρτυρήσῃς, μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς, τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα. 20 ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· διδάσκαλε, ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου. 21 ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἕν σε ὑστερεῖ· ὕπαγε, ὅσα ἔχεις πώλησον καὶ δὸς [τοῖς] πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι. 22 ὁ δὲ στυγνάσας ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἀπῆλθεν λυπούμενος· ἦν γὰρ ἔχων κτήματα πολλά. 23 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος ὁ ἰησοῦς λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· πῶς δυσκόλως οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελεύσονται. 24 οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ ἰησοῦς πάλιν ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτοῖς· τέκνα, πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 25 εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ [τῆς] τρυμαλιᾶς [τῆς] ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 26 οἱ δὲ περισσῶς ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες πρὸς ἑαυτούς· καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; 27 ἐμβλέψας αὐτοῖς ὁ ἰησοῦς λέγει· παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ θεῷ· πάντα γὰρ δυνατὰ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. 28 ἤρξατο λέγειν ὁ πέτρος αὐτῷ· ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν πάντα καὶ ἠκολουθήκαμέν σοι. 29 ἔφη ὁ ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς ἀφῆκεν οἰκίαν ἢ ἀδελφοὺς ἢ ἀδελφὰς ἢ μητέρα ἢ πατέρα ἢ τέκνα ἢ ἀγροὺς ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. 30 ἐὰν μὴ λάβῃ ἑκατονταπλασίονα νῦν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ οἰκίας καὶ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς καὶ μητέρας καὶ τέκνα καὶ ἀγροὺς μετὰ διωγμῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. 31 πολλοὶ δὲ ἔσονται πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ [οἱ] ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι. b. translation of mark 10:17-31 17and as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “good teacher, what must i do to inherit eternal life?” 18and jesus said to him “why do you call me good? no one is good but god alone. 19 you know the commandments: `do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'“ 20and he said to him, “teacher, all these i have observed from my youth.” 21and jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “you lack one thing; go, sell what section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 89 you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 at that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23and jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of god!” 24 and the disciples were amazed at his words. but jesus said to them again, “children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god! 25 it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god.” 26 and they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “then who can be saved?” 27 peter began to say to him, “lo, we have left everything and followed you.” 28 peter began to say to him, “lo, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 jesus said, “truly, i say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 but many that are first will be last, and the last first.” the background of the text of mark 10:17-31 the text of mark 10:17-31 is situated within the larger corpus of the journey outside galilee and movement towards jerusalem. here mark appears to regard this text as a single unit which expresses the true meaning of discipleship and presents the necessary condition for entrance into the kingdom of god. thus, he places it after chapter 10:1316 which defines the entrance into the kingdom and encloses it by the third major prophecy of the passion of christ in 10:32-34. this is based on the purpose of projecting the christian faith in a climate of uncertainty where martyrdom poses a grave danger to the faith of the people.1 in view of that, the marcan christ continues to speak and act meaningfully in the context of crisis. in order to achieve this, the evangelist employs vivid narrative style characterized by simple sentence structure, parataxis, direct speech and historical present in order to make jesus the contemporary of those who hear or read the account.2 consequently, the text serves as caveat to the audience of the gospel and post marcan audience on the dangers and blindness of the love for material wealth against the forfeiture of the eternal life offered by christ. content analysis of the text of mk 10:17-31 vv. 17-22 -the rich young man (10:17-22) the setting of the amazing encounter between christ and a young man in the text of mark 10:17-31 is indicated by the verb ἐκπορευομένου, (as he was setting out) which is the present genitive middle masculine 90 formation of the human person in the 21st century participle of ἐκπορευομαι in v. 17. the eager approach of the man while jesus was setting out on a journey characterized with his kneeling posture, the formal address and the weighty value of his question suggest a deep respect for jesus and the genuine sincerity of the man. he did not insist upon a private conference with jesus by night like nicodemus. he came to consult jesus as a distinguished rabbi and showed him the deference reserved for revered teachers of the law.3 the designation of jesus as διδασκαλε agaqe (good teacher) in the masculine vocative is a sincere tribute to the impression jesus had made upon him. though in the ot and judaism, only god is characteristically called “good” but can be used in derived sense of “the good man”.4 however, christ would have him looked upon him to be god, since none is good but god. again the question of the young man τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; (what must i do so that i may inherit eternal life?) places the discussion which follows in an eschatological perspective. ἳνα (so that) here signifies a purpose clause defining the function of τί ποιήσω (what must i). also, the use κληρονομήσω (i may inherit) in proleptic aorist stresses the certainty of ζωὴν αἰώνιον (eternal life) to the young rich man.5 in addition, the form of the question implies a piety of achievement which stands in contrast to jesus’ teaching that man must receive the kingdom as a gift from god in his helplessness like a child in 10: 15. thus in v. 20 the man thought that there were other conditions beyond those written in the torah. however, jesus’ appeal to the commandments serves to re-echo the old ot teaching that the man who obeys the law will live (deut. 30:15, ezek. 33:15). he mentions the six commandments of the second table, which prescribe our duty to our neighbor, but puts the fourth commandment last, as that which must be remembered and observed. while the tenth commandment is put as “do not defraud” showing that it is a rule of justice not to advance or enrich ourselves by doing wrong or injury to any other.6 these commandments clearly and incisively focus upon relationship with others as the discernible measures of a man’s reverence for god and obedience to his mandate.7 here, jesus does not accept as good any other will than the will of god revealed in the law. hence his affirmation of the commandments is a demand for obedient action which recognizes both the sovereignty of god and the existence of neighbor. in v. 20, the impulsive reply of the man ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην (all these i have kept) with the verb φυλάσσω in global aorist indicative middle reveals that he had made the law the norm of his entire life and had confidently fulfilled its demands perfectly. the reference to ἐκ νεότητός μου (from my youth) indicates a boy of twelve years who assume the yoke of the commandments and was held responsible for section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 91 their performance.8 in this sense, mark presents the inquirer’s idea of goodness as defined by human achievement, which has a sense of confidence that he had fulfilled the commandments from time but seeks to discover from another ‘good’ man what he can do to assure eternal life. but the referral of the question to god puts jesus’ response within the context of the lordship of god. nevertheless, the response of jesus to the young man in v. 21 is not designed to shame him by exposing the real depth of the commandments but is an expression of genuine love for him and to set in correct perspective the honor of god.9 thus, jesus discovers the one thing he lacks, is the selfsacrificing devotion which characterizes every true follower of christ. thus, jesus invites him to follow him now and experience the demands of life and the kingdom with the twelve disciples. this brings to fore that the keeping of the individual commandments is no substitute for the readiness of self –surrender to the absolute claim of god imposed through the call of the gospel.10 in this context obedience to the law is rendered ultimately in discipleship. selfsurrender means a renunciation of his achievement and the reception of messianic forgiveness through which man is released to stand under the law and to offer the obedience of love.11 therefore, the command to sell his property and to distribute the proceeds to the poor was appropriate to this particular situation. since the promised treasure signifies the gift of eternal life at the revelation of the kingdom of god. however the true answer to the question in v. 17 lays not so much on the command to sell all but as a necessary condition to answer the call to follow jesus.12 in this sense, the marcan christ clearly defines the cost of discipleship. consequently, mark in this text shows that jesus separated persons from their normal historical existence as showed also in 1:16-20, 2:14, 3:13, in order to introduce them to a new quality of existence based upon fellowship with him. jesus demand is radical. he claims the man utterly and completely, and removes anything that could interfere with an unconditional obedience. so following jesus implies that jesus himself is the answer to humankind’s quest for life and authentic realization of true human dignity. the grave disappointing and sorrowful response of the young man in v. 22 to the invitation of christ in v. 21 is described by two verbs; στυγνάσας aorist participle active nominative masculine singular of stugnάzw and ἀπῆλθεν 3rd person aorist indicative active singular άπέρχομαι. the verb ‘stugnάzw’ occurs only twice in the new testament in the text of matt 16:3 and mk 10:22. it means “become gloomy or dark, be shocked or appalled” but with ἀπῆλθεν in the aorist indicative active signifies temporal adverbial participle demonstrating two simultaneous actions of the young man of being ‘shocked and went 92 formation of the human person in the 21st century away’. so, his tragic decision to turn away reflects a greater love for his possessions than for his life as jesus states in mark 4:19. again it shows the depth of the demand of discipleship and the uniqueness of the twelve who abandoned everything in order to follow jesus. another crucial finding of mark in this text is that the law had not yet fulfilled its function of bring man’s satisfaction with this world to an end and energized the thirst for righteousness and life.13 consequently, mark indicates for the first time that the man was rich in v. 22. vv. 23-27 -the danger of riches (10:23-27) the gesture of jesus in v. 23 to look round depicted by the verb περιβλεψάμενος in aorist participle middle nominative masculine singular demonstrates the contrast of the running and kneeling approach in v. 17 and the slow retreat that ends the amazing encounter in v. 22. thus, it became imperative for jesus to turn and catechize those who have abandoned everything to follow jesus. the comment of jesus in v. 23b reaffirms the danger of attachment to wealth to the rejection of an infinitively important everlasting life that leads to the fullness of human dignity. this danger lies in the effects of wealth on the spiritual life, which claims the total dependence on god and develops a false sense of security. material abundance therefore, is an enemy to the ‘abundant of life’ offered by christ.14 surprisingly, this response of jesus meets with great amazement from the disciples. mark expresses this ‘shocked or amazement’ of the disciples with another verb ἐθαμβοῦντο in an ingressive imperfect describing the shock that ended with the teaching of christ as distinct from the amazement of the young man that did not allow for catechesis. the amazement of the disciples probably stems from the belief that prosperity is the blessing and favor from god for righteousness.15 however, jesus did not fail to repeat his solemn warning of v. 23 in an absolute form in v. 24b , saying how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god, which is calculated to provoke careful reflection on the part of those confronted with the call of the gospel. consequently, he addresses his audience as τέκνα (children) in the vocative neuter plural, not in the sense of biological growth but in terms of understanding the divine principles of the kingdom of god. the hyperbolic comparative between the largest animal (camel) and the smallest opening (eye of a needle) used by jesus with the verb εὐκοπώτερόν (easier) in the comparative adjective in v. 24b is the only existing comparative found in the nt.16 and it expresses what, humanly speaking, is impossible or absurd.17 consequently, jesus’ response to the total rejection of his invitation leaves an exceeding astonishment in the face of the disciples which led to an inquiry; καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; (then who can be section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 93 saved?). accordingly, the response of jesus in v. 27 to the query of the disciples in v. 26 places salvation beyond the spheres of human possibilities into the hands of god as his gift to humankind. vv. 28-31 -the reward of discipleship in v. 28 peter acts as the spokesman for the disciples and shows an absolute understanding of v. 21. his affirmation which seems to be a note of self-congratulation is in positive contrast to the refusal of jesus’ invitation in v. 21 of a man who prices material wealth than the invitation of the divine and supreme creator.18 this is based on the fact that the disciples have fulfilled the two requirements of complete renunciation and of following jesus.19 conversely, the response of jesus in vv. 29-31 to peter declaration in v. 28 defines christianity in terms of promise and persecution, and history as the interplay of blessedness and suffering. this is pivoted on the divine principle that god takes nothing from a man without restoring it to him in a new and glorious form. so, whatever is lost in one society in v.29 will be regained a hundredfold in the new society created by the dynamics of the gospel in v.30.20 in this sense, the promise of eternal life in the age to come looks beyond the conflict of history to the glorious triumph assured through radical of obedience of anyone to the will of god. the discourse ends in a caveat couched in antithetical parallelism in v. 31, in which jesus demands a total and radical commitment sustained only in the act of following him faithfully. theology of mk 10:17-31 the vivid narrative style of mk 10:17-31couched in simple sentence structure, parataxis, direct speech and often intersected with historical present is knitted with various theological themes. they are: the prophetic mission of christ jesus the actual encounter of jesus with the rich man in mk 10:17-31 clearly defines the prophetic identity of jesus as the true messiah who teaches and saves. jesus’ identification as διδασκαλε agaqe is based on the impression of his distinctive teachings, exercise of authority over demons and miracles on the mind of the people. (mk 1:22, 27). jesus’ exclusive declaration of the attributive adjective agaqe to god is a self-revelation of his christology and divinity. indeed god only can be acclaimed perfectly good and not man. since, god is all goodness and there is no evil in his nature. in this sense, only god has the authentic prophet mandate that can truly teach, sustain and lead humanity to its goal and fullness of dignity as destined by god. this is in line with the lucan manifestos of 94 formation of the human person in the 21st century christ in 4:18-19 “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord”. similarly, the marcan christ who consistently speaks and acts meaningfully in the context of crisis has the prophetic role to set humanity aright at all times. the implication is that humanity must realize its need to depend on god and do his will in order to fulfill its destiny and dignity. thus, the imperative is that humankind must listen to him. (mk 9:7b). material wealth in mark’s theology a closer survey of the gospel of mark reveals that he does not totally condemn wealth but does not seem to attach much importance to it in relation to the gospel message.21 accordingly, the disciple of christ is called to totally depend on divine providence and not on the temporary false security which wealth seems to provide. as a result, to follow christ demands the adoption of the simplest way of life and subordination the comfort of life to the mission of christ jesus.22 consequently, following and listening to jesus without the distraction of material wealth is a source of abundant divine blessings, since the heavenly treasures offered by christ is supremely greater than material wealth. however, the young man’s tragic decision to turn down the invitation of christ to an everlasting and abundant life is a reflection of an absolute foolishness. this unique rejection of divine bliss is based on the lack of the authentic understanding of the true identity of the self and its divine goals. the alignment and total dependence of the human person upon the securities and pleasures which material wealth offers is deluding and destructive blindness to the nature of the human spirit and its end. hence, for jesus the human person who is enslaved by material wealth has made external bliss impossibility like the head of a carmel going through the eye of the needle. (mk 10:25). this invitation of christ is typified by consistent sharing and self-giving of one’s self and material wealth to others. consequently, the young rich man lost christ’s offer to a great friendship, development and great adventure to be god’s fellow worker in shaping the world. he fails to see the danger of material wealth to spiritual life and true dignity. this hazard of wealth lies in the fact that the means have a subtle way of becoming ends. indeed, “wealth can imprison a man in a world of illusion and thus develop a false sense of security. in this sense the centre of gravity moves from personality to power, and such personality shrinks in the process.”23 thus, the gospel becomes an enemy to the abundant life which material wealth offers. section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 95 the law and the gospel of christ the invitation to follow christ for mark requires self-sacrificing devotion, selfsurrender and sacrificial love which cannot be achieved through the observance of the torah alone. this radical demand of the gospel is the litmus test of discipleship. indeed, this is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as set out by jesus in matthew 5:17. the walking away of the young man is an indication that the observance of the law only did not fulfill the demand of the gospel of sacrificial love of the new covenant and the required dignity. so, dependence on wealth and earthly desires are antithetical to the good news proffer by christ jesus. thus entrance into the kingdom of god in this sense requires total self-surrender to the person of christ. this cannot be attained through the observance of the law alone but via total dependence on god. this self-surrender to christ brings the divine justice and love of god towards those who accepts the christ’s invitation but not without suffering and persecution. the lesson of mark 10:17-31 for the 21st century the human person of the 21st century is called to witnessing and discipleship of christ jesus like the apostles, who left everything and followed christ (mark 10:28). he has the unique mission to continue the ministry of jesus handed down by the apostle. as a disciple of christ, he/she is offered like the young rich man to adopt the itinerant and simplest lifestyle of jesus and his first followers in order to save souls and shape the world.24 accordingly, being with jesus and sharing in his mission of teaching and healing entails the adoption of the simplest possible way of life and subordinating one’s personal comfort to the mission. thus, as a witness and disciple of christ, he is faced with the choice of spending his life in christ or embracing a world that celebrates material possession. in wise manner, the human person of the 21st century should make a fundamental option to witness to christ and share in the divine blessedness of the elect. similarly, the rich young man’s rejection of jesus’ invitation arises from his unwillingness to adopt the simple lifestyle required for the ministry of jesus. his great love for possessions hindered him from participating in the mission of christ. this demand of christ’s disciples is antithetical to the dependence and false security material possessions offers. the excessive crave for wealth to the detriment of the salvation of the soul will completely and totally separate one from eternal happiness. again, the use of dubious means in acquiring wealth like fraud and robbery, selling of body parts, kidnapping, prostitution e.t.c is totally unbecoming of a christian lifestyle laid down by the gospel of christ. 96 formation of the human person in the 21st century the imperative is to seek eternal life offered by christ jesus and not transient happiness offered by material wealth. another basic issue that this text of mark10:17-31 seeks to address is the essence of life and the source of the ultimate happiness. it completely rejects material wealth as the essence of life and the ultimate source of happiness. also it teaches that being rich can prevent one from entering the kingdom of god. the joy and security of life is not based on what one owns but total surrender and dependence on the god the creator (luke12:15). thus the life created by god cannot derive its true meaning and fulfillment from the created things except from the creator alone. the rich young man lost the blessedness of the spirit because he was shaded with the dark lenses of wealth. jesus challenges the rich young man to admit that there are even greater blessings than being rich in life and playing the benefactor (mark10:21). again, the text teaches that life must be lived as a gift from god and used as an instrument for pleasing god the creator. the rejection of the invitation to share his wealth with the poor and store up treasure in heaven (mark10:21), is a pointer that the rich young man lack this basic understanding of life. this same mindset is common in the 21st century of those who take to various dubious means to amass wealth and pursue it as the ultimate goal of life. life must not be lived in a competitive and self-centered manner but rather with the disposition to share and live for others. this jesus did by climbing the cross. thus, the authentic realization of the human dignity in the 21st century must entail a good disposition to sacrificial love, total dependence on god and the consistent attitude of sharing with others. this is the unique identity of the first century christians that shaped and transformed the world. (acts 2:45) the text of mark10:17-31 also teaches in vv. 28-31 that there is reward for those who take up poverty in the service of jesus’ mission of proclaiming the kingdom of god. the reward will both present and future. indeed there is a better reward for those who accept the simple and poor life of jesus christ, with the promise of a new family and new possessions, and eternal life in the age to come (mark10:30). in this sense, the person of the 21st century should live his life for eternal bliss than for transient material wealth. conclusion this study critically examines the text of mark 10:17-31 and reveals its theological functions and values on the cost of the discipleship and the use of material wealth. it argues that the ultimate goal of christ for the rich young man is his salvation. the imperative to share his material wealth with the poor is an invitation to share in the life style of jesus section 1: ecclesiastical/theological perspectives and seminary formation 97 christ and enjoy eternal happiness. the gospel of christ teaches that human life and material wealth should be lived and shared with others. this is essential to the authentic realization of the dignity mankind the 21st century who lives in a world that celebrates and adores material wealth, even when it is acquired via dubious means. this will help to strengthen the faith and build life style on the person of christ who is the ultimate source of life and happiness. endnote 1 william lane, the gospel according to mark. (michigan: eerdmans, 1974) 25. 2 william lane, 26. 3 heinrich rengstorf, theological work in the new testament, vol 2. (germany: kohlhammer. 1990) 157. 4 henry matthew, commentary on the whole bible. (u.s.a: hendrickson, 1991) 1800 5 daniel wallace, the basics of new testament syntax. ( michigan: grand rapids, 2000) 242. 6 henry matthew, 1800. 7 john calvin, commentary on a harmony of the evangelist; matthew, mark and luke.( grand rapids: christian classics ethereal library, 1949) 1060. 8 william lane, 366. 9 brenkinridge warfield, studies in theology. (princeton: banner of truth trust, 1988)15. 10 daniel harrington & john donahue, mark. sacra pagina. (minnesota: michael glazier book, 2002) 302. 11 henry matthew, 1081. 12 daniel harrington & john donahue, 303. 13 william lane, 369. halford luccock, “the gospel according to st. mark: exposition” in the interpreter’s bible, vol, 7. eds. george arthur buttrick, george et al .(new york: abingdon, 1951) 806. 15 halford loccock, 806. 16 bibleworks9: mk 10:24 17 william lane, 369. 18 william lane, 371. frederick grant, “the gospel according to st. mark: introduction and exegesis” in the interpreter’s bible, vol, 7. eds. george arthur buttrick, george et al.(new york: abingdon, 1951) 808. 20 william lane, 372. leslie j. hoppe, being poor: a biblical study (good news studies 20) (delaware: michael glazier, 1987) 150. 22 daniel harrington & john donahue, 307. 23 frederick grant, 806. 24 daniel harrington & john donahue, 303.